Report · Money and Finance

A third call a $30,000 salary extreme underpayment for their job

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About a third of Americans (35%) call a $30,000 salary extreme underpayment for their current job, according to a Verasight survey conducted Aug. 20-25, 2025.

Nearly a quarter (24%) are not employed and about one-in-ten (11%) consider $30,000 fair pay. A further 10% rate it very unfair underpayment, with the remaining answers spread thinly across other degrees of under- and overpayment.

Topline

single choice

Topline distribution

A third call a $30,000 salary extreme underpayment for their job.

If you were paid each of the following for your current job, would you consider that to be: - $30,000

  • Extremely unfair underpayment 34.8%
  • I am not employed 24.0%
  • Fair pay 11.0%
  • Very unfair underpayment 10.4%
  • Somewhat unfair underpayment 9.5%
  • Slightly unfair underpayment 6.2%
  • Slightly unfair overpayment 1.7%
  • Very unfair overpayment 1.1%
  • Somewhat unfair overpayment 0.8%
  • Extremely unfair overpayment 0.5%

2025 · base n 1,000 · +/- 3.1%

ASA Omnibus Survey

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Methodology

Full methodology
Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting
Field dates
2025-08-20 → 2025-08-25
Base (unweighted)
1,000
Margin of error
+/- 3.1%
Module
ASA Omnibus Survey

Source

Citation

ASA Omnibus Survey, fielded August 20-25, 2025, N=1,000 United States adults, +/- 3.1%.

https://reports.verasight.io/r/asa-2025

Verasight survey methodology

How Verasight conducts surveys.

This page describes the Verasight general survey contract, separate from how the Data Library packages it. When a wave report is published, its field dates, sample sizes, and module breakdown are listed in that report.

Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting.
Population
US adults age 18+.
Sample design
Surveys are run as omnibus or single-topic waves. Omnibus waves are split into modules with their own respondent set, typically around one thousand respondents per module.
Field window
Each wave specifies its own field dates. Most omnibus waves field across roughly two weeks.
Weighting
Per-module weighting to CPS targets including age, race and ethnicity, sex, income, education, region, and metropolitan status.
Partisanship benchmark
Pew Research Center's NPORS benchmarking surveys, three-year running average.
Vote benchmark
2024 presidential vote population benchmarks.
Margin of error
Typically about plus or minus 3.4 to 3.6 percent per module at standard module sizes. Question-level MoE is recomputed when a base shrinks materially below the module baseline.
Reporting
The canonical report hub is reports.verasight.io. Verified legacy reports remain on their original hosts, and unpublished reports are marked pending.
Transparency
Verasight is a member of the American Association for Public Opinion Research Transparency Initiative.

The canonical report hub is reports.verasight.io; older reports may remain on verified legacy hosts.