Ask for a scheduled conversation, make a specific compensation request, and support it with recent results, added responsibilities, and pay comparisons that fit your role and location. If your manager cannot approve a raise now, leave with clear criteria and a date to revisit the decision.
Build a case before you ask
Your strongest case shows how your work has contributed to the organization and how your responsibilities or pay compare with an appropriate benchmark. Tenure and rising personal expenses may explain why a raise matters to you, but they do not show your employer why an increase is justified.
Collect specific results
Make a short list of contributions since your last compensation review. Include measurable outcomes where you can verify them: revenue generated, costs reduced, deadlines met, quality improved, projects delivered, or problems prevented. Note positive feedback and responsibilities you have taken on beyond your role’s usual scope. Connect the result to a team or business goal, and do not claim credit for outcomes you cannot substantiate. Indeed recommends documenting work beyond the job description, results, and positive feedback; Glassdoor likewise recommends connecting quantified impact to company goals (Indeed; Glassdoor).
Check what comparable work pays
Look for pay information that matches your job scope, level, location, and industry. Check published job ranges, employer pay bands if available, and more than one salary source. Self-reported salary databases and job-posting data use different methods, so treat them as estimates rather than a guaranteed rate. A broad national average may not reflect your local market or the work you actually do (Glassdoor; Indeed).
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It can help to distinguish a merit increase for your current role from a pay adjustment tied to expanded responsibilities or a promotion. Compare your current compensation with relevant market pay, but account for performance, employer budgets, and the compensation process as well.
Choose a number you can explain
Decide what salary or range you will request and be ready to explain how you arrived at it. Glassdoor’s 2026 guide describes 3%–5% as a standard annual raise range. It also reports Mercer’s 2026 U.S. employer budget figures: 3.2% for merit increases, 3.5% for total pay increases, and 8.7% for average promotion raises. These are broad context, not a personal recommendation or a promise that your employer can offer a particular increase. The same guide attributes year-over-year average base-pay growth of 3.3% in January 2026, compared with 5.2% at the end of 2025, to Glassdoor chief economist Daniel Zhao. None of these figures substitutes for research that fits your role and location (Glassdoor).
Pick a reasonable time and request a meeting
A performance review, a recent achievement, or the period when budgets are planned may offer a natural opening. Check your company’s review cycle, fiscal planning calendar, pay bands, and any recent staffing or budget changes. A hiring freeze or company cutbacks may affect what is possible; a manager’s workload may affect when to meet. Timing matters, but waiting indefinitely for perfect circumstances is not a strategy. As negotiation instructor Emily Epstein told AP News, “You could wait your whole life for your boss to be well-rested or to have a lot of resources,” she said. “So don’t wait forever” (AP News).
Ask for dedicated time and make clear that compensation is on the agenda. That gives your manager a chance to prepare and avoids springing the request into an unrelated conversation.
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Make the request directly
Bring brief notes rather than a long presentation unless your employer’s process calls for one. Start with your contributions, state the requested change, and explain how your evidence and pay research support it. Then invite your manager to explain the compensation process. Adapt the example to your facts; replace every bracketed detail with information you can support.
“Thanks for meeting with me. I enjoy contributing to [team or goal]. Since my last compensation review, I’ve [specific added responsibility or achievement], which led to [measurable result]. Based on my role, responsibilities, and research on comparable pay in [location or market], I’d like to discuss adjusting my salary to [specific target]. How does that fit with the team’s compensation process?”
Be ready for questions or a counteroffer. Keep the conversation focused on your work, the requested compensation, and the process for making a decision. A calm, explicit ask is easier to discuss than a hint that you hope your manager will interpret.
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If the answer is no or not now, ask what is driving the decision. The reason may be budget, timing, performance criteria, pay bands, or another approval step. Find out what would make the request possible and which outcomes or responsibilities matter most. If the manager offers less than you requested, ask how that figure was determined and whether there is room to move closer to your target.
“I understand the budget may limit what can happen now. What would need to change for this request to be considered, and when is the next point at which we could revisit it? Could we agree on specific goals and a check-in date?”
“Thank you for considering it. Could you walk me through how you arrived at that figure? Given [evidence or expanded scope], is there room to move closer to [target]? If not now, can we set a date and criteria for reviewing the difference?”
If base pay cannot change immediately, you can ask whether other options are available, such as a bonus, additional paid leave, flexibility, development support, a title or promotion discussion, or a later compensation review. These depend on the employer and are not necessarily equivalent to a permanent increase in base salary.
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Put the next steps in writing
After the meeting, send a short email confirming the request, the decision or constraint discussed, agreed targets, and the date you will check in. Keep the tone factual. A written note makes it easier for both of you to refer back to the same commitments.
“Thank you for discussing my compensation today. As we covered, I’m requesting [target] based on [brief evidence]. I understand [decision status or constraint]. We agreed that I will [specific next steps] and that we’ll revisit this on [date]. Please let me know if I missed anything.”
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A practical checklist
- List recent results, positive feedback, and responsibilities added since your last review.
- Use pay comparisons that match your role, level, location, and industry; treat estimates as estimates.
- Check the review cycle, budget calendar, pay bands, and relevant staffing or budget changes.
- Choose a specific target and prepare a concise explanation for it.
- Request a dedicated meeting that clearly includes compensation on the agenda.
- Ask what criteria and timing apply if the request is declined or delayed, and confirm any agreed next steps in writing.
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