Pay and salary

Job Offer Comparison Calculator

Two offers rarely differ in salary alone. Enter both packages below and see them on the same terms: cash pay, the employer's retirement contribution, what you pay for health insurance, and the value of paid time off. This calculator compares gross compensation only. It is not a take-home pay calculator: income tax and other deductions are not included.

How it works

Cash pay is base salary plus cash bonus. The employer retirement contribution is estimated with the standard match formula: employer contribution = the smaller of (your contribution, salary x match limit) x match rate. So contributing 10% of an $80,000 salary ($8,000) to a plan that matches 50% of the first 6% of salary earns a $2,400 employer contribution: the limit is 6% of $80,000 = $4,800, and 50% of $4,800 is $2,400. Total compensation value is cash pay plus the employer retirement contribution. Your own 401(k) contributions are not added, because they come out of your salary and are already counted in it.

Health premiums are money you pay out of your cash pay, so they are shown as their own line and subtracted only in the "cash after health premiums" line, never from the retirement money. Paid time off is valued at salary / 260 per day (a working year has 260 weekdays) and shown separately: your salary already pays you for PTO days, so adding that value to the total would count it twice. The hourly figure is the total compensation value divided by the hours you actually work: (260 - PTO days) x hours per week / 5. Leave any component blank or 0 if an offer does not have it. Real 401(k) plans have IRS annual contribution limits, which this estimate does not model.

Worked example

Offer A: $80,000 salary, $5,000 bonus, you contribute 10% to a 401(k) matched at 50% of the first 6%, health premiums of $3,600 a year, 20 PTO days. Offer B: $85,000 salary, no bonus, you contribute 6% matched at 100% of the first 4%, health premiums of $6,000, 25 PTO days. Cash pay is $85,000 for both. The employer adds $2,400 for A and $3,400 for B, so total compensation is $87,400 against $88,400: Offer B is worth $1,000 more a year. But health premiums flip the cash picture: A leaves $81,400 after premiums, B leaves $79,000, so A leaves $2,400 more spendable cash. Per hour actually worked, B pays $47.02 against A's $45.52.

Frequently asked questions

Does this calculator work out take-home pay?

No. It compares gross compensation: salary, bonus, employer retirement contributions and the cost of benefits. Income tax, Social Security and other deductions are not included, so the result is not take-home pay.

How is the employer retirement match estimated?

Employer contribution = the smaller of your own contribution and the plan's match limit, multiplied by the match rate. Example: you contribute 10% of an $80,000 salary ($8,000), the plan matches 50% of the first 6% of salary, so the limit is $4,800 and the employer adds 50% of $4,800 = $2,400.

Why is the value of paid time off not added to the total?

Because your salary already pays you for those days. Adding their value again would count the same money twice. The value is shown separately so you can weigh an extra week of leave against the other differences.

This calculator gives an estimate for planning. Figures are gross compensation before tax and depend on the match details you enter. See the disclaimer.