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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
What common raises are worth
Six typical raises, translated to the numbers people actually feel.
| Raise | On a salary of | Per year | New salary | Per 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 |
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.
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.
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.
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