A 2025 study of nearly 3,858 job seekers found that those who countered their first offer averaged a 12.45% pay increase, worth about $27,000 a year in the sample. Most workers still never ask. Here is what the research says about why, and what changes the odds.
Only a minority of workers ever counter a job offer, but the ones who do tend to do dramatically better. A 2025 NBER working paper covered by UCLA Anderson Review tracked nearly 3,858 tech job seekers and found that those who countered their initial offer averaged a 12.45% increase in total compensation, worth roughly $27,000 a year in that sample. The math is not subtle. The problem is that almost nobody runs it.
Researchers from Harvard, Brown, and UCLA Anderson recruited job seekers on levels.fyi between May 2023 and February 2025 to test whether simple information changes negotiating behavior. One group received a short message before their job search: companies expect you to negotiate, most people who ask get at least some of what they ask for, and money left on the table compounds over a career. Months later, 82% of that group had received at least one offer. Among them, 61% countered the initial number, compared with 54% in a control group that got no message at all. The people who countered walked away with an average 12.45% increase in compensation terms, which for this sample of experienced tech workers translated to about $27,000 a year.
The gap between the two groups was not about skill or leverage. It was about whether someone had been told that negotiating was normal. That is the more useful finding than the raise itself. Most job seekers are not underqualified to negotiate. They are underinformed about how common and how safe it actually is.
Despite the upside, most people still take the number they are given. Pew Research surveyed 5,775 U.S. adults and found that only 32% of men and 28% of women said they asked for higher pay the last time they were hired. Separately, CareerBuilder found that 73% of employers say they are willing to negotiate an initial offer, while 55% of workers never ask in the first place. That is not a small mismatch. It means a majority of employers are sitting on room to move that a majority of candidates never test.
The reasons people give for not asking are consistent across every survey on the subject: discomfort with the conversation, fear that asking will cost them the offer entirely, and a wish not to come across as difficult before they have even started the job. Pew found that 38% of workers who did not negotiate said they simply were not comfortable asking, and that discomfort was highest among the youngest workers. Among those ages 18 to 29 who skipped negotiating, 46% cited discomfort as the reason, compared with just 19% of workers 65 and older.
The data on outcomes should reduce the discomfort. Among workers in the Pew survey who did ask for more, 28% got the exact number they requested, and another 38% got more than the original offer even if not the full ask. Only 35% asked and were told no. On the employer side, CareerBuilder's research found employers who avoid negotiating tend to be concentrated in high-turnover, part-time-heavy industries, not across the board. In white-collar and specialized roles, the room to negotiate is usually there because the employer already built it into the process.
The NBER study adds a sharper data point: the fear of losing an offer by countering is measured, and it is consistently smaller than candidates assume. A 2024 literature review in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes found that hiring managers withdraw offers after a counter far less often than job candidates believe they do. Candidates overestimate the risk of asking by a wide margin, which is exactly the kind of miscalibration a short, factual nudge can correct.
It is worth being direct about the current environment. The tech labor market softened after the study period ended, and recruiters have reported employers increasingly labeling a first offer as "best and final" to head off negotiation before it starts. That shift is real, and it means the safest opening move in 2026 is not an aggressive counter with no context, it is a specific, benchmarked ask paired with a clear reason: a competing offer, documented scope beyond the original job description, or market data for the role and location. None of that requires confrontation. It requires a number and a reason, delivered once, in writing if possible.
The mechanics that show up across the research are simple. Get the offer in writing before responding to anything verbally. Take at least a day before countering, even if you already know your number, since urgency favors the employer, not you. Anchor your ask to a specific figure rather than a vague range, and back it with one piece of evidence, whether that is a competing offer, a documented pay range for the role, or the scope of responsibilities discussed in later interview rounds. If the salary itself is genuinely fixed, negotiate something else: start date, signing bonus, vacation accrual, or a defined review date at six months rather than twelve. Employers who cannot move on base pay can often move on everything around it.
Should I always negotiate a job offer?
Yes, in nearly every case where the offer is for a full-time or specialized role. The data consistently shows more upside than downside: most negotiators get at least some increase, and outright offer rescissions after a reasonable counter are rare.
What percentage of people negotiate their salary?
Roughly 3 in 10 U.S. workers say they asked for higher pay the last time they were hired, according to Pew Research. The majority accept the first number.
Will a company pull a job offer if I try to negotiate?
It is far less common than candidates fear. Research on the topic finds that hiring managers rescind offers after a counter much less frequently than job seekers assume, especially when the counter is specific and reasonable rather than open-ended.
How much of a raise can I actually expect if I negotiate?
There is no universal number, but a 2025 study of experienced tech candidates found an average 12.45% increase in total compensation among those who countered their initial offer.
Does salary negotiation work for entry-level jobs, not just senior roles?
Yes, though the dynamics differ. Entry-level negotiation is more often about start date, signing bonus, or review timeline than base salary, since entry-level bands tend to be tighter. It is still worth asking.
What if the recruiter says the offer is final?
Ask what flexibility exists outside of base pay. Recruiters who say the number is fixed will often still move on start date, one-time bonuses, or remote work terms, since those levers do not require reopening the salary band.
The negotiation only happens once you have an offer in hand, and getting there starts with a resume that reflects the strongest version of your case, not a generic one. PatchWork builds that resume from your complete career history rather than a single upload, so the case you walk into the offer stage with already reflects the full scope of what you have done, which is exactly the leverage a counter depends on.