Pay raise calculator: per hour, per paycheck and after inflation
Multiply your pay by the raise percentage to find the increase. A 4% raise on $60,000 adds $2,400 a year, which is $200 a month, $92.31 per biweekly paycheck and about $1.15 an hour. If prices rose 3% over the same year, the raise is worth about 1% in real terms.
Inputs used by this calculator
Pay Raise Calculator uses the fields below. The starting values reproduce the page example; replace them with values from the same units and time period before using the result.
| Input | Starting example | Accepted value | How it is used |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current pay ($) | 60,000 | 0 to 1000000000 | Supplies the current pay ($) quantity used by the published equation or result breakdown. |
| Pay period | Annual | Hourly · Weekly · Biweekly · 3 more choices | Supplies the pay period quantity used by the published equation or result breakdown. |
| Raise given as | A percentage | A percentage · A dollar amount · The new pay | Chooses which Pay Raise Calculator method or unknown the engine evaluates. |
| Raise (%) | 4 | -100 to 1000 | Supplies the raise (%) quantity used by the published equation or result breakdown. |
| Raise amount, same pay period ($) | 2,400 | -1000000000 to 1000000000 | Supplies the raise amount, same pay period ($) quantity used by the published equation or result breakdown. |
| New pay, same pay period ($) | 62,400 | 0 to 1000000000 | Supplies the new pay, same pay period ($) quantity used by the published equation or result breakdown. |
| Hours per week | 40 | 1 to 168 | Supplies the hours per week quantity used by the published equation or result breakdown. |
| Inflation over the year (%) | 3 | -20 to 100 | Supplies the inflation over the year (%) quantity used by the published equation or result breakdown. |
- Old pay
- Raise
- New pay vs. prices
Three ways to enter a raise
Raises are announced as a percentage ("4% merit increase"), as an amount ("$1.50 more an hour") or as a new figure in an offer letter. Choose the one you have and the calculator works out the others, so you can compare an offer quoted per hour with a salary quoted per year.
From percentage to dollars
Multiply current pay by the percentage and divide by 100. To go the other way, divide the new pay by the old pay, subtract 1 and multiply by 100. Both figures must use the same pay period: compare hourly with hourly or yearly with yearly.
raise = pay × percent ÷ 100percent = (new ÷ old − 1) × 100Per hour, paycheck, month and year
A year has 52 weekly paychecks, 26 biweekly paychecks, 24 semimonthly paychecks and 12 monthly ones. Full-time hourly pay is usually converted with 2,080 hours (40 × 52). Biweekly and semimonthly are different: biweekly pays every other Friday, semimonthly pays twice a month, so the paychecks are slightly different sizes.
Is the raise beating inflation?
A raise only increases what you can buy if it is larger than the rise in prices. Divide 1 plus the raise by 1 plus inflation and subtract 1. A 4% raise with 3% inflation is a real raise of about 0.97%; a 2% raise in the same year is a real pay cut of about 1%. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes the Consumer Price Index each month.
real raise = (1 + raise) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1How raises compare
The Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Cost Index tracks how wages and salaries change across the economy each quarter. It is a useful benchmark when asking for a raise: if your pay grew less than the index and less than inflation, your pay has fallen behind the market.
Before taxes
All figures are gross pay. The increase in take-home pay is smaller because federal and state income tax, Social Security, Medicare and any percentage-based retirement contributions also rise. Use a take-home pay calculator with the new salary to see the paycheck change.
What a raise on $60,000 is worth
| Raise | Per year | Per month | Per biweekly paycheck | Per hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2% | $1,200 | $100.00 | $46.15 | $0.58 |
| 3% | $1,800 | $150.00 | $69.23 | $0.87 |
| 4% | $2,400 | $200.00 | $92.31 | $1.15 |
| 5% | $3,000 | $250.00 | $115.38 | $1.44 |
| 10% | $6,000 | $500.00 | $230.77 | $2.88 |
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate a 3% raise?
Multiply your pay by 0.03 to get the raise, or by 1.03 to get the new pay. A 3% raise on $50,000 is $1,500, for a new salary of $51,500.
How much is a $1 an hour raise per year?
About $2,080 a year at 40 hours a week for 52 weeks.
How do I find the percentage of my raise?
Divide the new pay by the old pay, subtract 1 and multiply by 100. Going from $20 to $21.50 an hour is a 7.5% raise.
What is a good raise?
One larger than inflation keeps your buying power growing. Compare it with the latest 12-month CPI change and the Employment Cost Index from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Is a raise calculated before or after taxes?
Before. Raises are quoted on gross pay; the take-home increase is smaller after taxes and deductions.
How much is a 5% raise per paycheck?
On $60,000 paid biweekly, a 5% raise is $3,000 a year, or $115.38 per paycheck before taxes.
What is the difference between biweekly and semimonthly pay?
Biweekly is every two weeks, 26 paychecks a year. Semimonthly is twice a month, 24 paychecks a year.
What to keep in mind
Gross pay before taxes, benefits and deductions. Converting between hourly and yearly pay assumes the same hours every week for 52 weeks, with paid time off counted as worked.
Results are rounded for display in US format, with money in dollars and cents; CSV exports keep full calculation precision. This is a calculation summary, not an official certificate.