What the salary projection calculates
This is a constant-rate scenario, not a forecast of a job offer or national wage growth. Enter current gross annual base salary, a raise percentage, a whole number of years, a percentage bonus and an inflation assumption. All displayed currency amounts use USD.
Timing and formulas
Year 0 shows your starting annual rate as a reference. At the beginning of year 1, apply the first raise. Salary in year t equals starting salary × (1 + raise rate) to the power t. The bonus equals that salary × bonus rate. Cumulative earnings sum salary plus bonus for years 1 through N, excluding year 0.
Real base salary in year t divides nominal salary by (1 + inflation rate) to the power t. The final annual base-pay increase is final salary minus starting salary; it is not cumulative additional income. The compensation chart divides cumulative projected income into base pay and bonuses without double counting raises.
A hypothetical example
Starting at $65,000 with a 3% raise, 10% bonus, 3% inflation and two projected years gives salaries of $66,950 and $68,958.50. Bonuses are $6,695 and $6,895.85. Cumulative gross earnings are $149,499.35 across those two years. Real final base salary remains $65,000 under the equal-rate assumption.
Choose assumptions you can explain
- Use your contractual base salary, excluding a bonus unless modeled separately.
- Compare no-raise and no-bonus cases with your chosen scenario; no default is a recommended or typical outcome.
- Use whole years from 1 to 100. Salary must be positive and no more than 1 trillion; supported raise, bonus and inflation rates are 0–100%. These are software bounds, not plausible economic ranges.
- Review the yearly table and distinguish annual rates from cumulative earnings.
Limits of wage and inflation benchmarks
Published compensation indexes describe groups of jobs, not a promise of an individual merit raise. Job changes, promotions, hours, benefits and tax deductions can change compensation in ways this constant-rate model does not represent. Negative raises, deflation, variable annual rates and employment gaps are outside this calculator.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Cost Index is a source for aggregate employer compensation-cost trends. Consult its period, population and wage-versus-benefit definition before using it as context. This calculator does not fetch current index values.