Average Raise Percentage: What Is a Good Raise?

What is the average raise percentage right now?

Across major 2025–2027 employer surveys, U.S. total salary-increase budgets sit in roughly the mid-3% range, while merit-only budgets are often a few tenths lower. That is a planning range for organizations — individual awards still vary by performance, location, and role.

WTW’s July 2025 Salary Budget Planning Report (surveyed April–June 2025; 1,569 U.S. organizations) said average U.S. salary-increase budgets for 2026 were expected to remain at 3.5%, matching 2025 actual increases of 3.5%.

Mercer’s October 2025 QuickPulse U.S. Compensation Planning Survey (1,013 U.S. organizations, fielded 20–31 October 2025) reported employers planning 3.2% average merit and 3.5% average total salary increases for 2026 — the same as the actual merit and total increases those employers reported for 2025. Mercer’s total figure includes merit, promotions, cost-of-living, and other adjustments.

Mercer’s July 2026 QuickPulse U.S. Compensation Planning Survey (newsroom release dated 31 August 2026; 1,001 U.S. organizations, fielded mid-July 2026) found employers planning 3.2% average base-salary merit increases and 3.5% average total salary increases for 2027 — including merit, promotions, cost-of-living, and other adjustments — roughly in line with the actual increases those employers reported for 2024–2026. As of July 2026, Mercer said 87% of those 2027 budgets were still preliminary.

WorldatWork’s 2025–2026 Salary Budget Survey press release (and its executive report) put the U.S. average overall salary-increase budget at 3.7% in 2025, with participants projecting 3.6% for 2026. In that same executive report, U.S. merit budgets averaged 3.2% in 2025 (median 3.3%), with a projected average merit budget of 3.2% for 2026.

WorldatWork’s 2026–2027 Salary Budget Survey topline PDF (published 15 July 2026; also summarized in the 15–16 July 2026 Workspan Daily release) reported that U.S. employers’ actual 2026 mean salary-increase budgets averaged 3.6%, matching the prior year’s 2026 projection, with a 3.6% mean projection for 2027. For a narrative walkthrough of those 2027 figures beside Mercer’s QuickPulse, see raise budgets outlook for 2027.

What is a good raise percentage?

A raise is “good” relative to three anchors: inflation, market pay for your job, and your employer’s stated cycle. Landing near the company average when you are a top performer can still be a weak outcome; clearing CPI when you were already below market can still leave you underpaid.

For promotions, budgets are larger than ordinary merit. Mercer’s October 2025 QuickPulse release said employers planned to promote about 9% of the workforce in 2026 (down from 10% in 2025) with an average promotion pay increase of 8.7%. That is a different category from a standard merit bump in the low-to-mid 3% range.

Convert any percent to cash before you decide. Use the free pay raise calculator to see monthly and after-tax estimates for your salary.

Merit vs cost-of-living vs promotion raises

Merit adjusts base pay for performance or contribution. WorldatWork’s executive report describes merit as the most common (and usually largest) budget type among its categories, with U.S. merit averages near 3.2% in the 2025–2026 survey cycle linked above.

Cost-of-living / general increases (COLA) are across-the-board adjustments meant to offset price changes. WorldatWork’s methodology treats general/COLA separately from merit and from “other” adjustments (equity fixes, range moves, skill-based pay, and similar). Many private employers fold inflation pressure into a single merit pool rather than publishing a separate COLA line.

Promotions move someone into a higher role or grade and often carry a larger percent than merit alone — illustrated by Mercer’s 8.7% average promotion increase figure for 2026 planning. When an offer mixes promotion and merit language, compute one overall percent from old base to new base so you are not double-counting.

Worked examples: turning benchmark percents into cash

Benchmarks are abstract until you apply them to a salary. These examples use only arithmetic on round salaries — they are illustrations of cash impact, not new survey statistics.

Merit near the cited 3.2% band. On $62,000, 3.2% is $1,984 per year, about $165 per month before tax. On $110,000, the same 3.2% is $3,520 per year. Equal percents are not equal household budgets — which is why high earners and early-career workers can disagree about whether a cycle “felt” generous even when both landed on guideline.

Total budget near the cited mid-3% band. A 3.5% total increase on $78,000 is $2,730 per year. If $500 of that year’s movement was actually a one-time payment rather than base, only the base portion compounds into next year’s merit math. Ask which dollars hit base.

Promotion-sized move using Mercer’s cited 8.7% planning average. On $70,000, 8.7% is $6,090, bringing pay to $76,090 before any separate bonus. That is a different conversation from a 3.2% merit cycle on the same salary ($2,240). If your letter says “promotion” but the percent looks like ordinary merit, clarify the grade change and range placement in writing.

Hourly translation. A 3% raise on $24/hour is $0.72/hour. At 40 hours, annual cash rises by about $1,498; at 30 hours, about $1,123. When coworkers compare raises across schedules, convert to annual cash at each person’s hours before debating who “got more.”

Average raise after 1 year of work

First-year employees often meet a prorated cycle, a waiting period before the first merit review, or a market hire rate that already baked in an expected increase. The employer surveys cited above describe organization budgets, not a separate “year-one only” national average, so treat any first-year award as a company-policy question first.

Practical approach: ask when you become eligible, whether the first award is prorated by months of service, and whether a probationary completion bump is separate from the annual merit pool. Then compare the percent you receive to the same merit-versus-total distinction used elsewhere on this page, and convert it to dollars with the pay raise calculator.

When a raise is not enough

Matching a survey average is not the same as being paid fairly for your market, scope, and cost of living. A raise can land on the “typical” mid-3% band and still leave you behind peers, behind documented ranges, or behind the CPI print that matters for your household.

Warning signs: repeated cycles at guideline while your compa-ratio stays low; promotion-level responsibility without promotion-level pay (compare against Mercer’s cited promotion increase context, not only merit); inflation-adjusted flatness across several years on the annual raise calculator; or a “raise” that is mostly variable pay that does not raise base. In those cases the next step is evidence and options — market data, a written range discussion, or a search — not another debate about whether 3.1% or 3.4% is the national vibe.

What is the average raise per year?

There is no single government “average raise percentage” for every worker. Employer surveys publish budgets; BLS publishes wage and salary indexes like ECI. Use both: surveys for how HR plans cycles, ECI/CPI for economy-wide wage and price movement. Re-check the year on every chart — 2022–2023 prints were higher than the mid-3% environment described in the 2025–2026 releases above.