I know the salary isn’t first issue to bring up, but it’s ridiculous that you have to go through countless interviews and bother your references, have a background check and look at real estate before the salary is mentioned. Finally I just say “show me the money!”
As a blue collar worker, if a job was posted, the first thing I would do is look at the company parking lot and see what employees were driving. That will tell you just about everything you need to know before ever going in for an interview.