Salary expectations: how do you answer? - 26 weeks in

A recruiter asked for my salary expectations on a first call as I look for work as a graphic designer. It has been weighing on me all week. I do not want to price myself out. How do you research fairly?

I gave a range based on local postings and said I was flexible depending on the whole package. They did not push back.

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it 10 months ago, and it got easier once I kept a simple log of every call and form.