I personally don't think you should rely on any external salary data as a gauge of what jobs like this one should pay.  This is one individual employer with one job to fill with one set of requirements.  You're one person with one set of qualifications - neither of you are "averages."  Anyway, despite all your apparent qualifications, there's a somewhat dramatic difference between HR in the military and HR for a civilian, private sector company.  If you think the salary is low, you could always politely ask if the offer is negotiable and see what they say.  If it is, you could say that you were anticipating an offer in the $70K to $75K range, and see what happens.  But if you do that, you really need to be prepared to point out why the job will be worth that much more to the employer because of your experience, training, skills, education, and past job performance.  On the other hand, if you'd otherwise be pleased to accept the job as offered, accept it!  It really should be a great opportunity for you to make the transition from military to civilian HR work and make you significantly more marketable, as you suggested, after a couple of years on the job.

Paul W. Barada

The Negotiation Expert