2026 SALARY & HIRING GUIDE

What the market
actually pays.

Good hiring decisions start with accurate data. Whether you are building a team or evaluating your next move, this guide gives you salary benchmarks across six industries, regional adjustments for your market, and hiring intelligence grounded in real placement activity. Built to help you move forward with confidence.

Access the Full Guide
2026 U.S. Salary and Hiring Guide report preview showing national benchmarks and hiring intelligence

6.5M

open positions across the U.S. as of December 2025

181K

total jobs added in all of 2025

1.9M

professionals actively evaluating their next move

 15K 

average monthly job gains in 2025

SALARY BENCHMARKS 2026

A preview of what's inside.

Each industry section includes national entry, mid, and senior salary ranges alongside city-level adjustments for 18+ U.S. markets. The data is grounded in BLS occupational wage statistics and informed by what we see happening in searches right now.

Accounting
A decade-long CPA pipeline decline means credentialed professionals are harder to find even as overall applicant volume grows.
Senior Accountant: $85K – $125K
Unlock full benchmarks →
Banking
Commercial lending demand is intensifying. With 40% of mid-market clients now multi-banked, experienced lenders are the most contested hire in the sector.
VP Commercial Banking: $110K – $250K+
Unlock full benchmarks →
Construction
92% of construction firms are struggling to fill positions. Superintendents are frequently below market by $15K–$30K at firms that have not reviewed pay recently.
Senior Project Manager: $165K – $220K+
Unlock full benchmarks →
Civil Engineering
There is more funded infrastructure work than firms have leadership to execute. Licensed PEs earn roughly $40K more in median income than non-licensed peers.
Senior Civil Engineer (PE): $120K – $220K
Unlock full benchmarks →
Insurance
Standard roles are contracting as automation absorbs volume. Specialty underwriters, catastrophe analysts, and compliance leads sit open the longest.
Senior Underwriter: $125K – $210K
Unlock full benchmarks →
Legal
Lawyer unemployment was just 0.8% in 2025. Lateral associate hiring jumped 25% in 2024, and attrition climbed to 20%, erasing most of the gain.
BigLaw 1st-Year Associate: $225K+
Unlock full benchmarks →
Full salary tables across all six industries.Entry, mid, and senior ranges with city-level adjustments for 18+ U.S. markets. Free to download.
Download the Full Guide

"The single most common reason strong candidates accept a competing offer is not compensation. It is speed"

2026 U.S. SALARY & HIRING GUIDE  ·  THE AGENCY RECRUITING

FROM THE FIELD

Hiring intelligence from real searches.

The data tells you what the market looks like from the outside. These are the patterns that only become visible from inside an active search.

On Search Timelines
"Searches die from misalignment, not compensation."
When a search falls apart at the offer stage, compensation is usually cited as the reason. In most cases the number isn't the real issue. Lack of alignment on what the role requires and what success looks like is what causes the breakdown.
On Candidate Behavior
"By the second interview, most candidates have already decided."
Candidates form opinions from the first interaction: how the call was handled, how quickly someone followed up, how clearly the role was described. The formal evaluation is often secondary to that first impression.
On Mid-Level Roles
"Those candidates are not under pressure to move."
Mid-level searches run the longest. The senior accountant, the experienced PM, the commercial lender with a book of business: they're fielding multiple conversations and weighing growth and culture just as seriously as compensation.
On Employer Leverage
"More applicants does not give employers the edge they think it does."
When employers believe they have the upper hand, the strongest candidates read it quickly and disengage first. The applicant pool may be larger, but the candidates who would have made the best hires are often the first to move on.
Recruiter marking hiring markets on a map across the United States 
GEOGRAPHIC COVERAGE

National data. Local benchmarks.

The guide covers role-by-role salary benchmarks in every market below, alongside hiring trend analysis and local wage data specific to each region.

Dallas TX Houston TX Austin TX Killeen / Temple TX Atlanta GA Charlotte NC Raleigh NC Nashville TN Tampa FL Jacksonville FL Denver CO Phoenix AZ Sioux Falls SD Columbus OH Cleveland OH Cincinnati OH Indianapolis IN Birmingham AL
View Our Markets 
FREE GUIDE

Get the full 2026 guide.

Role-by-role salary tables, regional adjustments, and hiring intelligence grounded in real search activity. No cost, no obligation.