Glossary · Compensation

Base Salary

Fixed annual cash compensation before bonuses or equity.

Definition

Base salary is the fixed, recurring cash compensation paid by an employer, excluding bonuses, equity, commissions, or benefits. It serves as the foundation for most compensation benchmarks and is the figure most negotiations focus on.

How SalaryScopePro uses this term

We surface base salary across salary results, occupation pages, city pages, and Premium Reports — with consistent definitions and methodology. See methodology and data sources for how the underlying numbers are computed.