15 states with the least salary transparency

Salary transparency laws are seen as a way to give job seekers the insight they need to make informed career decisions. While eight states already have laws in place and 15 states are considering it, do organizations really have employees' best interests in mind?  

Job search site Adzuna ranked which states boasted the most job postings with salary ranges of $50,000 or more, and found that five states with salary transparency laws made it to the top 15, namely California, Washington, Maryland, Colorado and New York. Granted, only New York City's salary transparency law is in full effect — the state-wide law doesn't go into effect until September 17. 

These wide salary bands do not help job seekers decide if this would be the right role to apply for, nor does it prove a company's commitment to transparency or understanding of the current market, says Paul Lewis, chief customer officer at Adzuna.

Read more: Which countries have the best salary transparency? How 19 nations rank

"A reasonable salary band is as narrow as possible," says Lewis. "A salary band should be no wider than $20,000. However, wherever possible, we would encourage employers to set maximum salary bands of $50,000, as bands larger than this can become meaningless."

Lewis notes that more senior positions may bring in candidates with various levels of experience and skill sets, which may translate to wider salary bands. But that still doesn't excuse salary ranges over $50,000, let alone upwards of $500,000. These loose estimates likely mean the company doesn't have a clear budget or expectations for the role.

Notably, the states that ranked in the top 15 have the most job postings with published salary ranges between $50,000 and $100,000. But Washington, which ranked 12 on this list, also had the most job postings with salary ranges between $200,000 and $500,000 — 97 job ads to be exact. 

"Employers in California and Washington were the worst offenders for posting wide salary bands, and this reflects the recency of the mandates in these areas, with legal requirements only coming into place this year in both states," says Lewis. "Companies in these areas may be taking time to review internal salaries to identify and fix any existing pay gaps."

Read more: Salary transparency laws create unexpected challenges for small businesses

Lewis underlines that employers are particularly concerned that by posting clear salaries, their existing employees will realize they are being underpaid. So, they have internal work to do first. 

Here are 15 states that have the most job postings with salary ranges between $50,000 and $100,000.