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Pay raise calculator

Enter a percent, a flat amount, or the new salary HR quoted, for annual or hourly pay. See what the raise is worth per year, per paycheck, and per hour, and whether it actually beats inflation.

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Enter your current pay to see what the raise is worth per year, per paycheck, and per hour.

Inflation and wage figures come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI release (June 2026) and the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025. See all free tools

The formula

How to calculate a pay raise

The math is two lines. Raise percent = (new pay − old pay) ÷ old pay × 100. Going from $60,000 to $63,000 is 3,000 ÷ 60,000 × 100, a 5% raise. In the other direction, new pay = old pay × (1 + raise percent ÷ 100): a 4% raise on $70,000 is 70,000 × 1.04 = $72,800.

The number that matters day to day is smaller than the annual figure. Divide the annual increase by 26 for the biweekly paycheck bump, or by roughly 2,080 for the hourly equivalent at full time. A $2,000 raise sounds substantial; $76.92 per paycheck before taxes is the honest version, and knowing both keeps a negotiation grounded.

Three inputs, the full picture
Step one

Enter your pay

Annual salary or hourly wage, whichever way you are paid. Hourly workers set their weekly hours so every conversion uses your actual schedule, not a guess.

Step two

Pick how the raise is framed

Merit letters quote a percent. Offers quote the new number. Hourly jobs quote cents per hour. Enter whichever one you have and the calculator fills in the rest.

Step three

Read it across pay periods

A raise feels different per year than per paycheck. See both, check it against inflation, and see where it moves you in the wage distribution for your occupation.

Salary increase calculator: percent, amount, or new salary

Raises arrive in three phrasings, and this salary increase calculator accepts all of them. A merit letter says "3%", so you enter the percent. An offer or counteroffer quotes the new number, so you enter that and read the percent it implies. Hourly roles talk in cents per hour, where a $1 per hour bump at 40 hours is $2,080 a year. Whichever direction you start from, the other two are computed instantly, which is exactly what you want open during a compensation conversation.

How much is a 3 percent raise hourly?

A percent raise applies straight to your hourly rate, so the arithmetic is one step: multiply the rate by the percent. Three percent of $20 an hour is 60 cents, taking you to $20.60. Three percent of $25 is 75 cents, so $25.75. Three percent of $30 is 90 cents, so $30.90. Nothing about your schedule changes that number; hours only decide what the raise adds up to.

Full time at 40 hours a week is 2,080 hours a year, so that same 60 cents is $24 a week and $1,248 across the year. Find your current rate below and read across.

Current hourly rateNew rate at +2%New rate at +3%New rate at +4%New rate at +5%
$15.00$15.30$15.45$15.60$15.75
$16.00$16.32$16.48$16.64$16.80
$17.00$17.34$17.51$17.68$17.85
$18.00$18.36$18.54$18.72$18.90
$20.00$20.40$20.60$20.80$21.00
$22.00$22.44$22.66$22.88$23.10
$25.00$25.50$25.75$26.00$26.25
$26.00$26.52$26.78$27.04$27.30
$28.00$28.56$28.84$29.12$29.40
$30.00$30.60$30.90$31.20$31.50
$35.00$35.70$36.05$36.40$36.75
$40.00$40.80$41.20$41.60$42.00

Part-time or overtime hours change the annual total, not the rate. Set your weekly hours in the calculator and every conversion uses your actual schedule.

What a raise per hour is worth per paycheck and per year

Hourly raises get quoted in cents, which makes them easy to under-read. A dollar an hour sounds modest and is $2,080 a year at full time. Fifty cents is $1,040. This is also the table to pair with the percentages above: a 3% raise on $25 an hour is 75 cents, and 75 cents is $1,560 a year.

Raise per hourPer 40-hour weekPer biweekly paycheckPer year
+$0.25+$10.00+$20.00+$520
+$0.50+$20.00+$40.00+$1,040
+$0.75+$30.00+$60.00+$1,560
+$1.00+$40.00+$80.00+$2,080
+$1.25+$50.00+$100.00+$2,600
+$1.50+$60.00+$120.00+$3,120
+$2.00+$80.00+$160.00+$4,160
+$2.50+$100.00+$200.00+$5,200
+$3.00+$120.00+$240.00+$6,240
+$5.00+$200.00+$400.00+$10,400

A raise quoted per year is how much an hour?

Salaried offers quote the year, hourly jobs quote the hour, and comparing the two means converting one of them. Divide the annual increase by 2,080 for the hourly equivalent and by 26 for the biweekly paycheck. A $5,000 raise is $2.40 an hour, which is a different feel from the headline figure and a better basis for a decision.

Raise per yearPer hourPer biweekly paycheckPer month
+$1,000+$0.48+$38.46+$83.33
+$2,000+$0.96+$76.92+$166.67
+$3,000+$1.44+$115.38+$250.00
+$4,000+$1.92+$153.85+$333.33
+$5,000+$2.40+$192.31+$416.67
+$10,000+$4.81+$384.62+$833.33
+$20,000+$9.62+$769.23+$1,666.67

What percent raise did I get?

When HR gives you the new number and never mentions a percentage, work backwards: divide the increase by your old pay, then multiply by 100. An hourly move from $22.00 to $22.75 is 0.75 ÷ 22 × 100, a 3.4% raise. A salary move from $68,000 to $71,400 is 3,400 ÷ 68,000 × 100, exactly 5%. Switch the calculator to "New pay", enter both numbers, and it shows the percentage plus what the gap is worth per paycheck.

Is your raise beating inflation?

A raise below inflation is a pay cut in what your money buys, even though the number on your paystub went up. Consumer prices rose 3.5% over the year to June 2026, per the BLS Consumer Price Index release. For context, Mercer's 2026 compensation survey puts the average US merit budget at 3.3%, which means the typical raise this year sits slightly below the inflation line.

The calculator shows your raise after inflation using the exact ratio of the two rates, which is close to a simple subtraction at everyday magnitudes. Use that figure, not the headline percent, when you decide whether an offer keeps you whole.

What percent raise is normal, and is yours good?

Two numbers decide the answer, and neither one is an opinion. The first is what employers are handing out: Mercer puts 2026 US merit budgets at 3.3% and total salary increase budgets at 3.5%. The second is prices, currently 3.5%. A raise that clears the first is competitive; a raise that clears the second grows your standard of living. Below is where each percentage falls on both tests.

RaiseOn $60,000After 3.5% inflationWhat it means
1%+$600-2.4%Far below the 3.3% norm. Buying power falls sharply.
2%+$1,200-1.4%Below the 3.3% norm. Buying power falls.
2.5%+$1,500-1.0%Below the 3.3% norm. Buying power falls.
3%+$1,800-0.5%Just below the 3.3% norm. Nearly level on prices.
3.5%+$2,1000.0%At the 3.3% norm. Buying power holds flat.
4%+$2,400+0.5%Just above the 3.3% norm. Buying power grows slightly.
5%+$3,000+1.4%Well above the 3.3% norm. Buying power grows.
6%+$3,600+2.4%Roughly double the 3.3% norm. Buying power grows.
7%+$4,200+3.4%Roughly double the 3.3% norm. Buying power grows.
10%+$6,000+6.3%Above the 8.7% promotion average. Buying power grows.

The middle column is the exact ratio, ((1 + raise) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1), not raise minus inflation. Both give nearly the same answer at these magnitudes.

Merit increase, cost-of-living raise, or promotion?

Three different things arrive with the same paperwork, and the label on yours tells you what to expect next year. A cost-of-living raise tracks prices and is meant to keep you level, so it sits near the CPI figure of 3.5% and rewards nothing. A merit increase is the performance layer on top, budgeted at 3.3% on average for 2026 and spread unevenly: a flat percentage for everyone is a cost-of-living adjustment wearing a merit label. A promotion is the step change, averaging about 8.7%, because the job itself got bigger.

One question settles which one you got: ask what the merit pool was and where your number sat inside it. If everyone on your team received the same percent, you were kept level rather than rewarded, whatever the letter says.

What a raise does to your percentile

Dollars tell you what changed; percentiles tell you where you stand. The optional benchmark in the results places your current and your new salary on the wage distribution for your occupation and state, from the same U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data economists cite. A raise that moves you from the 45th to the 52nd percentile is a story you can take into your next negotiation. One that leaves you below the 25th, even after the bump, is a signal worth acting on: see the full picture in our free salary benchmark. If the ceiling turns out to sit in the job rather than in the raise, our guide to the highest-paying careers without a degree covers the routes that pay without another four years of tuition.

There is a version of this where the raise arrives and nothing improves. Our Golden Handcuffs Index put a number on it: 26.2% of well-paid people who want out of their career name boredom as the reason, against 8.0% of everyone else. If that reads familiar, the calculator above is answering the wrong question, and job satisfaction statistics 2026 is the better place to start.

What common raises are worth

Six typical raises, translated to the numbers people actually feel.

RaiseOn a salary ofPer yearNew salaryPer biweekly paycheck
3%$50,000$1,500$51,500+$57.69
3%$60,000$1,800$61,800+$69.23
3%$75,000$2,250$77,250+$86.54
4%$60,000$2,400$62,400+$92.31
5%$80,000$4,000$84,000+$153.85
10%$100,000$10,000$110,000+$384.62

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Frequently asked questions

Straight answers to what people ask before a compensation conversation.

Subtract your old pay from your new pay, divide by the old pay, and multiply by 100. Going from $60,000 to $63,000 is (63,000 - 60,000) / 60,000 x 100 = 5%. To go the other way, multiply your current pay by one plus the percent: $60,000 x 1.05 = $63,000. The calculator above does both directions and works for hourly wages too.

On $50,000 it is $1,500 a year, taking you to $51,500. On $60,000 it is $1,800, and on $75,000 it is $2,250. Per biweekly paycheck those come to about $58, $69, and $87 before taxes. Seeing the per-paycheck number is the fastest way to judge whether a raise offer is worth celebrating.

Multiply your hourly rate by 0.03. At $20 an hour it is 60 cents more, taking you to $20.60. At $25 an hour it is 75 cents, so $25.75. At $30 an hour it is 90 cents, so $30.90. Over a full-time year of 2,080 hours those add $1,248, $1,560, and $1,872 of gross pay, or roughly $24, $30, and $36 a week.

Two percent of $18 an hour is 36 cents, so $18.36. On $20 it is 40 cents, on $25 it is 50 cents, and on $30 it is 60 cents. At 40 hours a week, a 40-cent raise is $16 a week and $832 a year. Worth knowing: 2% sits below both the 3.3% average merit budget for 2026 and the current inflation figure, so it is a small step backwards in buying power.

Four percent of $22 an hour is 88 cents, taking you to $22.88 and adding $1,830 over a full-time year. On $25 an hour it is exactly $1.00 more, worth $2,080 a year, and on $30 it is $1.20, worth $2,496. At current prices, 4% is one of the first percentages that leaves you slightly ahead rather than slightly behind.

Five percent of $18 an hour is 90 cents, so $18.90 and $1,872 more across a full-time year. On $25 an hour it is $1.25, so $26.25 and $2,600 a year. On $35 an hour it is $1.75, so $36.75. Five percent is comfortably above the 3.3% average merit budget, which usually means a strong review, a market adjustment, or a retention move.

A $1 an hour raise is $40 a week, $80 per biweekly paycheck, and $2,080 a year at 40 hours a week, before tax. Part-time changes it directly: at 25 hours a week the same dollar is $1,300 a year. As a percentage it depends on where you started, and that is what decides whether it is generous: $1 on $15 an hour is 6.7%, while $1 on $40 an hour is 2.5%.

At 40 hours a week, 50 cents an hour is $20 a week, $40 per biweekly paycheck, and $1,040 a year before tax. If you are paid semi-monthly, twice a month rather than every two weeks, the same raise shows up as about $43 per paycheck. On a $16 an hour wage, 50 cents is 3.1%, roughly the 2026 average, so it reads as a typical annual increase rather than a weak one.

Divide by 2,080 hours: a $2,000 raise is 96 cents an hour, $76.92 per biweekly paycheck, and about $167 a month before tax. The same arithmetic makes a $4,000 raise $1.92 an hour and $153.85 a paycheck, and a $20,000 raise $9.62 an hour. Running the annual figure back to an hourly number is the honest way to compare a salaried offer against an hourly job.

It is close to the norm: US employers budgeted about 3.3% for merit raises in 2026, per Mercer. Whether it is good depends on inflation. With consumer prices up 3.5% over the year to June 2026, a 3% raise buys slightly less than your old pay did. A raise only grows your standard of living when it clears the current CPI figure.

Not automatically, but it is below average and below prices. Against 3.5% inflation, a 2% raise is about a 1.4% cut in what your pay buys, and it trails the 3.3% employers budgeted on average for 2026. The useful question is why: a company-wide freeze year reads differently from 2% while colleagues get 4%. Ask what the merit pool was and where you sat in it, then benchmark your role before deciding whether to negotiate or look elsewhere.

Around 3% to 4% for a standard annual increase. Mercer puts 2026 US merit budgets at 3.3% and total salary increase budgets at 3.5%. Promotions are the bigger step at about 8.7% on average, and changing employers often beats both. Anything under 2% is usually a signal about the company's year or about your standing, not about the market.

Mercer's 2026 compensation planning survey puts US merit increase budgets at 3.3% and total salary increase budgets at 3.5%, roughly flat with 2025. Averages hide a wide spread: high performers and hot-skill roles routinely see more, and the surest way to know your own room is to benchmark your occupation and state.

Whatever inflation is running, which is why it is not a reward. Pegged to the current all-items CPI figure, a cost-of-living raise for the year to June 2026 would be 3.5%. Plenty of employers set theirs below that, or apply a regional figure, so check the number rather than the label. If the percentage matches CPI, you are being kept level, not paid more.

A cost-of-living adjustment tracks prices and is meant to keep your buying power flat; it is not a reward. A merit raise is supposed to come on top of that, reflecting your performance or a bigger role. If your annual increase roughly equals the CPI figure, you received a cost-of-living adjustment with a raise label on it.

Once a year at review time is the baseline, plus whenever your scope grows meaningfully or market pay for your role moves. Come with evidence rather than a feeling: your results, and where your salary sits in the wage distribution for your occupation and state. Our free salary benchmark shows that number in one step.

No. US federal income tax brackets are marginal: only the dollars above each threshold are taxed at the higher rate, so a raise never reduces your take-home pay by itself. The narrow exception is income-tested benefits, where crossing an eligibility cliff can cost more than the raise adds. For most employees, more gross pay is always more net pay.

Much bigger. Employers plan an average promotional increase of about 8.7% for 2026, per Mercer, versus roughly 3.3% for a merit raise. Changing employers often beats both, which is why benchmarking your market value before any negotiation is worth ten minutes of your time.

Then your pay went up while your buying power went down: a 2% raise against 3.5% inflation is about a 1.4% cut in what your money buys. Quantify the gap with the calculator, then either negotiate with benchmark data for your occupation and state, or test the market. Loyalty is worth something, but it should not cost you purchasing power every year.

If the raise is not coming, the honest next question is what a switch is worth.

Take the free career quiz now

For information and inspiration only. This tool is not financial, tax, legal, or career advice, and MyPassion.AI accepts no liability for decisions made using it. Every figure and template is an estimate that can differ from your circumstances, so confirm anything important with an accountant or financial advisor before you act. Use of this tool and its content is subject to our Terms of Service.