If you post a remote engineering job in the US, assume you have to publish a real pay range in the post. A growing list of states, including California, Colorado, New York and Washington, require a good-faith salary range in job postings, and several of them reach out-of-state employers whose remote role could be filled by someone living there. A range of "$80k to $250k" or "competitive" does not meet the spirit of these laws and costs you candidates anyway. Decide the range before you write the post, keep it narrow enough to be honest, and write down how you got to it.
This is not legal advice. The rules differ by state, change every year, and have exceptions based on headcount and where your people sit. What follows is how I walk founders through the decision when they are about to post their first or second engineering role.
Why a seed-stage startup gets caught by this
Most founders assume pay transparency is a big-company problem. It is not, for a simple reason: you are almost certainly posting the role as remote, and remote means the applicant pool includes people in states with posting laws.
Colorado was the early example. Its law covers employers with at least one employee in the state, and the state labor department has said a remote posting stays covered even if the post says Colorado applicants are not accepted. Later amendments added narrow carve-outs for very small out-of-state employers, but the direction of travel has been toward more disclosure, not less. California, Washington, New York and Illinois followed with their own posting rules, and more states, including Massachusetts, New Jersey, Vermont, Minnesota and Maryland, now have versions in force or scheduled. Counts differ by source because some laws cover postings and others only cover disclosure on request.
The practical point for a ten-person company: the day you hire one engineer who lives in a covered state, or post a remote role a covered-state resident could fill, you are likely in scope. Check the current rule for every state where you have staff or might hire, or ask your employment lawyer for a one-page summary. That is an hour of their time, not a project.
What a good-faith range actually means
The laws use phrases like "good faith" and "the range you reasonably expect to pay." Regulators have pushed back on ranges so wide they say nothing. A posting for a senior backend engineer with a range of $90,000 to $260,000 tells a candidate nothing and invites a complaint.
A defensible range for an early-stage engineering role usually has these properties:
- The top is no more than about 1.3 to 1.5 times the bottom. Wider than that and you are describing two different jobs.
- You would genuinely hire someone at the bottom of it. If the bottom is a number you would never offer a qualified person, it is not part of your range.
- It is anchored to the pay you can actually fund. If your runway plan assumes $165,000 base for this role, the range should sit around that number, not around market headlines.
- It states whether equity is separate. Say "plus equity" and, if you can, give the option range or percentage band too. Candidates for early roles weigh equity heavily, and a vague promise of "meaningful equity" reads as a red flag.
If you hire across locations and pay differently by geography, the clean approach is to post the range for the specific location or band, and say so. Some states expect the range for the covered location, not your global band, so a single national number can cause problems.
How to set the number before you post
I see founders reverse this: they write the job description, post it, see who applies, then decide what to pay. That order fails under these laws and it fails as hiring practice.
Do it in this order instead.
Start from the work, not the title
Write down the three outcomes this person owns in their first six months. "Own the billing system end to end and cut failed payments in half" is a senior role. "Ship features from a groomed backlog" is a mid-level role. The level sets the band far more than the title does. Our post on writing the first engineer job description covers this in more depth.
Get three real data points
Use one salary survey or compensation tool, one conversation with a founder who hired the same level in the last six months, and one data point from your own pipeline, such as what a recent finalist asked for. Three sources beat one perfect source. If the numbers disagree, use the middle and widen the range slightly to cover the spread.
Check it against runway
Put the top of the range into your hiring plan and see what it does to your months of runway. If paying the top costs you two months, you need to know that before you post, not at the offer stage. The senior engineer cost and runway post walks through the full loaded cost, which is usually 20 to 30 percent above base once payroll taxes, benefits and tools are included.
Write down the reasoning
Keep a short note: the level, the sources, the range, and why. If you are ever asked how you set the range, you have an answer. More importantly, when the second and third engineer join, you have a basis for consistent pay instead of whatever each person negotiated.
What the range does to your pipeline
Founders worry that publishing a range will anchor every candidate at the top or scare off strong people. In my experience the opposite is more common.
A clear range filters out people whose expectations are far above what you can pay, which saves you three interview rounds that end in a declined offer. It also signals that you have thought about the role, which matters for the experienced engineers you most want. Senior people have learned that "competitive salary" from an unknown startup often means below market.
Candidates will still negotiate toward the top. That is fine. Decide in advance what moves someone from the middle to the top: a specific skill, prior experience owning the exact system, or willingness to take less equity. Then you are making a judgment call, not haggling.
If you are hiring your first engineer, our guide to first engineer compensation covers how to split cash and equity at that stage.
Common mistakes I see
- Posting "DOE" or "competitive" in a state that requires a number. This is the easiest violation to spot.
- Using a different range on LinkedIn than on your careers page. Recruiters copy old posts; check every place the role appears.
- Forgetting third-party posts. If a recruiter or job board posts on your behalf, the range still needs to be there.
- Hiring outside the range without a reason. If the person you want needs more, revisit the range and the level, then repost if needed. A pattern of offers above the posted range undermines the whole exercise.
- Ignoring internal pay. If your new hire's posted range is above what your current engineer earns, they will see it. Have that conversation before the post goes live. The first engineer asks for a raise post is relevant here.
Frequently asked questions
Does a pay range law apply if we have no office in that state?
Often yes. Several laws apply based on where the employee could work, and remote roles are commonly covered. Some states exempt very small employers or employers with no staff in the state. Check the current rule for each state, because the thresholds differ and change.
Can we just exclude applicants from states with these laws?
It is a bad idea. Colorado has said a remote post that excludes its residents is still covered, and excluding whole states shrinks your pool for the one hire that matters most this year.
Do we have to publish equity numbers?
Most laws focus on base pay or wage range, and some also require a general description of benefits or other compensation. Publishing an equity band is usually optional but helps early-stage hiring.
How wide can the range be?
There is no single legal number, but regulators expect a good-faith estimate. For a defined level, a top that is 30 to 50 percent above the bottom is a reasonable working rule.
Who should own this at a small company?
The founder who owns hiring, with a short review from your employment lawyer once a year. If you do not have someone technical setting levels and bands, a fractional CTO can define the levels and rubric. That is the kind of work we do at Fraction; see how pricing works or book a call to talk it through.