How Much of a Raise Should I Ask For?

You know you are going to ask. The harder question is the one that sits in the search bar late on a Sunday night: how much of a raise should I ask for? Too little and you leave money on the table. Too much and you fear looking out of touch. Google finishes the sentence for thousands of women every day — after one year, after a promotion, when switching jobs — because no one wants to invent a number in a vacuum.

There is no single correct percentage. There is a sober way to arrive at one: start with what the labor market is actually doing, then adjust for your role, your city and the gap between what you earn and what the work is worth.

This is a business conversation. Treat it like one.

What the Market Is Doing Right Now

Before you invent a target, look at the baseline. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Cost Index for December 2025, wages and salaries for private industry workers rose 3.3 percent over the year, and total compensation rose 3.4 percent (BLS, Employment Cost Index — December 2025). In the New York–Newark combined statistical area, private industry wages and salaries were up 3.3 percent over the same twelve months.

That figure is not your ask. It is the floor of what average pay is doing without a special case. A raise that merely matches the ECI is closer to keeping pace than being rewarded. If your company is budgeting in that range for across-the-board merit, a request that sits only slightly above it needs a strong story — or you are asking for something the budget was never designed to deliver.

Four Situations, Four Different Numbers

The same woman can deserve three different raises depending on why she is asking. Separate the cases clearly in your own mind before you walk in.

1. Solid performance, at or near market

You are doing the job well and your pay is already roughly aligned with peers. Here the ask is usually a true merit increase: meaningfully above the ECI baseline, grounded in results you can name. Think in dollars first ("I am asking to move from X to Y"), then translate to a percentage so you know how it will sound to finance.

2. Strong performance or expanded scope

You have taken on work that used to belong to a higher level, or you have delivered results that are hard to replace. The number should reflect the new scope, not last year's title. Document the responsibilities that were added since your last adjustment.

3. You are clearly below market

This is the case New York salary transparency made easier to prove. Since November 2022, covered employers in New York City must include a good-faith salary range in job ads for roles performed in the city (NYC Commission on Human Rights). Collect comparable postings — including your own company's — and calculate the gap between your current pay and the midpoint of those ranges. Your ask is then the amount that closes a meaningful share of that gap, not an arbitrary percentage.

4. A promotion or level change

A title change without a meaningful pay change is a rebrand, not a raise. Promotion adjustments are typically larger than annual merit because the role itself has changed. Decide the number for the new level, then negotiate toward it.

How to Build Your Number in New York

1. Collect five to ten comparable ranges from current job ads, using the transparency law as your friend.
2. List what has changed since your last adjustment: scope, results, people you now lead, clients you retained, systems you rebuilt.
3. Choose a target and a floor. The target is what you will say out loud. The floor is the lowest number you will accept without a written plan to revisit.
4. Say the dollar figure first. "I am asking for $X" is cleaner than leading with a percentage, which invites a budget-line dismissal.

How to Ask Without Undercutting Yourself

If the fear is sounding ungrateful, that is a tone problem, not a math problem — and we wrote a full guide to asking for a raise without sounding ungrateful. The short version: open with the relationship, present the facts, state the number, and stop talking.

• Instead of "Is a 3% raise possible?" say "Based on my scope and the market, I am asking for $X."
• Instead of "Anything would help." say "My target is $X; I would like to understand what it would take to get there."
• Instead of "I feel underpaid." say "Comparable roles in New York are posted between A and B, and here is what my role now includes."

If the answer is not yet, ask what would make it a yes and by when. Convert a soft no into milestones and a date on the calendar.

FAQ

How much of a raise should I ask for after one year?

One year is often when the first formal review happens. Start with the ECI baseline as context, then adjust for whether you are at market and what you have delivered. A first-year ask that ignores both usually lands poorly.

Should I ask for a percentage or a dollar amount?

Lead with dollars. Percentages are how budgets are described; dollars are how your life is paid. You can mention the percentage afterward if it helps your manager translate the request upward.

What if they say the budget is only 3%?

That is information about this cycle, not about your worth. Ask whether an off-cycle adjustment, a title change with a staged increase, or a written plan for the next review is possible. Then decide, calmly, whether the company can keep you at market. Knowing how much money you need to feel safe in NYC makes that decision clearer.

Composure Is Part of the Number

The women who negotiate well are rarely the loudest. They are the most prepared: warm, specific, unhurried. That presence is learnable. Explore how we think about it in our Presence collection, and browse every edition on the Femme Jet Set guides page.