How to Ask for a Raise: How Much to Ask For and What to Say
A raise is a pitch you make to your own manager, and winging it costs you. Counteroffer builds the case so you ask with evidence, a number, and the right words.
Coaching, not legal or financial advice.
What are you negotiating?
Your offer or current pay
Market-rate band
Talking points
Email template
CopyTiming
Coaching, not legal or financial advice.
Direct answer
To ask for a raise, benchmark your role against the market, document the results you have delivered, then ask your manager for a meeting and name one specific number. Know what you are up against: US employers set aside about 3.4 percent for salary increases in 2026, and the average merit raise is roughly 3.2 percent. Anything meaningfully above that is not a merit raise, it is a request to be repriced against the market, and it needs market data plus evidence of the scope you have taken on. This is career coaching, not financial or HR advice.
The problem
People wait to be noticed and rewarded, drop hints instead of making a clear ask, and end up underpaid relative to new hires doing the same work.
How Counteroffer handles it
Counteroffer builds your raise case end to end. It benchmarks your current pay against the market, helps you turn your results into evidence, and sets a target increase anchored to the gap rather than to the standard merit pool. Then it writes the script: how to open the conversation, state your number, and handle a "let me check the budget." You practice it, pick the right moment around a review or a win, and ask with confidence. It prepares the pitch; the outcome depends on your situation, so treat it as coaching, not a promise.
▲ the numbers
What a raise is actually worth in the US in 2026.
Almost every article about asking for a raise quotes no numbers at all. These are the benchmarks that decide whether your ask is routine or ambitious, with the source for each, so you know exactly what you are asking to beat.
| Benchmark | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Total salary increase budget, 2026 (WTW) | 3.5% | WTW 2026 Salary Budget Planning Report. Matches the 3.5% actual budgets in 2025 |
| Merit increase budget, 2026 | 3.2% | Mercer QuickPulse US Compensation Planning Survey, 1,013 US organizations |
| Total salary increase budget, 2026 | 3.5% | Mercer. Includes promotions and market adjustments, so it runs above the merit figure |
| Salary budget increase, 2026 (median) | 3.5% | The Conference Board, 40th annual survey, 460+ US compensation leaders |
| Average pay increase that comes with a promotion | 8.7% | Mercer. Compare with the 3.2% merit raise |
| Share of the workforce projected to be promoted in 2026 | 9% | Mercer. Down from 10% in 2025 |
| Median target pay gap between career levels | 10% | Payscale 2026 Compensation Best Practices Report |
| Wage growth, job switchers (June 2026) | 4.1% | Atlanta Fed Wage Growth Tracker, 3 month moving average |
| Wage growth, job stayers (June 2026) | 3.4% | Atlanta Fed Wage Growth Tracker |
| Employers calling pay compression a big concern | 21% | Payscale 2026 CBPR. Only 17% raise pay for the affected employees |
These figures are not interchangeable. A merit budget excludes promotions and market adjustments; a total salary increase budget includes them. That distinction matters in the conversation: if your manager says "the budget is 3 percent," they are usually talking about the merit pool, and promotions or market adjustments are typically funded separately.
the stat everyone quotes
"Stay loyal and the raises will take care of themselves."
The data does not support it.
The Atlanta Fed has tracked the wage growth of job switchers against job stayers every month for years, from Current Population Survey microdata. As of June 2026, switchers were seeing 4.1 percent wage growth against 3.4 percent for stayers. The gap narrows and widens with the labor market, but the sign of it rarely changes: leaving has generally paid better than staying.
The mechanism is not that your employer is malicious. It is that your pay resets to the market only when someone has to compete for you. Merit budgets are set once a year as a percentage pool, and a 3.2 percent raise on a salary that is already 15 percent under market keeps you 15 percent under market forever. Compounding does the rest.
Employers know this happens. In Payscale 2026 research, 21 percent of employers called pay compression between newer and longer-tenured staff a big concern, but only 17 percent said they actually increase pay for the affected employees, and 14 percent do not monitor it at all. Note the framing: that is what employers say drives a perception of unfair pay, not a measurement of how often new hires out-earn existing staff. Nobody publishes that number. The practical takeaway is that the correction is unlikely to arrive on its own, which is exactly why the ask has to be yours and why it has to carry market data rather than tenure.
▲ how to do it
How to ask for a raise, step by step.
Benchmark the role before you pick a number
Your raise is not a reward for effort, it is a repricing of a role. Find what your job pays in your market, at your level, in your city or for your remote band. If you land inside the range, you are asking for a merit raise and roughly 3 percent is the honest expectation. If you are below the floor, you are asking for a market adjustment, which is a different budget and a different conversation.
Write down the evidence, not the effort
Managers cannot fund "I work hard." They can fund "I took over the vendor migration in March, it shipped six weeks early, and it cut our processing cost by 18 percent." Pull three to five specifics from the last 12 months with numbers attached. If your results have no numbers, use scope instead: what you own now that you did not own a year ago.
Pick one number and know why it is that number
A range invites the bottom of the range. Name a single figure and tie it to the benchmark: "the market range for this role is 118 to 132, I am at 105, and I am asking for 125." That sentence gives your manager something to take to their own boss. "I would like a raise" gives them nothing to carry.
Ask for the meeting in advance
Do not ambush your manager in a hallway or bolt it onto the end of a one on one. Send a short note asking for 30 minutes to talk about compensation. The heads up is not a courtesy, it is tactical: it lets them check the budget and arrive ready to negotiate rather than ready to defend.
Time it around the budget cycle, not your mood
Most companies lock merit budgets months before raises land. By the time you see the number on your review, the pool is already allocated. Ask your manager when compensation planning happens and start the conversation before it, ideally right after a visible win. A great ask in the wrong month gets a sincere "there is no budget left."
Say your number and then stop talking
The hardest part is the silence after the ask. Most people fill it by negotiating against themselves: "but I know things are tight, so whatever you can do is fine." You just conceded before they responded. Name the figure, give the one line reason, and let them speak next.
Get the no in writing, with conditions
If the answer is no, the meeting is not over. Ask what specifically would need to be true for the number to change, and by when. Then send the recap email. A vague "let us revisit later" evaporates; "we agreed to revisit at 125 in January if the migration lands" is something you can hold them to.
copy and paste
The raise request email.
Use this to book the conversation, not to make the ask itself. The number belongs in the meeting, where you can respond. The email exists to get the meeting on the calendar and to tell your manager what it is about so they can prepare.
Subject: Time to talk about compensation Hi [Name], Could we find 30 minutes in the next week or two to talk about my compensation? I want to give you the heads up so it is not a surprise and so you have time to look at whatever you need to. Short version: I have taken on [specific scope, e.g. ownership of the vendor migration and the reporting pipeline] since [month], and I have been looking at what the market pays for this role at this level. I would like to walk you through both and talk about where my salary should land. Happy to work around your schedule. If it is easier to fold into our next one on one, that works too, though I would rather have the full 30 minutes. Thanks, [Your name]
Swap the bracketed parts for your own numbers. Counteroffer writes this for your exact offer.
▲ frequently asked
Raise questions people actually ask.
How much of a raise should I ask for?
It depends on whether you are inside your market range or below it. If you are paid fairly for the role, the standard merit raise is about 3.2 percent and asking for much more needs a reason. If benchmarking shows you are below the market floor, ask for the number that closes the gap, even if that is 10 or 15 percent, and present it as a market correction rather than a merit raise.
How do you ask for a raise professionally?
Request a dedicated meeting in advance rather than raising it in passing. Open with the scope and results you have delivered, state one specific number tied to market data, then stop and let your manager respond. Keep it factual and unemotional. Avoid ultimatums and personal financial need, which give your manager nothing to take to their own boss.
How do I ask for a raise in writing?
Use the email to book the conversation and to signal the topic, not to name your number. Written asks are easy to file away and answer with a one line no. Say you would like 30 minutes to discuss compensation, mention the scope you have taken on, and save the specific figure for the meeting where you can respond in real time.
When should you ask for a raise?
Before the merit budget is locked, which at most companies is months before raises actually land. Ask your manager when compensation planning happens and start the conversation ahead of it, ideally soon after a visible win. Asking after the review cycle usually means the pool is already allocated, no matter how strong your case is.
Can I ask for a raise after one year?
Yes, and one year is the most common point to ask, because it typically lines up with your first full review cycle and with the service requirement most raise policies use. What matters is not the calendar but whether your scope or the market has moved since you were priced. If you are doing a bigger job than you were hired for, the case is there at 12 months.
How do you ask for a raise based on market value?
Bring the range, not a single data point. Show what the role pays at your level in your geography, show where your current salary sits against that range, and ask for a specific number inside it. Sources your manager can check independently carry far more weight than a screenshot of one job posting or a number a recruiter mentioned.
Can you ask for a raise because of inflation?
You can, but it is a weak argument on its own. Inflation applies to everyone at the company equally, so it is a question for the compensation team, not something your manager can act on for you individually. Cost of living is background context. The ask that works is built on your market rate and the scope you have taken on.
What should you not say when asking for a raise?
Avoid personal financial need, comparisons to specific colleagues, and threats you are not prepared to act on. Also avoid softening the ask into nothing: phrases like "whatever you can do is fine" concede the negotiation before your manager has answered. Name a number, give the reason, and let the silence sit.
▲ sources
- WTW: 2026 Salary Budget Planning Report
- Mercer: most US employers plan to keep 2026 salary increases flat
- The Conference Board: pay raise budgets
- Atlanta Fed Wage Growth Tracker: job switchers vs job stayers
- Payscale: 2026 Compensation Best Practices Report
- Fidelity: young professionals and salary negotiation study, 2022
Last updated July 2026. Figures are estimates and market data changes; verify anything you plan to quote in a negotiation.
▲ what it uses
The features behind asking for a raise.
Walk in knowing your number.
Counteroffer is educational career coaching, not legal, financial, or HR advice.