Salary Raise Calculator

What this calculator does

This calculator takes your old salary and new salary and tells you the percentage raise plus the absolute dollar increase (annual and monthly). A contextual badge categorises the raise: pay cut, cost-of- living, decent, strong, or exceptional — so you can see at a glance where it falls against typical market ranges.

This is the reverse direction of “how much will my new salary be after a 5% raise?” If that is your question, use the companion Salary Increase Calculator instead.

How percentage raise math works

The formula is:

percentage raise (%) = (new salary − old salary) / old salary × 100

Some examples:

The denominator is always the old salary — that’s the reference point against which growth is measured. A common error is dividing by the new salary (which produces the “margin” rather than the “markup” of the change); our Percentage Difference Calculator explains that distinction in depth if you’ve run into the trap.

Reading a raise in context

The headline percentage matters less than its position against three references:

Inflation. US CPI inflation has run between 2.5% and 6.5% over the past few years. A 3% raise during 4% inflation is a real-terms pay cut. A 5% raise during 2% inflation is a real-terms gain. The badge in the calculator above flags negative raises immediately; for the inflation-adjusted comparison, subtract the CPI rate from your raise % to get the real-terms change.

Industry merit-pay budgets. WorldatWork, SHRM, Mercer and similar publish annual salary-budget surveys with industry-specific bands. Typical 2024-25 ranges:

• Tech: 3.5-5% for stable, 5-8% for strong performers
• Finance: 3-5% stable, 5-7% strong, 10-15% for promotions
• Retail / hospitality: 2.5-4% stable, 4-6% strong
• Healthcare: 3-4% stable, 4-6% strong (with periodic outsized bumps due to staffing shortages)
• Education / non-profit: 2.5-4% stable, 4-5% strong

Your raise category from the calculator above is benchmarked against this general spread. “Decent” is 3-5%, “Strong” is 5-8%, “Exceptional” is 8%+.

Peer band. The most useful single benchmark, but hard to get honestly. Levels.fyi has detailed comp data for tech roles. Glassdoor and LinkedIn salary tools have rough numbers for most other industries. Informal peer networks within your function (alumni groups, industry Slack channels) are often the best signal. If your new salary lands you in the bottom quartile of your peer band, your next move should probably be an external offer — internal raises rarely close peer-band gaps, but outside offers historically do.

Compounding raises over a career

The % raise compounds, which makes early-career negotiation disproportionately impactful. Two scenarios starting at $60,000:

Scenario A: 4% annual raises for 30 years

• Year 10: $88,815
• Year 20: $131,427
• Year 30: $194,576

Scenario B: 5% annual raises for 30 years

• Year 10: $97,734 (+10% vs A)
• Year 20: $159,199 (+21%)
• Year 30: $259,303 (+33%)

The 1 percentage-point difference accumulates to $65,000 in additional annual salary by retirement — and that’s before counting bonuses, equity, and contributions to retirement accounts that scale with salary. Negotiate harder once; compound forever.

When the badge is wrong

The badge in this tool is a heuristic, not a verdict:

• “Cost-of-living” (<3%) is harsh if you live in a low-cost area with low inflation; it’s correct if inflation is running 3%+.
• “Decent” (3-5%) is the modal industry merit raise but can be underwhelming if you got a strong review or a promotion was expected.
• “Strong” (5-8%) reflects genuine recognition; can also reflect a retention concern (the employer thinks you might leave).
• “Exceptional” (8%+) typically means promotion, market-rate adjustment, or counter-offer territory.

Take the badge as a starting framing, not the answer.

Privacy

The calculator runs plain JavaScript arithmetic on your device. Salary values, percentages, currency choices — all stay in your browser tab. No fetch calls, no analytics, no server logging.