Salary Increase Calc
Salary guide

What Is a Good Raise Percentage?

Evaluate a raise using role, performance, market position, promotion scope, inflation, and total compensation—not one universal number.

By Salary Increase Calc editorial team • Reviewed by Salary Increase Calc editorial team on August 4, 2026

There is no universal “good” raise percentage. A useful evaluation compares the raise with your responsibilities, performance, market pay, promotion scope, inflation, benefits, and alternatives. An employer’s salary budget is not the same as the raise every employee receives.

Start with the reason for the raise

An annual merit increase, cost-of-living adjustment, market correction, retention increase, and promotion solve different problems. A promotion that adds people management or materially larger responsibility should not be judged by the same standard as a routine annual review.

Ask what changed: your role, your contribution, the external market, or only the employer’s budget. The answer determines the evidence that matters.

Compare dollars, not only percentages

A 5% raise on $50,000 adds $2,500 per year before tax. It raises monthly gross pay by about $208.33 and biweekly gross pay by about $96.15. Those amounts may make the practical impact clearer than the percentage alone.

Also compare total compensation. Health premiums, retirement match, bonus opportunity, paid time off, equity, commute, and schedule flexibility can outweigh a small base-pay difference.

Separate salary budgets from individual outcomes

Published compensation surveys often describe the total amount an employer budgets for raises across a workforce. That does not mean every employee receives the budget percentage. Some receive more, some less, and some none because of performance, promotions, market adjustments, timing, or pay-range position.

Treat a budget figure as context, not a verdict on whether your raise is fair.

Compare with inflation carefully

If a raise is 5% and national CPI is 3.5%, the percentage-point gap is 1.50 points. The exact real purchasing-power change is about 1.45%, using (1.05 ÷ 1.035) − 1.

National CPI is still an average. Your housing, transportation, health care, childcare, and location can produce a different personal experience. Use the inflation-adjusted raise calculator for scenarios.

Build a decision checklist

  1. What new responsibilities or results support the increase?
  2. Where does your pay sit in the relevant market range?
  3. Is this an annual adjustment, promotion, or correction?
  4. What happens to bonus, equity, benefits, and workload?
  5. What is the gross and estimated take-home difference?
  6. What alternatives do you realistically have?

Use the main calculator to translate the offer into each pay period before deciding what the percentage means for you.