How to use the pay raise calculator
- Enter your current pay. Type the amount and choose whether it is per hour, week, two weeks, month or year. Set your hours per week.
- Enter the raise. Choose Percent, Amount or New pay and type the number.
- Read the result. The calculator shows the new pay and the change for every pay period, the raise as a percent, and the raise after inflation.
What is a pay raise calculator?
A pay raise calculator is a tool that works out pay after a raise. It takes the current pay and the raise, and returns the new pay, the difference in dollars and the raise as a percent.
It works in three directions: from a percent to the new pay, from a dollar amount to the percent, and from a new salary back to the percent.
Features
- A raise entered as a percent, a dollar amount or the new pay
- Hourly, weekly, biweekly, monthly and yearly pay
- New pay and the change shown for every pay period at once
- Hours per week you can set for part-time work
- The raise after inflation, with the latest Consumer Price Index figure filled in
- A PDF report of the raise, to save or share on WhatsApp
How a pay raise is calculated
- From a percent: new pay = current pay × (1 + percent ÷ 100).
- From an amount: new pay = current pay + raise, and percent = raise ÷ current pay × 100.
- From a new pay: percent = (new pay − current pay) ÷ current pay × 100.
Worked examples
A 3% raise on $50,000 a year gives $51,500. That is $1,500 more a year, $125.00 more a month, $57.69 more every two weeks and $0.72 more an hour.
A raise of $1.50 an hour on $20.00 an hour is a 7.5% raise. At 40 hours a week the new pay of $21.50 an hour is $44,720 a year, $3,120 more than before.
A move from $60,000 to $66,000 a year is a 10% raise.
What a raise adds to each paycheck
The table shows a raise on a full-time job of 40 hours a week, before tax.
| Raise per year | Per month | Every two weeks | Per week | Per hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1,000 | $83.33 | $38.46 | $19.23 | $0.48 |
| $2,000 | $166.67 | $76.92 | $38.46 | $0.96 |
| $3,000 | $250.00 | $115.38 | $57.69 | $1.44 |
| $5,000 | $416.67 | $192.31 | $96.15 | $2.40 |
| $7,500 | $625.00 | $288.46 | $144.23 | $3.61 |
| $10,000 | $833.33 | $384.62 | $192.31 | $4.81 |
| Raise | On $40,000 | On $50,000 | On $60,000 | On $75,000 | On $100,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2% | $800 | $1,000 | $1,200 | $1,500 | $2,000 |
| 3% | $1,200 | $1,500 | $1,800 | $2,250 | $3,000 |
| 4% | $1,600 | $2,000 | $2,400 | $3,000 | $4,000 |
| 5% | $2,000 | $2,500 | $3,000 | $3,750 | $5,000 |
| 10% | $4,000 | $5,000 | $6,000 | $7,500 | $10,000 |
These are gross amounts. Tax is withheld on the extra pay, so the paycheck rises by less. The paycheck calculator shows the take-home pay at the new salary.
Hourly pay and yearly pay
The calculator counts a year as 52 weeks. At 40 hours a week that is 2,080 hours, so an hourly rate times 2,080 is the yearly pay, and a yearly raise divided by 2,080 is the raise per hour.
Federal agencies use a slightly different number. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management divides a federal employee's annual pay by 2,087 hours to get the hourly rate. For part-time work, change the hours per week and every figure follows.
Is the raise more than inflation?
A raise adds buying power only when it is larger than the rise in prices. The raise after inflation is (1 + raise) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers rose 3.7% over the 12 months ending September 2026. Against that figure a 3% raise is -0.68% after inflation, and a 5% raise is +1.25%.
The inflation box is filled in with that figure. Type your own number to use a different period or a local measure.
How large are raises in the United States?
These official figures show how pay has moved, so a raise can be set beside them.
| Measure | Change | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wages and salaries, all civilian workers | 3.2% | the 12 months ending June 2026 | Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Cost Index |
| Wages and salaries, private industry workers | 3.1% | the 12 months ending June 2026 | Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Cost Index |
| Consumer prices (CPI-U, all items) | 3.7% | the 12 months ending September 2026 | Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index |
| Social Security cost-of-living adjustment | 2.8% | Benefits paid in 2026 | Social Security Administration |
| Federal General Schedule pay | 1% | January 2026 | U.S. Office of Personnel Management |
The Employment Cost Index was published on 31 July 2026 and the Consumer Price Index on 14 October 2026. The next Employment Cost Index is due on 30 October 2026 and the next Consumer Price Index on 10 November 2026.
What you can use it for
- Turn a percent raise into dollars per paycheck
- Turn a new salary offer into a percent
- See what an hourly raise is worth over a year
- Compare a raise with inflation
- Prepare a number before asking for a raise
What the calculator includes
- Pay: up to $10,000,000, per hour, week, two weeks, month or year.
- Raise: a percent up to 1,000, a dollar amount, or a new pay that can be lower than the current pay.
- Hours: up to 168 hours a week; a year is 52 weeks.
- Result: gross pay before tax.
Is it private?
Yes. The calculation runs in your browser. Your pay and your result are not sent to a server and are not saved.
Tips for an accurate estimate
- Enter your base pay without overtime or bonuses, so the percent matches the way your employer states the raise.
- Set the hours per week you really work. A part-time raise per hour is worth less per year than a full-time one.
- Use the New pay tab to turn a job offer into a percent before you compare it with your current pay.
- Compare the raise with inflation over the same 12 months, not with a single month's price change.
- Check the take-home pay at the new salary in the paycheck calculator. Tax is withheld on the extra pay.
Related calculators
Frequently asked questions
- How do I calculate a pay raise percentage?
- Subtract the old pay from the new pay, divide by the old pay and multiply by 100. From $60,000 to $66,000 is $6,000 ÷ $60,000 × 100 = 10%.
- How much is a 3% raise?
- Multiply your pay by 0.03. On $50,000 a year a 3% raise is $1,500 a year, or $57.69 more every two weeks before tax.
- How much is a $1 an hour raise per year?
- At 40 hours a week it is $2,080 a year before tax, because a full-time year is 2,080 hours.
- How much an hour is a $5,000 raise?
- $2.40 an hour at 40 hours a week. Divide the yearly raise by 2,080 hours.
- Is a 3% raise good?
- Set it beside the official figures. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that wages and salaries rose 3.2% over the 12 months ending June 2026, while consumer prices rose 3.7% over the 12 months ending September 2026.
- Does a raise push my whole salary into a higher tax bracket?
- No. Federal income tax is worked out in rows, and a higher rate applies only to the part of the wage above the start of its row. A raise leaves more take-home pay than before.
Sources
Every rate, bracket and limit this calculator uses comes from the official sources below. The method is shown on this page, so any result can be checked by hand.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Cost Index, June 2026 (USDL-26-1270). Wages and salaries up 3.2% for civilian workers and 3.1% for private industry workers over the 12 months ending June 2026.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index, September 2026. The all items index up 3.7% over the 12 months ending September 2026.
- Social Security Administration, Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Information. The 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment for 2026.
- U.S. Office of Personnel Management, 2026 General Schedule salary tables; Computing Hourly Rates of Pay Using the 2,087-Hour Divisor. The 1% General Schedule increase for 2026 and the 2,087-hour divisor for federal hourly rates.