How to Use pay grade in a Sentence

pay grade

noun
  • That one is above my pay grade.
    — Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 19 Jan. 2026
  • That is a topic above my pay grade!
    — Brendan Ahern, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025
  • Anything else is above my pay grade.
    — Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 19 Dec. 2025
  • Anyway, that's above my pay grade.
    — Rebecca Aizin, PEOPLE, 29 Jan. 2026
  • Above my pay grade, but at what point do schools and coaches say enough is enough?
    — Ryan Canfield, FOXNews.com, 23 Jan. 2026
  • But that’s above my pay grade, certainly.
    — Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 8 Sep. 2025
  • Well, there are a lot of forces well beyond my control and pay grade that determine all that.
    — Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 17 Nov. 2025
  • Only Hawaii’s wages don’t qualify at this pay grade.
    — Jonathan Lansner, Oc Register, 29 Sep. 2025
  • But that failure has happened a bit too often for a quarterback in his pay grade.
    — Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 14 Sep. 2025
  • Volunteers can be from any pay grade, Bhattacharya noted in his email.
    — Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 27 May 2026
  • Tell her that her relationship machinations are above your pay grade.
    — Harriette Cole, Mercury News, 27 Nov. 2025
  • Because clearly there were forces at work on Saturday night well above the head coach’s pay grade.
    — Pete Sampson, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2025
  • Even if most of that new work was beneath their pay grade, the number of complex projects also exploded.
    — Rob Collie, Fortune, 29 May 2026
  • Store managers by and large received them warmly but said that sourcing decisions were above their pay grade.
    — Ashley Miznazi, Miami Herald, 4 May 2026
  • Store managers by and large received them warmly but said that sourcing decisions were above their pay grade.
    — Ashley Miznazi, Miami Herald, 2 May 2026
  • The Navy later followed up with a letter saying his retirement pay grade would be re-evaluated.
    — Sarah N. Lynch, CBS News, 3 Feb. 2026
  • Atop the ladder, pay grade filters keep leaders/owners/commissioners from seeing and hearing clearly.
    — Rick Burton, Sportico.com, 3 Sep. 2019
  • The abusive father and violent end were a little above our collective pay grade, and paired very poorly with tea and Girl Scout cookies.
    — Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 8 Sep. 2025
  • This is a decision above my pay grade that must be made by whoever is in charge this coming offseason, Aukerman politely declined to answer.
    — Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 18 Dec. 2025
  • President Masoud Pezeshkian has no real solutions as the country’s problems are well above his pay grade and lie with the supreme leader and the structure of the system.
    — Washington Post, 5 Jan. 2026
  • Remaining employees then absorb responsibilities that exceed their job descriptions and pay grades, often leading to burnout.
    — Sharon Wu, USA Today, 12 Sep. 2025
  • This is all well above the figurative pay grade of Dunk, a simple, hulking youth who grew up squiring for Ser Arlan of Pennytree (Danny Webb).
    — Judy Berman, Time, 13 Jan. 2026
  • The result is a transparent and data-supported pay grade framework that helps teams implement structured compensation systems and communicate decisions with greater clarity.
    — Matt Emma, USA Today, 22 Apr. 2026
  • That's a shockingly reasonable pay grade for someone with the power to hit 30 homers, so even if the Dodgers were looking to slash payroll, that wouldn't necessarily be their primary motivation here.
    — Jackson Roberts, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Dec. 2025
  • The platform analyzes job titles, compensation levels, hierarchies, and experience requirements to group roles into logical pay grades and career progressions.
    — Matt Emma, USA Today, 22 Apr. 2026
  • Trump previously floated $2,000 tariff rebate checks In a video posted on X, Hegseth said the one-time, tax-free bonuses will go to all military members, regardless of their pay grades.
    — Joey Garrison, USA Today, 18 Dec. 2025
  • All fulltime employees are set to receive a 3% cost-of-living raise, and JCPS will spend roughly $4 million more on salaries of new central office positions or changes to the pay grades of existing central office positions, based off board approval since last July, the budget states.
    — Krista Johnson, Louisville Courier Journal, 17 Sep. 2025
  • Other recommendations made by TASB incldude a $5,000 increase for campus principals and market adjustments totaling $47,324 for campus technicians on the technology pay grade.
    — Fousia Abdullahi, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 18 June 2026
  • In a statement last year, Scouting America raised concerns following a report from NPR that the Pentagon planned to cut support for Scouting programs on military bases as well as for the National Jamboree and would eliminate increases in pay grade for Eagle Scouts who enlist.
    — Jamie Stengle, Chicago Tribune, 27 Feb. 2026
  • Entry-level fellows are hired at the GS7 to G9 pay grade which ranges from roughly $50K annually and by the 24-month program completion secure a GS12 role of nearly $115K, a promotion track that most recent graduates would work nearly five years to achieve.
    — Brandi Bufford, USA Today, 2 June 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pay grade.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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