How to Compare Pay Across Jobs With Different Scopes

To compare pay across jobs with different scopes, first establish what each person is responsible for, the decisions they make, and the level at which they work. Then compare roles in the same relevant labor market using pay figures with the same definition and date. Shared job titles alone do not make two salaries comparable.

At BambooHR’s HR Virtual Summit 2026, Alex Bertin said compensation teams must agree on data sources, comparable roles, hiring markets, and how recently figures were collected. Kelsey Tarp described a familiar retention conversation: a manager had left for a higher-paying job, and the immediate explanation was that the company had underpaid them. The new role, however, led other managers. It carried a different level of responsibility from the job they had held.

That distinction should be tested, not used to dismiss a pay concern. The employee’s current job may have grown beyond its assigned level. A competitor’s offer may reveal a genuine market gap. A fair comparison asks what work was paid in each case before drawing either conclusion.

What makes two jobs comparable for pay?

Two jobs are comparable for pay when their core duties, responsibility, decision authority, and level are sufficiently alike for a market figure to inform the same employment decision. Bertin warned against matching business title to business title. A “director” at a small organization might own a function directly; a director elsewhere might lead several managers and a larger budget.

Start with a current description of the work, including whom the role leads, what decisions it can make, and what results it is accountable for. Compare that with the duties behind the survey job, advertised range, or external offer. The US Office of Personnel Management’s classification guidance similarly grounds federal job grading in assigned duties, responsibilities, and qualifications. It is a federal system, not a pay formula for every employer, but it illustrates why a title is insufficient.

My colleague Guy J. Giguère’s article on job titles and skills addresses whether a title tells an employer who can do the work. The compensation question is narrower: does the work being priced carry comparable responsibility? A recruiting experiment that changed one job title also shows how much a label can affect who considers a role. Pay comparisons require the additional step of checking what the successful candidate would actually be asked to own.

Which labor market should an employer use for a pay comparison?

The relevant labor market is the one from which the employer can realistically hire, and to which its employees can plausibly move. Bertin asked whether a company competes locally, nationally, against startups, or against large enterprises. Tarp described employees comparing a posting in New York City with a job in another location that carried no New York pay premium.

Choose the market as a policy, then apply it consistently. A fully remote specialist may face a broader set of alternatives than an on-site role with a local talent pool. That does not dictate a single geographic pay policy. It means HR should be able to explain the market it chose and inspect offers or departures that call the choice into question.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes occupational estimates for states and metropolitan areas as well as the country. Those figures can help test how much geography changes a comparison. Their occupational categories are broader than an employer’s individual levels, so a location-matched figure still needs a role match.

How should different pay figures be made comparable?

Use the same pay period and compensation components before comparing numbers. An annual base salary, an advertised range including variable pay, and a total compensation figure with equity answer different questions. Confirm the source’s date and how the pay was collected. Bertin warned that an old data set can mislead where the job market has changed quickly.

For example, BLS wage estimates exclude employer benefit costs and nonproduction bonuses. If an employer compares its full rewards package with an OEWS wage estimate, it has changed the unit of comparison. Record base pay against base pay first; discuss bonus, equity, leave, and benefits separately. If one range is for a more senior job, do not adjust it with an improvised percentage and call the result a benchmark. Find a closer job match or state that the available data is limited.

What if an employee's duties no longer match their pay grade?

Reevaluate the job as it is performed now. The comparison exercise should reveal when an employee has taken on larger decisions, more people, or greater accountability without a corresponding review. Tarp’s example of the manager who became a leader of leaders elsewhere was a case of different external roles. The reverse can happen inside a company when responsibilities expand while the title and grade remain fixed.

Bertin’s closing principle was process transparency: explain the inputs, framework, market, and trade-offs behind a pay decision. That requires HR to be willing to reconsider its own leveling when the work no longer fits. A useful benchmark gives the discussion a common reference. It cannot replace a current account of what the person actually does.