A price increase percentage tells you how large a price rise is compared with the old price. It can describe rent, groceries, subscriptions, services, or business costs. You can either compare an old and new price or apply a planned rate to a current price.
Calculate it with the Percentage Increase Calculator
Compare an old price with a new price
Price increase % = ((New price − Old price) ÷ Old price) × 100A monthly service changes from $24 to $27.
- Difference: $27 − $24 = $3
- Relative increase: $3 ÷ $24 = 0.125
- Percentage increase: 0.125 × 100 = 12.5%
The service costs $3 more each month, which is a 12.5% increase from the original price.
The dollar change and percentage change answer different questions. The price rose by $3, while the size of that increase relative to the old price is 12.5%.
Add a planned increase to a price
To raise a $45 price by 18%, convert 18% to 0.18 and multiply:
Increase amount = $45 × 0.18 = $8.10
New price = $45 + $8.10 = $53.10You can also multiply $45 by 1.18 in one step.
Example: increase a $35 price by 14%
First find 14% of $35:
$35 × 0.14 = $4.90Then add the increase to the original price:
$35 + $4.90 = $39.90The new price is $39.90. The one-step calculation is $35 × 1.14.
Find the rate when both prices are known
Suppose a ticket changes from $48 to $54. Subtract to find the $6 increase, then divide by the old $48 price:
($54 − $48) ÷ $48 × 100 = 12.5%Use the old price as the baseline even if the new price is the number you noticed first.
Price increase is not always markup
A price increase compares a new selling price with an earlier price. Markup usually compares a selling price with cost. Margin uses revenue as its denominator. Those terms may produce different percentages from the same dollar figures.
Taxes and fees can also affect the final amount a customer pays. State and local sales-tax rules vary, so this general arithmetic does not determine a tax obligation.
Avoid dividing by the new price
In the $24 to $27 example, dividing $3 by $27 gives 11.11%. That measures the difference as a share of the new price, not the increase from the old price.
Read percentage increase versus percentage change for the baseline rule, or learn how multiple increases compound.
The short answer
Subtract the old price from the new one, then divide by the old price. Keep the dollar difference beside the percentage so the size of the change remains clear.