Salary Increase Percentage Calculator

Subtract the old salary from the new one, divide by the old salary, and multiply by 100. From £48,000 to £54,000 is £6,000 ÷ £48,000 = 12.5%.

Because the base changes. Going from 48,000 up to 54,000 is a 12.5% rise on 48,000; coming back down is 6,000 ÷ 54,000 = 11.1%. Same money, different denominator.

Compare the total package, not the base. A 10% higher salary with no pension match and less leave can be worth less than a 5% rise that keeps both, and the percentage on the base hides that entirely.

Internal promotions typically carry a smaller uplift than moving to a new employer for the same step up, which is why job-changing has historically outpaced internal progression. Both vary by market and year.

Not exactly. A 10% gross rise gives less than 10% more net, because the extra income is taxed at your marginal rate rather than your effective one.

Divide the new figure by the old. A move from 48,000 to 54,000 is a multiplier of 1.125 — useful for compounding several years of raises, where percentages cannot simply be added.

Convert to cash. A 10% rise on £30,000 is £3,000 and a 4% rise on £80,000 is £3,200, so the smaller percentage is the larger raise. Percentages flatter low bases.

A correction bringing pay in line with the external rate for the role, separate from merit. Employers usually distinguish the two, and it is worth asking which one an offer is.

External moves have historically outpaced internal raises, because a new employer prices you at market while an existing one prices you off your current salary. The size of the gap varies by year and sector — check current data for your market.

Where the law permits employers to ask, disclosing anchors the offer to your history rather than to the role's value. Several jurisdictions now ban the question outright for exactly this reason.

Apply the new rate from the effective date and the old rate before it. A £4,000 raise effective in July is worth about £2,000 in that calendar year and the full amount thereafter.

When new hires are paid close to or above longer-serving staff because market rates moved faster than internal raises. It is the structural reason internal progression falls behind, and it is fixed by market adjustments rather than merit rises.