When you read salary data on Get on Board, the standard deviation tells you how spread out the numbers are around the median. It is the difference between “everyone pays about the same” and “pay is all over the place”.
What the spread tells you
- Small standard deviation: salaries cluster tightly. The market agrees on what the role is worth, so there is little room to negotiate and little risk of being far off.
- Large standard deviation: salaries vary widely. The role may be loosely defined, or the market is fragmented — more negotiation room, but also more risk of overpaying or underpaying.
The median tells you the typical number; the standard deviation tells you how much to trust it as a single figure.
Why it matters for hiring
A wide spread is a signal to look closer before you anchor on one number. It often means seniority, stack, or scope are doing more work than the job title suggests. A tight spread means you can set a range with confidence and expect candidates to fall in line with it.
How Insights Pro shows this
Insights Pro reports include the standard deviation alongside the median in the salary distribution tables, so you can read the typical pay and its spread together rather than relying on a single number.
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