Pay Rise Calculator (2026/27)
Enter your current salary and the rise as a percentage or an amount — see the new gross salary and the real after-tax difference per month.
How it works
The headline rise and the take-home rise are different numbers: the extra pay sits on top of your existing salary, so it is taxed at your MARGINAL rate. The calculator runs the full 2026/27 tax and NI computation on both salaries and shows the true monthly difference.
A basic-rate earner keeps roughly 72p of each extra £1 (20% tax + 8% NI); a higher-rate earner about 58p (40% + 2%). Between £100,000 and £125,140 the personal-allowance taper cuts this to about 38p per £1 — some rises in that zone feel invisible.
A worked example: on £35,000, a £2,000 rise sits entirely in the basic-rate band, so you keep roughly 72% of it — about £1,440 a year, or £120 a month. The £2,000 headline is a 5.7% rise (2,000 ÷ 35,000 × 100), but the payslip will only ever show the £120, which is why rises so often feel smaller than the letter announcing them.
Rises that straddle a threshold get split across bands. Someone on £49,000 taking a £3,000 rise keeps about 72% of the first £1,270 (the distance to the £50,270 higher-rate threshold) and about 58% of the remaining £1,730 — roughly £914 plus £1,003, about £1,918 a year rather than the £2,160 a flat basic-rate assumption would suggest. The calculator does this splitting exactly instead of applying one rate to the whole rise.
To compare a rise against inflation, check the percentage: a 3% rise when prices grew 5% is a real-terms pay CUT even though the payslip number went up. The calculator shows the rise as both an amount and a percentage so you can negotiate with the right figure.
What the result covers: income tax and employee National Insurance on both the old and new salary, compared like for like. It cannot see the cliff-edges attached to your personal circumstances — the child benefit charge from £50,270 or the loss of free childcare hours eligibility at £100,000 — so if your rise crosses one of those lines, check the relevant calculator too before celebrating or, where it makes sense, consider a pension contribution to bring adjusted income back under the threshold.
FAQ
How much of a pay rise do I actually take home?
It depends on the tax band the extra income lands in: up to £50,270 total salary you keep about 72% of the rise (after 20% tax and 8% NI); between £50,270 and £100,000 about 58%; in the £100,000–£125,140 personal-allowance taper about 38%; above £125,140 about 53%. A rise that crosses a threshold is split across bands — the calculator computes the exact figure rather than a flat rate.
Is a 5% pay rise good?
Measure it against two things: inflation and your market rate. If CPI inflation is running at 3%, a 5% rise is roughly a 2% real-terms gain; if inflation is 6%, the same rise is a real-terms cut. Separately, if your market value has moved (new skills, market shortage), the benchmark is what your role pays elsewhere — job movers historically out-earn stayers. Bring both numbers to the negotiation, not just the percentage.
Can a pay rise push me into a higher tax bracket and leave me worse off?
No — UK tax bands are marginal, so only the slice ABOVE a threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the rise can never shrink your net pay by itself. What CAN genuinely bite are cliff-edges attached to income: crossing £50,270 starts the child benefit charge taper, £100,000 starts the personal-allowance taper and can end free childcare hours eligibility. If a rise nudges you just over one of these, a pension contribution can bring your adjusted income back under the line.
How do I convert a rise amount into a percentage?
Divide the rise by your current salary and multiply by 100: £2,000 on £35,000 is 2,000 ÷ 35,000 × 100 = 5.7%. The direction matters in negotiations — employers usually announce percentages while payslips show amounts, and being able to move fluently between the two (and then to the after-tax monthly figure this calculator produces) keeps the conversation anchored to what you will actually receive.
What will a £2,000 rise on a £35,000 salary give me each month?
About £120 a month after tax and National Insurance. The whole rise falls within the basic-rate band, where each extra £1 loses 20p of income tax and 8p of NI, leaving roughly 72p — so £2,000 becomes about £1,440 a year. Enter your exact figures above for the precise number, since even small amounts of pension or other salary quirks shift the result slightly.
Why did my rise look bigger in the announcement than in my payslip?
Because the announcement is gross and the payslip is net. The extra pay stacks on top of everything you already earn, so it is taxed entirely at your highest marginal rate — there is no fresh personal allowance for it. A basic-rate earner sees roughly 72% of the announced figure; a higher-rate earner about 58%; and in the £100,000–£125,140 taper zone as little as 38%. Nothing has gone wrong — that is simply marginal taxation doing what it always does.
What happens to a rise if I earn just over £100,000?
It is the most heavily taxed zone in the system: between £100,000 and £125,140 the personal-allowance taper combines with 40% tax and 2% NI to leave only about 38p of each extra £1. A £5,000 rise landing wholly in that band delivers roughly £1,900 a year — barely £158 a month. This is the zone where redirecting the rise into a pension contribution is most often worth modelling before accepting the cash.