THE WORKBENCH / percentages
Percentage calculator
Find a percentage, a share, a change, or a sale price.
How to use this calculator
Choose the question before entering numbers. Percentage of an amount multiplies the base by the percentage divided by 100. Part as a percentage divides the part by the whole and multiplies by 100. Percentage change compares a new value with a positive original value. Discount subtracts a percentage of the original price.
Worked examples
All numbers here are illustrative. For 20% of 80, enter 80 and 20: 80 × 20 ÷ 100 = 16. A part of 16 out of 80 is 20%. A change from 80 to 100 is (100 − 80) ÷ 80 × 100 = 25%. A 20% discount on 80 leaves 80 × 0.8 = 64, before any taxes or other charges.
Assumptions and limits
The calculator is unit-neutral: amounts may be dollars, items, or another consistent quantity. It does not fetch prices, fees, sales-tax rates, or investment returns. Change mode requires a positive original value; a zero base has no defined relative change. Discount mode accepts 0–100%. For rates changing from 20% to 25%, the difference is 5 percentage points, while the relative increase is 25%.
Check the result
Ask what represents 100%. A discount and an equal percentage increase do not cancel: 80 after 20% off is 64, and 20% added to 64 gives 76.8. Keep full precision until your final reporting step. See the linked guides for reverse percentages, successive discounts, and weighted averages.
Make sense of your result.
Discount math: sale prices and stacked offers
Calculate the amount saved and final price, compare successive discounts, and keep tax, shipping, and eligibility separate from the arithmetic.
Percentage calculations: choose the right whole
Learn when to multiply, divide, or compare values, with worked percentage examples and a checklist for choosing the right denominator.
Percentage increase and decrease: use the original value
Calculate relative changes, understand asymmetric increases and decreases, and recognize when a zero or negative starting value needs another approach.