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Turn a midpoint into a range you can defend, and a set of ranges into a grade structure with the overlap made visible. You supply the midpoint. Every number on this page is calculated in your browser and never leaves your device.
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A structure is more than arithmetic. It needs grades that match your jobs, a philosophy you can state out loud, and something in writing when someone asks why.
The table above will not tell you which jobs belong in which grade, what you say to the person whose salary now sits below a minimum, or how you defend the whole thing when a manager pushes back. That is the work Pay Structure Design does.
See Pay Structure DesignFormula used
Minimum = midpoint / ( 1 + range spread / 2 )
Maximum = minimum × ( 1 + range spread )
Next grade midpoint = current midpoint × ( 1 + midpoint progression )
Overlap = ( lower grade maximum - upper grade minimum ) / ( lower grade maximum - lower grade minimum ) × 100
Percentages are converted to decimals before the arithmetic runs, so a range spread of 50 percent enters the formula as 0.50 and a progression of 15 percent enters as 0.15.
Dividing the midpoint by one plus half the spread is what makes the midpoint land exactly halfway between the minimum and the maximum. That gives you a check you can run by hand. Add the minimum and the maximum, divide by two, and you get back the midpoint you entered. On a midpoint of 100,000 with a 50 percent spread, the minimum is 80,000, the maximum is 120,000, and 80,000 plus 120,000 divided by two is 100,000.
Range spread usually widens as jobs get more senior, because the gap between a capable performer and an exceptional one is wider at the top. A single spread applied to every grade is a simplification, and a reasonable place to start.
Overlap between adjacent grades is normal and useful. It means a strong performer in a lower grade can out earn a new starter in the grade above, which is usually correct. Very high overlap means your grades are not meaningfully different from each other.
The reverse can also happen. If the progression between midpoints is large relative to the spread, the grades pull apart and the overlap figure turns negative. That is not an error. It means there is a gap between the top of one grade and the bottom of the next, and nobody can move from one to the other without a jump in pay.
HRAnalyst does not publish salary data, so the midpoint you supply is what decides whether the structure this page builds around it is defensible.
What It Pays™ has government verified wage data by role and state, so you can look up a job and bring the midpoint back here. Organizations that need midpoints across the whole population rather than one job at a time can get them through an employer account.
Look up a midpoint at What It Pays™If you set the midpoint from your own payroll, you encode every existing problem into the structure. Whatever compression, favoritism or accident of hiring order got you here becomes the official target. The midpoint has to come from the market, not from the current spreadsheet.
A single spread is a fine starting point and it is what this page does. It is not where a finished structure usually lands. Senior roles tend to need wider ranges, because the difference between adequate and outstanding is worth more money at that level.
The moment a range is published, anyone paid below the minimum knows it, and so does anyone paid above the maximum. Decide in advance what you will do about both groups, how long it will take and what it costs. That decision is the structure. The arithmetic is the easy part.
The calculators and content on HRAnalyst are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute legal, tax, or accounting advice. Compensation and compliance obligations vary by jurisdiction. Consult qualified counsel before acting on any result.
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