Quick Summary
Pay transparency laws by state: as of October 29, 2026, 15 states and Washington, D.C. have statewide job-posting pay disclosure requirements: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Vermont and Washington. Nevada and Rhode Island require pay information later in the hiring process, and Delaware’s law starts on September 26, 2027.
Being clear and transparent about employee compensation is a step towards pay transparency. So, more and more states are starting to require it in job postings.
Pay range required in postings
Pay transparency laws vary by state and locality. Some apply to employers with a minimum number of employees, while others do not specify a minimum employee threshold. Check the linked statute or official agency guidance for employer-size thresholds, geographic coverage, exceptions, and effective dates before publishing a job advertisement.
| State | Effective | Employers covered | What must be disclosed |
| California | January 1, 2023 (pay scale definition amended January 1, 2026) | 15+ employees. At least one employee must be currently located in California. | Good-faith estimate of the salary or hourly wage range the employer reasonably expects to pay upon hire. Must be included in job postings, including third-party posting. |
| Colorado | Jan 1, 2021; amendments effective Jan 1, 2024 | Employers with at least one employee in Colorado | Hourly or salary compensation, or a good-faith range; general descriptions of benefits and other compensation, including bonuses and commissions; application instructions and the anticipated application deadline. |
| Connecticut | October 1, 2021 (additional job-advertising requirements effective October 1, 2026) | Any employer located in Connecticut that uses the services of one or more employees for pay. The employee does not necessarily have to be physically located in Connecticut. | Wage or wage range set in good faith, plus a general description of benefits in public and internal job advertisements. Benefits include health insurance, retirement, fringe benefits, paid leave, and other non-wage compensation. |
| District of Columbia | Jun 30, 2024 | Employers with at least one employee in D.C. | Minimum and maximum salary or hourly pay in all job postings soliciting employees in D.C. Employers must also disclose associated healthcare benefits before the first interview. |
| Hawaii | Jan 1, 2024 | 50+ employees | Pay ranges or hourly pay rates in job listings. |
| Illinois | Jan 1, 2025 | 15+ employees | Pay scale and benefits in job postings, including third-party postings. |
| Maine | Jul 29, 2026 | 10+ employees | Prospective pay range in job postings, including third-party postings. For positions compensated solely by commission, the posting must state that compensation is commission-only. |
| Maryland | Oct 1, 2024 | All employers | Wage range, benefits, and other compensation information upon request and in job postings. |
| Massachusetts | October 29, 2025 | 25+ employees | Pay range in job postings and internal promotion or transfer opportunities. |
| Minnesota | Jan 1, 2025 | Employers with 30 or more employees at one or more sites in Minnesota. | Starting salary range or fixed rate, plus a general description of benefits and other compensation. |
| New Jersey | Jun 1, 2025 | Employers with 10 or more employees over 20 or more calendar weeks that do business, employ people, or take applications for employment in New Jersey. The 10 employees do not all need to be based in New Jersey | Salary or hourly wage range and benefits information in postings. |
| New York | Sep 17, 2023 | 4+ employees | Minimum and maximum annual salary or hourly wage in job postings. |
| Vermont | Jul 1, 2025 | 5+ employees | Good-faith minimum and maximum annual salary or hourly wage in advertisements for Vermont job openings. Commission-based positions must disclose their commission-based compensation; tipped positions must disclose tipped status and the base wage or range. |
| Virginia | Jul 1, 2026 | No minimum employee threshold specified | Pay scale or salary range in job postings and hiring advertisements. |
| Washington | Jan 1, 2023 | 15+ employees | Wage scale or salary range, general descriptions of benefits, and other compensation in postings recruiting Washington-based employees. A single fixed wage amount is permitted when that is the only amount offered. |
Pay disclosure later in hiring, and laws starting soon
| State | Effective | Employers covered | What must be disclosed |
| Nevada | Oct 1, 2021 | Public and private employers in Nevada, including employment agencies. No employee-count threshold is specified. | The wage or salary range or rate must be provided to an applicant after the applicant completes an interview. For promotions or transfers, the range must be provided if the employee applied, completed an interview or received an offer, and requested the information. |
| Rhode Island | Jan 1, 2023 | Employers generally; the statute does not specify a minimum employee-count threshold. | Applicants may request the wage range for the position. Employers should provide it before discussing compensation. Employers must provide the range to employees at hire, when they move into a new position, and upon request during employment. |
| Delaware | Sep 26, 2027 | Employers with 26 or more employees. Applies to jobs located in Delaware and non-international remote positions offered by a Delaware-based employer. | Internal and external job postings must include the hourly or salary compensation or range, plus a general description of benefits and other compensation. Commission-based roles must disclose that they are commission-based; tipped roles must disclose tipped status and the base wage or range. First offense: written warning. Second or subsequent offense: $500–$10,000 per violation. |
Selected local laws
| Locality | Effective | Employers covered | Requirement |
| New York City, NY | Nov 1, 2022 | 4+ employees. At least one employee must work in NYC. | Good-faith minimum and maximum salary in advertisements for jobs, promotions, and transfers that can or will be performed in NYC. |
| Westchester County, NY | Nov 6, 2022 | No minimum employee threshold specified | Good-faith minimum and maximum salary in postings for jobs, promotions, and transfers that can or will be performed in whole or in part in Westchester County, including remote positions. Temporary-help-firm postings are exempt. |
| Ithaca, NY | Sep 1, 2022 | 4+ employees whose standard work locations are in Ithaca. | Minimum and maximum hourly or salary compensation in advertisements for jobs, promotions, and transfers whose standard work location is in Ithaca. The range must reflect the employer’s good-faith compensation expectations. |
| Cleveland, OH | Oct 27, 2025 | 15+ employees within the City of Cleveland | Salary range or pay scale in formal job postings. The law also prohibits salary-history inquiries and certain uses of salary history. Internal promotions and transfers, collectively bargained positions, and most government positions are excluded. |
| Columbus, OH | Ordinance effective Dec. 3, 2025; posting requirement enforced beginning Jan. 1, 2027 | 15+ employees in the city | A reasonable salary range or scale in employment postings. The range is assessed using factors such as budget flexibility, expected applicant experience, job responsibilities, growth opportunities, location-related cost of living, and market research. Internal transfers and promotions, collectively bargained positions, and postings reproduced without the employer’s consent are excluded |
Pay range posting checklist by state
Refer to this checklist before you publish a job ad:
- Decide where the job will be performed. Remote roles are covered in Colorado, Maryland, New York and Vermont.
- Add a good-faith pay range, minimum and maximum. Required in the 17 states and D.C. listed above. Keep it to what you would actually pay: Minnesota and New York bar open-ended ranges.
- Add a general description of benefits. Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland and New Jersey; Delaware from Sep 26, 2027; Illinois, Minnesota and Washington.
- Add other compensation, such as bonuses and commissions. Colorado, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington.
- Add the application deadline and how to apply. Colorado. An ongoing posting can say it accepts applications on a rolling basis.
- Cover internal postings, not just job boards. Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland and Vermont; Delaware from Sep 26, 2027.
- Check postings placed by others. Maryland covers recruiters acting for you; California covers third-party sites.
After you post:
- Keep records. Maryland: three years.
- Check local rules. New York City, Westchester County, Ithaca, Cleveland, and Columbus (enforced from Jan 1, 2027).
Remember to check where the job may be performed and which state’s law applies. Remote positions can trigger pay disclosure requirements even when the employer’s headquarters are outside the state. Review each state’s geographic coverage rules before publishing a posting.
Pay transparency vs. pay equity
Pay equity laws by state and pay transparency laws are related, but they are not the same thing.
Pay equity is about ensuring employees receive fair compensation for performing work of equal value. The goal is to avoid pay discrimination based on factors like gender, race, national origin, or sexual orientation. Ultimately, pay equity aims to close the gender pay gap, racial wage gap, and other pay disparities in the workplace.
Pay transparency, on the other hand, is communicating the compensation amount the organization or employer is willing to offer to candidates applying for a certain role. This sets the expectation early on, which benefits both employer and candidate. Candidates can self-select out if the published salary range doesn’t meet their expectations. Employers receive candidates who are truly interested in the job opening, and both parties avoid wasting time.
Ongig Features for Pay Transparency and Equity
Ensuring salary transparency in your job postings is a highly effective method for attracting qualified candidates, and in many jurisdictions, it’s also a legal requirement. But when you’re tasked with revising hundreds of job descriptions with a sizeable team, how do you maintain transparency consistently?
The answer is to utilize a tool capable of assessing these details at scale. Considering something like a salary compliance tracker is a step in the right direction.
With Ongig’s Text Analyzer, you can monitor salary compliance effectively across all your job descriptions. This tool proves invaluable, especially when generating a large volume of JDs with numerous collaborators. While human oversight remains crucial, the tool streamlines the process, making it more efficient and less time-consuming. In doing so, it helps ensure your job listings are both compliant and transparent.
Take a look at this helpful video from Ongig’s Head of Content and Patnerships, Heather Barbour Fenty:
FAQs on Pay Transparency Laws
1. Is there a federal pay transparency law?
No. No federal law requires private employers to post pay ranges. Federal laws such as the Equal Pay Act and Title VII prohibit pay discrimination, but pay range disclosure rules come from state and local laws.
2. Which employers are covered by pay transparency laws?
It depends on the state. Some laws apply to employers of any size, while others set a minimum number of employees, ranging from 4 to 50 or more. Check the state-by-state table above for each law’s coverage rules.
3. Do pay transparency laws apply to remote jobs?
Yes, in some cases. A remote job may be covered based on where the employee will work, which office they report to, or where the employer has employees. Check the rules for each state before posting a remote position.
4. What is the difference between pay transparency and pay equity?
Pay transparency laws require employers to disclose pay information, most often a salary range in job postings. Pay equity laws require fair pay for comparable work and aim to close pay gaps by gender, race and other protected characteristics. Transparency is one tool for achieving pay equity.
Why I wrote this:
At Ongig, we help employers include pay ranges for job postings by state so you remain compliant with your state’s pay transparency law (and attract more top talent). Kindly click the demo request button to learn more.
Shout-outs:
- California Equal Pay Act and Pay Transparency Law – State of California Department of Industrial Relations
- Equal Pay for Equal Work Act – Colorado Department of Labor and Employment
- An Act Concerning Workforce Dev’t and Working Conditions in the State – Substitute House Bill No. 500, Public Act No. 26-12, State of Connecticut
- Attorney General Schwalb Issues Business Advisory on Wage Transparency Requirements – Office of the Attorney General, District of Columbia
- An Act to Require Employers to Disclose Pay Ranges and Maintain Records of Employees’ Pay Histories – State of Maine
- Pay ranges in job advertisements – State of Vermont, Workplaces for All
- Equal Pay & Opportunities Act Q&A – Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
- Act 203 Pay Transparency FAQs – Hawaii Civil Rights Commission
- Equal Work for Equal Pay: Wage Range Transparency FAQs – Maryland Department of Labor
- Pay Transparency in Massachusetts – Mass.gov
- Minnesota Statues: Salary Ranges Required in Job Postings – Minnesota Legislature
- New Law Requiring Employers to Post Salary Ranges and Benefits Information – Department of Labor & Workforce Development, State of New Jersey
- An Act Relating To Disclosure Of Compensation In Job Advertisements – Attorney General’s Office, State of Vermont
- Disclosure of wage or salary range by employer – Washington State Legislature
- Pay Equity Act – RI Department of Labor and Training
- Title 19 Labor – Delaware Code
- Nevada Pay Transparency Laws – Nevada Association of Employers
- Salary Transparency in Job Advertisements – NYC Commission on Human Rights
- Salary Transparency Amendment in the Westchester County Human Rights Law – Westchester County
- City of Ithaca Pay Transparency Law – City of Ithaca
- Fair Employment Wage Board Laws & Procedures – State of Cleveland
- Code Change Fact Sheet Pay Transparency – The City of Columbus
