Study Unveils America’s ‘Perfect’ Salary. What Does TR Do with That?

If compensation professionals in the U.S. were to gaze into a crystal ball to find the “perfect” salary, one figure might appear: $74,000.

That is the average pay amount needed to derive work happiness, according to a recent survey of 2,000 American adults by Talker Research for SurePayroll, an online payroll services company. The study also revealed that a quarter of the respondents are unhappy with their current income, and half cannot support their lifestyle on it. These financial challenges cause 26% of these workers to seek new day jobs and 69% to search for side hustles.

Despite this report, compensation experts caution total rewards (TR) professionals to take such salary-figure perfection with a grain of salt.

“As TR leaders work to elevate understanding and appreciation of pay and broader rewards, the data point suggesting $74,000 as ‘sufficient’ is worth noting — not because it should inform policy but because it reflects employee sentiment,” said Marta Turba, the vice president of content strategy at WorldatWork. “That sentiment matters, especially as we seek to build trust and transparency around compensation. The reality, however, is that sentiment is rarely the primary driver of wage-setting in most organizations. Compensation decisions are shaped by market data, internal equity, regulatory frameworks and business strategy — not just perceived sufficiency.”

Growing Workforce Dissatisfaction

Even though pay transparency laws have led organizations to publish more salary ranges publicly, employees remain perplexed about their compensation. They generally don’t always understand why they aren’t at the top of their pay bands, said Jonathan Cottrell, a consultant at Trusaic, a global pay equity and regulatory compliance software company. In addition, he said, employees are sharing with each other how much they are getting paid, leading them to question why some individuals who seem to be “similarly situated” are not paid the same amount.

At the same time, income inequality in the U.S. is as high as ever, Cottrell said, with rising inflation and increasing costs in healthcare, housing and childcare.

But the larger issue with pay dissatisfaction is the breakdown in communication and trust, said Lexi Clarke, the chief people officer at Payscale, a compensation software and data company.

Payscale’s 2025 Fair Pay Impact Report found two-thirds of polled workers think they’re underpaid, even when their compensation is at or above market rates. The report also showed employers overwhelmingly believe their employees trust their pay decisions, yet only two-thirds of workers believe they are being paid fairly, highlighting a disconnect between those groups.

“Employees are going to try to find information when it’s lacking,” Clarke said. “So, they’re going to use salary information from ChatGPT and TikTok, which means they’re going to get unrealistic expectations about what they should be earning. If organizations don’t shape the narrative around pay, employees are going to create their own story, and that story might not be accurate.”

Does the Perfect Salary Truly Exist?

In a quest to satisfy its current and prospective employees, one company in 2015 thought it had divined the perfect salary, and build strategies around it. The CEO of Gravity Payments, a credit card processing and financial services company, made the decision to cut his $1 million executive salary to pay all of his 120 employees a $70,000 minimum wage. The financial security employees experienced with this pay increase produced a variety of outcomes that are still present years later:

• Turnover dropped nearly 20% below its organizational average in the first year.
• Team members also increased 401(k) contributions 130% during the first year.
• More employees started families, bought homes and moved closer to work (reducing commute times and improving quality of life).
• Within six years, the company doubled its staff.
• The company’s turnover rate was cut in half, enabling the team to keep expertise, which led to improved client outcomes.
• During the pandemic, employees voluntarily took temporary pay cuts to keep the company afloat. When salaries returned to normal, the company repaid the lost wages.

The Gravity Payments story could be an anomaly, but it is an example of what happens when an employer sets a new wage to tap into employee satisfaction and help improve their quality of life.

“[The SurePayroll report] also underscored the rising importance of purpose-driven work,” Turba noted. “While side hustles may meet financial needs, they increasingly reflect a search for meaning and autonomy. For TR leaders, this presents a strategic opportunity: Those who can embed purpose into work design — not just compensation — will be better positioned to attract, engage and retain talent in a competitive landscape.”

Clarke added, “Employees don’t just want to know what their salary is. They want to understand why [it is that way]. They want the full picture of their total rewards package and the logic behind the numbers.”

To accomplish that, Clarke said organizations should:

• Walk employees through their job responsibilities.
• Share market rates for their industry and location.
• Explain how experience factors in their pay, and how performance impacts pay.
• Point to transparently sourced, reputable market data and clear criteria for compensation.
• Train managers in pay communication and provide them with talking points about their compensation philosophy.

“Organizations need to create a space where it is safe for employees to ask questions around pay and pay philosophy, and feel they are getting actual answers and not ‘corporate mumbo jumbo,’” Cottrell said.

He said it’s also important to remind employees of their TR packages and how they could be worth more than an employee’s base pay. These offerings may include:

• 401(k) matching
• Student loan assistance
• Financial literacy programs
• Commuter benefits
• Flexible spending accounts
• Emergency loans
• Health initiatives like low- or no-cost gym memberships

Set Expectations

An overall national benchmark — like a “perfect” salary — can be a good starting point, but it’s also important to dig deeper into specific hiring markets on a job-by-job basis, Clarke said.

“Show employees how their full compensation package stacks up. Help them see the impact of what you’re offering beyond their salary,” she said. “The companies that get personal with total rewards and communicate its value are the ones that gain the competitive advantage.”

Editor’s Note: Additional Content

For more information and resources related to this article, see the pages below, which offer quick access to all WorldatWork content on these topics:

• Employee Compensation
• Finance and Budgeting
• Total Rewards