Cost of Living Adjustment Calculator

How it is calculated

The tool applies a simple percentage uplift: raise = salary × inflation / 100 and adjusted = salary + raise. Here salary is your current pay for one period (annual, monthly or hourly, the result comes back in the same period) and inflation is the rate in percent, entered as 4.5 for 4.5%, not 0.045. Both results are shown as currency amounts in USD with two decimals. The salary must be greater than zero and the inflation rate cannot be negative; otherwise no result is produced. The calculation is a single-period one, so for several years of inflation you would run it once per year, feeding each result into the next.

Common mistakes

• Typing the rate as a decimal (0.045) instead of a percentage (4.5), which gives a raise of a few cents on the dollar.
• Entering a negative inflation rate for deflation; the tool returns no result for values below zero.
• Mixing periods, for example a monthly salary with an annual inflation rate: the raise is then applied to the monthly figure, so compare it with a monthly pay rise.
• Treating the result as a merit raise. It only restores purchasing power; any increase on top is the real raise.
• Chaining years by adding the percentages (4% + 3% = 7%) instead of running the tool once per year, which compounds.