Salary Increase Calculator
See your new pay from a raise % or amount, or the % between your old and new pay, for every pay period. Then check it against inflation, years ahead, a promotion and other offers.
Use a minus for a pay cut.
Your country’s latest yearly rate. Leave empty to skip.
Months still at your old pay this year.
Empty = the same raise every year.
Compared with your raise above every year, over the years you look ahead.
Allowances: housing, transport, phone and other fixed extras. Bonus is a % of base pay.
Old and new pay for every period
| Period | Now | After raise | Difference |
|---|
The years ahead
Promotion vs yearly raises
Job offers compared
Gross pay a year, before tax. Benefits like health cover, pension and leave aren’t counted, so compare those too.
Your raise after tax
Every figure here is gross pay, before tax and deductions. Part of a raise can be taxed at your top rate, so see what you’ll take home with a tax calculator for your country.
How your raise is worked out
New pay = pay now × (1 + raise %). Raise % = (new − old) ÷ old × 100.
- 1
Your pay now
$50,000 a year= $24.04 an hour
- 2
Work out the raise
$50,000 × 5%= $2,500
- 3
Your new pay
$50,000 + $2,500= $52,500
- 4
Every pay period
$52,500 ÷ 12= $4,375 a month$52,500 ÷ 2,080 h= $25.24 an hour
Read more: the formula, a worked example, inflation, promotions and offers
A raise is a percentage of your pay now. Add it to your pay to get your new pay, or, if you already know your new pay, divide the change by your old pay to get the percentage. Every other pay period (hourly, weekly, monthly) comes from the yearly figure, using your hours a week and weeks a year.
The formula
raise = pay now × raise % ÷ 100
new pay = pay now + raise = pay now × (1 + raise % ÷ 100)
raise % = (new pay − pay now) ÷ pay now × 100
yearly pay = hourly pay × hours a week × weeks a year
real raise % = ((1 + raise %) ÷ (1 + inflation %) − 1) × 100
pay in year N = new pay × (1 + later raise %)^(N − 1)
raise needed a year = (target ÷ pay now)^(1 ÷ years) − 1
Worked example
You earn 50,000 a year, work 40 hours a week for 52 weeks, and get a 5% raise. The raise is 50,000 × 5 ÷ 100 = 2,500, so your new pay is 50,000 + 2,500 = 52,500 a year. That’s 52,500 ÷ 12 = 4,375 a month (208.33 more), and 52,500 ÷ 2,080 hours = 25.24 an hour, up from 50,000 ÷ 2,080 = 24.04.
With 3% inflation, the real raise is 1.05 ÷ 1.03 − 1 = 1.94%. In today’s money your new pay is worth 52,500 ÷ 1.03 = 50,970.87, so you’re 970.87 better off, not 2,500. To just keep up you needed 50,000 × 1.03 = 51,500.
If you get 5% every year for 5 years, your pay goes 52,500, 55,125, 57,881.25, 60,775.31 and 63,814.08. Over those 5 years you earn 40,095.64 more than if your pay had stayed at 50,000.
Promotion or yearly raises?
A 15% promotion now followed by 3% a year pays 57,500 in year 1 and 64,716.76 in year 5, a total of 305,275.31 over 5 years. Staying on 5% a year totals 290,095.64, so the promotion is 15,179.67 ahead. Because 5% grows faster than 3%, yearly raises catch up in total earnings in year 10.
The raise you need
To go from 50,000 to 70,000 in 5 years you need (70,000 ÷ 50,000)^(1 ÷ 5) − 1 = 6.96% a year, or a one-off 40% raise. At 5% a year it takes about 6.9 years.
Typical raises
| Kind of raise | Usual size |
|---|---|
| Yearly (cost of living or merit) raise | About 3–5% |
| Promotion | About 10–15%, sometimes more |
| Changing jobs | Often 10–20% |
These are rough guides and vary a lot by country, industry and year. Check pay surveys for your field, and compare your raise with your country’s inflation rate.
All figures are gross pay, before tax and other deductions. A pay period here assumes your hours stay the same unless you set new hours. Daily pay uses your days a week.
Common questions
How do I work out a pay raise percentage?
Take your new pay, subtract your old pay, divide by your old pay and multiply by 100. Going from 50,000 to 52,500 is (52,500 − 50,000) ÷ 50,000 × 100 = 5%. Use the same pay period (both yearly, or both hourly) for old and new pay.
How much is a 5% raise?
Multiply your pay by 0.05. On 50,000 a year a 5% raise is 2,500, so your new pay is 52,500 a year. That's 208.33 more a month, or about 1.20 more an hour at 40 hours a week for 52 weeks.
Is my raise enough to beat inflation?
Your real raise is (1 + raise) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1. A 5% raise with 3% inflation is 1.05 ÷ 1.03 − 1 = 1.94% more buying power. If your raise is smaller than inflation, your pay buys less than before, even though the number went up.
Is a promotion better than yearly raises?
A big jump now usually wins for years, because every later raise builds on it. A 15% promotion followed by 3% a year earns about 15,180 more over 5 years on 50,000 than 5% every year. But a higher yearly raise catches up in the end: here, 5% a year earns more in total from year 10.
Does this include tax?
No. All figures are before tax (gross pay). A raise can be taxed at your top rate, so the take-home part is smaller. Use the net pay or country tax calculators linked on this page to see your raise after tax.
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