Raise Calculator
Find your new salary and the dollar amount of a percentage raise.
Your Details
Breakdown
Visual split of the key components
- Current Salary60000
- Raise2400
Sensitivity
How the result changes across a range
How It Works
- Enter the values on the left.
- Press Calculate to see your results and charts.
- Use Reset to start over from the defaults.
Formula Used
Raise Amount = Current Salary × Raise%.
Good to Know
- • Annual raises of 3-5% are common for cost-of-living and merit increases.
- • A raise doesn't always keep pace with inflation — check the Inflation Calculator to compare.
Important Notes
- • This is gross pay — take-home increase will be smaller after taxes.
- • Doesn't account for a change in tax bracket from the raise.
Is Your Raise Keeping Up With Inflation?
A raise that sounds good in isolation can still represent a pay cut in real terms if it's smaller than the inflation rate over the same period — your purchasing power actually shrinks even as the dollar figure grows. Comparing this raise against recent inflation figures gives a more honest read on whether it's a real gain.
Why the Take-Home Increase Is Smaller Than the Raise
Because taxes are calculated on total income, a raise doesn't flow through to take-home pay dollar-for-dollar — a portion goes to additional tax, and if the raise pushes any income into a higher bracket, the marginal portion is taxed at that higher rate. The take-home pay calculator can show the more complete picture after this raise is applied.
Defining the Basics
- Cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) — a raise intended to keep pace with inflation, not reward performance.
- Merit raise — a raise based on performance, on top of or instead of a COLA.
An Example to Follow: A 4% Raise on $60,000
New salary = $62,400
If inflation that year ran at 3%, this raise beats inflation by only about 1 percentage point in real terms — a useful reminder that a raise's nominal percentage doesn't tell the whole story about actual purchasing power gained.
Raise Percentage Table
On $60,000:
| Raise % | New Salary |
|---|---|
| 3% | $61,800 |
| 4% | $62,400 |
| 6% | $63,600 |
What Often Goes Wrong Evaluating a Raise
- Not comparing against inflation — a raise below inflation is a real-terms pay cut.
- Ignoring the tax bracket effect — the take-home increase is smaller than the raw raise amount.