Salary Projection Calculator
Project how your salary could grow over the next several years based on a steady annual raise, with a year-by-year forecast of compounding growth.
Your projection will appear here
Enter your starting salary, expected annual raise, and a number of years to see a year-by-year breakdown.
Quick Answer
This calculator projects your salary forward year by year by applying your expected annual raise percentage to your current salary total each year, not your original starting salary. That compounding means your salary grows a bit faster each year than a flat percentage of your starting number would suggest.
How It Works: Formula & Variables
Salary (Year N) = Starting Salary × (1 + Raise %) ^ N
- Starting Salary
- Your current annual salary before taxes.
- Raise %
- The annual raise percentage applied to your salary at the end of each year.
- Compounding
- Each year's raise is calculated on the previous year's salary, not the original starting amount.
Worked Examples
Example 1: A 3% raise over 10 years
Starting at a $60,000 salary with a steady 3% annual raise, the salary reaches about $80,635 after 10 years, a total gain of roughly 34%. A simple, non-compounding estimate (10 years × 3% = 30%) would undershoot this by about 4 percentage points.
Example 2: A 5% raise over 10 years
Starting at a $75,000 salary with a steady 5% annual raise, the salary reaches about $122,167 after 10 years, a total gain of roughly 63%. The gap between compounding and simple addition grows wider the higher the raise percentage and the longer the time frame.
Example 3: A 4% growth rate over 20 years
Starting at a $55,000 salary with a steady 4% annual growth rate, the projection reaches about $120,512 after 20 years, more than double the starting salary. Over a longer horizon like this, compounding does most of the work: a simple estimate (20 years × 4% = 80%) would put the total at $99,000, well short of the compounded figure.
Key Concepts
This is a projection, not a guarantee: Real careers rarely move in a perfectly straight line. Raises vary year to year, and job changes or promotions can shift salary in bigger jumps than a steady percentage captures.
Compounding beats flat math: A 3% raise applied every year for 10 years adds up to more than 30% total growth, because each year's raise is calculated on an already-larger salary.
Inflation eats into real gains: If your raise percentage roughly matches inflation, your purchasing power stays flat even as the dollar figure climbs. A raise has to outpace inflation to represent real growth.
Use it to set expectations, not plans: This kind of projection is most useful for getting a rough sense of where a steady raise schedule could take you, not for budgeting against an exact future number.
Common Mistakes
Multiplying instead of compounding: Multiplying one year's raise percentage by the number of years undershoots the real total, since it ignores growth on top of growth.
Assuming raises are guaranteed: This is a projection based on an assumption you enter, not a promise. Actual raises depend on company performance, your role, and the broader economy.
Ignoring taxes: This calculator projects gross salary. Take-home pay grows by a smaller amount once taxes on the higher income are factored in.
Forgetting inflation: A salary that grows 3% a year in a 3% inflation environment isn't actually buying more over time, even though the number on the page is rising.
Frequently Asked Questions
Apply your expected annual raise percentage to your salary each year, compounding on the new total rather than the original amount. A 3% annual raise on $60,000 gives $61,800 after year one, then 3% of $61,800 (not $60,000) for year two, and so on.
Because each raise is calculated on your current salary, not your starting salary, your salary grows faster over time than a simple year-by-year addition would suggest. Over 10 years, this compounding effect can add up to a noticeably larger number than multiplying one year's raise by 10.
Typical annual raises in the US fall between 3% and 5%, often tied to inflation and performance reviews. Use a lower number for a conservative projection or a higher one to model a more optimistic career path.
No. It assumes a steady annual raise percentage applied every year. Promotions, job switches, or one-time bonuses usually move salary in larger, irregular jumps that this kind of steady projection doesn't capture.
Gross salary only. To see how a projected salary translates into take-home pay after taxes, run the result through our Paycheck Calculator.
A salary projection calculator forecasts what your salary could look like several years from now, based on a starting salary and a steady annual growth rate. It compounds each year's growth on top of the previous year's total, rather than just adding a flat amount each year, so the forecast reflects how salaries actually grow over time.
It's a rough forecast, not a prediction you can bank on. A 10-year projection assumes a steady growth rate every year, but real salaries move unevenly, with flat years, bigger jumps from promotions or job changes, and periods where raises don't keep pace with inflation. Treat the output as a directional estimate of where a steady growth rate could take you, not a guaranteed number.