Pay Raise Calculator
Use this pay raise calculator, also called a pay increase, wage increase or salary raise calculator, to see your new salary, hourly rate and paycheck after a raise. Enter the raise as a percentage or a dollar amount. It works for salaried employees, hourly workers and contractors.
Gross pay, before taxes. Assumes 52 paid weeks and 26 biweekly paychecks a year.
How the pay raise formula works
A raise is a percentage of what you earn now. Multiply your current salary by one plus the raise rate and you get your new salary. If you are paid by the hour, turn your wage into a yearly figure first by multiplying it by the hours you work in a year.
A full-time schedule of 40 hours a week for 52 weeks is 2,080 hours a year. That is why a $1.00-an-hour raise is worth $2,080 a year before taxes.
Worked example: a 4% raise on $60,000
Say you earn $60,000 a year, work 40 hours a week, and get paid every two weeks. Your manager offers a 4% raise.
- Raise amount: $60,000 × 0.04$2,400
- New salary: $60,000 + $2,400$62,400
- Extra per biweekly paycheck: $2,400 ÷ 26$92.31
- New hourly rate: $62,400 ÷ (40 × 52)$30.00
So the raise adds $200 a month, or about $92 to each paycheck before taxes. Your hourly rate goes from $28.85 to $30.00.
Raise amounts at common salaries
How much a 3%, 4% or 5% raise adds each year before taxes. The new salary is shown in brackets.
| Salary | 3% raise | 4% raise | 5% raise |
|---|---|---|---|
| $40,000 | +$1,200 ($41,200) | +$1,600 ($41,600) | +$2,000 ($42,000) |
| $50,000 | +$1,500 ($51,500) | +$2,000 ($52,000) | +$2,500 ($52,500) |
| $60,000 | +$1,800 ($61,800) | +$2,400 ($62,400) | +$3,000 ($63,000) |
| $75,000 | +$2,250 ($77,250) | +$3,000 ($78,000) | +$3,750 ($78,750) |
| $100,000 | +$3,000 ($103,000) | +$4,000 ($104,000) | +$5,000 ($105,000) |
How much is a $1 raise? Hourly wage increase table
For hourly workers, a raise is usually quoted in dollars per hour. Multiply the raise by your hours per week and by 52 weeks to see the yearly wage increase. At 40 hours a week:
| Hourly raise | Per week | Per month | Per year | % raise at $20/hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $0.50/hour | $20.00 | $86.67 | $1,040 | 2.5% |
| $1.00/hour | $40.00 | $173.33 | $2,080 | 5.0% |
| $2.00/hour | $80.00 | $346.67 | $4,160 | 10.0% |
| $3.00/hour | $120.00 | $520.00 | $6,240 | 15.0% |
A $1 raise adds $2,080 a year before taxes for a full-time worker. The same $1 is a bigger percentage at a lower wage: 6.7% at $15 an hour, 5% at $20 and 4% at $25. Part-time? Use your real weekly hours. At 25 hours a week, a $1 raise adds $1,300 a year. To compare hourly and salaried pay, see our hourly to salary calculator.
Pay raise calculator for contractors and freelancers
Independent contractors do not get raises from an employer, so they have to raise their own rates. The math is the same: switch the calculator to an hourly rate and enter the increase you plan to charge.
- Base it on billable hours. If you bill 1,500 hours a year, a raise from $50 to $55 an hour (10%) adds $7,500 a year, not the $10,400 a full 2,080-hour year would suggest.
- Remember self-employment tax. Contractors pay both halves of Social Security and Medicare, 15.3% on most net earnings, so less of each extra dollar reaches your pocket than for an employee.
- Keep up with costs. A yearly increase at least equal to inflation keeps your real income from shrinking. Many contractors raise rates for new clients first and give existing clients 30 to 60 days’ notice.
To see what a higher rate means after taxes, run the new yearly income through our income tax calculator.
Is your raise keeping up with inflation?
A raise only makes you better off if it grows faster than prices. A quick way to check: subtract the yearly inflation rate from your raise percentage. The result is roughly your “real” raise.
For example, if you get a 4% raise in a year when prices rise 3%, your buying power grows by about 1%. If prices rise 5% that year, the same 4% raise leaves you about 1% behind. For the current inflation rate, check the Consumer Price Index published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate a wage increase?
Multiply your current wage by the raise percentage, or add the dollar raise to your hourly rate. A 5% wage increase on $20 an hour is $1.00, for a new wage of $21.00. Multiply the hourly raise by your weekly hours and 52 to see the yearly increase: $1.00 × 40 × 52 = $2,080.
How much is a $1 raise per year?
For a full-time worker at 40 hours a week, a $1 an hour raise adds $2,080 a year before taxes, about $173 a month or $80 every two weeks. At 30 hours a week it adds $1,560 a year.
How do I calculate a salary raise?
Multiply your current salary by the raise percentage to get the raise amount, then add it to your salary. A 4% raise on $60,000 is $60,000 × 0.04 = $2,400, for a new salary of $62,400. This salary raise calculator also shows the new hourly rate and paycheck.
Is this before or after taxes?
Before. The calculator shows gross pay. Your take-home increase will be smaller once federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and any state or local tax are withheld.
How do I turn an hourly raise into a yearly amount?
Multiply the raise per hour by the hours you work each week and then by 52. A $1.00 raise at 40 hours a week adds $2,080 a year.
How do I find the raise percentage from two salaries?
Subtract the old salary from the new one, divide by the old salary and multiply by 100. Going from $60,000 to $63,000 is a $3,000 raise, and $3,000 ÷ $60,000 × 100 = 5%.
What if I am paid twice a month instead of every two weeks?
Semimonthly pay means 24 paychecks a year instead of 26. Divide your yearly raise by 24. A $2,400 raise adds $100 to each semimonthly paycheck.
Does a raise change my 401(k) contribution?
If you contribute a percentage of your pay, yes. A 6% contribution on $60,000 is $3,600 a year. After a raise to $62,400, the same 6% is $3,744, and any employer match based on your pay usually grows too.
This calculator is for educational purposes only and is not financial, tax or legal advice. Results are estimates based on the numbers you enter.