17 States Now Fine Employers for Job Postings Without Salary Ranges

Colorado fines employers up to $10,000 for a single job posting that lacks a salary range. Massachusetts expanded its pay transparency law to cover every employer with 25 or more workers. New Jersey started issuing audits and penalties in 2026. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia now have active enforcement.

That number doubled in two years. According to analysis from Hunton, Jackson Lewis, and Paycor, 2026 marks the shift from "there is a new law" to "here come the fines." Oregon added new payroll explanation requirements on January 1, 2026. Employers who have been posting jobs without salary ranges in covered states are now facing real financial consequences, not theoretical risk.

If you post jobs nationally, remotely, or in any of the 17 covered states, every active posting needs a salary range. And the requirements are more specific than a dollar figure at the bottom of the page.

Not all pay transparency laws are identical. They vary on who is covered, what must be disclosed, and when the disclosure is required. Here is the landscape as of February 2026, organized by enforcement activity.

Active Enforcement (Audits and Penalties Being Issued)

Colorado was the first state to require salary ranges in job postings (effective 2021) and has the most established enforcement track record. The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment actively audits job postings and has issued fines for non-compliance. Penalties range from $500 to $10,000 per violation.

New York City's pay transparency law (effective November 2022) covers employers with four or more employees. The NYC Commission on Human Rights investigates complaints and has enforcement authority including civil penalties.

California's SB 1162 (effective January 2023) requires employers with 15 or more employees to include pay scales in all job postings. The California Labor Commissioner enforces violations with penalties of $100 to $10,000 per violation.

Massachusetts expanded its requirements effective October 2025 to cover employers with 25 or more employees. The law requires pay ranges in job postings and prohibits employers from asking about salary history. The Massachusetts Attorney General has enforcement authority.

New Jersey moved from legislation to active enforcement in 2026, meaning compliance audits are now being conducted and penalties assessed for non-compliant postings.

Laws Active, Enforcement Ramping

Washington state, Connecticut, Nevada, Maryland, Rhode Island, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, Vermont, and the District of Columbia all have active pay transparency requirements with varying thresholds and disclosure obligations. Oregon added new payroll explanation requirements effective January 1, 2026, requiring employers to provide detailed breakdowns of how employee pay is calculated.

Coming Soon

Multiple additional states have pay transparency bills in committee or approaching final votes. The trend line is clear: within two to three years, pay transparency in job postings will be the national default, not the exception.

Most employers assume pay transparency compliance means adding "$50,000 - $70,000" to the bottom of a job posting. The actual requirements are more granular than that.

Salary ranges must be good-faith estimates. Posting a range of "$30,000 - $150,000" to technically comply while revealing nothing useful is not good-faith compliance. Regulators in Colorado and California have both signaled that unreasonably wide ranges may be treated as non-compliance. Jackson Lewis recommends that salary ranges reflect the actual expected compensation for the role, not the theoretical minimum and maximum of the pay grade.

Ranges must appear in the posting itself. Several laws require that the salary range be included in the job posting at the time it is published -- not provided upon request, not disclosed during the interview, and not listed only on an internal career page. If your posting on Indeed, LinkedIn, or your own career page does not include the range, you are non-compliant in states that require posting-level disclosure.

Some states require benefits disclosure. Beyond base salary, certain jurisdictions require disclosure of other compensation elements including bonuses, commissions, equity, and benefits. New York City requires a description of benefits and other compensation. Employers who list only base salary may be missing required elements.

Remote roles trigger multi-state compliance. If you post a remote role open to candidates in California, Colorado, New York, and Massachusetts, you must comply with the strictest applicable requirements across all four states. Paycor's analysis confirms that remote and hybrid postings are the most common source of unintentional non-compliance because employers forget that the candidate's state, not the employer's headquarters, determines which law applies.

Run through this checklist for every active job posting your company has published.

1. Salary range present in the posting. Not in a linked document, not available upon request -- in the posting text itself. Check your career page, your ATS-generated postings, and any cross-posted listings on job boards.

2. Range is good-faith and reasonable. The spread between minimum and maximum should reflect the actual expected compensation. If your range spans more than 50% of the midpoint, it will likely face scrutiny.

3. Range matches the role, not the pay grade. A "Senior Software Engineer" and a "Staff Software Engineer" should have different ranges even if they fall in the same internal pay band. Posting a single range for multiple levels is a compliance risk.

4. Benefits and other compensation disclosed where required. If you post in New York City, check that your posting mentions non-salary compensation elements (bonuses, equity, benefits).

5. Remote roles checked against all applicable states. A remote posting open to all US candidates triggers compliance in all 17 states with active laws. Apply the strictest requirements across all applicable jurisdictions.

6. Cross-posted listings are consistent. Your career page, Indeed listing, LinkedIn posting, and any other distribution channels should all show the same salary range. Inconsistencies across channels create audit risk.

7. Salary history questions eliminated. Multiple pay transparency states also prohibit salary history inquiries. Verify that your application forms and interview scripts do not ask about current or previous compensation.

The compliance framing obscures a more important reality: pay transparency makes your job postings more effective.

Indeed's data consistently shows that job postings with salary ranges receive 30-50% more applications than equivalent postings without ranges. In the current labor market, where the February 2026 jobs report shows top candidates disappearing in 10 days, removing friction from the application decision is directly tied to hiring speed.

Transparency also reduces time wasted on mismatched candidates. When a candidate knows the salary range before applying, they self-select based on compensation fit. This means fewer interviews that end with "the salary is lower than I expected" and more interviews that end with accepted offers.

For SMBs competing against larger employers with bigger budgets, transparency is an equalizer. A $75,000 role at a 50-person company with clear growth trajectory, strong benefits, and visible impact can out-recruit a $85,000 role at a 5,000-person company -- but only if the candidate knows about the $75,000 before they apply.

RecruitHorizon's job posting tools include built-in pay range prompts and state-level compliance flags, so every posting you publish is audit-ready from day one. The system flags missing salary information before a posting goes live, eliminating the most common source of non-compliance. [LINK: job-posting] [LINK: trust]

Q: Which states require salary ranges in job postings in 2026?

A: As of February 2026, 17 states and the District of Columbia have active pay transparency laws: Colorado, California, New York, Washington, Connecticut, Nevada, Maryland, Rhode Island, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, and others. Requirements vary by state, with employer size thresholds ranging from 4 employees (NYC) to 25 employees (Massachusetts).

Q: Do I have to include salary in my job posting for remote roles?

A: Yes, if the remote role is open to candidates in any state with a pay transparency law. The candidate's location, not your company's headquarters, determines which law applies. A remote posting open to US candidates triggers compliance in all 17 states with active requirements. Apply the strictest applicable standard.

Q: What are the penalties for non-compliant job postings?

A: Penalties vary by state. Colorado imposes $500 to $10,000 per violation. California imposes $100 to $10,000 per violation. New York City imposes civil penalties enforced by the Commission on Human Rights. Massachusetts enforcement is handled by the Attorney General. Multiple violations across multiple postings can compound rapidly.

Q: Can I post a very wide salary range to technically comply?

A: Regulators in Colorado and California have indicated that unreasonably wide salary ranges may be treated as non-compliance. Jackson Lewis recommends that ranges reflect the actual expected compensation for the specific role. A range that spans more than 50% of the midpoint is likely to face scrutiny during an audit.