Advertised pay for the same jobs did not move in the third quarter of 2026. Across 406 job titles with enough postings in both quarters to compare fairly, the SalaryCube US Advertised Pay Index was unchanged at 0.0% quarter over quarter. With Q2 2026 set to 100, the Index stands at 100.0 for Q3 2026.
The Index is the like-for-like number from SalaryCube Data Lab. It holds the job mix constant, so it answers the question comp teams actually ask: is the market paying more for this role than it was three months ago? This quarter the answer is no. It is computed from advertised pay in US employer job postings in the job-postings layer of SalaryCube's Bigfoot Live engine. It is what employers are offering, not what current employees are paid, and nothing here is a forecast.
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Key fact
Q3 2026 at a glance
| Measure | Q3 2026 | Note |
|---|---|---|
| US Advertised Pay Index (Q2 2026 = 100) | 100.0 | first quarterly reading |
| Matched-title change, quarter over quarter | 0.0% | 406 titles, 145,921 current-quarter postings |
| Raw median advertised base pay, US | $71,136 | -8.8% from $78,000 (composition effect) |
| Postings quoting an hourly or periodic rate | 51.5% | the main driver of the raw-median drop |
| Sectors with enough volume to compare | 17 | 10 flat, 5 up, 2 down |
Current quarter: July 3 through September 30, 2026. Prior quarter: April 4 through July 2, 2026. Sample: 857,229 deduplicated pay-bearing US job postings from 94,588 employers.
What is the SalaryCube US Advertised Pay Index?
The Index tracks the change in advertised pay for the same job titles from one quarter to the next. For every normalized job title with at least 100 postings from at least 10 employers in both quarters, SalaryCube computes the change in that title's median advertised pay. The Index change is the median of those title-level changes, weighted by each title's posting count in the earlier quarter. Each quarter's change is chained onto the last, starting from Q2 2026 = 100.
A raw median moves whenever the mix of jobs being posted changes. The Index does not, which is why it is the number to quote for market movement. Both figures are published together so the difference is visible.
Did advertised pay go up or down in Q3 2026?
Neither, for the same jobs. The Index held at 0.0%. The raw national median fell from $78,000 to $71,136, a drop of 8.8%, but that drop came from what was posted, not what was paid: hourly and periodic-rate roles made up 51.5% of pay-bearing postings this quarter, and those roles sit at the low end of the annualized pay distribution.
For context, the August 2026 monthly report, which covered a window ending August 24, measured matched-title pay at +0.5%. Over the two readings, the like-for-like trend is flat to slightly positive.
Which sectors moved in Q3 2026?
Very few. Across 17 sectors with enough postings from enough employers in both quarters to compare, 10 were exactly flat on a matched-title basis.
| Sector | Matched-title change | Titles compared |
|---|---|---|
| Aerospace & Defense | +6.0% | 20 |
| Manufacturing & Industrial | +1.9% | 50 |
| Technology & Software | +1.8% | 123 |
| Nonprofit & Social Services | +0.9% | 11 |
| Consumer & Personal Services | +0.8% | 34 |
| Transportation & Logistics | -0.2% | 27 |
| Retail & Consumer Goods | -0.3% | 67 |
The 10 flat sectors were Agriculture, Food & Beverage Production; Automotive & Mobility; Construction & Trades; Education; Financial Services & Insurance; Healthcare & Life Sciences; Hospitality, Food Service & Travel; Professional & Business Services; Real Estate & Property; and Staffing & Recruiting. Aerospace & Defense is the one clear riser, though it rests on 20 matched titles, so read it as directional. Sectors are classified at the employer level, covering 99.9% of postings this quarter.
What should comp teams do with a flat Index?
Treat it as permission to hold, not a signal to cut. A flat Index means employers are advertising the same pay for the same roles they did a quarter ago. Teams setting 2027 merit budgets or refreshing ranges this fall should not expect the posting market to justify broad structure increases, and they should not read a falling raw median as evidence that market pay is dropping. The exceptions are role-specific: check the roles you hire most against live data rather than applying a national number. Teams can price any role against the same dataset in Bigfoot Live.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the US Advertised Pay Index for Q3 2026?
The SalaryCube US Advertised Pay Index for Q3 2026 is 100.0, with Q2 2026 set to 100. Advertised pay for 406 matched job titles was flat, 0.0% quarter over quarter, based on 857,229 US job postings from 94,588 employers between July 3 and September 30, 2026.
Why did the median advertised salary fall if the Index was flat?
The raw median fell 8.8% to $71,136 because the mix of postings shifted toward hourly roles, which made up 51.5% of pay-bearing postings. When the comparison is limited to the same job titles in both quarters, pay did not change. The Index measures the like-for-like change; the raw median measures the mix.
How often is the Index published?
Quarterly, in the month after each quarter ends. SalaryCube Data Lab also publishes a monthly US Advertised Pay Report with the full set of statistics, including range share, hourly share, remote pay, and state cuts. The latest is the October 2026 report.
How to cite the Index
Cite as: SalaryCube Data Lab, "SalaryCube US Advertised Pay Index, Q3 2026," salarycube.com/data-lab. Figures may be republished with attribution and a link. All releases and citation guidance live on the Data Lab hub.
Where do these numbers come from?
All figures are advertised pay from US employer job postings, computed from the job-postings layer of SalaryCube's Bigfoot Live engine. The current quarter is the 90 days ending September 30, 2026, and the prior quarter is the 90 days before it. Postings with the same title, employer, location, and pay figures are counted once. Hourly and other periodic rates are annualized at 2,080 hours, and the midpoint of a stated range is used. An outlier fence removes mis-parsed figures. A title enters the Index only with at least 100 postings from at least 10 employers in both quarters, and no single employer may contribute more than half of a published figure. Titles are normalized by lowercasing and removing punctuation; no manual mapping is applied. Full definitions are on the data methodology page.
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