| name | pay-bands-market-data |
| description | Use when setting or revising pay bands — covers band structure, market data sources, compa-ratios, and band integrity. |
Pay Bands and Market Data
What a Pay Band Is
A pay band defines the cash compensation range for a (level × job family × geography) combination. Bands have:
- Min: minimum acceptable pay for the level
- Mid: target pay; anchored to market percentile
- Max: ceiling; out-of-band pay requires exception
Width: typically 15–30% spread (max is 15–30% above min). Wider widths give flexibility; narrower widths force promotion to grow comp.
Compa-Ratio
Compa-ratio = actual pay ÷ midpoint.
Used for diagnostics:
- >1.10: above midpoint; appropriate for proven-at-level
- 0.90–1.10: in-band; expected range
- <0.90: below band; investigate
Aggregate compa-ratios useful for:
- Spotting under-paid groups
- Demographic gaps
- Manager patterns (always low / always high)
Market Data Sources
| Source | Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|
| Pave | Strong tech coverage; modern UX | Submission base skews tech / startups |
| Comprehensive | Broad sector coverage | Setup heavier |
| Radford | Tech enterprise standard; level-mapped | Expensive; dated participant model |
| Option Impact (Compensia) | Equity benchmarks at early stage | Equity-focused |
| Salary.com / Glassdoor | Free / low-cost | Submission bias; unverified |
| Levels.fyi | Public, level-mapped tech data | Submission bias toward high-comp candidates |
| Survey participation | Improves your data quality | Time investment |
When choosing: match the source's submission base to your hiring market. A SaaS startup's data isn't reliable for hardware manufacturing.
Setting Bands
- Pick percentile target per level (per
compensation-philosophy)
- Pull market data for each (level × function × geo) cell
- Apply percentile to get midpoint
- Set min and max based on width policy (e.g., ±15% from mid)
- Sanity-check overlaps between adjacent levels (some overlap is fine; large overlap means levels aren't differentiated enough)
- Geo zones applied (Tier 1 SF/NY/Seattle; Tier 2 major US; Tier 3 lower-cost; international per local market)
- Refresh annually; off-cycle if market moves materially
Out-of-Band Pay
Any actual pay outside the band is an exception. Reasons that justify:
- New hire bridging large unvested equity from prior employer
- Acquisition / acqui-hire compensation preservation
- Counter-retention for genuinely exceptional, hard-to-replace talent
- Geography pay preserved post-relocation policy change
Reasons that don't:
- "We had to to close them" (band is wrong, or this isn't the right candidate at this level)
- Founder verbal commitment
- Manager pressure
- "We've always paid Y this much"
Document every exception. Audit quarterly.
Band Integrity Audit
Quarterly:
- Distribution of comp within bands by job family / level / geo
- Out-of-band exceptions
- Compa-ratio by demographic
- Manager-by-manager comp distribution
- New-hire offers vs. existing employees at same level (compression risk)
Compression: when new hires get paid as much or more than longer-tenured existing employees at the same level. Common during hot markets; corrodes trust. Address via market refresh of existing employees, not by underpaying new hires.
Band Communication
- Internal bands: consider sharing with employees by their own level
- Job posting ranges: legally required in many US jurisdictions
- Range on offer: standard practice
- Band rationale: how were these set?
Common Failures
- No bands; ad-hoc comp
- Bands set once, never refreshed
- Bands routinely violated (bands are ornamental)
- Compression unaddressed
- Manager sets pay without comp partner review
- Geo strategy invented per case
- Single data source over-relied on
- Bands too wide (no upgrade pressure) or too narrow (forces unnecessary promotion)
Cross-References
compensation-strategist agent
compensation-philosophy skill
pay-equity-analysis skill
offer-strategy skill
career-leveling skill
Key References
- Bock, L. (2015). Work Rules!
- Practitioner work from Pave, Comprehensive, Radford
- Public references: Buffer's published bands; Holloway Guide