Most people walk into a salary negotiation with a feeling, not a number. They know they want more, but they cannot say how much more, why that number is fair, or where they would stop. That vagueness is expensive, because the other side always has numbers: a budget, a market range, and a walk-away point of their own. This calculator gives you the same preparation on your side. Enter your current salary, the offer, your target, the market range, and the minimum raise you will accept, and it returns the five numbers that frame any negotiation.
Start with the raise your target represents. If you earn 60,000 and your target is 72,000, that is a 20 percent raise, which sounds very different from the same 12,000 described as a monthly increase of 1,000. Percentages help you judge whether a target is realistic: a 5 percent move is a normal annual step, while a 40 percent jump needs a strong story, such as a promotion, a move to a scarce skill, or a much larger role. The tool shows the percentage plainly so you can sanity-check your target before anyone else does.
Next, look at the gap between the offer and your target. In the example, an offer of 65,000 against a target of 72,000 leaves a gap of 7,000. That gap is the negotiation itself: everything you say and everything they concede happens inside it. A small gap often closes with one calm counter and a reason, while a large gap may need trade-offs beyond salary, such as a bonus, extra holidays, or a review date. Knowing the gap in advance stops you from reacting to an offer as if it were a verdict, when it is really an opening number.
Your position in the market range is the fairness test. If the market range for your role runs from 60,000 to 85,000, a target of 72,000 sits at 48 percent of the range, just below the middle. That is a defensible place for solid experience, while a target at 95 percent of the range needs exceptional evidence. Market ranges come from salary surveys, job adverts, and recruiter conversations, and they are always rough, but a target near the middle of a real range is far easier to defend than a number picked from hope.
The walk-away number is the most important figure here, and the one people skip. It is the lowest salary at which you will accept, built from your current pay plus the minimum raise that makes a move worthwhile. In the example, 60,000 plus a 5 percent minimum gives 63,000. Decide this number before the conversation, in private, and write it down. If the final offer falls below it, you decline calmly, because you decided with a clear head. Deciding in the room, under pressure, is how people accept offers they regret within a month.
Remember that salary is only one line of the package. Benefits, bonuses, pension contributions, holidays, remote days, and training budgets all have real money value, and a lower salary with a strong package can beat a higher salary with none. Before you counter, list what matters to you beyond pay, and be ready to trade: a smaller salary rise for an extra week of holiday, or a six-month review with a written raise target, can be worth more than a few thousand today. This tool is an employment-planning estimator only, not professional negotiation or legal advice.
Preparation also means practising the words, not just the numbers. Write one sentence for your target that ties it to evidence: the market range, your results, or the scope of the role. Write one calm sentence for a no, and one for asking for time to consider an offer. Then use this calculator again after any new offer, so every round of the conversation uses fresh, exact numbers. A negotiation prepared this way is not a confrontation; it is two sides checking whether a fair number exists, and you will know yours before you sit down.