What the pay raise calculator shows
This pay raise calculator takes your current pay and a raise, as a percent or a flat amount, and shows your new salary per year, month, two weeks, week and hour. It runs in your browser, and the numbers change while you type.
Three modes sit at the top. Percent raise. Flat raise. And What percent is it?, which works backwards from your old pay and your new pay to the raise percentage.
Working out a pay rise in the UK? Pick £ GBP in the currency menu, or C$, A$ or €. The symbol is only a label, and nothing gets converted.
Under the big figure you get a badge that places the raise against 2026 US survey figures. Below that, a table of before, after and the difference for every pay period.
What is a standard raise?
About 3.5% in the US for 2026. That is the total salary increase budget Mercer forecast for 2026, and it is the figure the badge measures against.
A budget is a plan, though. Mercer's spring check found that merit raises paid out in 2026 averaged 3.1%.
Both are averages across whole US workforces. Nobody is owed them, and other countries run on their own numbers.
An hourly raise, run for real
I tested the calculator on November 6, 2026 with an hourly job. $27.50 an hour, 37.5 hours a week, a 4% raise. I flipped the pay period switch to Per hour and typed the three numbers.
Back came $55,770 as the new annual pay, with the line "A raise of $2,145 a year, +4.00% on $53,625."
Where does $53,625 come from? $27.50 times 37.5 hours times 52 weeks. That hourly to annual step happens first, and everything else is split back out from the yearly figure.
The table, as it showed on my screen:
- Annually: $53,625 before, $55,770 after, +$2,145.
- Monthly: $4,469 to $4,648, +$179.
- Every 2 weeks: $2,063 to $2,145, +$82.50.
- Weekly: $1,031 to $1,073, +$41.25.
- Hourly: $27.50 to $28.60, +$1.10.
The badge said "A little above the 2026 standard".
See the cents? $82.50 has them and $2,063 does not. Amounts under 100 show cents, and anything from 100 up is rounded to the dollar.
So $1,073 minus $1,031 is 42, while the difference column says $41.25. Both are right. The before and after figures are rounded, and the difference is worked out before rounding.
How much more per month is that? $179, before tax. That is the number I would hold up against a bill.
The same $3,000 at two salaries
Next I tried What percent is it? twice, with the same raise in dollars.
- $50,000 to $53,000: +6.00%, and the badge "What strong performers get in 2026".
- $150,000 to $153,000: +2.00%, and the below-standard badge.
Both come to +$250 a month. The percent increase in pay is what tells you whether that $250 kept up with the market or fell behind it.
The cut-offs are sharp, too. $58,000 to $61,480 is +6.00% and still reads strong performer. Go to $61,500 and it becomes +6.03%, and the badge flips to "Top-performer territory".
The badge, band by band
- Under 3%: "Below a standard 2026 raise (about 3.5%)".
- 3% to 3.6%: "A standard 2026 raise".
- Above 3.6% and under 4.5%: "A little above the 2026 standard".
- 4.5% to 6%: "What strong performers get in 2026".
- Above 6% and under 10%: "Top-performer territory".
- 10% or more: "A promotion-size raise".
- Any drop: "A pay cut".
We drew these lines ourselves from the 2026 surveys. Read the top three as rough guides. The calculator cannot know what your job pays elsewhere.
Flat raises, monthly pay and the hours box
The flat raise box always takes a yearly amount, even with the switch on Per month or Per hour. I typed $58,000 a year and a $2,500 raise. Salary after raise: $60,500, which the headline called +4.31%.
That came to $208 more a month and $1.20 more an hour at 40 hours.
Paid monthly? I set Per month and used What percent is it? with $4,200 before and $4,400 after. Back came $50,400 to $52,800 a year, +4.76%.
How the periods are worked out, from the script itself:
- A monthly figure is multiplied by 12 to make it yearly.
- An hourly figure is multiplied by your weekly hours, then by 52.
- Monthly pay is the yearly figure divided by 12, every 2 weeks by 26, weekly by 52.
- The hourly row divides by 52 times your weekly hours. Annual to hourly depends on that box, so type the hours in your contract.
Paid twice a month? That is 24 checks a year, and the table's middle row assumes 26. Divide the monthly row by two instead.
Cuts, COLA and promotion pay
A negative percent works. I typed -3 on $58,000 and got $56,260, "A cut of $1,740 a year", with the pay cut badge.
A COLA increase goes in the same way as any wage increase: type the percentage. Whether it counts as a raise is a separate question, and our guide on when companies give raises takes it on.
For a promotion pay increase, put your current pay and the new offer into What percent is it?. From 10% up, the badge reads "A promotion-size raise".
Every figure is gross pay, before tax and deductions, and the note under the table says so. Taxes come out of the raise too, so your take-home pay grows by less. Our guide on what a 4% raise adds to each paycheck works through the deductions.
Before you ask for a raise
- Results with numbers, written down. What you delivered and what it was worth to your team.
- A market rate for your role, level and city, from a salary survey or posted pay ranges.
- One figure, run through this calculator first, so you know what it means per month and per hour.
- A date. Raise budgets get set before review season. Our guide on how much of a raise to ask for covers the size.
Is the raise really a new job offer? Line the two jobs up in the job offer comparison calculator. Then the counter offer email generator drafts your reply.
What leaves your device
Your pay, your raise and your hours stay in this browser tab. The script does the math in the page, and the note under the table says nothing is sent to our servers.
One small count does go back when you leave. It says which tool this was, if you touched it, and for how long in seconds. No figures, no user ID.
Copy as text puts a seven-line summary on your clipboard: current pay, new pay, the change, then monthly, every 2 weeks, weekly and hourly. Nothing gets saved anywhere else, and the calculator works without an account.
Who made it
GetJobTools built this raise calculator; see the about page for who runs the site. It sits in our salary and offers topic with the raise and negotiation guides. Got a result that looks off? Write to us on the contact page with the numbers you typed.
FAQ
How do I calculate a pay raise percentage?
Subtract your old pay from your new pay, divide the difference by the old pay and multiply by 100. Going from $50,000 to $53,000 is $3,000 divided by $50,000, which is 6 percent. Pick What percent is it? above and the calculator does it for you.
What does the badge under my result mean?
It places your raise against 2026 US surveys that put a standard raise near 3.5 percent. Below 3 percent it says below standard, from 3 to 3.6 percent standard, and at 10 percent and up it calls the raise promotion-size.
Is a 3 percent raise good?
It is about average for 2026, and the calculator labels 3 to 3.6 percent "A standard 2026 raise". Whether it is good for you depends on prices where you live and on what your job pays elsewhere.
Are these figures before or after tax?
Before tax. Every figure is gross pay with no income tax, payroll tax, retirement savings or health premiums taken out, so your take-home pay rises by less than the headline.
How do I convert a salary to an hourly rate?
Divide your yearly pay by 52 times your weekly hours. At 40 hours a week that is 2,080 hours a year, so $62,400 works out to $30 an hour. The hourly row in the calculator uses the hours you enter.
Is a flat raise added to my yearly pay?
Yes. The flat raise box takes a yearly amount and adds it to your yearly pay, even if you typed your pay per month or per hour. The headline then shows what percent that is.