The 2027 raise budget is 3.5%. Here’s the conversation that gets past it, word for word.
September 26, 2026
How to ask for 25% more without quitting
US employers have budgeted 3.5% for raises in 2027. Every major pay survey this summer landed between 3.4% and 3.6%.
Take someone who holds the AWS Certified Solutions Architect—Associate. The CertBueno Top 100 IT Certifications puts the top of the band for that certification at $183,604. A 3.5% raise on $183,604 is $6,426 before tax. Have a great year, get 5%, and it’s $9,180. A good review won’t get you much past that. Your manager splits a fixed pool across the team and has no say over its size.
Now take the same person on $120,000. The top of the band for what they hold is $183,604, so there’s $63,604 of room above them. A 3.5% raise covers $4,200 of it. A 25% raise would take them to $150,000 and still leave $33,604 of room. The top of the band is a ceiling, and most holders sit somewhere below it. The free checker shows where you sit against other people who hold your certifications. Take that number into the room.
The rest of that room sits outside the raise budget. It’s called a market adjustment, and you have to ask for it separately. One September survey of US employers found 63% still set pay ranges entirely by the job. What the person in the job can do doesn’t move the range. The survey’s advice to employers was to pay for market and skill adjustments from a separate fund and keep the merit pool for performance.
You don’t have to resign or take a recruiter’s call to ask for one. Here’s how to do it in five steps.
1. Get your number. Go to certbueno.com/checker and put in what you hold and what you’re paid. It’s free. You’ll see where you sit and how big your gap is. Write the number down. No certifications? Use the posted pay range for your own job title and follow the same steps.
2. Ask for a separate meeting. Keep it out of your review. Send your manager this: “Can I get 20 minutes this week to talk about where my pay sits against the market? I’d like to keep it separate from my review.”
3. Say it plainly. “I like working here and I’m not looking to leave. I’ve checked what people with my certifications are paid, and I’m [your gap] below the top of the band. I’d like to talk about how we close some of that.” Then stop talking and let them answer.
4. Expect “there’s no budget.” They mean the raise budget. Say: “I understand the raise budget is set. I’m asking if there’s room for a market adjustment outside it. Who would need to approve that, and what would they need to see from me?”
5. Leave with a date. “Can we pick this up again in two weeks?” That afternoon, email three lines covering your number, where it came from and what you asked for. Your manager will need it to make the case upstairs.
You may not get the whole gap in one move. If you’re offered half now and half in six months, take it and get the second half in writing.
The challenge. Have this conversation before October 31. Most employers are still setting 2027 pay. In a July survey of US employers, 5% had approved next year’s budgets. On October 1 the Q4 CertBueno Top 100 IT Certifications goes live and 26 of the 100 figures change, one of them by $13,000. Run the checker today. Run it again after October 1 and take the newer number into the room.
Then tell us what happened. We couldn’t find anyone who publishes what these conversations pay. With your help, we can. Vote below. We’ll ask again on October 31 and publish the results once enough of you have answered.
Will you ask for a market adjustment before October 31?
THIS WEEK IN THE INDEX
Ten labels change on October 1
The Q4 CertBueno Top 100 IT Certifications goes live Thursday, October 1. Ten rating labels change. Eight go down and two go up. We’re holding the names until Thursday, but you can use what’s behind the moves today.
Six of the eight downgrades have the same cause. The pay premium fell between 30% and 55% in 24 months while job ads kept asking for the certification by name. Employers still want it on your resume and have stopped paying extra for it. Search job ads in your area for your certification, then run the checker to see if it still pays a premium. If the ads still name it and the premium has thinned, yours may be one of the six.
Two of the certifications marked down are AI-adjacent and come from the same vendor. An AI label on the badge doesn’t mean it still pays.
Twenty-six of the 100 figures are new this quarter. One certification’s figure goes up $13,000. There’s $151,069 a year between number 1 and number 100 on the Q4 list. One certification’s holders earn $25,843 a year more than people in the same survey who don’t hold it, which is 24% more.
The AWS Certified Solutions Architect—Associate (INVEST, $183,604 top of band) has the highest demand score on the list at 94 out of 100.
The AWS Certified Advanced Networking—Specialty (ANS-C01) is retiring. AWS has set December 31, 2026 as the last day to take the exam. Certifications earned before then stay valid for three years. Some study sites still show August 25, 2026, which is out of date. If you planned to sit this exam, book it or drop it.
One thing to do
Run the checker today and save the result. Run it again after October 1 and you’ll have a before and after to show your manager.
See you next Saturday.
@MrCertBueno
US market data. All figures USD.
Salary figures are top-of-band. Verdicts (INVEST / UPGRADE / DIVERSIFY / STABLE) are index labels and aren’t financial advice.
US market data. All figures USD.