Meaning & use
prevailing market rate
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountablebusinessfinance
The usual price or interest rate currently charged for something in a particular market.
Grammar: Countable and usually used with the: the prevailing market rate.
Patterns
- the prevailing market rate for something
- at the prevailing market rate
- below/above the prevailing market rate
The bank will lend you money at the prevailing market rate.
We priced the apartments at the prevailing market rate for the area.
Salaries here are set slightly above the prevailing market rate.
nouncountablebusinessfinance
The standard level of pay or fees that most companies are offering at the present time.
Grammar: Often used in the phrase at the prevailing market rate, meaning matching what others pay.
Patterns
- pay at the prevailing market rate
- match the prevailing market rate
New graduates are paid at the prevailing market rate for their field.
The company reviews wages each year to keep up with the prevailing market rate.
Word forms
| plural | prevailing market rates |
|---|
Common combinations
- at the prevailing market rate
- The loan is offered at the prevailing market rate.
- the prevailing market rate for
- What is the prevailing market rate for freelance translators?
- below the prevailing market rate
- They rent the space below the prevailing market rate.
- above the prevailing market rate
- Good engineers here earn above the prevailing market rate.
- match the prevailing market rate
- We try to match the prevailing market rate when we hire.
Synonyms and how they differ
- current market rate
- Current market rate is more general and simply means today's rate; prevailing adds the idea of what most of the market is actually using.
- going rate
- Going rate is informal and common in speech; prevailing market rate is formal and typical of contracts and reports.
- market price
- Market price usually refers to the price of goods or assets, while prevailing market rate is used more for interest, fees, and pay.
Word family
- prevail verb
- To be common or to win out in a situation.
- prevailing adjective
- Existing or most common at a particular time.
Commonly confused: prevailing market rate or prevailing wage?
prevailing market rate vs prevailing wage
Prevailing wage is a legal term for the minimum pay required on certain public contracts, not simply the usual rate in a market.
Practice
A company wants to say it pays what other companies in its industry pay. Which sentence fits best?
Choose one answer.
'At the prevailing market rate' is the standard phrase for matching current pay levels. 'Previous' changes the time to the past, 'market price' usually refers to goods rather than pay, and 'in' is the wrong preposition.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “prevailing market rate”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.