Work hours & pay
Pay raise calculator
Enter your current pay and either a raise percentage or the new amount to see your new salary and how much extra reaches each paycheck.
Switch to "By new amount" if you already know the new figure and want the percentage. The per-paycheck gain uses the pay frequency you choose.
Working out a raise
A percentage raise adds that share of your current pay: new pay = current × (1 + percent ÷ 100), and the increase is the difference between the two. Going the other way, if you already know the new figure, the percentage is (new − current) ÷ current × 100. To see the effect on a single paycheck, divide the yearly increase by the number of pay periods in your year.
With the defaults, a $50,000 salary and a 5% raise become $50,000 × 1.05 = $52,500, an increase of $2,500 a year. Paid biweekly across 26 pay periods, that adds $2,500 ÷ 26 = $96.15 to each paycheck, or about $208.33 a month. The same $2,500 would show as $48.08 on a weekly check or $104.17 on a semimonthly one, because the yearly gain is split into a different number of payments.
| Raise | New pay | Increase | Per biweekly check |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2% | $51,000 | $1,000 | $38.46 |
| 3% | $51,500 | $1,500 | $57.69 |
| 5% | $52,500 | $2,500 | $96.15 |
| 7% | $53,500 | $3,500 | $134.62 |
| 10% | $55,000 | $5,000 | $192.31 |
Reading the result before you celebrate
The increase shown here is gross. A raise can nudge part of your income into a higher tax band, so the extra take-home is usually smaller than the sticker figure, and benefits tied to salary, such as pension contributions, rise with it too. A per-paycheck view often feels less dramatic than the annual one, which is worth remembering when you weigh an offer.
It also helps to know whether a raise is keeping pace with prices. If inflation runs at 4% and your raise is 3%, your buying power has slipped even though the number went up; that gap is the difference between a cost-of-living adjustment and a real raise. When you negotiate, compare the offer with your current pay in percentage terms, since a fixed-dollar bump means more on a smaller salary than on a larger one. A raise early in the year also compounds against every future percentage increase.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate a percentage raise?
Multiply your current pay by the raise percentage and add it on. A 5% raise on $50,000 is $50,000 × 0.05 = $2,500, giving a new salary of $52,500.
What percentage raise did I get?
Subtract the old pay from the new, divide by the old pay and multiply by 100. Going from $50,000 to $52,500 is $2,500 ÷ $50,000 × 100 = 5%.
How much more will each paycheck be?
Divide the yearly increase by your number of pay periods: 52 weekly, 26 biweekly, 24 semimonthly or 12 monthly. A $2,500 raise paid biweekly adds about $96 per check.