Raise Calculator
What a raise adds to your salary and to your take-home pay after federal, state, Social Security and Medicare taxes, per year and per paycheck.
A 5% raise on $70,000, single, by state
| State | More take-home a year |
|---|---|
| Texas | $2,462 |
| California | $2,182 |
| New York | $2,273 |
| Illinois | $2,289 |
| Florida | $2,462 |
How this calculator works
Take-home pay before and after the raise, with 2026 federal brackets, Social Security, Medicare and your state's income tax, as in the paycheck calculator.
What it assumes
- Standard deduction, no pre-tax deductions.
Questions people ask
Can a raise lower my take-home pay?
No. Only the income above a bracket threshold is taxed at the higher rate, so you always keep most of a raise.
What is a good raise?
One above inflation keeps your buying power growing; the inflation calculator shows the latest rate.
How do I calculate a raise percentage?
Divide the increase by your old salary: going from $70,000 to $73,500 is a $3,500 raise, 5%.
How much of a raise do I keep?
Your marginal rates set it: in the 22% bracket in a state with no income tax, about 70 cents of each extra dollar after Social Security and Medicare.
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Sources
Updated by the RateHerald team. The maths is tested against worked examples; report a problem.