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Your hike is smaller than it looks
Every hike calculator gives you one number. This one gives you three: what the letter says, what it is worth after inflation, and what survives once variable pay comes out.
Put in both numbers and press the button. Everything runs in your browser and nothing is stored.
What this leaves out
Income tax. Deliberately: it depends on your regime, your deductions and your state, and a confident wrong number is worse than no number. This compares CTC to CTC and tells you what the percentage is really worth, which is the part everyone gets wrong.
The inflation figure is an assumption you can change, not a measurement. The read on your result is one person's opinion, not a benchmark, because no honest benchmark exists across every role, city and year.
How a hike percentage is worked out
Divide the new figure by the old one, subtract one, and multiply by a hundred. A move from 12,00,000 to 15,00,000 is 15 divided by 12, which is 1.25, so a 25% hike. That is the number the letter leads with and the only one most calculators give you.
It is also the least useful of the three, because it says how much the figure changed and nothing about whether you are better off.
Why the real number is smaller
Prices rise while your salary sits still. If inflation runs at 6% and you take a 7% hike, you are not 7% better off. Divide the growth factor by the inflation factor: 1.07 over 1.06 is 1.0094, so roughly 0.9%. Subtracting the two is the common shortcut and it drifts once the numbers get large.
The gap since your last revision matters just as much. A 20% hike sounds strong until you notice it covers three years, which is about 6.3% a year, and inflation over those same three years needed 19.1% just to leave you where you started.
CTC, variable pay, and the trick worth watching
CTC is cost to company, not what lands in your account. It includes the employer's provident fund contribution, gratuity, and any variable or bonus component, none of which is guaranteed monthly income.
Variable is where offers get flattering. A move from 12,00,000 with no variable to 16,00,000 with 20% variable reads as a 33.3% hike. Take the variable out of both sides and the guaranteed money went from 12,00,000 to 12,80,000, which is 6.7%. The rest is a target, and targets are not salary.
This is why the calculator asks for the variable share of each figure and reports fixed pay separately. Where the two differ, the fixed number is the one that describes your actual position.
What counts as a good hike
There is no honest single answer, because it varies by role, city, industry and year, and anyone quoting one number across all of those is guessing. What you can say precisely is the floor: any hike below the inflation you have accumulated since your last revision is a pay cut, however good the percentage looks.
Above that floor the useful question is not the percentage but the rate. A 40% hike after four years of nothing is about 8.8% a year. A 12% hike every year beats it comfortably.
Questions people actually ask
answered properly,
not padded out
How do I calculate my salary hike percentage?
Divide the new salary by the old one, subtract one, and multiply by a hundred. Going from 12,00,000 to 15,00,000 gives 15 divided by 12, which is 1.25, so a 25% hike. Use the same basis on both sides: comparing a new CTC against an old in-hand figure will give you a number that means nothing.
What is a good salary hike in India?
It depends on your role, city, industry and the year, and any single figure quoted across all of those is a guess. The floor is not a guess: anything below the inflation accumulated since your last revision leaves you worse off. Above that, judge the yearly rate rather than the headline, since 40% after four years is about 8.8% a year.
Does CTC include variable pay and bonus?
Usually yes. CTC is the total cost to the company and typically includes the employer's provident fund contribution, gratuity, and any variable or performance bonus. None of that is guaranteed monthly income, which is why a CTC to CTC comparison can overstate a hike considerably.
Why is my hike smaller after inflation?
Because prices rose too. A 7% hike in a year with 6% inflation leaves you about 0.9% better off, not 7%: divide 1.07 by 1.06 rather than subtracting. Over several years the effect compounds, so a 20% hike covering three years of 6% inflation is very close to no raise at all.
My offer has a big hike but more variable pay. Is it worth it?
Compare fixed pay to fixed pay. Take the variable percentage out of both figures and calculate the hike on what is left. An offer moving 12,00,000 with no variable to 16,00,000 with 20% variable looks like 33.3%, but the guaranteed money moved 6.7%. Whether that is worth it depends on how reliably the company has paid out variable in the past, which is a question worth asking directly.
How much hike should I ask for when switching jobs?
Work backwards from what you need rather than from a rule of thumb. Start with the hike that covers inflation since your last revision, add what the move costs you in relocation, notice period or lost bonus, and then add the premium for the risk of changing. This calculator gives you the first part precisely; the rest is your judgement and your leverage.
Does this calculator account for income tax?
No, deliberately. Tax depends on your regime, your deductions and your state, and a confident wrong number would be worse than no number at all. This compares CTC to CTC and tells you what the percentage is actually worth in real terms, which is the part that is usually miscalculated.
Is my salary data stored or sent anywhere?
No. Every calculation runs in your browser and nothing is transmitted or saved. The share buttons deliberately send only the percentages and a link to the empty calculator, never your figures, which is the opposite of how the numerology tool on this site works and is a deliberate difference.