How much of a raise should I ask for?

Give a specific figure or percentage grounded in your expanded scope and the market rate for your role, aiming a little above where you expect to land so there's room to negotiate. Vague requests for 'a raise' get vague answers.

When is the best time to ask for a raise?

After a visible win, when your scope has clearly grown, and a month or two before budgets are set. Avoid crises, post-layoff periods and moments when your manager is under obvious pressure.

What if my manager says there's no budget?

Ask when there will be and what you need to demonstrate by then, and agree a follow-up date. A no with a reason and a date is progress; a no with neither tells you something important about your prospects there.

When to ask for a raise — and the case you need to build first

July 31, 2026 · 4 min read

Most raise requests fail before they are made, because they are framed as a need — rent went up, a colleague earns more, it has been a while. Companies do not pay for need. They pay for value they can see, and a raise request that is really a value statement — "here is what I now deliver, and here is what it is worth" — succeeds far more often. Building that statement takes a few weeks of deliberate preparation and pays for itself many times over.

When to ask

Timing matters more than most people realize. The best moments are when your value is freshest and the budget is most open:

After a visible win — a project delivered, a target beaten, a problem solved that leadership noticed.
When your scope has grown — you have absorbed responsibilities that were not in your original role, especially if you are doing work that used to be someone else's job.
Before budgets are set, not after. Find out when your company plans the next year's compensation and get your request in a month or two before that.
At a review, but only if you have raised it beforehand. Reviews are where decisions are recorded, not where they are made.

Avoid asking in the middle of a crisis, right after layoffs, or when your manager is under visible pressure. The answer will be shaped by the moment rather than by your case.

Build the case

A wins document. Start it now. Every outcome you have produced in the period since your last increase, with numbers wherever you can find them: revenue influenced, costs reduced, time saved, errors cut, customers retained, projects shipped. Two or three lines each. Six to ten strong entries is a case; a vague paragraph is not.

Scope evidence. A short before-and-after of your responsibilities. If your job description is out of date, that gap is your argument.

Market data. What your role pays elsewhere, from posted ranges, recruiters and salary sources, adjusted for your location and company size. You are not threatening to leave; you are showing the market you both operate in.

A specific number. Not "a raise" but a figure or a percentage, with the reasoning attached. Aim a little above where you expect to land; leave room for your manager to negotiate and still say yes.

Prepare your manager, don't ambush them

Tell your manager a couple of weeks ahead that you would like to discuss compensation, and send your wins document before the meeting. Your manager almost never decides alone — they take your case to their own manager, to HR, to a compensation committee. Give them a document they can forward and arguments they can repeat. You are arming an advocate, not confronting an opponent.

The conversation

Open with the value: "Over the past year I've taken on X and Y and delivered A, B and C. I'd like my compensation to reflect that scope." State the number and the market context. Then stop and listen. Common responses and how to handle them:

"There's no budget right now." Ask when there will be, and what you need to demonstrate by then. Get a date.
"You're already at the top of your band." Then the conversation is about a promotion or a re-leveling, not a raise. Ask what the next level requires.
"Let me look into it." Agree a follow-up date before you leave the room.
A smaller number. Ask what would close the gap and by when, or whether other components — a bonus, title, extra leave — could bridge it.

If the answer is no

A no with a reason and a date is progress; write it down and follow up on the date. A no with no reason and no date tells you something about your future at the company, and that information is valuable too. Either way, keep the wins document current. It is also your resume and your leverage if you decide the market is where your raise lives.

The habit that makes the next one easy

Update the wins document every month and share a short version with your manager quarterly. When the next compensation cycle arrives, your case is already made — and you are the person in the team whose value everyone can see without being asked.