Pay Raise Calculator
Enter what you earn now and the raise you have been offered. You get the new salary, the extra amount per year, per month and per paycheck, and the real percentage change.
Pay periods per year: weekly 52, biweekly 26, semi-monthly 24, monthly 12. Figures are gross — before income tax, Social Security and Medicare. "Real" change means the raise minus inflation: if both are 3%, your purchasing power is unchanged.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate a percentage pay raise?
New pay = current pay × (1 + raise ÷ 100). On a $60,000 salary, a 5% raise is $60,000 × 1.05 = $63,000, or $3,000 more a year. Spread across paychecks that is about $250 a month, $115.38 per biweekly cheque (26 a year) or $230.77 per semi-monthly cheque (24 a year). Note that biweekly and semi-monthly are not the same thing — mixing them up is the most common mistake in this calculation.
Is a 3% raise good?
A 3% raise roughly matches long-run inflation, which means your purchasing power stays flat — it is a cost-of-living adjustment, not a real increase. Anything at or below inflation is effectively a pay cut in real terms, especially in a year when prices rise faster than average. A meaningful merit raise is usually 4–6%, and a promotion or a job change typically brings 10–20%.
How much more per paycheck is a raise?
Divide the annual increase by the number of pay periods: 26 for biweekly, 24 for semi-monthly, 12 for monthly, 52 for weekly. A $3,000 annual raise adds $115.38 to a biweekly cheque before tax. What actually lands in your account will be less — the raise is taxed at your marginal rate, so at a 22% federal bracket expect roughly 70–75% of the gross increase after federal, state and payroll taxes.
Should I negotiate a percentage or a flat amount?
Percentages compound, flat amounts do not. A 5% raise this year means next year’s raise is calculated on the higher base, so the same percentage keeps growing in dollar terms. A flat $2,000 bump feels concrete but shrinks relatively every year it is not revisited. If your employer offers a flat amount, ask what percentage of your current salary it represents so you can compare it with the market rate for your role.