Percentage Increase Calculator

Percentage increase = (New Value − Starting Value) ÷ Starting Value × 100. For example, if a product went from $80 to $100, the increase is (100 − 80) ÷ 80 × 100 = 25%. If a population grew from 1,000 to 1,250, the increase is 25%. Always use the starting value as the denominator — not the new value. Using the new value gives the wrong answer. This calculator does the math for you automatically; you just enter the two numbers.

They use the same formula — (new − old) / old × 100. The only difference is framing. "Percentage increase" implies the number went up. "Percentage change" can be either direction. If your result comes out negative when using the percentage increase calculator, it means the second number is actually lower than the first — in which case you are really looking at a decrease. For a directional-agnostic calculation, use our percentage change calculator.

Divide the raise amount by your old salary, then multiply by 100. For example, if you went from $60,000 to $66,000, the raise is $6,000. $6,000 ÷ $60,000 × 100 = 10%. That is a 10% raise. A common rule of thumb: 3% is a cost-of-living adjustment, 5–8% is a strong merit raise, and 10%+ typically means a promotion or a change of employer. Enter your old and new salaries into this calculator to see your exact raise percentage.

Because the percentages are calculated from different bases. If a stock drops from $100 to $50, that is a 50% decrease (50 ÷ 100). To recover to $100, it needs to gain $50 on a $50 base, which is a 100% increase (50 ÷ 50). This asymmetry is why losses in investing are so painful — you need a much larger percentage gain to recover. Understanding this is critical for evaluating risk and returns.

Yes. Divide the new value by (1 + percentage/100). For example, if a price after a 25% increase is $125, the original was $125 ÷ 1.25 = $100. This is useful for verifying invoices, understanding historical prices, or reverse-engineering a starting point. Be careful: you cannot simply subtract the percentage from the new value — you must divide, because the percentage was calculated against the original, not the new value.

It depends on context. In the US, a 3% raise typically matches inflation (a "cost-of-living adjustment"). A 5–8% raise is generally considered a strong merit increase — above inflation and reflecting good performance. A 10%+ raise usually signals a promotion, a major role change, or an aggressive retention offer. If you are not getting at least an inflation-matching raise, your real purchasing power is declining even if your nominal salary went up. Use this calculator to convert your raise to a percentage and compare against current inflation rates.