To calculate a pay raise, multiply your current pay by 1 plus the raise percentage. A 3% raise on $60,000 is $60,000 × 1.03 = $61,800, an extra $1,800 a year. To find the raise percentage between two salaries, divide the difference by the old salary: $52,000 to $55,000 is a 5.77% raise.
How to use this pay raise calculator
- Pick what you know: the raise percentage, the raise amount in dollars, or your old and new pay.
- Choose annual salary or hourly wage, then enter your current pay.
- Enter the raise percentage, the raise amount, or the new pay.
- Read your new pay, the raise percentage, and the extra money per year, month and biweekly paycheck.
- Open “Future salary & inflation” to see what the same raise every year adds up to, and whether it beats inflation. The chart plots your pay against the pay you would need just to keep up with prices.
How to calculate a salary increase
New pay = current pay × (1 + r ÷ 100)
Raise percentage = (new pay − old pay) ÷ old pay × 100
Pay after n years = current pay × (1 + r ÷ 100)n
- r is the raise in percent. A 4% raise means r = 4.
- Old pay is always the base you divide by. The percentage is measured against where you started, not where you ended up.
- n is the number of yearly raises. Raises compound because each one is a percentage of an already-raised salary.
- Hourly to annual uses 2,080 hours (40 hours × 52 weeks), the same full-time year as our hourly to salary calculator. OPM uses a 2,087-hour divisor for federal hourly rates.
The real (inflation-adjusted) raise is (1 + raise) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1. It tells you how much more your pay actually buys. The inflation field defaults to 3.4%, the CPI-U change for the 12 months ending August 2026 reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Worked examples
How much is a 3 percent raise on $60,000?
$60,000 × 0.03 = $1,800. New salary: $61,800. That is $150.00 more a month and $69.23 more per biweekly paycheck, before tax.
Raise percentage calculator: $52,000 to $55,000
($55,000 − $52,000) ÷ $52,000 × 100 = 5.77%. Against 3.4% inflation that is a real raise of 2.29%.
Hourly wage increase: 4% on $22 an hour
$22 × 1.04 = $22.88 an hour, a raise of $0.88 per hour, or $1,830 a year at full time.
Salary increase over 10 years at 3%
$60,000 × 1.0310 = $80,635. Ten raises of 3% add 34.4% in total, more than the 30% you would get by adding them up, because of compounding.
How much is a raise? Salary increase table
New annual salary after common raise percentages. The quick answer to “how much is a 3 percent raise” for your pay.
| Current | +2% | +3% | +4% | +5% | +10% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $30,000 | $30,600 | $30,900 | $31,200 | $31,500 | $33,000 |
| $35,000 | $35,700 | $36,050 | $36,400 | $36,750 | $38,500 |
| $40,000 | $40,800 | $41,200 | $41,600 | $42,000 | $44,000 |
| $45,000 | $45,900 | $46,350 | $46,800 | $47,250 | $49,500 |
| $50,000 | $51,000 | $51,500 | $52,000 | $52,500 | $55,000 |
| $55,000 | $56,100 | $56,650 | $57,200 | $57,750 | $60,500 |
| $60,000 | $61,200 | $61,800 | $62,400 | $63,000 | $66,000 |
| $65,000 | $66,300 | $66,950 | $67,600 | $68,250 | $71,500 |
| $70,000 | $71,400 | $72,100 | $72,800 | $73,500 | $77,000 |
| $75,000 | $76,500 | $77,250 | $78,000 | $78,750 | $82,500 |
| $80,000 | $81,600 | $82,400 | $83,200 | $84,000 | $88,000 |
| $90,000 | $91,800 | $92,700 | $93,600 | $94,500 | $99,000 |
| $100,000 | $102,000 | $103,000 | $104,000 | $105,000 | $110,000 |
| $110,000 | $112,200 | $113,300 | $114,400 | $115,500 | $121,000 |
| $120,000 | $122,400 | $123,600 | $124,800 | $126,000 | $132,000 |
| $150,000 | $153,000 | $154,500 | $156,000 | $157,500 | $165,000 |
Wage increase calculator table (hourly)
| Current | +3% | +5% | +$1/hr | $1/hr as % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $15.00/hr | $15.45 | $15.75 | $16.00 | 6.7% |
| $16.00/hr | $16.48 | $16.80 | $17.00 | 6.3% |
| $17.00/hr | $17.51 | $17.85 | $18.00 | 5.9% |
| $18.00/hr | $18.54 | $18.90 | $19.00 | 5.6% |
| $19.00/hr | $19.57 | $19.95 | $20.00 | 5.3% |
| $20.00/hr | $20.60 | $21.00 | $21.00 | 5% |
| $22.00/hr | $22.66 | $23.10 | $23.00 | 4.5% |
| $25.00/hr | $25.75 | $26.25 | $26.00 | 4% |
| $28.00/hr | $28.84 | $29.40 | $29.00 | 3.6% |
| $30.00/hr | $30.90 | $31.50 | $31.00 | 3.3% |
| $35.00/hr | $36.05 | $36.75 | $36.00 | 2.9% |
| $40.00/hr | $41.20 | $42.00 | $41.00 | 2.5% |
Salary increase percentage between two salaries
| Old salary | New salary | Raise | Raise % |
|---|---|---|---|
| $40,000 | $42,000 | $2,000 | 5% |
| $50,000 | $52,500 | $2,500 | 5% |
| $50,000 | $55,000 | $5,000 | 10% |
| $60,000 | $65,000 | $5,000 | 8.33% |
| $65,000 | $70,000 | $5,000 | 7.69% |
| $70,000 | $80,000 | $10,000 | 14.29% |
| $80,000 | $90,000 | $10,000 | 12.5% |
| $100,000 | $110,000 | $10,000 | 10% |
Future salary calculator: $60,000 over 10 years
| Yearly raise | After 5 years | After 10 years | Total growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2% | $66,245 | $73,140 | 21.9% |
| 3% | $69,556 | $80,635 | 34.4% |
| 4% | $72,999 | $88,815 | 48% |
| 5% | $76,577 | $97,734 | 62.9% |
What is a normal raise? Wage and price context
No law sets a standard raise for private-sector workers; it depends on your employer, industry and performance. Two government figures make useful benchmarks. The BLS Employment Cost Index shows civilian wages and salaries rose 3.2% in the 12 months ending June 2026 (3.1% in private industry and 3.4% in state and local government). The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers rose 3.4% in the 12 months ending August 2026. For federal workers, OPM applied a 1% across-the-board increase to 2026 General Schedule base pay.
The Employment Cost Index measures what employers pay across all jobs, not what any one person gets. Promotions, job changes and merit raises can put you well above or below it.
Common mistakes
- Dividing by the new salary. $50,000 to $55,000 is a 10% raise. Dividing $5,000 by $55,000 gives 9.09%, which is wrong.
- Adding raises instead of compounding them. Five 4% raises are 21.7%, not 20%.
- Ignoring inflation. A raise smaller than inflation is a pay cut in what your money buys.
- Averaging percentages for YoY growth. Use the compound annual growth rate (see FAQ) when comparing pay across several years.
- Expecting the whole raise in take-home pay. Taxes and percentage-based deductions rise too.
Merit increase vs cost-of-living raise vs promotion
A merit increase rewards performance and is usually decided at an annual review. A cost-of-living adjustment moves everyone's pay by the same percentage, often with inflation in mind. A promotion raise comes with a new role and is often larger. The math is the same for all three, so use this calculator for any of them. To see how the extra hours of a new schedule change your pay, try the work hours calculator; to see how much paid leave your new job earns, use the PTO accrual calculator.
This calculator gives estimates for general information and isn't financial, tax or employment advice. Your offer letter or pay stub shows your actual pay.
Frequently asked questions
How much is a 3 percent raise?
A 3% raise adds 3 cents per dollar. On $50,000 it is $1,500 a year, taking you to $51,500; on $60,000 it is $1,800, for $61,800. On $20 an hour, 3% is 60 cents, so the new rate is $20.60.
How do I calculate a salary increase?
Multiply your current pay by the raise percentage divided by 100 to get the raise amount, then add it to your pay. Shortcut: new pay = current pay × (1 + raise ÷ 100). $60,000 × 1.03 = $61,800.
How do I calculate the raise percentage between two salaries?
Subtract the old pay from the new pay, divide by the old pay, and multiply by 100. Going from $52,000 to $55,000 is $3,000 ÷ $52,000 × 100 = 5.77%.
What is a good raise percentage in 2026?
There is no official standard, but a useful yardstick is the Employment Cost Index: BLS reported wages and salaries for civilian workers rose 3.2% in the 12 months ending June 2026. Consumer prices (CPI-U) rose 3.4% in the 12 months ending August 2026, so a raise below about 3.4% did not keep up with prices over that period.
Does a raise keep up with inflation?
Only if it is at least as large as inflation. The real raise is (1 + raise) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1. A 3% raise with 3.4% inflation is a real change of -0.39%; a 5% raise is 1.55%.
What will my salary be in 10 years?
At a steady 3% a year, $60,000 grows to $80,635 after 10 years because each raise builds on the last. At 2% it would be $73,140, and at 5% it would be $97,734.
What is YoY salary growth and how is it calculated?
Year-over-year (YoY) growth is this year's pay minus last year's, divided by last year's, times 100. Over several years use the compound annual growth rate: (end ÷ start)^(1 ÷ years) − 1. Going from $50,000 to $65,000 in 5 years is 5.39% a year, not 6%.
What is a merit increase?
A merit increase is a raise tied to performance, usually set at an annual review as a percentage of base pay. It is calculated exactly like any other raise, so enter the merit percentage here. A cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is an across-the-board raise not tied to individual performance.
How much did federal GS pay go up in 2026?
OPM's January 2026 pay examples apply a 1% across-the-board increase to General Schedule base rates, with each locality pay percentage then applied on top of the new base.
Is a raise calculated on gross or take-home pay?
On gross pay. Your take-home pay rises by less than the raise because income tax, Social Security, Medicare and any percentage-based deductions such as 401(k) contributions also go up.
How do I convert an hourly raise to a yearly amount?
Multiply the raise per hour by 2,080, the hours in a 40-hour, 52-week year. A $1-an-hour raise is $2,080 a year; a $2.50 raise is $5,200.
Sources & method
- BLS — Employment Cost Index, June 2026 (wages and salaries +3.2% over 12 months)
- BLS — Consumer Price Index, August 2026 (CPI-U +3.4% over 12 months)
- OPM — January 2026 pay examples (1% General Schedule increase)
- OPM — computing hourly rates of pay using the 2,087-hour divisor
Results are estimates for general information. Found an error? It helps everyone — see our methodology.