Pay Raise Calculator

Choose percentage or dollar mode

Employers may describe a raise as a percentage of current base pay or as a fixed annual dollar increase. Select the form used in your offer and enter your current annual salary. In percentage mode, multiply salary by the entered percentage divided by 100. In dollar mode, add the entered annual amount directly. The calculator updates the new salary as you type.

For a $60,000 salary, 5% equals $3,000 a year. A $3,000 annual dollar raise is also 5% of that starting salary; on an $80,000 salary, the same dollar raise is only 3.75%. This makes it useful to view both the new salary and the implied percentage when you compare two proposals.

This tool assumes the raise affects your full annual base salary for a complete year. If it starts halfway through the year, only the remaining pay periods receive the higher amount in that calendar year. A retroactive payment or one-time bonus is not a permanent raise and should be compared separately.

Translate the raise into each check

Choose weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, or monthly pay. The calculator divides the annual increase by 52, 26, 24, or 12, respectively. Biweekly and semimonthly both commonly deliver two checks in most months, but they have different annual counts and therefore different gross per-check increases.

The per-check increase is gross, before federal and state withholding, Social Security, Medicare, insurance, and retirement deductions. A $115.38 gross biweekly increase will not usually add exactly $115.38 to your bank deposit. Withholding may change, and some deductions rise automatically when salary rises. Compare future pay stubs to the gross estimate first.

If your company quotes an hourly increase instead of an annual one, first multiply the hourly amount by your expected paid hours for the year. For example, an extra $1 per hour across 2,080 paid hours is a $2,080 annual gross increase before overtime effects. This salary tool does not recalculate overtime or shift premiums.

Evaluate purchasing power and the offer

A nominal raise increases the dollar figure on your offer letter. Whether it increases purchasing power depends on changes in prices you actually pay. Compare your raise percentage with a relevant inflation measure as context, while remembering that individual expenses can rise faster or slower than a national index.

A promotion may come with a different workload, location, bonus target, or benefit package. A higher base salary can also affect retirement matching and future percentage raises. Compare the complete offer and the new responsibilities, not just the next paycheck. If your employer replaces a guaranteed benefit with a conditional bonus, the base-pay raise alone does not show the whole tradeoff.

For a pay discussion, document results, responsibilities, and local compensation evidence. Decide whether you are asking for a specific base salary, a percentage adjustment, or a broader package change. The calculator provides clear gross numbers for that conversation, but it cannot tell you which percentage your employer will approve.

If a raise also changes a percentage-based retirement match, ask how that contribution is calculated and whether the plan has a cap. Check whether your next scheduled review will still occur as planned. A permanent base increase can compound through future percentage raises, whereas a one-time bonus does not become part of next year's base salary. Those details help you judge the lasting value of an offer beyond the first larger check.