Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA
Business Plan Writer & Financial Projections
What Is the Market Rate for a Job, and How Do You Find It?
If You Do Not Know the Going Rate, Your Competitor Does.
You set wages based on what you paid last time, or what someone asked for. Then a competitor posts a job for more than your manager makes, and you find out the hard way what the market pays. Business plan writer Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA, shows you how to find the market rate for a job and use it in your pay ranges and projections.
Last Updated: 11/08/2026 · Written by Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA
The Definition
What Is the Market Rate for a Job?
Short Answer
The market rate for a job is the going pay for similar work at other employers in your area. It is one of the two inputs for setting a pay range, alongside what the role is worth to your business. Market rates come from local job postings, nearby employers, industry surveys, and government wage data, and must also respect any legal minimum wage.
Pay range = what the job is worth to you, checked against what similar jobs pay nearby
Doctor Owl, in Plain English
“Before you answer him, find out what the inn and the bakery pay a cook, and what Jade’s bars are offering managers. Then set your range.”
How This Guide Works
Need the answer fast? Read the Short Answer above and the numbered steps. Want the full picture? Follow Frankie, a fox with four pizza trucks from Dr. Paul’s Fabled Forest Business School Series, as his manager sees a competitor’s ad offering more than he earns. His story shows up in a few short gold notes along the way. The math sits in one section, clearly marked.
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Meet Frankie: A Fox Who Never Checked the Market
Some lessons stick better as a story. Dr. Paul’s Fabled Forest Business School Series teaches business through a forest full of small business owners. Doctor Owl, a dry-witted consultant who lives in the Lone Oak, helps them fix the same problems real owners face.
Today he is in Fast Frankie’s office when Marco, who runs all four trucks, brings in a sheet of every wage on the payroll. Frankie set each one the day someone was hired or asked. Then Marco puts a notice beside it: Jade’s bars want bar managers at 26 a week. Marco runs four trucks and a restaurant for 24.
Why It Matters
Why Should a Small Business Know the Market Rate?
Pay set without checking the market drifts. Some people end up underpaid and leave for a competitor. Others are overpaid for their role, which makes it hard to pay fairly elsewhere.
The market rate anchors your pay ranges to reality and gives you a defensible reason for every number. It also keeps your projections honest.
In the Fabled Forest
Frankie’s manager earned 24 a week. Jade’s bars were offering 26 to run one bar. Marco ran four trucks and a restaurant.
Find It
How Do You Find the Market Rate for a Job?
- Read local job postings. Similar titles and duties, in your area, this year.
- Ask nearby employers. Many owners will share ranges, especially outside your industry.
- Check government wage data. Occupational wage surveys by area are free.
- Check the legal floor. Your state’s minimum wage, such as Florida’s minimum wage.
- Compare duties, not just titles. A manager at one business may do far more than at another.
In the Fabled Forest
When Frankie and Marco set ranges, they used what the forest already paid. Drivers: what Dani paid hers and what the coast paid for a cart. Skilled jobs: what a skilled worker had earned in the forest for as long as anyone could remember. Manager: starting at Jade’s posted offer.
Use It
How Do You Use Market Rates in Your Business Plan?
Set each role’s range around the market rate, then place each person inside it based on experience and performance. In your projections, budget at a realistic point in the range and plan raises over time.
Revisit the market rate once a year, or whenever a key person mentions a competing offer. See budgeting to fit payroll into the full picture.
In the Fabled Forest
Marco moved to 28, inside the new manager range of 26 to 30. The raises across the team added about 10 coins a week, roughly 520 a year, less than one bad week of losing Marco would have cost.
The Numbers
How Did the Market Change the Ranges?
Here are the ranges Frankie set after checking what the forest paid, in coins a week.
| Level | Market check | Range set |
|---|---|---|
| Drivers | What other haulers and coast carts pay | 12 to 15 |
| Skilled (ovens, register, cooks) | The forest’s long-standing skilled wage | 20 to 25 |
| Manager | Competitor posting at 26 | 26 to 30 |
Step 1: Find the gap. Manager at 24 versus a posted 26: 2 below market.
Step 2: Set the range around the market. 26 to 30, with Marco placed at 28 for experience.
Step 3: Your version. For each role, list three market data points, set a range around them, and compare with what each person earns now.
Illustrative numbers in forest coins, from the book. Use current local data for your area.
Step by Step
How Do You Set Wages Using Market Rates?
Four steps, about an afternoon of research.
List every role with its real duties.
Not just titles.
Gather three market data points per role.
Postings, nearby employers, and government wage data.
Set a range around the market.
Respecting any legal minimum.
Place people and plan raises.
Inside the range, with a yearly check.
In the Fabled Forest
Doctor Owl’s advice to Frankie was to sort the jobs into groups, give each group a range, and tell everyone where they stand.
Frankie’s Full Story
What Did Marco’s Sheet Show?
This page gives you the short version. The book gives you the whole conversation: a marten with a payroll sheet and his ring of keys, Jade’s notice for bar managers, a cook who never asked, and three ranges on the kitchen wall.
Every chapter of Human Resources for Small Businesses works the same way. One owner, one problem, one real idea you can use on Monday, plus a one-page worksheet to do it.
A Business Plan Writer’s View
What Does a Plan Writer Use to Set Wages in Projections?
Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA · Business Plan Writer
In projections, Dr. Paul sets wages from local market data, not from what the owner hopes to pay. He documents the source for each role, places the budgeted wage at a realistic point in the range, and builds in raises. Lenders compare payroll against industry norms, and a plan with wages well below market raises questions about turnover. A plan that shows market-based ranges, with a note on the data used, reads as an owner who will keep good people. It also prevents a common surprise: discovering after funding that the business cannot hire at the wage the plan assumed.
FAQ
What Do Owners Ask About Going Rates?
What is the market rate for a job?
How do I find market rates for my employees?
Do I have to pay the market rate?
Keep Going
Where Can You Learn More About Fair Pay?
This term comes from Book 8, Human Resources for Small Businesses. New to a term on this page? Every one is in the human resources glossary.
Written by Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA, business consultant and author with 14+ years of experience and 1,000+ clients served. Need your staffing and payroll written up for a lender? See business plan writing services.
This page is for general educational purposes only. It is not legal, financial, employment, or other professional advice. Figures are illustrations. The Fabled Forest and its characters are fictional. For decisions about your own business, consult a qualified professional.