Average raise over time?

[KungfuRabbit]

What is the total average "raise" over time (this includes average raises, pay increases from promotions, pay bumps switching jobs, etc)?

i used to feel like i was doing really good until i did the math.  i started in 2006 at $59,000, and now i n 2015 i am at $102,000.  This works out to be roughly a 6% average, or subtracting the ~%2.5 inflation we've had in that time period more like 3.5%.  However, i may get a promotion this year, which would be at least a 10% raise, bringing my total average slightly over 7%....

is that good?  How are others doing?  i'm an engineer, by the way. 

[rachael talcott]

Adjusted for inflation, I'm pretty much flat (started working in 2001 at $50K, now making about $65K).  I took a major pay cut in the middle years to get out of a bad working environment and have worked my way back up.  I don't expect to make much more in the 9 more years I plan to work.  I'm an academic. 

[randymarsh]

I think the % rate is almost meaningless since everyone starts at a different number and each field has a different salary progression.

Someone who started at 30K and received 10% raises for 9 years would be making $64K, only 5K more than what you started your career at. Doctors make relatively little money during training, then ramp up and are easily in the top 10% of earners.

Some perspective might help you feel better. You make twice as money by yourself as the typical American household and are in the top 20%.

[benjordan]

I agree that the raise % is less important than your current salary. Maybe you were overpaid in 2006, depressing your raise %. I think more important is how competitive is your current salary to your peers.

[rob in cal]

    I think that I'm making about the same per hour over the last 10 years or so because I deliver less orders per hour because our delivery area has expanded and traffic is getting worse and worse.  So, my hourly is up to 9 per hour, plus tips and delivery fee (which roughly covers our driving expenses), but because I deliver about 25% less orders than I used to per dinner shift, my income is about the same per hour, and thus in actual terms a big pay cut from its peak in say, 2004.  However, because my passive income has been growing and growing and constantly being reinvested, my annual income is going up and up.

[grsing]

About 13%/year for me, but that's starting from a relatively low level with known rapid increases (military officer) and then transitioning to a civilian technical job. It also doesn't account for the tax advantages of parts of military pay, because I didn't want to do the math.

[use2betrix]

My first year in my industry I felt really good about making 56k. Now about 6 years later I'm at about 155k. I have a lot of job security now, but the more financially secure I'm getting, the less that will matter and I may take more risks.

[Roots&Wings]

3%/yr over the past 5 years when averaged, though it was 0 for several years during the recession.

[Dollar Slice]

My raise history is pretty sad... working at a small business for a crappy boss for about 8 years, I think my base pay went up by about $3k, which means I was losing money to inflation. (Although I had an annual bonus which fluctuated, so I did better some years than others). We never even got COL increases. Last year someone bought the business from him and I took over doing payroll, and discovered he was paying himself a ridiculously high salary after telling everyone for all these years that we just didn't have the money for even small raises.

The new owner gave me a 25% raise and a $10k bonus last year, so I'm feeling pretty good about things now, even though over the last 10 years my average increase is fairly low. I'm heading in the right direction!

[retireatbirth]

My rate is 11% over the last 7 years. I took time off during that time to go to grad school so I only worked 5 out of the 7 years. I also moved to a city where wages are a bit higher. I agree your current level is what's important, though. In my job back in 2008, I got a "market adjustment" after the first year which I believe is code for "we were underpaying you" so my rate is inflated.

[Davids]

With my former employer the raises and bonuses were terrible, hell one year it was a combined $50 (Base Pay went up X but bonus went down Y netting to a $50 increase from previous year), with my current employer the raises and bonuses have been great.

[ender]

What is the total average "raise" over time (this includes average raises, pay increases from promotions, pay bumps switching jobs, etc)?

i used to feel like i was doing really good until i did the math.  i started in 2006 at $59,000, and now i n 2015 i am at $102,000.  This works out to be roughly a 6% average, or subtracting the ~%2.5 inflation we've had in that time period more like 3.5%.  However, i may get a promotion this year, which would be at least a 10% raise, bringing my total average slightly over 7%....

is that good?  How are others doing?  i'm an engineer, by the way.

You realize that averaging 6% raises per year for 10 years straight is probably higher than many people get in their best year, right?

[sol]

Since starting work in 2008, I've averaged about 3% per year.  My best year was almost 5%, my worst was zero.

But I started work at decent wage, with a PhD, and made a conscious choice not pursue bigger paychecks.  I could be making more if I had been willing to relocate, or had wanted to change jobs into something less satisfying and more stressful, but we're already a dual-income family and the extra income was clearly not worth the extra hassle.

It's been a bad decade to be a federal employee.  Three year pay freeze was followed by a 1% COLA. 

[FIreDrill]

I've been with my current company for just about 4 years and have averaged about 10% a year in raises so far.  A lot of that is from switching departments, the average yearly raise is 3% or 8% if you are promoted where I'm at.  I'm expecting my average raise over the next 4 years to be around 5-6%.  I could most likely make more if I left the company but I really enjoy my job and the flexibility that comes with it.

[Vilgan]

Evaluating a % is tough because it depends so much on your starting point of reference. For example, I nearly took a job at 30k/year after graduating at the depth of the recession. Instead I took one at 45k, which significantly reduces the overall % increase. Realistically, 70k was a better price for entry level and I quickly moved there, and then averaged a 25% bump per year after that. That seems in line with software engineering tho in general, 5 years is SOOOO much more knowledgeable/valuable than entry level.

[Proud Foot]

What timeframe are we looking at? During your professional career (what you studied for in college, trade school, etc), or from when you first started working full time? If the latter I have done about 59% annually. I went full time after graduating college in the low paying position I worked during college until I was able to find a job using my degree (approx. 5 months). Once I got my first professional job I have had raises of approximately 13% annually. This also included switching jobs twice during that timeframe.

[Chris22]

i started in 2006 at $59,000, and now i n 2015 i am at $102,000.  This works out to be roughly a 6% average, or subtracting the ~%2.5 inflation we've had in that time period more like 3.5%. 

My start and end numbers are not wildly different than yours.  I usually figure a 2-3% per year, and 10% when I switch jobs or get a promotion.  Aside from a couple bad years in the '09-10 time frame (recession) that's about what I'm tracking.  I do not include bonuses in these numbers. 

[TheAnonOne]

It all depends on WHERE you are in your career (or i should say WHEN)

At least in Software (generally) you will get large raises early on (first 5 years or so) as you progress to being a SR. level developer.

You may go from 30k to 130k in those first 5 years. However after that, you may be pegged to the market (aka 3-6 percent raises)

I think it's a bit unfair to come in here and say 80% raises!!!! When in reality, its simply promotions or job hops.

[mm1970]

What is the total average "raise" over time (this includes average raises, pay increases from promotions, pay bumps switching jobs, etc)?

i used to feel like i was doing really good until i did the math.  i started in 2006 at $59,000, and now i n 2015 i am at $102,000.  This works out to be roughly a 6% average, or subtracting the ~%2.5 inflation we've had in that time period more like 3.5%.  However, i may get a promotion this year, which would be at least a 10% raise, bringing my total average slightly over 7%....

is that good?  How are others doing?  i'm an engineer, by the way.

1992: Navy ensign: $19,200
1997: First engineering job outside Navy: $50,000
1999: $54,000
2000: $60,000
2008: $87,000
2012: $108,000
2014: $108,000 but did get a 4k bonus last year (no raises in a LONG time...startup).

So in 17 years as an engineer - 4.6%. (not including the bonus)  Ugh, that's depressing.  I'd say you are doing pretty good.  The last several years I've taken a big hit.

My husband has a PhD in EE, and he's at 5.5% over the last 13 years.  Better than me for sure, but he gets raises every year, about 3.5%.  It's switching jobs that works, or so I'm told.

[Zamboni]

You are doing fine.  Much better than me in terms of average raises. I've lost salary to inflation over the past decade even though I've been promoted, and surely I have plenty of company. Things look peachy if I go back 20 years, but this last decade has been alternation of salary freezes and pathetic raises. I've got FI all graphed out based upon this flacid trajectory, though, so if I get any big raises it will just be a bonus and move up that date.

[Al1961]

8.7% average over 25 years as a Chartered Accountant (we'll start using the CPA designation later this year) from 1989 until retirement last year.

Became a government employee in 1999, there were several years of wage freezes since then. Still, that's almost exactly three doublings of salary from the start to the end of my career.

Al

[ysette9]

I just calculated my average increase is around 10.5% over the 10.5 years I have been working full-time out of undergrad so far (funny how those numbers turned out). I am an engineer (now an engineering manager) and have worked for the same big company my entire career. I would say that my performance ratings have generally been above average so my pay growth has reflected this.

I consider myself very fortunate.

[Pooperman]

Started at $42k in June 2013. I got a new job starting June 2015 making $80k. About 2x income in 2 years, or 36% after inflation per year.