How to Negotiate a Raise: A 5-Step Script That Works

Gold ascending bars rising on a black background, symbolizing negotiating a raise

Asking for a raise works far more often than most people expect. In a 2024 LendingTree survey, 82% of full-time workers who asked for a raise in the previous year got one (CNBC / LendingTree, 2024). Yet the habit of not asking starts early: when Pew Research Center surveyed 5,775 US workers, only about 3 in 10 said they asked for more pay than they were first offered at their last hire (Pew Research Center, 2023). So here’s how to negotiate a raise in five steps: time it, document your value, pick a number from market data, run a short script, and handle the answer, including “no.”

Key Takeaways – Asking works: 82% of workers who asked for a raise in the past year got one (LendingTree, 2024). – Most people never ask. Only about 30% of workers negotiated their last job offer (Pew, 2023). – Negotiate a number, not a feeling. Anchor to market data and documented results, not to your rent. – Timing matters as much as the pitch. Ask 2–3 months before budgets are set, not at the review itself. – “No” is a negotiation, too. Leave with a written plan and a date to revisit, or with a clear signal to look elsewhere.

Why don’t more people negotiate a raise?

Mostly discomfort, not a lack of reasons. Among workers in Pew’s survey who didn’t ask for higher pay at their last hire, 38% said they didn’t feel comfortable asking, and another 39% said they were satisfied with the offer (Pew Research Center, 2023). Discomfort ran higher among women (42%) than men (33%), and among younger workers: 46% of 18–29-year-olds cited it.

That discomfort costs real money, and it compounds. A raise isn’t a one-time bonus. It resets the base that every future percentage increase, bonus, and retirement match is calculated from. Skip one $4,000 ask at 28 and you haven’t lost $4,000; you’ve lost $4,000 a year, plus every raise that would have been built on top of it.

The reframe: Your manager isn’t the obstacle. Your manager is usually the person who has to sell your raise to someone else: a director, HR, or a budget spreadsheet. Your job in the conversation is to hand them the ammunition. Once you see the ask as equipping an ally rather than confronting an opponent, most of the discomfort goes away.

Does asking for a raise actually work?

Usually, yes, and even partial wins beat not asking. LendingTree’s 2024 survey found 82% of full-time workers who asked for a raise in the past year received one, and askers were more likely to land increases of $5,000 or more than those who didn’t ask (CNBC / LendingTree, 2024).

Pew’s data on job offers tells the same story with more nuance. Of the workers who asked for more money, 28% got exactly what they asked for and 38% got more than the original offer but less than their ask. Only 35% were held to the first number (Pew Research Center, 2023). Put differently: two out of three people who negotiated walked away with more.

Source: Pew Research Center, “When negotiating starting salaries, most U.S. women and men don’t ask for higher pay,” April 2023.

There’s a gap worth naming, too. In the LendingTree data, just 35% of women had discussed getting a raise, compared with 49% of men (CNBC / LendingTree, 2024). Asking isn’t a personality trait. It’s a skill, and the five steps below are how you practice it.

How do you negotiate a raise? The 5-step script

Step 1: Time the ask before the budget is set

The worst time to ask for a raise is during your annual review. By then, the raise pool has usually been allocated, and your manager is choosing between slices of a pie that’s already baked. Ask 2–3 months before budgets close. If your company runs reviews in January, your conversation belongs in October or November.

Good secondary moments: right after you deliver a visible win, when your role quietly expands (you’re now doing the job of the person who left), or after a strong quarter for the team. Bad moments: the week of layoffs, right after a missed target, or in a hallway.

Step 2: Build a one-page “brag doc”

Managers don’t pay for effort; they pay for outcomes they can repeat to their boss. Write one page with 3–5 results from the last 6–12 months, each in the same format: what you did → the measurable result → why it mattered to the business. “Rebuilt the onboarding checklist → new-hire ramp time dropped from 6 weeks to 4 → the team hit Q2 targets with one fewer hire.”

Add anything that shows your role has grown: new responsibilities, people you now train, systems you own. If you’ve been deliberately building the skills that increase your income, this is where they turn into dollars. Skills are only worth what you can prove they produced.

Step 3: Pick your number from market data

Never walk in with “whatever you think is fair.” Research the going rate for your role, level, and city using at least two salary sources (salary sites, recruiter conversations, job postings that list pay ranges, and peers you trust). Then set three numbers before the meeting:

Target: the number the data and your results justify.
Ask: slightly above target (roughly 5–10%), so a compromise still lands you on target.
Walk-away: the floor below which you’ll start looking elsewhere. Keep this one to yourself.

This is the same anchoring logic we use for pricing your first offer: the first credible number on the table shapes every number that follows. Say a specific figure (“$78,500”) rather than a round one. Precise numbers signal research; round ones signal a guess.

Step 4: Run the 10-minute conversation

Book a dedicated meeting (“I’d like 20 minutes to talk about my compensation and growth”) so your manager isn’t ambushed. Then keep it short and structured:

Open with commitment: “I really like the work here and I want to keep growing with this team.”
Show the evidence: walk through two or three results from your brag doc. Hand over the page.
Make the ask: “Based on these results and market data for this role, I’m asking to move my salary to $78,500.”
Stop talking. Silence feels awkward. Let it do its job.

What you never say: that you need the money for rent, childcare, or a car payment. Your expenses are real, but they aren’t your employer’s pricing input. Your value and the market are.

Step 5: Handle the answer, including “no”

A yes should be confirmed in writing, with the effective date. A counteroffer below your target is an invitation to trade: “I can work with $75,000 now if we agree in writing to revisit at $78,500 in six months, tied to these two goals.” You can also negotiate the non-salary levers: title, a one-time bonus, an extra week of leave, training budget, or a remote day.

A no isn’t the end of the conversation. Ask: “What would I need to show over the next six months for this to be a yes?” Get the answer in writing and put a follow-up date in both calendars. If the answer is vague, or the follow-up never happens, that’s not a no to the raise. It’s information about the job.

Rehearse it out loud, twice. The script above takes about three minutes to say. Practice it with a friend who plays a skeptical manager: once where they say yes, once where they counter low. The words that come out of your mouth under pressure are the ones you’ve already said before. Reading a script silently doesn’t count.

Citation capsule: Asking for a raise succeeds more often than most workers assume: 82% of US full-time workers who asked for a raise in the previous year got one (LendingTree via CNBC, 2024), and two-thirds of workers who negotiated a job offer received more than the initial figure (Pew Research Center, 2023). The most reliable approach is to ask before budgets are set, anchor to documented results and market data, and name a specific number.

Want a second pair of eyes on your script? Join the free Ideas Into Income community, post your brag doc and your number, and get feedback from people preparing the same conversation this month.

What if your employer can’t pay more?

Then you’ve learned your market price inside that company, and you have three options. First, trade for non-cash value: a title that raises your next offer, a training budget, or flexibility you’d otherwise pay for (if the bigger role matters more than the pay, here’s how to ask for a promotion). Second, set the six-month checkpoint from Step 5 and hold the company to it. Third, test the outside market.

That third option matters more than people admit. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s Wage Growth Tracker, median annual wage growth in August 2026 was 5.0% for workers who changed jobs versus 3.6% for those who stayed (Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, 2026). The gap moves with the job market (in early 2025, stayers briefly out-earned switchers), but over most of the tracker’s history, switching has paid more.

Source: Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Wage Growth Tracker (3-month moving median), August 2026.

You don’t need to quit to use this. A single outside interview gives you a real market number, and a real number beats a salary website every time. And if you’re tired of one employer setting your ceiling at all, a second income stream changes the math of every negotiation; our guide to freelancing as the fastest path to income shows how to start one without quitting.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much of a raise should I ask for?

Ask for a specific number grounded in market data for your role and city, typically 5–10% above the figure you’d be happy with, so a compromise still lands on target. If your role has grown significantly, or market data shows you’re well below the going rate, a larger ask of 10–20% can be justified, as long as your documented results support it.

When is the best time to ask for a raise?

Two to three months before your company sets its compensation budget, which is often well before the annual review. Good secondary moments are right after a visible win or when your responsibilities have clearly expanded. Avoid asking during layoffs or right after a missed target.

What should I say when asking for a raise?

Keep it short: state your commitment to the team, walk through two or three measurable results, then make a specific ask such as “I’m asking to move my salary to $78,500 based on these results and market data.” Then stop talking and let your manager respond. Don’t cite personal expenses.

What do I do if my boss says no to a raise?

Ask what you’d need to demonstrate over the next six months for the answer to be yes, get it in writing, and set a follow-up date. You can also negotiate non-salary items like title, a bonus, training budget, or flexibility. If the follow-up never happens, treat that as a signal to test the outside market.

Is it better to change jobs to get a raise?

Often, but not always. The Atlanta Fed’s Wage Growth Tracker showed 5.0% median wage growth for job switchers versus 3.6% for stayers in August 2026, though stayers briefly led in early 2025. A single outside interview gives you a real market number to use in either direction.

The bottom line

Most people leave money on the table not because they asked badly, but because they never asked. The data is on your side: most people who ask get something, and two-thirds of negotiators walk away with more than the first offer.

Ask 2–3 months before budgets are set.
Bring a one-page brag doc of measurable results.
Name a specific number anchored to market data, then stop talking.
Turn a “no” into a written plan with a date.

If you want the raise to be part of a bigger plan, pair this with a 90-day career growth plan so your next ask is already being built.

Ready to rehearse? Join the free Ideas Into Income community and share the number you’re going to ask for.

Disclaimer: this article shares research and general career guidance. It is not legal, financial, or employment advice, and it makes no promises about outcomes. Pay practices and employment law vary by employer and location.