Raise vs Promotion Value Calculator — Rex's Toolbox

Rex says

Money math without the spreadsheet headache. Plug in your numbers and I'll show you exactly where the dollars land.

Try a scenario

Click to load — tweak from there.

Inputs

Current base salary($/yr)

Current weekly hours(hrs)

Straight raise offered(%)

Promotion increase(%)

Extra weekly hours with the promotion(hrs)

Additional annual bonus with promotion($/yr)

Effective tax rate(%)

Working weeks per year(weeks)

Expected annual raise thereafter(%)

Result

Promotion's hourly advantage

-$1

True hourly — promotion

$35

True hourly — straight raise

$36

After-tax pay — promotion

$82,051

After-tax pay — raise

$72,165

Five-year after-tax difference

$51,116

Psst — share this and help Rex grow

One click, a permanent link with your numbers baked in.

More financial

Got your number — what next?

Pick one, it takes 20 seconds

Ask Rex about this resultRex reads your numbers and suggests the next move.True Hourly Wage CalculatorYour real pay per hour after commute, unpaid overtime, and job-related costs.Consulting Day Rate CalculatorWhat to charge per day to hit your income target.Annual Commute Cost CalculatorTotal yearly cost of getting to work — money and hours — by mode.

How to use this

1Enter current base salary ($/yr).
2Enter current weekly hours (hrs).
3Enter straight raise offered (%).
4Enter promotion increase (%).
5Enter extra weekly hours with the promotion (hrs).
6Enter additional annual bonus with promotion ($/yr).
7Enter effective tax rate (%).
8Enter working weeks per year (weeks).
9Enter expected annual raise thereafter (%).
10Read your promotion's hourly advantage on the right — it updates as you type.
11Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone.

About this calculator

A promotion looks strictly better than a raise until you price the hours that come with it. This calculator compares three things on equal footing: your current package, a straight raise at the same workload, and a promotion with a larger increase plus additional weekly hours and any change to bonus or equity. It reports each option's true hourly rate and the annual after-tax gain, so the comparison is not just 'which number is bigger' but 'which pays better per hour of life spent'. It also shows the compounding effect, since future raises are usually a percentage of the new base.

FormulaFor each option: after-tax pay = (base + bonus) × (1 − tax rate). True hourly = after-tax pay ÷ (weekly hours × weeks). Five-year value applies the annual growth rate to each base.

Worked example

Using the values the calculator loads with:

Inputs

Current base salary: 92000 $/yr
Current weekly hours: 42 hrs
Straight raise offered: 6 %
Promotion increase: 14 %
Extra weekly hours with the promotion: 7 hrs
Additional annual bonus with promotion: 6000 $/yr
Effective tax rate: 26 %
Working weeks per year: 48 weeks
Expected annual raise thereafter: 3 %

Results

Promotion's hourly advantage: -$0.91
True hourly — promotion: $34.89
True hourly — straight raise: $35.80
After-tax pay — promotion: $82,051.20
After-tax pay — raise: $72,164.80
Five-year after-tax difference: $51,115.68

What each field means

Inputs

Current base salary ($/yr): The current base salary used in the calculation, measured in $/yr. Starts at 92000 $/yr so you have a working example on load.
Current weekly hours (hrs): The current weekly hours used in the calculation, measured in hrs. Starts at 42 hrs so you have a working example on load.
Straight raise offered (%): The straight raise offered used in the calculation, measured in %. Starts at 6 % so you have a working example on load.
Promotion increase (%): The promotion increase used in the calculation, measured in %. Starts at 14 % so you have a working example on load.
Extra weekly hours with the promotion (hrs): The extra weekly hours with the promotion used in the calculation, measured in hrs. Starts at 7 hrs so you have a working example on load.
Additional annual bonus with promotion ($/yr): The additional annual bonus with promotion used in the calculation, measured in $/yr. Starts at 6000 $/yr so you have a working example on load.
Effective tax rate (%): The effective tax rate used in the calculation, measured in %. Starts at 26 % so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 0–60 %.
Working weeks per year (weeks): The working weeks per year used in the calculation, measured in weeks. Starts at 48 weeks so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 1–52 weeks.
Expected annual raise thereafter (%): The expected annual raise thereafter used in the calculation, measured in %. Starts at 3 % so you have a working example on load.

Results

Promotion's hourly advantage: Returned as a money amount in US dollars and shown as the headline result. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
True hourly — promotion: Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
True hourly — straight raise: Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
After-tax pay — promotion: Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
After-tax pay — raise: Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
Five-year after-tax difference: Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.

FAQ

The promotion pays more but the hourly is lower — is it still worth taking?

Often yes, because titles and scope compound into future offers in a way that hours worked this year do not. But go in knowing you took a pay cut per hour, and set a date to revisit the workload once you are established in the role.

Should I count equity in the comparison?

Only at a value you would accept in cash today. Private-company equity has no reliable price and a real chance of being worth nothing; public RSUs on a known vesting schedule are closer to deferred salary and can be added to the bonus input.

How much does the five-year figure really matter?

A great deal, because raises are usually a percentage of base, so a higher base compounds. The five-year gap here is frequently several times the first-year difference — which is why negotiating base beats negotiating a one-off bonus.

What if the extra hours are temporary?

Then model them as temporary: run the promotion once with the extra hours and once without, and treat the truth as somewhere between. Be sceptical, though — 'just through the transition' has a way of becoming the new baseline.

Accuracy and limitations

Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.
Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.
This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant.

Related tools

True Hourly Wage Calculator

Your real pay per hour after commute, unpaid overtime, and job-related costs.

Consulting Day Rate Calculator

What to charge per day to hit your income target.

Annual Commute Cost Calculator

Total yearly cost of getting to work — money and hours — by mode.

Cite this calculator

Writing about this topic? Grab a citation — every link helps keep these tools free.

APA

RevenueLab. (2026). Raise vs Promotion Value Calculator. Retrieved from https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/raise-vs-promotion-value

HTML

<p>Source: <a href="https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/raise-vs-promotion-value" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Raise vs Promotion Value Calculator — RevenueLab</a> (2026).</p>

Markdown

Source: [Raise vs Promotion Value Calculator — RevenueLab](https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/raise-vs-promotion-value) (2026).