Once a year, price your pay and benefits against what the market would pay you now, and treat staying with your employer as a decision rather than a default. Then ask for a raise with that number in hand, and if staying still loses, start interviewing.
The raise you get for staying comes out of your employer’s annual budget. An outside offer is priced against what the market pays for your skills now, and the two numbers drift apart quietly, one raise at a time.
The gap is measurable. The Atlanta Fed’s Wage Growth Tracker put median pay growth over the prior year at 5.0% for people who had changed jobs and 3.6% for those who stayed, as of August 2026. On a $60,000 salary, that 1.4-point difference works out to $840 in one year, and every later raise builds on whichever base you start from.
Staying can still be the better deal, and you only know by pricing it. Employer 401(k) money that hasn’t vested, meaning it isn’t fully yours yet, can be forfeited when you leave. A plan can make you wait up to three years for full ownership, or six on a graded schedule. A bonus you’d forfeit by leaving before it pays out and a health plan you’d lose belong in the same column.
Set the review a month or two before your company decides raises. Look up the pay range for your job and metro area in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, then check current postings for the same title. Total what leaving would cost you, and compare it with what the market gap adds up to over the years you’d expect to stay.
Either way, take the market number to your manager and ask for the difference. A yes means staying now pays market rate. A no tells you what loyalty costs, and if leaving still comes out ahead, interviewing is the next step.
Put the review on your calendar before your next performance cycle. Another year at your company is a good decision when you’ve priced it, and an expensive habit when you haven’t.
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