Pay Raise Calculator
Enter your current pay and a percentage or flat raise to see your new hourly, weekly, monthly, and annual pay plus your after-tax increase.
Pay Raise Calculator
Current Pay
Hours Per Week
Hours per week must be at least 1. Using 40.
Raise Type
Raise Amount
Percentage increase on top of your current pay.
Take-Home After Tax
Blended federal, state, and FICA rate. Pick the rate that matches your bracket.
This entry is a pay cut. Negative figures show in red.
Estimates use a 2,080-hour year. Download the app to resolve your exact take-home pay.
Before and After
See Your Real Pay After a Raise
A raise calculator estimates the gross. ClockWage44 logs your shifts and runs an on-device paycheck engine that resolves federal tax, state tax, FICA, and deductions into a take-home figure calculated to the cent.
How to Calculate a Pay Raise
The formula for a percentage raise is short: new pay = current pay x (1 + raise %). A 3% raise on $20.00/hr works out to $20.00 x 1.03 = $20.60/hr, a 60-cent bump.
To see what that means across a year, convert the hourly figure using the 2,080-hour standard year (40 hours x 52 weeks). At 40 hours a week, $20.60/hr becomes $20.60 x 40 x 52 = $42,848 a year, up from $41,600. That works out to a $1,248 annual increase, or about $24 more in each weekly paycheck.
The calculator above handles this conversion for any pay basis. Enter your number once, pick whether it is hourly, weekly, monthly, or yearly, and every other period is filled in for you.
Percentage Raise vs. Flat-Dollar Raise vs. New Rate
A percentage raise scales with your current pay, so the same 4% is worth more dollars to a higher earner. Employers usually quote merit increases this way.
A flat-dollar raise adds a fixed amount no matter what you earn now. Cost-of-living adjustments and union step increases are often flat amounts. For a lower earner, a flat raise can be a larger percentage than it looks.
The New pay rate option is for when you already know the new number, such as a posted salary band or an offer. Enter it and the calculator works the raise out backwards: (new pay - current pay) / current pay x 100. This is also a quick way to find the raise you would need to reach a target salary.
What Your Raise Looks Like After Taxes
A raise never lowers your take-home pay. The U.S. tax system is marginal, so only the dollars above each bracket threshold are taxed at the higher rate, never your entire income. Crossing into a new bracket means a slightly higher tax on the new dollars only.
What does shrink the gross increase is the mix of federal income tax, state income tax, and FICA (Social Security at 6.2% and Medicare at 1.45%). A $3,000 raise at a 22% blended rate adds roughly $2,340 in take-home pay. The tax estimate above uses one blended rate as a quick approximation. For the exact net figure, ClockWage44's on-device paycheck engine applies your real brackets, state rules, and deductions.
Is Your Raise Keeping Up With Inflation?
Salary budget surveys for 2025 and 2026 put the typical merit raise around 3.5% to 4.2%. A raise below recent inflation is a pay cut in real terms even though the nominal number went up: your buying power falls when prices rise faster than your pay.
Compare your raise percentage against the latest Consumer Price Index reading. If inflation ran at 3% and your raise was 3%, you broke even in real terms. If you want to track pay against hours worked over time, the overtime calculator covers the same Pay and Earnings ground for weeks when you log extra hours.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about pay raise calculator
How do I calculate my pay raise percentage?
Subtract your old pay from your new pay, divide that difference by your old pay, then multiply by 100. If you go from $50,000 to $52,000, that's ($52,000 - $50,000) / $50,000 x 100 = 4%. The calculator above runs this reverse calculation for you when you pick the New pay rate option.
What is the average pay raise in 2026?
Most salary budget surveys for 2025 and 2026 put the typical merit raise between 3.5% and 4.2% for U.S. workers staying in the same role. Promotions and job changes usually pay more. A raise below roughly 3% generally trails recent inflation, so it can mean a small cut in real buying power.
How much will my take-home pay actually increase after a raise?
Less than the gross figure, because the extra income is taxed. Multiply your annual raise by (1 minus your effective tax rate) to estimate the after-tax increase. A $3,000 raise at a 22% blended rate adds about $2,340 in take-home pay. Turn on the tax estimate above to see this, or use the on-device paycheck engine in ClockWage44 for an exact net figure.
Does a raise push me into a higher tax bracket and cost me money?
No. The U.S. uses marginal tax brackets, so only the dollars above each bracket threshold are taxed at the higher rate, not your whole income. A raise always leaves you with more take-home pay, even if part of it is taxed at a higher marginal rate.
How do I convert an hourly raise into a new annual salary?
Multiply your new hourly rate by your hours per week, then by 52 weeks. At 40 hours a week, a new rate of $21.00/hr works out to $21.00 x 40 x 52 = $43,680 a year. The 2,080-hour standard year (40 hours x 52 weeks) is the same basis used by the overtime calculator.
What is the difference between a percentage raise and a flat-dollar raise?
A percentage raise scales with your current pay: 3% of a higher salary is more dollars. A flat-dollar raise is a fixed amount added regardless of current pay, so it works out to a larger percentage for lower earners. Employers often quote merit increases as a percentage and cost-of-living adjustments as a flat amount.
Is a 3% raise good, and does it keep up with inflation?
A 3% raise sits near the lower edge of typical 2026 merit budgets and roughly tracks, or slightly trails, recent inflation. If prices rose more than 3% over the year, a 3% raise is a small pay cut in real terms. Compare your raise percentage to the latest Consumer Price Index reading to judge real versus nominal pay.
How do I figure out the raise I need to reach a target salary?
Divide your target salary by your current salary, subtract 1, then multiply by 100. To go from $60,000 to $66,000, that's ($66,000 / $60,000 - 1) x 100 = 10%. In the calculator above, pick the New pay rate option and enter the target to see the implied raise percentage.