When do companies give raises? Most of them once a year, on a date that doesn't move: January 1, or the first day of their fiscal year. The typical annual raise in 2026 is somewhere around 3 to 5 percent, and if you're an average performer, expect the low end of that. Strong performers get more.
But the day the money arrives isn't the day it's decided. Your manager usually splits a fixed budget across the team six to ten weeks before the raise takes effect. If your raise starts January 1, the real decision often happens in November. That's when your case can still change the number.
The five stages of a pay cycle
The schedule below is what most employers do, give or take, regardless of fiscal year. The months are for a January 1 effective date. Slide them along if your raises take effect some other time.
| Stage | Roughly when | What happens | Can you still change it? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Budget set | October to November | Finance sets the raise budget as a share of payroll | No |
| Manager split | November to December | Your manager divides the budget across the team | Yes, this is your window |
| Calibration | December | Managers compare their splits with other teams | Only through your manager |
| Approval | December to January | HR and finance sign off | No |
| You're told, then paid | January to March | The new rate shows up in your paycheck | No |
Stage two is the one that matters. A clear case in mid-November does more than a great one in February. By February, your manager can agree with you but can't move the money.
A few schools and companies publish their calendars, and the gap shows up in them. MIT's annual salary review schedule, for one, has sponsored research staff reviewed in October or November and their merit raises taking effect January 1. Administrative staff have reviews from April to June, and their raises start July 1.
How to find your company's raise cycle without asking HR
A week of paying attention usually does it. Three clues:
- The pay date. Ask a coworker who's been there two years when their last raise first appeared in a paycheck. The pay date tells you more than the date they were told.
- The fiscal year. Public companies list it in their annual reports. Private ones often mention it at all-hands meetings.
- The review form. Watch for the date performance reviews open in your HR system. Raises tend to follow that calendar.
Once you know the date your raise takes effect, count back about ten weeks. That's roughly when your manager will be dividing the budget.
What if your company has no real cycle? Then raises follow events instead of dates. A promotion, a coworker quitting or new funding can each open the door.
Why the average raise isn't the raise you'll get
It helps to know where the budget number comes from. For 2026, Mercer forecast total salary increase budgets of 3.5 percent, 3.3 of it set aside for merit raises. The Conference Board projected 3.4 percent, and that same report puts WorldatWork's forecast at 3.6.
Somewhere between the budget and the paycheck, the number shrinks. Mercer went back to 756 employers in the spring and found merit raises paid in 2026 averaged 3.1 percent, against a projected 3.2. The BLS Employment Cost Index agrees, with private-sector wages and salaries up 3.1 percent in the 12 months to June 2026.
All of those figures describe the pot. None of them describes your slice. Imagine eight people on the same salary and a 3.5 percent budget. Two of them get 6 percent, four get 3, and the last two get 2. It still averages 3.5.
That's why I'd never ask a manager "What's the raise this year?" The useful question is "Where do I sit on the team, and what would move me up a step?" Most managers can answer that one, and whatever they say becomes your plan for the year.
Off-cycle raises: promotions, offers and market fixes
The yearly cycle is the usual road. There are three others.
One: a promotion into a higher pay band. Of the three, this is the only one you can plan. Ask what the next level needs, then start doing that work before anyone asks you to.
Two: a retention raise, which happens when you have an outside offer or the company suspects you soon will. It tends to work once, and your boss may look at you differently afterward. Weigh that before you play it.
Three: a market adjustment. HR checks what a role pays against outside salary data, discovers it has fallen behind, and corrects it. Lovely when it happens to you. Useless as a plan.
Prefer to start by email? Keep it brief and ask for a meeting, so your manager can think before you sit down together. Our AI email writer will draft that email: describe the meeting you want in the "What is the email about?" box and choose Short, which gives you 60 to 90 words.
Two dates to put on your calendar
About ten weeks before your raise date. Send your manager a short written summary of your year. Six lines is enough: what you did, the result in numbers and the amount you're asking for.
Your second paycheck after the raise. Check that the new rate came through. The first check can be a poor sample if the raise started partway through a pay period, so wait for the second one.
What should you see? Take a $60,000 salary with a 3.5 percent raise. That's $2,100 more a year, and on a biweekly schedule it shows up as $80.77 extra per paycheck before taxes.
You don't have to do that math by hand. In the pay raise calculator, choose "What percent is it?" and enter your old and new salary. The "Every 2 weeks" row shows the change per paycheck. Both are pre-tax numbers, so compare them with the gross pay line on the stub and leave your take-home out of it.
Disagreement between the two? Email payroll both figures. A short, specific note is the fastest route to a fixed payroll error.
Aim for the window, not the announcement
Find your raise's effective date. Count back ten weeks. Make your case before the budget gets split, because after that point you're mostly just hearing a decision.
Before the meeting, put your current salary and the raise you want into our free Pay Raise Calculator. Then you can name a dollar figure, not "a bit more." To see what's left after taxes, read what a 4% raise adds to each paycheck.
FAQ
Do most companies give raises in January?
Many do, because they plan pay on the calendar year. Others run on a fiscal year ending in June or September and give raises around then. Don't guess: ask coworkers when their last raise first showed up in a paycheck.
How long does a raise take to show up in your paycheck?
It depends on your payroll schedule. The new rate usually starts with a pay period that begins on or near the effective date. MIT, for example, starts its April raises with whichever pay period begins nearest that date. A raise that starts midway through a pay period gives you a first check that's part old rate, part new.
How long should I wait after starting a job before asking for a raise?
One full review cycle, unless the job has grown a lot since you started. At month four, asking can sound like you regret the offer you took. At month eleven, with a year of results on paper, it's normal. And if you think the starting salary was low to begin with, say so plainly at your first review rather than waiting.
Is a cost-of-living adjustment the same as a raise?
No. A cost-of-living adjustment exists so rising prices don't quietly cut your pay. A merit raise is a reward for your work, or a move toward the market rate. Some employers pay both, some blend them into a single figure. Ask which one you're looking at.
What is a typical annual raise?
Around 3 to 5 percent in 2026. The Mercer, Conference Board and WorldatWork forecasts have salary budgets between 3.4 and 3.6 percent, and the merit raises that actually got paid this spring averaged 3.1. Ten percent or more? That nearly always took a promotion, a wide gap to the market, or a competing offer.