Key takeaway
For a single filer in 2026, a 5% raise adds $2,410.50 of take-home pay on a $60K salary (80.35% kept), $2,814 on $80K (70.35%), $3,517.50 on $100K (70.35%), and $5,126.25 on $150K (68.35%). The pattern is simple: your marginal federal rate plus 7.65% FICA is what a raise costs you, so a raise is worth 100% minus that combined rate.
The raise table: what a 5% raise really pays
Single filer, tax year 2026, $16,100 standard deduction, no state tax, no pre-tax deductions. "Kept" is the share of the gross raise that lands in take-home pay.
| Salary | 5% raise (gross) | Take-home increase | Kept | Per month | Biweekly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $60,000 → $63,000 | $3,000 | $2,410.50 | 80.35% | $201 | $93 |
| $80,000 → $84,000 | $4,000 | $2,814.00 | 70.35% | $234 | $108 |
| $100,000 → $105,000 | $5,000 | $3,517.50 | 70.35% | $293 | $135 |
| $150,000 → $157,500 | $7,500 | $5,126.25 | 68.35% | $427 | $197 |
Worked example: the $100K raise, dollar by dollar
Start with a $100,000 salary and a 5% raise — $5,000 of extra gross pay. At $100K, a single filer's marginal federal rate is 22% (taxable income of $83,900 sits in the 22% bracket). The math on the raise:
| Piece of the $5,000 raise | Amount |
|---|---|
| Extra federal tax (22% marginal) | $1,100.00 |
| Extra FICA (7.65%) | $382.50 |
| Take-home increase | $3,517.50 |
That is $293 a month, or about $135 per biweekly paycheck. The same structure explains every row of the table: at $60K the marginal rate is only 12%, so 12% + 7.65% = 19.65% goes to tax and you keep 80.35%. At $150K the marginal rate is 24%, so you keep 68.35%.
Why the raise shrinks: three forces
1. The marginal rate, not your average rate. Your raise is taxed at the rate on your last dollar of income — the highest bracket you touch — not your effective rate. That is why a $100K earner with a 20.8% effective rate still loses 22% of a raise to federal tax. (See the full 2026 take-home pay table for the bracket layers.)
2. FICA comes off the top. Social Security and Medicare take 7.65% of wages before the standard deduction, before brackets, before everything. It applies to the raise just as it applies to the base salary — $382.50 of the $5,000 in the example above.
3. Withholding annualizes the bigger check. Payroll software sees your larger paycheck and assumes you earn that much every pay period all year, so it may withhold slightly more than your actual liability. That portion is not lost — it comes back as a larger refund or smaller balance due at filing time — but it makes the first raised paychecks look thinner than the math above.
A raise can never make you poorer
The most persistent raise myth is that crossing into a higher bracket costs you money. It cannot: brackets apply in layers, so only the dollars above the line face the higher rate. If your raise pushes $2,000 of income from the 12% bracket into the 22% bracket, you keep 70.35 cents instead of 80.35 cents on exactly those $2,000 — and every dollar below the line is untouched. You always take home more after a raise than before it. (Overtime pay works the same way — see is overtime taxed more.)
Banking the raise: the cheapest dollar is the pre-tax one
If you route the raise into a traditional 401(k), each pre-tax dollar costs you less than a dollar of take-home pay, because you skip the federal tax on it (FICA still applies). At a 22% marginal rate, diverting $1,000 of raise into a 401(k) shrinks your check by only about $703.50. Raises are also the easiest money to save — you never had it, so you never miss it. Consider setting your contribution increase to take effect the same pay period as the raise.
Bottom line
A 5% raise is worth roughly 70 cents on the dollar in take-home pay for most earners between $80K and $120K — $293 a month on $100K. Judge a raise by the marginal rate on the extra dollars, not by the gross number in the offer letter, and remember the three-way split: your marginal bracket, FICA's 7.65%, and the rest is yours.
Run your own numbers
Our free Take-Home Pay Calculator converts any salary or hourly wage into take-home pay after federal tax and FICA — run your current pay and your raised pay side by side.
Related calculators
- Take-Home Pay — what any salary or hourly wage becomes after federal tax and FICA.
- 2026 Take-Home Pay Table — $50K–$150K worked out line by line: federal tax, FICA, monthly and biweekly.
- Is Overtime Taxed More? — marginal-rate math on extra hours, plus the 2025–2028 overtime deduction.
Frequently asked questions
How much of a 5% raise do I actually keep?
About 70.35% at $80K–$100K salaries for a single filer in 2026: a $5,000 raise on $100K adds $3,517.50 to take-home pay ($293/month). At $60K you keep 80.35% ($2,410.50 of a $3,000 raise); at $150K you keep 68.35% ($5,126.25 of a $7,500 raise). The kept share is 100% minus your marginal federal rate minus 7.65% FICA.
Why is my raise smaller than I expected on my paycheck?
Three things shrink it: your marginal tax rate applies to every raise dollar, FICA takes 7.65% off the top, and payroll software may over-withhold on the bigger check (that part comes back at tax time). None of it is lost to anything mysterious — it is just the marginal rate plus FICA.
Will a raise push me into a higher tax bracket and cost me money?
No. Only the dollars above the bracket line are taxed at the higher rate; everything below keeps its lower rate. A raise always increases your take-home pay — a higher bracket just means you keep a slightly smaller share of the top dollars.
Should I put my raise into my 401(k) instead of my paycheck?
It is one of the cheapest ways to save it. Traditional 401(k) contributions skip federal income tax, so at a 22% marginal rate, $1,000 of raise diverted to a 401(k) only shrinks your check by about $703.50 (FICA still applies). And since you never had the money, you never miss it.
Last updated: September 28, 2026