Tech Salary Negotiation Calculator

How much should I ask for? Know your number before you reply

The most expensive mistake in a job search is accepting the first number. In tech, initial offers are almost always below what the employer is prepared to pay — and women are statistically less likely to negotiate, which is a big part of why the pay gap compounds year after year. This salary negotiation calculator hands you the two things you need to counter with confidence: the real market range for your exact role and city, and a specific, defensible counter-offer number.

Pick from 15 tech roles and 38 global tech hubs, drop in your current salary and any offer, and get an instant read on where you stand plus a suggested counter. The ranges come straight from the WomenHack women in tech salary guides — the same publicly sourced estimates behind our city-by-city salary pages — so what you see here matches the full breakdown for your city.

How the counter-offer is calculated

• Market band: each role and city has a mid-level total-comp range in local currency, aggregated from public salary data.
• Your position: we plot your current salary (and any offer) inside that band as a percentile, so you can see at a glance whether you are under, mid, or top of market.
• The counter: if you have an offer, we suggest roughly 12.5% above it — the midpoint of the classic 10–15% counter — capped at the top of the market band so your ask stays credible. No offer yet? We target the top of the band as your anchor, because anchoring high leaves room to settle strong.
• The scripts: three ready-to-send templates — a counter-offer email, a verbal anchor for the phone, and a fallback for when they say the budget is fixed — all pre-filled with your numbers.

These are directional benchmarks for a mid-level (3–5 years) technologist, not a guarantee — equity, bonuses, company stage, and your individual leverage all move the number. Use it to walk into the conversation with market data on your side.