In a growing number of jurisdictions employers cannot ask your salary history, though they can ask your expectations. The two reliable answers are to deflect to their range — asking what is budgeted for the role — or, where you have solid local data, to name a researched number at the upper end of what the published band supports. Naming a figure with no basis is how people anchor themselves below what was available.
Why the question is asked at all
To screen, and to anchor. A number below the band saves the employer money; a number far above it ends the process early, which saves everybody time.
Understanding both purposes is what makes the answer manageable. You are not being tested — you are being sorted, and a well-constructed answer keeps you in the process without pricing yourself.
The best answer where the law allows it
Turn it around. Ask what range the role is budgeted at, since they know the number and you are guessing at it.
In several states and cities, employers must disclose the range on request or in the posting. Where that applies, asking is not a negotiating move — it is asking for something you are entitled to, and it should be treated as routine.
If you have to name something
Give a range anchored on published data rather than on your circumstances, and put the bottom of your range at the number you would actually accept. Employers hear the bottom.
“Based on the published median for this occupation in this metro and what comparable roles are advertising, I am looking at X to Y” is specific, sourced, and does not depend on what you currently earn.
What you do not have to answer
Salary history. Many states and cities prohibit employers from asking for it, precisely because anchoring a new salary to an old one carries any past underpayment forward.
Even where it is lawful to ask, you can redirect: “I would rather focus on the value of this role than on my previous one” is a complete and professional answer, and most recruiters move on without friction.
Deferring, when it is genuinely early
“I would like to understand the scope before putting a number on it” works once, early, and is reasonable. It does not work twice, and pushing it further reads as evasion rather than as diligence.
By a second or third conversation, expect to engage with the question. Having your range prepared and sourced before the first call is what makes that comfortable.
The two failure modes
Naming a number that is too low, which anchors the entire process below where it would otherwise have started. This is far more common than the opposite and it is rarely recovered.
Refusing repeatedly, which reads as difficulty and occasionally ends processes. The goal is to avoid anchoring low, not to avoid the topic.
Preparing the answer before the call
Look up the published median and the seventy-fifth percentile for your occupation in your metro. Check what comparable roles are advertising. Decide the number you would accept and the number you are aiming at.
Then the question becomes a recital rather than a decision made under pressure, which is the entire difference between a good answer and a regretted one.
What to do with the range once they give it
Ask where in it the role is expected to land, and what distinguishes the top from the middle. Both are ordinary questions with real answers, and they move the conversation onto their structure rather than your number.
That is where the flexibility lives, and it is a conversation a recruiter can have without anybody feeling negotiated at.
Common questions
How should I answer the salary expectations question?
Deflect to their range — ask what is budgeted for the level — or give a researched number at the upper end of what local published data supports. Both are ordinary answers.
Can employers ask my current salary?
A growing number of jurisdictions prohibit it, though almost none prohibits asking your expectations. Where a ban applies you can simply say so and move on.
What is the worst answer?
A number with no basis, which becomes a ceiling. 'I'm flexible' is a close second, because it sounds cooperative and reads as an invitation to offer low.
What if they keep pressing?
Give a researched range with your target at the bottom of it, since ranges are always read from the bottom. Repeating a reasonable position once is not obstruction.
Is it different with an agency recruiter?
Somewhat. They are usually screening against a client brief, so asking what the client's range is often gets a straight answer — a mismatch wastes their time too.
How should I answer the salary expectations question?
Ask what range the role is budgeted at. In several states and cities employers must disclose it on request or in the posting.
Do I have to give my salary history?
Many states and cities prohibit employers from asking. Even where lawful, redirecting to the value of the role is a complete and professional answer.
What if I must name a number?
Give a range anchored on published data, with the bottom at the number you would actually accept — employers hear the bottom.