Before you can set or negotiate an employee’s pay level, you’ll want to compare salaries using compensation data you’ve gathered for similar roles. The best salary comparison tools provide access to a wide range of data—from staff wages and bonuses to employee benefits—that cover many job types, skills, and positions across industries and locations.
The best salary comparison tools for small businesses are:
- Bureau of Labor Statistics: Best overall salary comparison tool
- Indeed: Best for employee- and employer-reported + job posting data
- PayLab: Best for education and consultants
- ZipRecruiter: Best for easy-to-understand salary research reports
- Payscale: Best compensation scenario builder
- Salary.com: Best unique data filters to view salary data
All the salary research tools on our list offer at least some of their services for free. These include access to salary ranges, salary views by job and location, and a search function for a single job by title and location. Reports are also available, and most options are downloadable.
Best Salary Comparison Tools Compared
Our Score (Out of 5) | Starter Pricing | Salary Data Source | Includes Pay Bonuses | Basic Benefits Information | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 4.12 | Free | From employers | Only shows the percentage of survey respondents that offer it | ✓ |
 | 4.06 | Free | From employers and employees | ✕ | ✓ |
 | 3.93 | From employees | ✓ | ✓ | |
 | 3.91 | Free | From employers | ✕ | ✕ |
 | 3.72 | From employers and employees | ✓ | Available in paid reports | |
 | 3.69 | From employers | ✓ | ✓ | |
Why You Can Trust Fit Small Business
With almost two decades of human resources and payroll expertise centered around small businesses, I bring a unique perspective on determining salary comparison tools.
For this article, ten of the top salary comparison providers were evaluated and narrowed down to the best six (those scoring above 3.6 out of 5) for your small business. Extensive evaluation was done on everything, from affordability and comparison tools to how easy each was to use.
Bureau of Labor Statistics: Best Overall Salary Comparison Tool
Pros
- Free access and download of reports
- Large database with robust data filters
- Shows different median wages for the same role in various industries
Cons
- No list of high-paying companies for a selected position
- Bonus data unavailable; only lists the percentage of company-respondents that offer it
- Some reports require additional resources to check position and/or industry codes
Overview
Who should use it:
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) ranks as our top choice for salary comparison websites given its free salary research reports, nationwide employer-reported data, and multiple filter options. For this reason, it is perfect for any small business that needs to rely on sourced data to make salary decisions.
Why we like it:
The BLS salary survey is the largest of its kind. It’s a highly scientific government-run survey that’s free to download. The data is sourced from quarterly nationwide employer surveys and has the most robust filtering and download capabilities. This helps you account for organizational, regional, and other data variations in compensation. However, the quarterly reports are summaries; the job-specific searchable reports are updated each May.
However, while the standardized dataset and filters are great, they come at the cost of ease of use. The BLS interface is unwieldy and difficult to navigate. The database may be extensive but is not very granular due to the standardization technique. This means you may not be able to find a precise match for your particular job if it doesn’t match an occupation or industry that the BLS uses. There is no company-specific data either, which makes competitive analysis more difficult.
It is free to download the BLS’s wide selection of salary surveys and wage comparison reports.
- Robust database: Its database covers 800 occupations and 400 industries with wage data that follows North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) industry codes. Its dataset of standardized job titles and position descriptions also allows you to make apples-to-apples comparisons.
- Multiple filter options: Sort data by organization size, part-time and full-time work status, incentive-based and time-based pay, work level, job characteristics, and bargaining status (whether union or non-union). You can also filter by national, regional, state, metropolitan area, and county data.
- Downloadable reports: Depending on the type of report selected, you can download salary data in PDF and XLS file formats (some reports have an HTML option as well). The BLS even lets you download its survey charts as JPEG and PNG images that you can attach to your own reports.
- Application programming interface (API): You can incorporate BLS data into an existing salary research program via API. It offers two versions. Version 1 is for public use but more limited; Version 2, while free, requires registration. It allows users to access more data more frequently, and add calculations and annual averages to requests.
Job wage summary from the Bureau of Labor Statistics salary survey (Source: BLS)
Indeed: Best for Employee- and Employer-reported + Job Posting Data
Pros
- Completely free; no limits
- Shows salary satisfaction percentages and common employee benefits
- Lists highest-paying companies for the position and location selected
Cons
- Only displays base salary; bonuses not included
- Data filters aren’t robust; you have to scroll through its website for salary comparisons to see pay information based on skills, work experience, location, and company
- Lacks downloadable salary compensation reports
Overview
Who should use it:
Small businesses that need to post their open positions on a job board, plus learn more about salary comparisons, will benefit from using Indeed. It’s free for both. And, for a small daily fee, you can sponsor your job ad to reach a larger candidate pool.
Why we like it:
Indeed is one of the largest job posting sites on the market and offers salary comparison tools that are completely free to use. It has a robust set of data that is a blend of information pulled from past and current job postings on Indeed, including those anonymously reported by employees and employers (the other providers on our list only offer either one or two data sources, not three, like Indeed). This makes it easier for you to do a competitor analysis and gauge whether or not your pay package is at par with the market.
While Indeed’s salary comparison tool is free to use, you have to pay for its other solutions like sponsored job listings (budgets start at $5 per day or $150 per month) and resume searches ($120 or $300 per month). However, posting jobs on its platform comes at no cost.
- Large salary database: With a database of over 700 million salaries, you can easily view jobs that have similar titles or job descriptions to yours. Its database consists of employee- and employer-reported salaries, as well as pay information from job listings posted on its site in the previous 36 months. This is unlike the other providers on our list, which only have employee or employer data or both.
- Robust salary range data: Indeed has a down-drop button that lets you view salaries on a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual basis. Data about the average hourly or salary pay for a specific job title is available, including the pay range for that job title. It also lets you see the salary satisfaction ratings for a position, providing you insight into how competitive your salary range might be. However, Indeed lacks the bonus amounts that many of the providers on our list (except ZipRecruiter and the BLS) have.
- Basic employee benefits details: Information about employee benefits lets you think about whether you should change and improve the benefits part of your compensation package. With Indeed, you can view various types of employee benefits and/or perks for a given company (when available) and the selected position. These can include health insurance, retirement plans, life insurance, paid time off, and stock options.
- Competitor analysis: Since Indeed has a large salary database, chances are pretty good that you’ll see how much competing companies are offering for the same position. Indeed even lists the companies that offer competitive salaries, including how much they pay for the position—data that ZipRecruiter, Salary.com, and the BLS don’t offer.
Indeed salary comparison site (Source: Indeed)
PayLab: Best for Education Hiring and Consultants
Pros
- Over 390,000 salary profiles
- International salaries
- Easy-to-use mobile app
Cons
- Pricing varies by country; in Euro
- Free trial is highly limited
- Data is not government-sourced but instead relies on employee input
Overview
Who should use it:
PayLab is ideal for businesses whose focus is on salary research for academic or consulting purposes—check out PayLab’s partnership program.
Why we like it:
It offers you access to all your country’s data. PayLab is one of the few on our list of the best salary benchmarking tools that provide salary information for countries outside the US. It offers sample salaries of nearly 700 job positions in over 35 countries in Europe, Africa, and Asia. This will help those businesses that hire internationally with offering competitive salaries.
However, you will be unable to use PayLab’s free trial to look up a particular job. As of this writing, it only provides you with pay information for economists, laborers, administrative workers, and employees in the education, science, and research fields.
You can search through its limited database of job titles and receive a salary range (from low to high) for free. Beyond that, you will need to subscribe. PayLab does provide access to its salary comparison website free for a full 7-day trial. This is good if you’re doing a competitive analysis for one of your employees, such as for retention or a pay raise, or to determine salary ranges for a new hire.
Otherwise, pricing varies by country. For the US, it’s €699 (equivalent to $749.81 USD) per year for unlimited access to its full service of reports and software.
- Partnership program: PayLab has a unique partnership program. When you join, you get complete access to salary and payroll data for your country. You can also use the data for your own products or to sell to other companies. In return, you give PayLab access to all salary data you collect yourself and provide local customer support for its PayLab product.
- International salaries: You’ll have access to over 390,000 salary profiles in nearly 700 job positions across more than 35 countries. The data is pulled from employee surveys and vetted. It also verifies listings against job advertisements to get the most accurate data set.
- Versatile Salary Tool: The Salary Tool lets you compare positions, see an overview of financial and non-financial benefits, and save reports as PDF or CSV. If your employee does tasks from multiple positions or you cannot find a comparable job, you can view the salaries of multiple positions to get a feel for an appropriate pay scale.
- Mobile app: PayLab offers a mobile app for on-the-go comparisons (rated 3.9 out of 5 on the App Store).
A free salary report will list only the low and high ranges. To unlock additional features, you must purchase a plan.
(Source: PayLab)
ZipRecruiter: Best for Easy-to-Understand Salary Research Reports
Pros
- Free and easy to use
- Has an online salary comparison summary that’s simple yet easy to understand
- Salary database covers 35,000 job titles
Cons
- Comparison reports aren’t downloadable
- Bonus and benefits data not available
- Limited data filters; only allows you to view salaries by the hour, week, month, year, and in table format
Overview
Who should use it:
Small businesses that need both local and nationwide salary comparisons on a platform that is easy to use should consider ZipRecruiter. Plus, it is an online talent marketplace and recruitment solution for posting jobs and finding qualified candidates.
Why we like it:
ZipRecruiter offers a salary comparison tool that contains compensation information from job listings posted on its site and third-party data sources (like ADP). The results of its salary research are easy to understand, plus it has a short yet helpful summary that explains the average annual pay and pay range for the position selected.
However, even though ZipRecruiter’s online salary comparison tools may include a brief summary report that’s easy to understand, you can’t download it or its bar graphs that show the average salary and pay ranges. This is unlike BLS, which allows you to save graphs. Having data filters to view salary data based on various factors (like education level and years of work experience) would have been helpful as well. Plus, it doesn’t provide information about bonus payments and benefits or list top competitors like Indeed does.
You can use ZipRecruiter’s salary research tool at no cost. For its paid solutions—which include one-click job postings, resume bank access, and unlimited candidate applications—you have to contact the provider to request pricing. Based on the quote we received, its fees start at $16 per job post daily or $299 per month, depending on the type of plan selected.
- Extensive database: Given that ZipRecruiter gets most of its salary data from open jobs that employers and recruiters post on its site (with over 7.5 million jobs posted daily), you get a large database of pay details. It has salary data for 35,000 job titles. Plus, it uses compensation information from third-party sources, including ADP.
- Salary research summary: ZipRecruiter is the only provider on this list that shows details of its salary research both in graph and report format. These are helpful in translating the numbers into information you can use when checking a position’s salary competitiveness and planning what pay rate to add to job offer letters.
- Flexible salary views: It may not have multiple data filters like Payscale, Salary.com, and the BLS, but ZipRecruiter has flexible salary view options that let you easily display the position’s hourly, weekly, monthly, and yearly pay data. It also has a “table view” that shows the salary range and average pay for various pay periods.
ZipRecruiter shows you an average salary for a specific job duty in your city and state. Plus, it shows a listing of relevant jobs in the area so you can compare. (Source: ZipRecruiter)
Payscale: Best for Creating Custom Compensation Scenarios
Pros
- Has a compensation scenario builder
- Wide range of survey and compensation management solutions
- Offers products with robust employee- and employer-reported data
Cons
- Pricing isn’t all transparent
- Differences between Payscale’s products can be difficult to understand
- Can download only one report a year free
Overview
Who should use it:
Small businesses that are growing will benefit from Payscale’s compensation planning tools that allow you to maintain oversight during your merit and increase process.
Why we like it:
Payscale is an easy-to-use tool that includes robust employee- and employer-reported data (but no job posting data like Indeed). It has a wide range of compensation management and survey tools like Salary.com, although Payscale lets you build your own compensation scenarios in case you need to create new positions or a completely new business. This allows you to get a holistic idea of your staffing costs, more so than the other providers in this guide (although PayLab will let you set up cumulative positions for multiple salaries at once).
While you can use its “Price a Job” tool at no cost, this is only for new users, and you can only download one salary report per year. Otherwise, you need to purchase them. Pricing Pricing is transparent, however, you must request a free report and follow the prompts in order to receive additional pricing information. is as follows:
- Two reports: $100 per report
- 10 reports: $62.50 per report
- 20 reports: $49.50 per report
Payscale also offers paid compensation and market analysis products, such as Insight Labs, Benchmark, Payfactors, MarketPay, and compensation surveys. Contact the provider to request a quote for these solutions.
- Robust dataset: Payscale has a comprehensive database with 55 million salary profiles, 15,000 job titles, 2,500 skill types, and 350 industries. Depending on the Payscale product, you are granted access to either employee- or employer-reported salary data.
- Multiple filters: While it doesn’t have Salary.com’s performance and management level filters, you can sort data by job title, work experience, region, and industry. It also shows job satisfaction ratings, basic benefits and bonuses, skills that impact salaries, and a gender percentage breakdown for the selected position.
- Feature-rich solution suite: Payscale has a wide range of solutions for building and managing your company’s compensation package and strategies. In addition to salary research tools, it offers compensation management software and an online job description manager to help you store and create job descriptions.
- Compensation scenario builder: Included in its Benchmark solution is the capability to create compensation scenarios to help you check market data and pay trends. This makes business and organization planning a little bit easier as it lets you get a holistic view of salary costs in case you have plans to set up a new business venture or enhance your organization structure by adding positions.
Payscale allows you to view average salaries, however, a detailed report will cost additional. (Source: Payscale)
Salary.com: Best Unique Filters for Viewing Compensation Data
Pros
- Employer-reported salary information with 800 million data points
- Offers a wide range of survey and compensation management solutions
- Multiple data filters; includes unique selections for sorting data based on performance, reporting lines, and number of direct reports
Cons
- Navigating through all its solutions and services can be a bit confusing
- Some products are expensive; can be costly for small businesses especially if you get multiple tools
- Results of online salary calculator can’t be downloaded
Overview
Who should use it:
Salary.com may be right for your business if you need specific data filters with the ability to sort and view compensation data across multiple channels.
Why we like it:
Salary.com is one of the oldest sources of salary data on the web—the company was founded in 1999. It has 100% employer-reported survey data purchased from data collectors and even offers a wide range of compensation management and salary survey products. The information is updated monthly and can be filtered in ways unavailable on other sites, such as salary views based on performance and management level.
While it has a free-to-use salary calculator, you have to pay extra if you want to download most of its reports. In addition, the salary calculator has ad placements, which can be intrusive.
Salary.com has several free-to-use solutions like its online salary calculator with unique filters, including HR metrics, benefits survey data, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) reports that you can download at no cost. It also offers paid products, such as:
- CompAnalyst Market Data: Pricing
All plans are custom priced. The below is based on a quote we received.
is based on the number of full-time employees (FTEs)
- 1 year subscription: $5,400/year (1-25 FTE)
- Free trial report once you attend a demo call
- Compdata Survey (for the US only):
- 1 year subscription: $995/year – per region (Participant)
- 1 year subscription: $3,495/year per survey (Non-Participant)
- Extensive database: Salary.com has a large database of employer-reported pay and benefits information with 800 million data points and compensation data that covers more than 15,000 unique job titles in over 225 industries. It is US-only; however, check PayLab or Payscale if you need international salaries.
- Unique filters: Apart from location, education, and years of work experience, you can sort salary data by work performance levels, reporting lines, and number of direct reports. The Performance filter applies standardized categories—such as “excellent,” “above expectations,” and “poor”—to each position. This would be most helpful, perhaps not for determining what to offer when hiring employees but in identifying promotions and pay raises during annual performance reviews.
- Salary and benefits comparison data: You get a comprehensive salary data range that shows averages and quartile percentages—enabling you to see the selected position’s wage distribution at 10%, median (50%), and up to 90%. Bonuses and benefits data are also provided.
- Multiple data sets and survey options: Salary.com allows you to choose between one-off analysis and ongoing searches. You can set up reports to update monthly, such as if you are tracking compensation for existing positions or those you look for often.
- Additional tools: Aside from comprehensive industry wage reports and compensation consulting services, it offers solutions for managing job descriptions and ensuring pay equity across your company. It even has a Job Skills Model tool that lets you build a skills and competency framework, simplify job structure, align compensation with performance, and more.
Salary.com’s online salary calculator (Source: Salary.com)
How to Choose the Best Salary Comparison Tools
Conducting salary research is a critical part of creating your company’s compensation program. It helps ensure that you’re paying employees at par with market rates, enabling you to attract qualified candidates and improve employee retention. Regardless of which salary comparison sites you use, here are a few key things you should do when choosing the best one for your small business.
- Understand job matching variables: Salary ranges for any job title can vary greatly based on a number of factors, such as location, education, years of experience, and industry. For example, an engineer in New York City needs to make more than the same engineer in Iowa to have the same standard of living.
- Consider similar job titles: Job titles vary greatly, so consider job titles that are similar when gathering salary data. Filter by as many variables as you can to get data that closely matches the position you are researching.
- Balance job match quantity vs quality: Strive to strike the right balance between the exact job match and a number of data points. The closer you can match a comparison profile with your job profile, the more relevant the comparison data is. However, as you add constraints like experience or region, you’ll reduce the size of your dataset. Reduce it too much, and you won’t have a large enough data set for a reliable comparison.
- Calculate compa ratio: Because you want to create a competitive salary package, you should not focus on a single number. Calculate a comparison range and a compa ratio (short for comparison ratio), which compares the salary you are paying your employees versus the market midpoint for similar positions at other companies. Decide where on the scale you should fall to be competitive, considering your employer brand and other things you offer your employees, such as benefits, flexible scheduling, and bonus payouts.
How We Evaluated the Best Salary Comparison Tools
We looked at several salary comparison websites, comparing each solution’s data sources and the types of pay information supplied. We also considered other features like downloadable reports, the amount of data available, and ease of use. And, while most of the best salary research tools are free from our providers, we checked whether they offer a paid version that’s affordably priced.
Click through the tabs below for a more detailed breakdown of our evaluation criteria.
25% of Overall Score
40% of Overall Score
20% of Overall Score
Salary comparison reports should be downloadable and easy to understand.
15% of Overall Score
We gave more points to tools with intuitive interfaces and considered whether users will need to spend a lot of time learning how to navigate through their features. We also checked if the tools have a mobile-friendly platform and offer help options such as online manuals, video tutorials, and live support.
Salary Comparison Tools: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Compensation benchmarking (or comparison) tools let you compare salaries for specific roles and provide access to market salary data to help you develop a competitive package for your company. You can also use these tools to check emerging trends on employee benefits, bonus payouts, pay increases, and more.
By utilizing a salary comparison website, you can check whether your company’s compensation package is on track with the market and complies with applicable labor regulations. If you use the data from these tools in creating or updating your company’s pay practices, it can help improve employee retention, optimize talent acquisition, and identify or correct pay disparities.
There are many factors that may influence salary. These include the role itself, the skills and competencies needed to perform the job, and the industry your business belongs to. Education level and the years of work experience required for the position are also important factors, including labor regulations affecting pay and the cost of living in the location where your business operates.
Bottom Line
Regardless of your company size and the type of business you have, you should be using salary comparison tools to determine whether or not your salary package is on par with the market. Having access to up-to-date salary data also helps you create compensation strategies for attracting new hires and retaining current employees. Some even provide insights on HR best practices such as for hiring qualified candidates, onboarding new hires, and more.
We found that the BLS offers the best value for money. It’s free to use with a rich data set that comes from nationwide surveys run by the government. You can download its reports and charts in various file formats—all at no cost.