Salary Hike Calculator
Switch between the two questions people actually ask at appraisal time: what a given hike percentage does to your salary, and what percentage a jump from one CTC to another really works out to.
Figures are CTC, not take-home. A hike on CTC does not raise your in-hand pay by the same amount, because tax rises with it and parts of CTC (employer PF, gratuity) never reach your bank account — see the salary calculator for the take-home effect.
If you get this same hike every year
| Period | Annual CTC | Total Increase | Monthly CTC |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | ₹6,60,000 | ₹60,000 | ₹55,000 |
| Year 2 | ₹7,26,000 | ₹1,26,000 | ₹60,500 |
| Year 3 | ₹7,98,600 | ₹1,98,600 | ₹66,550 |
| Year 4 | ₹8,78,460 | ₹2,78,460 | ₹73,205 |
| Year 5 | ₹9,66,306 | ₹3,66,306 | ₹80,526 |
Both directions, one calculator
At appraisal time there are really only two questions, and they run in opposite directions:
- "I have been offered a 12% hike — what does that make my CTC?" Pick the first option and enter the percentage.
- "My CTC went from ₹8.5 lakh to ₹9.7 lakh — what percentage is that?" Pick the second option and enter both figures.
The arithmetic is simple in both directions, which is exactly why it is worth getting right rather than guessing:
New CTC = current CTC × (1 + hike% ÷ 100)
Hike % = (new CTC − current CTC) ÷ current CTC × 100
A hike on CTC is not a hike in your bank balance
This is the part that catches people out every year. Your CTC includes components you never receive as monthly cash — the employer's provident fund contribution and the gratuity provision — and the extra income is taxed at your marginal rate, which is the highest rate you pay, not your average one.
So a 10% rise in CTC lands as something less than 10% more in hand, and the gap widens as you move up the slabs. To see the actual take-home effect, put both the old and new figures through the salary calculator, and check which tax regime suits the new number with the income tax calculator. If the raise pushes you into a higher slab, the HRA exemption calculator is worth a look too.
The number that matters is not this year's hike
A single hike is easy to judge and almost meaningless on its own. What decides where you end up is the rate, repeated. The table above runs your hike forward ten years, and the shape surprises most people.
On ₹6,00,000 with a steady 10% a year: ₹6.6 lakh after one year, ₹9.66 lakh by year five, and ₹15.56 lakh by year ten. The increase in year ten alone is ₹1.41 lakh — more than twice the ₹60,000 you got in year one, for the same 10%. That is compounding working on your salary rather than your savings.
A useful shortcut: divide 72 by your hike percentage to get the years to double. At 10% that is 7.2 years (the exact figure is 7.3). At 8% it is nine years; at 15%, under five. When you are comparing two offers, comparing doubling times is more honest than comparing this year's rupees.
Why a 20% hike can be worth less than a 12% one
Hike percentages are quoted on CTC, and CTC is not a single kind of money. Two offers with identical headline hikes can land very differently:
- The base matters more than the rate. 20% on ₹5,00,000 is ₹1,00,000. 12% on ₹12,00,000 is ₹1,44,000. The smaller percentage is the larger raise.
- Variable pay is not salary. If the increase lands in a performance bonus rather than fixed pay, you receive it only if targets are met — and next year's hike is usually computed on fixed pay, so the effect does not carry forward.
- Employer PF and gratuity are inside CTC. They rise with your hike but never reach your bank account that month. They are real money, just not spendable money.
- Tax takes a share of the rest. Cross a slab boundary and a chunk of the increase goes straight out.
This is why the in-hand figure deserves a separate look. A ₹12,00,000 CTC arrives as roughly ₹85,395 a month, not ₹1,00,000 — the in-hand salary calculator shows where the gap goes, and the income tax calculator shows what the slab does to the increase.
Judge a hike against the alternatives, not in isolation
A percentage on its own means very little. The chart in the result panel plots what your CTC becomes across hikes from 0% to 30%, with your figure marked, so you can see the shape of the trade rather than anchoring on one number in an offer letter.
Two comparisons worth making before you accept anything:
- Against inflation. A hike below the inflation rate is a real-terms pay cut, however it is presented. The inflation calculator shows what your current salary needs to become just to stand still.
- Against compounding. Raises compound. Two years of 8% beats one year of 15% followed by nothing, and the gap keeps widening. The step-up SIP calculator shows the same mechanic applied to investing — a contribution that rises annually ends up far ahead of a flat one.
Quick reference
| Current CTC | +10% | +15% | +20% | +30% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ₹5,00,000 | ₹5,50,000 | ₹5,75,000 | ₹6,00,000 | ₹6,50,000 |
| ₹8,00,000 | ₹8,80,000 | ₹9,20,000 | ₹9,60,000 | ₹10,40,000 |
| ₹12,00,000 | ₹13,20,000 | ₹13,80,000 | ₹14,40,000 | ₹15,60,000 |
| ₹20,00,000 | ₹22,00,000 | ₹23,00,000 | ₹24,00,000 | ₹26,00,000 |
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I calculate my salary hike percentage?
What is a good salary hike in India?
Why is my in-hand increase smaller than my hike percentage?
Does a hike percentage apply to CTC or basic pay?
How do I work out the hike needed to reach a target salary?
Is a 30% hike on a job switch realistic?
Sources
Every statutory figure on this page is taken from the primary source below. Rates and thresholds change by notification — if you are filing, check the source for the current position.
- Income Tax Department, Government of India — slab rates and Section 87A rebate