← HR Metrics·Compensation & Benefits
Range Spread
Width of a pay range as a percentage of its minimum. Benchmarks by level: ~20-25% production, 30-40% clerical/technical, 40-50% professional/mid-mgmt, 50%+ managerial/exec; broadbands >80%.
How it’s computed
(max - min) / min
What the evidence shows
Evidence (effect sizes, priors, validity) is syncing from Principia.
Run it on your data
This metric is computed in the People Analytics Toolbox on your own numbers. See pricing — posted, no quotes.
sources: toolbox:metrics-catalog
What the literature says
The measurement literature behind this signal — sourced, so you can defend it.
“PAY RANGES AND RANGE SPREADSA “pay range” has a minimum pay value, a maximum pay value, and a midpoint or central value. The difference between the maximum and the minimum is the “range spread,” or the “width” of the range. Range width usually is expressed as a percentage of the…”
— Worldatwork Handbook Compensationmatch 76%
“You manage your offers to new candidates, promotions, and everything in between by using that midpoint as your guiding light. Therefore, because each level of an individual job will be paid less than the next level, if you draw a line between your midpoints for a job from level…”
— Pay Mattersmatch 64%
“In this example we will choose a 50% range spread. We first create a midpoint that is equal to the aged survey median. Then we create the minimum and maximum using the formulas below. [image "equation" file=Image00375.gif] TABLE 15.2 EMPLOYEE SALARIES AND MARKET-BASED SALARY…”
— Statistics for Compensationmatch 63%
Resources: Worldatwork Handbook Compensation · Pay Matters · Statistics for Compensation