More money, more…competitive salaries?
OK, so a job that doesn’t state a salary may not always seem particularly appealing at first – but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider it. A competitive salary can mean many things, and an employer may have many different reasons to use this term instead of an exact figure.
To help you decode one of the most commonly used job ad terms, here’s what competitive salary actually means (and why employers use it):
Competitive salary meaning
To put it simply, competitive salary means that what’s being offered is equal to (or more than) the sector average for similar positions in the same location.
So although the salary isn’t specifically listed – that doesn’t mean you can’t estimate a ballpark figure based on your own research.
Essentially, the company is saying, ‘We pay well, but we aren’t ready to commit to a number just yet.’ It’s a placeholder that allows flexibility based on who walks through the door.
Where is competitive salary shown?
Competitive salary is something that’s shown within a job advert, in replacement of a salary range, estimate, or set figure.
It’s used in cases where the salary for a job isn’t fixed and may vary.
Other common phrases include ‘negotiable salary’ and ‘market rate’. You might see this listed in the salary field of a job board, or buried in the bullet points of the benefits section.
Is ‘competitive salary’ still legal in 2026?
This is a big question lately. With the EU Pay Transparency Directive set to be fully transposed into national law by June 2026, many European employers are now required to disclose salary ranges in job postings.
However, the UK isn’t subject to this specific EU directive. As of 2026, there is no direct legal requirement for UK employers to list salary bands in job adverts. That said, the culture is shifting fast. Many progressive UK companies are adopting transparency voluntarily to attract better talent and close the gender pay gap.
So, while you’ll see fewer ‘competitive salary’ tags than you did five years ago, they haven’t disappeared entirely.
Why do employers list salary as competitive?
Employers use competitive salaries for a number of different reasons.
- They may want to allow room for negotiation – and deciding on a set figure from the outset doesn’t allow cooperative input from both sides. The salary they eventually decide on will then depend on your expectations and experience level.
- Salary information is often confidential – and isn’t something that’s openly discussed within workplaces as part of their company policy. Leaving it out of a job advert is a way of keeping this information private to everyone except the successful applicant.
- Many employers are keen on filtering out those who are only in it for the money. Listing a salary as competitive allows them to only target people more interested in the job and the organisation than a lucrative pay and benefits package.
When can I ask about salary if it’s listed as competitive?
Asking about salary can feel like dangerous territory – but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be interested in finding out what you could earn before investing too much time into the hiring process.
If you’re lucky, the employer will bring it up first. But if they don’t, it’s all about gauging the interview process and the interviewer’s attitude to find the right opportunity to discuss salary.
One option is to wait until the second interview, if there is one – but this all depends on the situation.
However, there’s no harm in asking earlier in the interview process if things are particularly short or informal.
Should I ask about salary at my interview?
How can I figure out what’s competitive in my area?
If you want to figure out what kind of money you could earn for a vacancy with a competitive salary – you need to do your research.
Using salary checker tools are a great way to gain an idea of what similar roles in your location are paying, and will help to ensure you’re getting paid what you’re worth.
Not only will this give you a better idea of whether the role is suitable for you – it’ll also mean that you can be more confident in naming a reasonable figure when you eventually discuss your salary expectations.
Examples of what competitive salaries mean
If you’re wondering what “competitive” actually means in practice, here are a few examples using average salary data from our salary checker:
- Marketing Manager in London – The average salary is £63,243. If a company lists their pay as competitive, you can expect their offer to be in this ballpark or potentially higher – in the range of £63,000 to £70,000 for someone with great experience or specialist skills. If you see “competitive” but hear a number that’s way below this, it’s probably worth negotiating or looking elsewhere.
- Accountant in Manchester – The average salary sits at £48,451. A competitive salary for this role would match or just top this figure – so around £48,000 to £52,000, especially if you bring extra qualifications or experience to the table.
- Analyst in Plymouth – Here, the average salary is £38,564. In this case, a competitive offer means anything from £38,500 up to £42,000 depending on the sector, your skills, and the specific employer.
In short: competitive means at least matching the local average, but there’s often wiggle room if you have in-demand skills or a unique background. Always check salary trends for your role and location. That way, you’ll know if “competitive” is genuinely worth your while.
Check average salaries in your area
What if the salary they offer isn’t enough?
When a salary is listed as competitive – there’s a possibility that the offer you eventually get might not be within your expectations.
But this doesn’t mean you should walk away from a potentially good opportunity. Instead, use what you’ve learnt from your research (as well as what you’ve earned previously) to negotiate a more suitable alternative.
Employers will often allow some level of negotiation for the right person – so as long as you don’t go overboard with what you’re asking. And if you have all the relevant skills and experience they’re looking for, there’s a good chance they’ll up their offer if it means they get to hire you.
Remember: Never be tempted to sell yourself short, unless you’re absolutely positive that it’s the right position for you in the long run.
Frequently asked questions
Does competitive salary mean minimum wage?
Not necessarily, though some people fear it’s a red flag. While some companies might use it to hide low pay, many reputable businesses use it to keep their options open for high-flyers who might command a higher wage. Don’t assume the worst, but do your homework.
How do I calculate a competitive salary?
There isn’t a single competitive salary calculator that fits everyone, but you can get close. Check job boards for similar roles that do list a salary. Look at three or four examples to find an average range. Factor in your experience, location, and any unique skills you bring to the table.
Is competitive pay the same as market rate?
They are very similar. ‘Market rate’ specifically implies the going rate for a job in the current economic climate, whereas ‘competitive’ implies they might try to beat that rate to win you over.
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In my experience, interviewing with a PR agency recently, competitive salary means: we want you to work for us for the lowest possible wage we can legally pay you because we assume you’re desperate for the work to begin building your career and know nothing about your worth or the average salary in the industry you’re applying to work in. In other words, it means they want to pay you minimum wage and bestow the “prestige” of working for their company on your CV, which is why they advertise tantalising prospective employment for graduates with limited experience – they can potentially pay you far less. “Prestige” doesn’t pay the rent, utility, travel or grocery bills and not all of us live courtesy of the bank of Mum and Dad. In my experience with the same agency, competitive salary also means the company will advertise a job within their company, then, when you arrive to interview for the advertised position in a specific department (with an approximate industry salary range of £16k – 24k depending on location) they’ll not tell you ’til the end of the interview the position they’ve advertised doesn’t actually exist. Instead, they want you to ‘intern’ for minimum wage, but, but, BUT you can keep ALL your meagre earnings and there may possibly be, at some far off point in the future, the possibility that you’ll be in the department you applied for and you might possibly at some point in the future, earn the average salary for the position of the job they originally advertised and that you applied for, then, they wonder why applicants are angry that their time was wasted and their hopes dashed.
Cynical maybe but an understandable stance given far too many employers like this, especially those involved in the agency industry as you say, do exist in the world, making it easy to come to this conclusion 🙂
Job descriptions with ‘competitive salary’ get put at the bottom of my job search list. It’s simply not transparent enough. I agree that exact figures are not helpful because the job requirement may be open to people of various experience levels but overcoming that is stupendously trivial. Simply give a salary range covering the experience levels required. The bottom end of the range covers less than 2 years, top end more 5 or more years. Done.
‘Default to transparency’ should be the norm for all companies. Anything else is disingenuous.
I agree. If you don’t want to be transparent from the outset, that tells me almost everything I need to know about your company culture.
If an employer does not know the value and worth to their company or organization of filling a particular vacancy with a candidate that exactly matches what they want and need to make that role financially successful by setting the salary remuneration to a particular value in an open and honest way. They are likely to lose that candidate to their competitors if they negotiate a competitive salary using catch-up tactics of a perceived industry standard role of similar, job description, duties and responsibilities.