Finance
Pay Raise Calculator
New pay = current pay × (1 + raise ÷ 100). Enter a percentage for the new salary, enter two salaries to get the raise percentage, or name a target and get the raise you need to ask for — with the increase per paycheck and the inflation-adjusted real raise alongside.
Your raise
Solve for
Pay is quoted:
What you are paid now, before tax
$
The increase you have been offered
%
Paid
Sets the per-paycheck increase
To show the real, inflation-adjusted raise
%
New pay after a 4.00% raise
$62,400
$60,000 → $62,400 · +$2,400.00
Real raise after 3.00% inflation
+0.97%
Your buying power rises. In today's dollars the new pay is worth about $60,583 a year.
Increase per year
+$2,400.00
Per biweekly check
+$92.31
Per month
+$200.00
Raise percentage
+4.00%
New annual pay
$62,400
Old annual pay
$60,000
Now $60,000Raise +$2,400.00After $62,400
Gross pay before tax. A raise can move part of your income into a higher tax bracket, so the take-home increase is smaller than the figures above.
Try a scenario
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The basics
What a raise calculation actually is
A raise is a percentage increase, which is the same arithmetic whether the number on your contract is an annual salary or an hourly rate. Two quantities and one relationship: the pay you have now, the pay you will have, and the proportion between them. Know any two and the third falls out.
new = current × (1 + p/100)
Forward: apply a percentage
Turn the raise p into a multiplier by adding one to it as a decimal, then multiply. The increase itself is the difference between the two figures, which is what actually shows up in your pay.
$60,000 × 1.04 = $62,400
p = (new − current) ÷ current × 100
Backward: recover the percentage
Divide the increase by the pay you started on — the old figure is always the denominator. Dividing by the new one instead is the single most common error in this calculation.
($66,000 − $60,000) ÷ $60,000 = 10.00%
Method
How to calculate a pay raise by hand
Four steps take you from an offered percentage to the number that lands in each check.
- 1
Write down your current gross pay
Use the base figure the raise is quoted against — the annual salary or the hourly rate c, before tax and before any bonus. A raise is almost never applied to a bonus or to overtime earnings.
c = $60,000 a year - 2
Turn the percentage into a multiplier
Divide the raise p by one hundred and add one. This is the step that stops you calculating the increase and forgetting to add it back on.
1 + 4 ÷ 100 = 1.04 - 3
Multiply, then subtract to isolate the increase
The product is your new pay. Subtracting the old figure gives the raise in dollars, which is the number worth taking into a conversation about it.
$60,000 × 1.04 = $62,400 · increase +$2,400.00 - 4
Divide the increase across your pay periods
The annual figure divided by the number of checks a year is what you will actually notice. Gross, though — withholding takes a share of every one of them.
$2,400.00 ÷ 26 = $92.31 per biweekly check
Three ways round
The three questions this calculator answers
One relationship, three unknowns. Which one you are solving for depends entirely on which two numbers you already have — and the third mode, solving for the raise you need, is the one worth running before a negotiation rather than after one.
new pay from a %
You have been offered a percentage
The most common case. You know what you earn and what you have been offered, and you want the resulting salary and what it adds to each check.
$60,000 + 4% = $62,400
% from two salaries
You have two numbers and no percentage
Common on a promotion or a new offer, where a figure is quoted but the percentage never is. This is what people mean by a raise percentage calculator.
$60,000 → $66,000 = 10.00%
% needed for a target
You have a number in mind
Reverse-solving from the salary you want. It turns a vague aspiration into a specific percentage you can put in a sentence.
$60,000 → $75,000 needs 25.00%
Same maths
Salary increase calculator, raise percentage calculator — one page
These are three names for one calculation, and there is no reason to run them anywhere separate. A pay raise calculator usually means going forward from a percentage; a salary increase calculator is the same thing framed around the resulting salary; a raise percentage calculator is the reverse, recovering the percentage from an old and a new figure. Every one of them is the relationship new = current × (1 + p), solved for a different letter — so the tool at the top of this page does all three from one set of inputs.
percent increase, generally
It is not a payroll formula
Nothing about the arithmetic is specific to employment. It is ordinary percentage change, which is why the same calculation prices a rent increase, a price rise, or a growth rate.
10.00% from $60,000 to $66,000 — the same sum as any other percent change
percentage points ≠ percent
Say which one you mean
A change from one percentage to another is measured in percentage points. Calling it a percentage instead makes small policy changes sound enormous, or vice versa.
Moving a 3% raise to a 4% raise is one percentage point, but a 33.3% bigger raise
Worked examples
Five raises, worked through
All three solve modes across the situations people actually face — including the raise that looks like an increase and is not.
The standard annual review case: a percentage is offered, and you want the new salary and what it adds to each check.
Given current $60,000, raise 4.00%, inflation 3.00%
Multiplier: 1 + 4 ÷ 100 = 1.04
New pay: $60,000 × 1.04 = $62,400
Per biweekly check: $2,400.00 ÷ 26 = +$92.31
Real raise: (1 + 0.04) ÷ (1 + 0.03) − 1 = +0.97%
New pay $62,400 · +$2,400.00 a year
Real +0.97% after inflation
The real raise
When a raise is really a pay cut
A raise is only an increase if it beats inflation. Purchasing power is a ratio, so the real raise is (1 + raise) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1 — not the raise minus inflation, though the subtraction is a decent approximation at low rates. A 3% raise in a 4% inflation year is −0.96%: your salary went up and your standard of living went down.
real = (1+r) ÷ (1+i) − 1
The correct formula
Divide what you can now buy by what prices now cost. The ratio is exact; subtracting inflation from the raise is a shortcut that drifts as both numbers get larger.
1.03 ÷ 1.04 − 1 = −0.96%
break-even raise = inflation
The number to beat
Whatever inflation runs at is the raise that leaves you exactly where you were. Below it you are accepting a real-terms reduction, however the percentage is presented.
On $60,000, 4% inflation costs $2,400 of buying power a year
Current salary
| Raise ↓ / Inflation → | 0% | 1% | 2% | 2.5% | 3% | 4% | 5% | 6% | 8% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0% | +0.0% | −1.0% | −2.0% | −2.4% | −2.9% | −3.8% | −4.8% | −5.7% | −7.4% |
| 1% | +1.0% | +0.0% | −1.0% | −1.5% | −1.9% | −2.9% | −3.8% | −4.7% | −6.5% |
| 2% | +2.0% | +1.0% | +0.0% | −0.5% | −1.0% | −1.9% | −2.9% | −3.8% | −5.6% |
| 2.5% | +2.5% | +1.5% | +0.5% | +0.0% | −0.5% | −1.4% | −2.4% | −3.3% | −5.1% |
| 3% | +3.0% | +2.0% | +1.0% | +0.5% | +0.0% | −1.0% | −1.9% | −2.8% | −4.6% |
| 3.5% | +3.5% | +2.5% | +1.5% | +1.0% | +0.5% | −0.5% | −1.4% | −2.4% | −4.2% |
| 4% | +4.0% | +3.0% | +2.0% | +1.5% | +1.0% | +0.0% | −1.0% | −1.9% | −3.7% |
| 5% | +5.0% | +4.0% | +2.9% | +2.4% | +1.9% | +1.0% | +0.0% | −0.9% | −2.8% |
| 6% | +6.0% | +5.0% | +3.9% | +3.4% | +2.9% | +1.9% | +1.0% | +0.0% | −1.9% |
| 8% | +8.0% | +6.9% | +5.9% | +5.4% | +4.9% | +3.8% | +2.9% | +1.9% | +0.0% |
| 10% | +10.0% | +8.9% | +7.8% | +7.3% | +6.8% | +5.8% | +4.8% | +3.8% | +1.9% |
Blue cells are real increases in buying power; grey cells are real-terms pay cuts. On a $60,000 salary, a 3% raise in a 4% inflation year leaves you $577 a year worse off in today's dollars, even though the number on your contract went up by $1,800.
Per paycheck
What the raise looks like in each check
An annual figure is easy to be impressed by and hard to feel. Dividing it across your pay schedule is the honest version — and the gross-to-net gap means even that overstates what reaches your account.
| Paid | Checks / year | 3% on $60,000 | 4% on $60,000 | 10% on $60,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly | 52 | +$34.62 | +$46.15 | +$115.38 |
| Biweekly | 26 | +$69.23 | +$92.31 | +$230.77 |
| Semi-monthly | 24 | +$75.00 | +$100.00 | +$250.00 |
| Monthly | 12 | +$150.00 | +$200.00 | +$500.00 |
Gross increases. Withholding scales with the raise, so the net change per check is smaller than every figure above.
Quick chart
What is a 3% raise on my salary?
Every common raise percentage against every common salary, with the new figure, the annual increase, and what it adds to a check. Switch the lookup direction to fix the percentage and scan salaries instead.
Look up
Current salary
Paid
| Raise | New salary | Increase / year | Per month | Per check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1% | $60,600 | +$600.00 | $50.00 | $23.08 |
| 2% | $61,200 | +$1,200.00 | $100.00 | $46.15 |
| 2.5% | $61,500 | +$1,500.00 | $125.00 | $57.69 |
| 3% | $61,800 | +$1,800.00 | $150.00 | $69.23 |
| 3.5% | $62,100 | +$2,100.00 | $175.00 | $80.77 |
| 4% | $62,400 | +$2,400.00 | $200.00 | $92.31 |
| 5% | $63,000 | +$3,000.00 | $250.00 | $115.38 |
| 6% | $63,600 | +$3,600.00 | $300.00 | $138.46 |
| 7% | $64,200 | +$4,200.00 | $350.00 | $161.54 |
| 7.5% | $64,500 | +$4,500.00 | $375.00 | $173.08 |
| 8% | $64,800 | +$4,800.00 | $400.00 | $184.62 |
| 10% | $66,000 | +$6,000.00 | $500.00 | $230.77 |
| 12% | $67,200 | +$7,200.00 | $600.00 | $276.92 |
| 15% | $69,000 | +$9,000.00 | $750.00 | $346.15 |
| 20% | $72,000 | +$12,000.00 | $1,000.00 | $461.54 |
| 25% | $75,000 | +$15,000.00 | $1,250.00 | $576.92 |
Every raise percentage applied to a $60,000 salary. Figures are gross, before tax — and a raise can push part of your income into a higher bracket, so the take-home increase is smaller.
Reference
The kinds of raise, and roughly what they run
Six labels a raise usually arrives under. The ranges are illustrative context only — not a survey, not a benchmark, and not what any particular employer will offer. What an individual receives depends on role, market, location, performance, and the year, and none of this is employment advice.
- Cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) — roughly 2–4%
- An across-the-board increase intended to keep pay level with prices. It is not a performance reward, and when inflation runs above it the adjustment is a real-terms cut.
- Annual merit increase — roughly 3–5%
- The standard yearly review bump, usually scaled by a performance rating. In most budgets the merit pool and the cost-of-living element are the same pot of money, not two separate raises.
- Promotion increase — roughly 8–15%
- Attached to a change in title or scope rather than to the calendar. Usually the largest single raise available without changing employer.
- Internal market adjustment — varies widely
- A correction when a role has drifted below what the market pays. Sized by the gap rather than by a policy percentage, so it can be far larger than a merit increase.
- External move — often 10–20%+
- Changing employer historically produces the largest increases, because the offer is priced against the current market rather than against your existing salary.
- Minimum-wage step — set by law
- Where a statutory minimum rises, pay at the floor rises with it. Rates and schedules are set federally and by state or city, and they differ — check the rule that applies where you work.
Worth knowing
Rules worth remembering
Six things about raises that the percentage on the letter does not tell you.
raises compound
Two 5% raises are not 10%
Each raise is applied to the salary the previous one produced. Over a career the compounding is the whole story, which is why a skipped year costs more than the raise itself.
1.05 × 1.05 = 1.1025, so 10.25%
a missed year never catches up
The base is what matters
Every future raise is a percentage of your current salary, so the level you are at multiplies everything that follows. Raising the base is worth more than a one-off bonus of the same size.
Five consecutive 3% raises come to 15.93%, not 15%
gross, not net
Withholding takes a share
The percentage is quoted on gross pay. Income tax and payroll taxes scale with it, and part of the increase may fall in a higher bracket — only that part is taxed at the higher rate.
A $2,400 raise is a smaller number after tax
beat inflation or stand still
Judge it in real terms
A raise below the inflation rate reduces what your pay can buy. It is the difference between the number going up and your position improving.
3% against 4% inflation is −0.96%
promotion ≠ merit increase
Two different budgets
A title change and an annual review are usually funded separately and sized differently. Asking which one a number is coming from tells you whether the figure is negotiable.
hourly raises annualise
A dollar an hour is real money
Small hourly increases look trivial and are not. Multiply by the hours you are actually paid for before deciding whether an offer is worth taking.
$2.00/hr at 2,080 hours a year is $4,160
Common mistakes
Errors that change the answer
Four ways a raise calculation goes wrong, in rough order of frequency.
dividing by the new salary
Wrong denominator
The percentage increase is always measured against where you started. Using the new figure understates every raise, and the error grows with the size of the increase.
$6,000 ÷ $66,000 = 9.09%, not 10.00%
adding percentages
Treating consecutive raises as a sum
Percentages of different bases cannot be added. Multiply the multipliers instead — 1.05 × 1.05 — and the compounding appears.
5% then 5% is 10.25%, not 10%
subtracting inflation
Approximating the real raise
Subtraction is close enough at low rates and drifts as they rise. The ratio is exact and no harder to compute.
3% − 4% suggests −1.00%; the exact figure is −0.96%
comparing a % to a $
Mixing percentage and amount
The same dollar increase is a very different raise depending on the base. Convert to a percentage before comparing two offers, and to dollars before spending it.
$2.00/hr on $22.00 is 9.09%, but on $40.00 it is 5.00%
FAQ
Common questions
Multiply your current pay by one plus the raise as a decimal: new pay = current × (1 + raise ÷ 100). A 4% raise on $60,000 is $60,000 × 1.04 = $62,400, an increase of $2,400 a year. To go the other way — the raise percentage from an old and a new salary — divide the increase by the OLD salary and multiply by 100: ($66,000 − $60,000) ÷ $60,000 × 100 = 10%.
Subtract the old salary from the new one, divide by the old salary, then multiply by 100. Going from $60,000 to $66,000 is $6,000 ÷ $60,000 = 0.1, or 10%. The division must be by the old figure, not the new one — dividing $6,000 by $66,000 gives 9.09%, which is the share of the new salary the raise represents, not the raise itself. This is the calculation people also search for as a salary increase calculator or a raise percentage calculator.
Treat the target as the new salary and run the same percentage formula: (target − current) ÷ current × 100. To go from $60,000 to $75,000 you need ($75,000 − $60,000) ÷ $60,000 = 25%. Solving in this direction is the useful one before a negotiation, because it converts a number you want into the percentage you have to ask for.
Divide the annual increase by the number of checks in your year. A 3% raise on $60,000 is $1,800 a year: $150 a month, $69.23 every two weeks on 26 biweekly checks, $75 on 24 semi-monthly checks, and $34.62 a week. Those are gross figures — the amount your take-home actually rises by is smaller once withholding is applied.
No — in purchasing-power terms it is a pay cut of about 0.96%. Real raise = (1 + raise) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1, so 1.03 ÷ 1.04 − 1 = −0.0096. Your nominal salary rises while what it buys falls. The break-even raise is whatever inflation is running at: to stand still against 4% inflation you need a 4% raise, and anything less is a reduction in real pay however it is framed.
Identically. A $2 increase on $22 an hour is $2 ÷ $22 = 9.09%, and the new rate is $24. To see what it is worth over a year, multiply the increase by the hours you are paid for: at the standard 2,080-hour full-time convention, $2 an hour is $4,160 a year. Use your real hours if they differ — part-time or unpaid-leave schedules will not be 2,080.
Because the raise is quoted on gross pay while you feel it on net. Income tax, Social Security and Medicare, and any percentage-based deductions such as retirement contributions all scale with the increase, and part of the extra income may fall in a higher marginal tax bracket. Only the portion above the bracket threshold is taxed at the higher rate, so a raise never leaves you worse off — but the net increase is always less than the gross one. This is general information, not tax advice.
No, they compound. Two 5% raises are not 10% — they are 1.05 × 1.05 = 1.1025, or 10.25%. The second raise is applied to the already-increased salary. Over several years the gap widens noticeably: five consecutive 3% raises come to 15.93%, not 15%. The same compounding is why a year with no raise costs more than the raise you missed.
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Ugo CharlesBuilt and fact-checked against our editorial standards · Last updated June 2026
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