Pay Rise Calculator
What a pay rise is really worth in your pocket after tax and deductions.
About this calculator
A 5% rise doesn't mean 5% more in your pocket — tax bands, National Insurance and student loans take their slice of every extra pound, and crossing a threshold changes the slice sharply. This calculator runs your current and new salaries through the full 2026/27 PAYE computation to show the rise you'll actually see.
The formula
Worked example
A 5% rise on £38,000 (England, no loan): gross +£1,900 → take-home +£1,368/year (+£114/month) — you keep 72%.
Common mistakes
- Negotiating in net terms — employers think in gross, so convert your target first.
- Assuming the keep-rate is constant: above £50,270 it drops to 58% (49% with a student loan).
- Ignoring pension contributions that scale with salary and quietly boost the rise's real value.
Frequently asked questions
Assumptions & limitations
Standard tax code, no pension change, 2026/27 rates.
Sources & verification
This calculator applies the standard formula published above to the figures you enter — it relies on no external statutory data. The formula and the worked example were checked by hand against each other.
Spotted an error or an out-of-date figure? Report it — corrections are prioritised over all other work (see our corrections policy).