Should I counter the job offer?

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Short version
Who it's for
What to do
Your options
How much to counter
Beliefs checked
Questions to ask

The short version

If you have a firm offer, the evidence leans toward countering, politely.

Harvard's Program on Negotiation, summarizing the 2024 Hart, Bear and Ren research, says that when offers were withdrawn, it was not typically because the candidate asked for more; it often followed rude or inappropriate behavior. In the 2024 Hart, Bear and Ren research, hiring managers reported that, on average, 1.73 of the 26.9 offers they had made in their careers were withdrawn after a candidate negotiated. That count covers all the offers they made, not only ones where someone negotiated, so it is not your own odds.

In the 2025 NBER tech study of US job seekers paid $217,000 to $221,000 a year on average, 48.2% of those who negotiated an offer said their compensation went up. That sample was highly paid, so it may not describe lower-paid jobs.

The risk is not zero, so our advice is to ask for the offer in writing first, though no evidence we hold shows that this prevents a withdrawal.

Who this is for

You have a job offer, and you're deciding whether to ask for more, in pay or in other terms such as time off. You don't want to lose the offer by asking. This guide does not cover an offer your current employer makes to keep you from leaving.

What to do this week (our advice)

Ask for the offer in writing before you counter. If they won't write it until you agree, ask them to confirm the numbers by email, and counter knowing a verbal offer may be easier to withdraw (see the questions below).
Look up the pay range for the role in the job posting. In California, as an applicant you can also make a reasonable request to the employer for the position's pay scale (see below). Treat any range, from the posting or the employer, as an estimate rather than a promise.
Counter politely, preferably with a modest range starting at your target rather than one ambitious number, since ambitious openings raise the chance of an impasse, meaning talks that end with no deal (see "How much should I counter" below). Keep the relationship good. One way to say it: "I'm glad to have this offer, and I'd like to talk about a salary of $70,000 to $75,000; is there room?"
If another offer might really be coming, say so honestly, and don't claim one you don't have.
If you need more time, ask for an extension rather than answering in a rush.
If pay won't move, ask about other terms such as schedule, vacation or remote days (option 3).
If they say no, ask whether the offer still stands; if it does, you can still accept it.
Keep your other applications going, even once you have an offer. Don't turn down other options until the offer is in writing, since a verbal offer may be easier to withdraw. Don't resign from a current job on a verbal offer.

Your options, and what each one costs

1. Accept the offer as it is

What happens. You say yes and the process ends.

What it gives. Certainty, and a quick close. Our advice is that this fits when the pay is fixed or the offer already sits high in the posted range.

What it gives up. Possibly some money. People who countered saw an average rise of about 12.45% over their first offer, about $27,000 a year in that highly paid sample (UCLA Anderson's brief on the 2025 NBER tech study, which surveyed people months later). A caution from us: people who choose to counter may differ from those who don't, so this average may not be what you would give up by accepting.

What the evidence says. In the 2024 Hart, Bear and Ren research, nearly half of the candidates accepted the offer as it stood because they were worried about losing the deal. About 60% of US workers said they did not try to negotiate for higher pay when they were offered a job (a 2023 Pew Research Center survey, cited by Harvard's Program on Negotiation).

2. Counter on pay

What happens. You ask for more than the number offered.

What it gives. A real chance of more pay. In the 2025 NBER tech study by Cullen, Pakzad-Hurson and Perez-Truglia, 47.6% of US tech job seekers with an offer tried to negotiate. Of those who tried, 48.2% said their compensation went up (the same 2025 NBER tech study).

What it gives up. A small risk of the offer being withdrawn. If your ask is ambitious, also a higher chance of no deal:

Nearly 1,500 employers surveyed said they had withdrawn about 6% of all the offers they had made over their careers (the 2024 Hart, Bear and Ren research, as Harvard's Program on Negotiation summarizes it).
Harvard's Program on Negotiation says those withdrawals often happened because the candidate behaved rudely or inappropriately, not typically because the candidate asked for more.
In the 2025 NBER tech study, 36.5% of participants answered an open question about backlash; of those, 1.9% said they experienced it, including some whose offers were rescinded after negotiating.
Ambitious first offers led to better deals than moderate ones, but also to more impasses and worse feelings on the other side (a meta-analysis, meaning a study combining other studies, of 90 negotiation studies, titled "The power and peril of first offers in negotiations", page read October 2026).

What the evidence says. A message encouraging people to negotiate raised the share who tried from 53.7%, among those who did not get the message, to 61.0% (the 2025 NBER tech study's experiment). In that 2025 NBER experiment, the message also raised the share reporting a compensation gain from 30.3% to 36.8%. The authors of the 2025 NBER tech study found no sign that the extra negotiating hurt acceptance, job fit, satisfaction or perceived backlash.

3. Ask for other terms instead of, or as well as, pay

What happens. You ask about things such as a flexible schedule, more vacation or remote days.

What it gives. Another thing to ask for when pay won't move. In a 2013 CareerBuilder survey reported by ERE, a majority of employers said they were willing to offer alternatives, including a flexible schedule (33%), more vacation (19%) and working from home at least once a week (15%).

What it gives up. Some hiring managers have nothing else to offer: 38% of hiring managers said they would not be able to provide anything else to sweeten the job offer (the 2013 CareerBuilder survey reported by ERE).

What the evidence says. Changes in non-pay terms are much rarer than changes in compensation, the authors of the 2025 NBER tech study say. Gap: we hold no study of whether asking for time off or other terms, rather than pay, changes the chance an offer is withdrawn.

How much should I counter a job offer?

On the evidence we hold, a reasonable counter offer starts from the figure you want and stretches a little higher. If your ideal salary is $70,000, your best bet is a range of $70,000 to $75,000, says the 2015 Association for Psychological Science summary of Ames and Mason's experiments.

The best of these ranges typically span 5% to 20% above the base figure (Harvard's Program on Negotiation, summarizing the same 2015 Ames and Mason work). In Ames and Mason's work, a bolstering range puts your own target at the low end and extends upward (Harvard's Program on Negotiation, on their 2015 study).

Range offers can backfire when unreasonably high, and a range that is too wide can limit its effect (the 2015 Association for Psychological Science summary). Jumping to a more ambitious single figure did not yield better final agreements, and was far more likely to end in impasse than other types of offers, including those ranges (Harvard's Program on Negotiation, on Ames and Mason's experiments).

Our reading: the meta-analysis of 90 negotiation studies in option 2 found that ambitious first offers got better deals, which may seem to contradict this, but it compared ambitious with moderate first offers, while the summaries of Ames and Mason compare single figures with ranges. Gap: this research tests opening offers in negotiation experiments. We hold no test of how much to counter once an employer has named a number, and none on real job offers.

Two popular beliefs, checked

"Negotiating gets the offer withdrawn"

Rarely, but not never. On average, hiring managers said 1.73 of the 26.9 offers they had made in their careers were withdrawn after a candidate negotiated (the 2024 Hart, Bear and Ren research). Withdrawals often followed rude or inappropriate behavior, not typically a request for more (Harvard's Program on Negotiation, summarizing that 2024 Hart, Bear and Ren research). Gap: these figures count all the offers those managers made, not only offers where the candidate negotiated, so we hold no rate of withdrawal per negotiation and they are not your own odds.

Candidates expect a withdrawal more often than hiring managers say it happens. Job candidates consistently overestimated the chance that negotiating would cost them the deal, compared with what hiring professionals reported (the 2024 Hart, Bear and Ren research, seven studies with 3,338 participants). Candidates judged withdrawal 33% more likely than hiring managers did (the 2024 Hart, Bear and Ren research, as Harvard's Program on Negotiation summarizes it).

There is a legitimate risk that negotiating can jeopardize the deal, but the research suggests candidates can often get better outcomes by negotiating, at least if they keep the relationship good (George Mason University's summary of the 2024 Hart, Bear and Ren research).

"85% of people who counter get something"

True of one survey's question; a different study, asking a different question, found 48.2%. 85% of those who countered on salary, other pay or benefits said they got at least some of what they asked for (a 2022 Fidelity survey of 1,524 US working adults, reported by CNBC). 48.2% of US tech job seekers who negotiated said their compensation went up (the 2025 NBER tech study).

Both numbers are people's own reports, but they ask different people different questions. Neither number is your odds: one counts any partial win, in pay or benefits, among US working adults; the other counts a compensation gain among tech job seekers.

Questions to ask yourself

Is the offer in writing? If not, our advice is to ask for it in writing, knowing the employer may wait. About 40% of offers in the 2025 NBER tech study were verbal. The authors of the 2025 NBER tech study say this may make negotiating riskier, because employers can withdraw a verbal offer more easily. Those authors also call it consistent with anecdotal reports that employers often make verbal offers first, and put them in writing only once they believe the candidate is prepared to accept. Gap: we hold no official statement of when an employer may lawfully withdraw a job offer. Your state's labor agency or an employment lawyer can tell you how your state treats it.
Do I know what the job pays? Our advice is to check the posting first, and in California you can also ask the employer. In California, upon reasonable request, an employer must give an applicant the pay scale for a position they are applying for (California's Labor Commissioner's Office, page read November 2026). In California, an employer with 15 or more employees must include the pay scale in any job posting (the same office). That office defines pay scale as a good faith (honest) estimate of the salary or hourly wage range the employer reasonably expects to pay upon hire. In New York, Labor Law section 194-B requires businesses with 4 or more employees to list compensation ranges for designated job opportunities (the New York State Department of Labor, page read October 2026). The New York State Department of Labor says the law also prohibits retaliating against applicants who request this information. Gap: we have not checked every state's pay range rules, and we hold no checked way to look up market pay for your role. Your state's labor agency can tell you its rules. Reported pay was inside the posted range in 67% of listings, below it in 22% and above it in 11% (a 2024 Glassdoor analysis of 147,568 US job listings).
Do I have another offer, or might I? If one might really come, our advice is to say so honestly and not to claim one you don't have. People who might be getting an alternative offer felt more powerful and performed better in negotiations than people with no alternative at all (a study by Pinkley, Vandewalle, Kuenzi and Conlon, reported by the University of Delaware in 2019). Sawyer and Sleesman caution that you should be realistic and honest when you mention an offer that may come (the University of Delaware's 2019 report). Gap: we hold no test of mentioning another offer on real job offers.
Are they pressing me to decide? If so, our advice is that you can still ask, politely, for more time or about other terms. Jane Street, on its own recruiting page (page read October 2026), advises candidates facing an exploding offer (an offer with a deadline meant to rush your answer) to ask for an extension. Recruiters noticed more employers calling their first offer "best and final" from May 2025 to head off negotiations (a UCLA Anderson research brief, citing Wall Street Journal reporting). Our advice is not to treat the phrase alone as proof there is no room. Gap: we hold no figure for how often employers grant an extension, or for how often a "best and final" offer really is final.
Does being a woman change the risk? In experiments, yes. In 2007 work by Bowles, Babcock and Lai, where people judged written accounts of candidates, evaluators penalized women more than men for asking for higher pay. Men achieved better economic negotiation outcomes than women on average, but the difference shrank with negotiation experience or information on the bargaining range (a 2015 meta-analysis by Mazei and colleagues of 10,888 students and businesspeople). Our advice is to find out the pay range before you counter. Gap: we hold no test of what reduces the extra penalty women face on real job offers.
Am I mid-career, or outside tech? If your job's pay is set, as is common in union and government work, there may be less to bargain over. Our advice is to ask whether the pay is fixed. The 2025 NBER tech study's sample of US tech job seekers averaged 31 years of age, seven years' experience and annual compensation of $217,000 to $221,000. That 2025 NBER tech study's sample was recruited from May 2023 to February 2025. Union members and government workers were highly likely to hold jobs with a set pay, and college graduates and people with professional training were rather unlikely to (Hall and Krueger's survey of about 1,400 recently hired US workers, year not confirmed, page read October 2026). Bargaining appears to be a limited factor in setting wages overall (an NBER paper on people with two jobs in Washington State, year not confirmed, page read October 2026). In that Washington State paper, better pay at a person's other job led to higher wages among the top quarter of earners, but not lower down the pay scale. Gap: we hold no measure of pay gains from countering for candidates in their forties and older, or outside tech.

How we checked this: this page is the output of a rigorous research pipeline run with AI tools: every factual sentence rests on a finding checked against the source's own words, and a person approved the page before it went up. How we check our facts. Updated November 12, 2026. This page is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice.