Free tool
Salary band calculator
Two numbers in, the shape of the band out, and a compa-ratio for anyone you drop into it. No benchmark data, because we do not have any and will not invent it.
Pay figures are sensitive. The link carries them in the address itself, so think before you paste it anywhere shared.
The band
| Measure | Value | How it is worked out |
|---|---|---|
| The band appears here once your figures are in. | ||
The quartiles
Four equal quarters of the range from minimum to maximum. A salary is placed in the quartile whose range contains it, and outside the band it is reported as below or above rather than forced into a quarter.
| Quartile | From | To | Compa-ratio at the top |
|---|---|---|---|
| The quartiles appear here once your figures are in. | |||
How the answer is worked out
Every step, in the open, so you can rebuild it in five spreadsheet cells and disagree with it if you want to. A calculator you cannot check is an ad.
The midpoint, and the band it implies
The midpoint is the arithmetic mean of the minimum and the maximum, so minimum plus maximum divided by two. Some compensation teams use a geometric midpoint instead, which sits slightly lower on a wide band; this tool uses the arithmetic one and says so rather than leaving you to reverse-engineer it. If you defined the band by midpoint and spread instead, the minimum is the midpoint divided by one plus half the spread, and the maximum is the minimum multiplied by one plus the spread, which is the inverse of the same relationship.
Spread, width and where the quartiles fall
Spread is the maximum minus the minimum, divided by the minimum, as a percentage. A band from 60,000 to 90,000 has a spread of 50 percent. Band width in currency is simply the maximum minus the minimum. Quartile boundaries are placed at 25, 50 and 75 percent of the width above the minimum, so the second quartile ends exactly at the midpoint.
Compa-ratio, penetration and the cost of a move
Compa-ratio is the salary divided by the midpoint. Range penetration is the salary minus the minimum, divided by the width, so it reads zero at the minimum and one hundred at the maximum. A salary below the minimum is reported as below band with a negative penetration, and one above the maximum as above band with a penetration over one hundred, because clamping either would hide the thing you most need to see. Cost to move is the gap between the salary and the target, multiplied by the number of people you entered.
What this tool does not know
What anything should pay. It holds no salary survey, no benchmark, no median for any role in any market, and no cost-of-living index, and it will not be adding any, because a free page quoting invented market data would be worse than no page.
It also says nothing about equal pay obligations, pay transparency rules or reporting duties, all of which differ by country and several of which now carry real legal weight. Check those locally. For where bands sit in a wider compensation approach, see the Compensation and Equity module and the guide to HR metrics for small teams.
Questions with complete answers
Does this tell me what a role should pay?
No, and no honest free tool can. What a role pays depends on the market you hire in, the stage and funding of your company, the seniority you actually need and what you can sustain, and none of that is knowable from a web page. This tool has no benchmark data in it at all. You bring the two numbers you are considering, and it tells you the shape of the band they make and where a given salary sits inside it.
What is a compa-ratio?
The person's salary divided by the midpoint of their band, usually shown as a percentage. At 100 percent they are paid exactly the midpoint. Below 100 they sit in the lower half, which is common for someone new to the level, and above 100 they sit in the upper half, which is common for someone deeply experienced in it. It is a way of comparing people across different bands and different currencies with one number, which is why it is the figure most compensation reviews are run on.
What is range penetration, and how is it different?
Range penetration measures how far through the band a salary sits, from zero percent at the minimum to one hundred percent at the maximum. Compa-ratio measures distance from the midpoint. They answer slightly different questions: penetration tells you how much headroom is left in the band, and compa-ratio tells you how the person compares to the intended target for the level. Wide bands make the two diverge, which is worth watching.
Does the currency matter?
Only as a label. Every figure here is in whatever currency you type into the field, the arithmetic never converts anything, and midpoint, spread, quartile and compa-ratio all behave identically in euros, naira, rupiah, Singapore dollars, pounds or dollars. Bands in different currencies are not comparable by their raw numbers, but their compa-ratios are, which is the practical reason compa-ratio exists.
Is anything I type here saved?
No. It computes in your browser and nothing is sent anywhere. There is no email wall, no account and no storage. The link button puts your figures in the address itself if you want to send them to someone, and the page says so before you use it, but pay figures are sensitive so think before you paste that link somewhere public.
A band is arithmetic. The revisions made against it are a record.