Salary Negotiation:

[BDBohnzie]

Some definite sound advice here.

If the median salary is $40-55k, I'd think about the lowest amount you are willing to take as an offer, and bump it up about $5k. That'll give them some leeway, and assure that you aren't taking anything below your bottom line.

And since you are in the DC area, most firms know that they are going to have to pay top dollar to keep recruits. If the median is $40-55k, they probably already have the higher end of that scale in mind when hiring for this position.

To be comfortable, I'd budget it out your monthly expenses, and then figure out what your monthly income would be at various ranges. This will also allow you to figure out how much you can contribute to 401K, savings, etc. I wish I had contributed more when I was living at home and had the chance to...