If you’re wondering what kind of raise to expect next year, the big compensation surveys are in, and they agree to a remarkable degree: most U.S. employers plan to spend about 3.5% of payroll on raises in 2027. That’s the fourth straight year of “steady, not generous.” Here’s what the numbers say, who gets more, and how to use the data when you ask for a raise.

The 2027 salary budget numbers

• Mercer QuickPulse (1,001 employers, July 2026): 3.2% average merit increase and 3.5% total increase, including promotions and other adjustments.
• Payscale Salary Budget Survey (1,266 organizations): 3.5% planned for 2027, up from 3.4% actually given in 2026. 30% of employers expect a bigger budget than last year, versus 16% a year ago.
• WorldatWork (1,799 organizations): 3.6% mean total salary increase budget, the same as 2026 actuals.
• Korn Ferry (5,512 employers): 3.3% average, 3.0% median. Only 2% plan no increases at all.

WorldatWork’s roundup also lists the Conference Board at a 3.5% median and WTW at a 3.4% average. In plain English: an “average” raise next year is roughly 3% to 3.5%.

Which industries pay more

Mercer’s data shows a real spread. High tech (3.8%), banking (3.7%), and energy, insurance and services (3.6%) have the biggest merit budgets. Consumer goods (2.9%), healthcare (3.0%) and retail (3.0%) trail. If you work in a lagging industry, a job change into a higher-budget one can be worth more than any annual raise.

What 3.5% means for your paycheck

On a $60,000 salary, a 3.5% raise is about $2,100 a year before taxes, or roughly $80 per biweekly paycheck. That’s before rising health premiums take their cut; see our guide to 2027 open enrollment for how to protect it.

How to beat the average

1. Ask before budgets are locked. In July, Mercer found 87% of 2027 budgets were still preliminary. Many companies finalize in Q4, so talk to your manager now, not in March.
2. Bring market data. Look up your role’s pay range on sites like the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook and in posted salary ranges for similar jobs.
3. Tie the ask to results. Budgets are tight, so employers are steering money toward high performers and hard-to-replace skills. Show measurable wins.
4. Ask about promotion, not just merit. The total budget (3.5%) is higher than the merit budget (3.2%) because promotions and market adjustments come out of a separate pool.
5. Prepare for the interview, too. If the internal answer is no, outside offers often come with bigger jumps. Our interview prep guide can help.

Sources: Mercer, Payscale, WorldatWork and Korn Ferry 2026–2027 salary budget surveys, linked above.

Every fall, millions of workers click through open enrollment in ten minutes, pick the same plan they had last year, and move on. This year that habit could cost real money. Employer surveys released over the summer point to the steepest jump in health benefit costs in more than two decades, and a growing share of that bill is landing in employees’ paychecks. If you got a raise this year, or you’re planning to ask for one, it’s worth understanding how your benefits choices can quietly shrink it.

What the 2027 numbers say

The forecasts are unusually consistent, and none of them are good news:

• Marsh’s National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans projects total health benefit cost per employee will rise 8.2% on average in 2027, the highest increase since 2003, even after employers make planned cuts. Without those changes, employers expect an 11% jump.
• Aon projects a 9.5% increase, pushing average employer costs above $19,000 per employee. It estimates the average worker will spend about $5,297 on health care in 2026, including $3,130 in payroll contributions and $2,167 out of pocket.
• Business Group on Health found large employers expect a median 9.2% cost trend, trimmed to 8% after plan design changes.
• The International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans puts the median expected medical plan increase at 10%, driven by catastrophic claims, specialty drugs such as GLP-1s, and chronic conditions.

Why this hits your paycheck, not just your employer

For years, companies absorbed most premium growth and the share workers paid stayed fairly stable. That is changing. According to the KFF 2026 Employer Health Benefits Survey, average family premiums reached $28,303 this year, with workers contributing $7,471 of that. Among large firms, 44% responded to rising costs by increasing the share of premiums workers pay, and two thirds of employers with 5,000 or more employees did so. Marsh’s earlier research found about two thirds of large employers expect to raise employees’ premium share again in 2027, and 59% of employers plan cost-cutting changes such as higher deductibles.

Put that next to wages. KFF reports workers’ wages rose 3.7% over the past year while premiums rose 5%. If your raise was around 3% to 4% and your payroll deduction for health coverage climbs by double digits, a meaningful slice of that raise never reaches your bank account. On a family plan, an extra few hundred dollars a year in premiums can wipe out a good chunk of a modest raise before taxes even come into the picture.

Six moves to make before your enrollment window closes

1. Actually read the comparison sheet

Don’t let your current plan roll over by default. Employers are changing deductibles, networks, and drug coverage, and the plan that was the best deal last year may not be this year. Compare the full annual cost, meaning premiums plus the deductible and out-of-pocket maximum you’d realistically hit, not just the per-paycheck number.

2. Run your own numbers for a normal year and a bad year

Add up last year’s actual medical, prescription, and dental spending. Then price each plan two ways: a typical year for your household and a worst case where you hit the out-of-pocket maximum. A lower-premium, higher-deductible plan often wins in a healthy year, while a richer plan can protect you if someone in the family has a planned surgery, a baby on the way, or an ongoing condition.

3. Check your prescriptions and doctors by name

Specialty drugs are one of the biggest cost drivers this year, and some employers are tightening coverage or adding prior authorization. Look up each medication on the new formulary and confirm your doctors are still in network. A narrower network can look cheap until your specialist is no longer covered.

4. Use the tax-advantaged accounts you’re offered

If you pick a qualifying high-deductible plan, a health savings account lets you set aside pre-tax money for medical costs, and unused balances roll over year to year. A flexible spending account works on a use-it-or-lose-it basis, so fund it based on expenses you’re confident you’ll have. Check your employer’s materials for the current contribution limits and whether they add any seed money.

5. Don’t overlook the cheaper benefits

Many employers are adding or promoting lower-cost options such as telehealth, on-site or near-site clinics, and second-opinion services to rein in spending. These can save you real money on routine care, so learn what’s included before you need it.

6. Look at your whole offer, not just salary

Benefits are part of your pay. If your employer is shifting more cost onto workers, that belongs in your next compensation conversation. When you’re comparing a new job offer, ask for the benefits summary and premium rates up front, because a higher salary with an expensive plan can net out lower than a smaller salary with strong coverage. It’s a smart question to have ready when you’re preparing for an interview and reaching the offer stage.

How to bring benefits into a raise conversation

You don’t need to complain about premiums to make the point. Frame it around total compensation: if your take-home pay is shrinking because of higher deductions, a raise that merely matches inflation is effectively a pay cut. Bring numbers. Show your current premium, the new premium, and how much of your last raise it absorbs. Managers often have more flexibility on salary, bonuses, or one-time HSA contributions than on plan design, so ask about those levers specifically.

This isn’t a new tension. Even back in strong job markets, reports like this August labor report on pay keeping pace showed how quickly rising costs can eat into wage gains. The difference in 2027 is the size of the health cost jump.

The bottom line

Health costs are on track for their biggest increase since 2003, and more employers are passing part of that onto workers through higher premiums and deductibles. Take open enrollment seriously this year: compare total annual cost, check your drugs and doctors, use HSA or FSA accounts wisely, and count benefits as part of your pay. Thirty minutes of homework now can protect a raise you worked hard to earn.

Sources

• Survey: Health benefit costs expected to jump 8.2% in 2027
• Aon: U.S. employer health care costs projected to rise 9.5% in 2027
• Business Group on Health 2027 Employer Healthcare Strategy Survey
• IFEBP Health Care Costs Pulse Survey: 2027 Cost Trend
• KFF 2026 Employer Health Benefits Survey

Job interviews feel personal, but hiring decisions are usually practical: can you do the work, will you make the team better, and are you a safe bet compared with the other finalists. In a cooler raise-and-hiring climate, preparation beats charm. Here is a focused plan you can run in about a week.

Read the market before you polish answers

Wage growth has slowed from the frantic early-2020s pace, but it has not stopped. BLS data through June 2026 shows civilian wages and salaries up 3.2 percent over the prior year, with private-industry wages up 3.1 percent (Employment Cost Index). Employer raise budgets are averaging about 3.6 percent according to WorldatWork’s latest U.S. survey. For candidates, that usually means:

• Employers still hire for clear gaps, but they negotiate harder on base pay.
• “Above market” offers are rarer unless your skills are scarce or you bring a book of business.
• You should know your number before the first screen, not after the verbal offer.

If you are also weighing an internal raise versus leaving, pair this guide with I deserve a raise. Do I dare ask for one? and our newer walkthrough on how to ask for a raise in 2026.

Build a three-story bank

Most behavioral questions are remixes of the same themes: conflict, ownership, failure, impact, and working with hard people. Write three short stories using a simple shape: Situation → Action → Result → what you would repeat. Keep each under 90 seconds when spoken aloud.

1. Impact story: a metric you moved (time saved, revenue, quality, risk reduced).
2. Hard conversation story: disagreement with a peer or manager that ended productively.
3. Recovery story: a miss you owned and fixed without blaming everyone else.

Practice out loud. Written answers sound stiff on a call. Record yourself once on your phone; if you ramble past two minutes, cut details, not the result. If you want a myth-busting warm-up, skim Top 10 myths about job interviews.

Match your stories to the job post

Print or paste the job description and highlight every verb that repeats: ship, prioritize, partner, analyze, coach, sell. Next to each verb, jot which of your three stories proves it. If a required skill has no story, either find a smaller example fast or be ready to say how you would ramp in 30 days. Interviewers notice when your examples ignore half the posting.

Research that actually shows up in the room

Spend 45 focused minutes, not an entire evening:

• Company: last two quarters of news, product launches, and any layoffs or hiring sprees.
• Role: the three verbs that repeat in the job post. Plan one example for each.
• Interviewer: LinkedIn headline and recent posts if available — one thoughtful nod beats fake flattery.
• Team: how success is measured (tickets, pipeline, uptime, campaign ROI). Ask about that metric in your questions.

Write two sentences you can say naturally: why this company, and why this role now. Vague lines like “I love the mission” waste a prime opening.

Handle the pay question without flinching

When a recruiter asks for expectations early, give a researched range, not a single desperate number. Example:

“For this scope in this city, I am targeting $X to $Y base, depending on bonus, equity, and benefits. Happy to tighten once we both confirm the level.”

Anchor X near solid market data for the title, and keep Y within a band the role can plausibly pay. If they press for your current salary and local law allows you to decline, redirect: “I prefer to focus on the range for this role.” For deeper negotiation tactics once an offer arrives, see know your bottom line.

Remote, hybrid, and take-home screens

Many first rounds are still video. Test your camera, mic, and lighting the day before. Look at the lens when you make a key point. For take-home assignments, time-box the work, state your assumptions at the top, and leave a short “what I would do with another day” note. That shows judgment, not just grind.

Day-of checklist

• Confirm time zone, video link, and backup phone number.
• Quiet background, charged laptop, water, notepad with your three stories and three questions.
• Questions worth asking: “What does great look like at 90 days?” “What is the hardest part of this role right now?” “How does the team decide priorities when everything is urgent?”
• Close by restating interest and asking about next steps and timing.

After the interview

Send a short thank-you within 24 hours. Reference one specific topic you discussed and one way you would help with it. Then log what you learned while it is fresh: which answers landed, which dragged, what you still do not know about the role. That log makes the next interview easier than the last.

For more tactics on staying sharp in the room, our guide Secrets to acing a job interview pairs well with this checklist.

Bottom line

Interviews in this market reward clarity. Know the wage backdrop, prepare three strong stories, map them to the posting, research with intent, and treat compensation as a normal business topic. Do that consistently and you stop hoping the panel “clicks with you” — you give them clear reasons to choose you.