Negotiation Maths
Pay Rise Calculator
A $5,000 raise is not $5,000 in your pocket. See exactly how much of your next pay rise survives tax — and what it means per month.
Your details
Typical annual rises are 3–5%; promotions often 10–20%.
What you actually keep
Extra take-home per year
That's $275 more in your pocket each month.
You keep
of the raise, after tax.
Before and after
| Current | After rise | Change |
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Estimates assume a single resident taxpayer on standard settings. For pension, student loans, state taxes and more, use the full salary calculator.
The Fine Print
Why a raise never feels as big as it sounds
Every extra dollar you earn is taxed at your marginal rate — the highest rate that applies to you. That's why the last slice of your income is always the most heavily taxed slice.
The bracket myth
A pay rise can never leave you with less take-home pay. Tax brackets are marginal: crossing a threshold only changes the rate on the income above that threshold. If your raise straddles two brackets, part is taxed at the old rate and part at the new one.
Negotiate with net numbers
Knowing your keep-rate turns a vague "5% raise" into a concrete monthly figure. If you keep roughly two-thirds of each extra dollar, a $6,000 raise is about $330 a month in hand — a much more useful number when weighing a counter-offer or a job move.