How to use the pay raise calculator
- Enter your current pay per year or per hour (with hours a week).
- Choose how the raise is given: a percentage, a dollar amount or your new pay.
- Pick your filing status and state tax rate to see the extra take-home pay.
- Enter inflation to see your real raise.
What a raise looks like per paycheck
A 4% raise on $60,000:
| Per | Before | After | More |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | $60,000 | $62,400 | $2,400 |
| Month | $5,000 | $5,200 | $200 |
| Paycheck (every 2 weeks) | $2,307.69 | $2,400.00 | $92.31 |
| Hour (40 h/week) | $28.85 | $30.00 | $1.15 |
Of the extra $92.31 per paycheck, about $70 reaches your account after federal tax, Social Security, Medicare and a 4% state tax. The rest is taxed at your marginal rate.
Hourly raises
Going from $22 to $23.50 an hour is a 6.82% raise. At 40 hours a week that's $3,120 a year before tax, about $2,380 after tax for a single filer with a 4% state tax: about $92 more per biweekly paycheck.
Is your raise beating inflation?
A raise only improves your life if it's bigger than the rise in prices. Real raise ≈ (1 + raise) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1:
- 4% raise, 2.7% inflation → about 1.3% real raise.
- 3% raise, 3% inflation → 0%: same buying power as last year.
- 2% raise, 3.5% inflation → about −1.4%: a pay cut in disguise.
Make the raise count
A raise disappears fast if your spending quietly rises with it. A simple rule many people use: split every raise. For example, half to savings or debt and half to your lifestyle.
- Raise your 401(k) contribution by 1–2%; it reduces taxable pay, so your paycheck barely changes. See the 401(k) calculator.
- Pay down debt faster: our guide on paying off student loans faster shows what an extra $85 a month does.
- Update your budget with the new take-home in the monthly budget calculator, so the extra money gets a job.
Comparing job offers
If you're weighing a new job instead of a raise, compare total pay, not just salary: overtime, bonuses, 401(k) match and health insurance. The salary calculator converts hourly and yearly pay, and the take-home pay calculator adds 401(k) and health deductions. Paid hourly with overtime? Try the overtime calculator.
Put the raise to work
Flow is a budget planner built around paydays that shows what's safe to spend until the next one, so a raise turns into progress instead of disappearing. Vault keeps your income, bills and goals on one dashboard. Both have a free demo with sample data you can open in your browser.
Take-home estimates use 2026 federal figures, Social Security, Medicare and a flat state rate, with no 401(k) or benefits.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate a pay raise percentage?
How much is a 4% raise on $60,000?
What is a good raise in 2026?
Why is my take-home raise smaller than the raise?
What is a real raise?
How do I ask for a raise?
Written by
Finance Specialist & Editor, VaultlyApps
Emma Whitfield writes and edits the VaultlyApps money guides and free calculators. Her focus is US household finance — budgeting on a real paycheck, paying down credit card and student debt, emergency funds and savings goals, renting — and the money side of freelancing and small-business income, from pricing and profit margins to self-employment tax. Every guide is researched against primary sources such as IRS publications and the CFPB, every number is checked in our tested calculators, and tax content is reviewed each year when new IRS figures come out. Emma is not a licensed financial adviser or tax preparer; her work is general education, not personal advice.
Researched against primary US sources, checked against independent calculators and reviewed by a finance expert on our team. Written for US readers — general education, not financial, tax or legal advice. Editorial policy · Disclaimer
