Job Offer Comparison Calculator: Compare Two Job Offers, Total Compensation, and Take Home Pay by State
Two offers is the strongest position you will ever negotiate from, and most people waste it by comparing base salaries in their head. The offer with the bigger number on the front page is very often the smaller one once tax, the match and the time off are counted.
Coaching, not legal or financial advice.
What are you negotiating?
Your offer or current pay
Market-rate band
Talking points
Email template
Timing
Coaching, not legal or financial advice.
Direct answer
To compare two job offers properly, value each one after tax rather than by base salary: add base, target bonus, annualized equity, the signing bonus spread over the years you expect to stay and the employer 401(k) match, then subtract federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, state income tax and the health premium you pay. State is usually the largest single swing. A 150,000 dollar offer in a state with no income tax is worth about the same as 171,846 dollars in a state taxing wages at 9.3 percent, so a 21,846 dollar difference in base is not a raise at all. Once you know the after-tax gap, the useful number is the base salary the lower offer needs to close it, because that is what belongs in your counter.
▲ run the numbers
Put both offers in and find out which one is actually worth more.
Enter base, bonus, equity, signing bonus, employer 401(k) match, the health premium you pay, PTO days and the state for each offer. The calculator values both after federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and state tax, prices the PTO difference as a real per working day figure, and then does the thing no other comparison tool does: it solves for the exact base salary the losing offer would need before it wins. That figure is your counter. Nothing you type is uploaded or stored.
job offer comparison calculator
No state income tax on wages.
- Gross total comp
- Tax and premiums
- Net annual value
- Per working day
No state income tax on wages.
- Gross total comp
- Tax and premiums
- Net annual value
- Per working day
the counter
is worth more a year, so has to reach base to match it. and the two offers are within a dollar of each other.
That is a raise of on base, about , and it is the number to put in the counter rather than a round figure you picked. Asking for the amount that provably closes a gap is far easier for a recruiter to take to finance than asking for more money in general. The gap is per working day once the difference in PTO is priced in.
Worth noticing: belongs to the offer that is worth less. That reversal is the single most common way people pick the wrong offer, and it is usually state income tax, the 401(k) match or the PTO difference doing it.
2026 federal brackets and standard deduction per IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32, Social Security to the 184,500 dollar wage base, Medicare with the additional 0.9 percent band. State rate is yours to enter because state schedules are bracketed rather than flat. Estimates for negotiation, not tax advice. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
The problem
You have two offers on the table and about four days to decide. One is 135,000 in Austin, the other is 120,000 in San Francisco with 20,000 of RSUs a year and a 15,000 signing bonus. The second has 8,200 dollars more gross total compensation, so it looks like the winner, and every comparison spreadsheet you can find will tell you exactly that because they all stop at the gross number. Run it after California tax, the weaker 401(k) match and ten fewer days off and the Austin offer is worth about 9,363 dollars a year more. People do not lose this money because they are careless. They lose it because every tool they were handed compared the wrong figure.
How Counteroffer handles it
Paste both offers and Counteroffer values them side by side after tax, tells you which is genuinely worth more and by how much, works out the exact base salary the other one needs to match it, and drafts the email that asks for that number without naming the rival company or reading like an ultimatum. It prepares your counter; it does not send it. Career coaching, not tax or legal advice.
▲ the numbers
What the same offer has to pay in a different state to be worth the same.
State income tax is the biggest and most predictable swing between two offers, and it is the one people discount most heavily because it never appears on the offer letter. This table takes a 150,000 dollar base with a 10 percent target bonus, a 4 percent employer match, 150 dollars a month in premiums and 15 days of PTO in a state that taxes no wage income, and works out what base salary the same package would need at different state rates to leave you with the identical net value. It is generated by the same code as the calculator above, so the two cannot disagree.
| State income tax rate | Base salary needed to match | Extra base required | Net annual value |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 percent | $150,000 | reference | $128,244 |
| 3 percent | $156,523 | $6,523 | $128,244 |
| 4 percent | $158,825 | $8,825 | $128,244 |
| 5 percent | $161,196 | $11,196 | $128,244 |
| 6 percent | $163,639 | $13,639 | $128,244 |
| 7 percent | $166,157 | $16,157 | $128,244 |
| 9.3 percent | $171,846 | $21,846 | $128,244 |
| 11 percent | $176,194 | $26,194 | $128,244 |
Nine states levy no income tax on wages: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. The rest are bracketed rather than flat, and several changed on 1 January 2026, which is why the calculator asks you to enter your own rate rather than reading one from a built-in table that would quietly go stale. Look up the effective rate for your income, not the top marginal rate, or the tool will overstate the tax.
the stat everyone quotes
"The offer with the higher total compensation is the better offer."
Wrong often enough to be expensive. Total compensation is a gross figure. You are paid in net, and the components of an offer are taxed very differently from each other.
Gross total compensation treats every dollar as interchangeable, and they are not. An employer 401(k) match is compensation that is never taxed as your wages, so a 4 percent match on 130,000 dollars is worth more to you than 5,200 dollars of extra salary, which would arrive with roughly a third taken off it. Equity granted as RSUs is ordinary income on vest and is taxed like salary, so it is worth close to what it says, subject to the share price actually holding. A signing bonus is real money but it is one year of it, and comparing a 25,000 dollar signing bonus against a permanent 10,000 dollar difference in base is a comparison people get backwards constantly. Spread over four years the signing bonus is 6,250 a year and the base wins.
Then there is the health premium, which is a genuine and recurring cash cost that almost never appears in a comparison. The gap between a company that pays the whole family premium and one that charges you 500 dollars a month is 6,000 dollars a year of after-tax money, which is roughly 9,000 of salary. PTO works the same way. Ten extra days off at a 150,000 dollar salary is worth about 6,892 dollars in base salary terms, because you are paid the same for fewer working days. None of that shows up in a total compensation number.
Put the whole thing together and the reversal in the example on this page is not unusual, it is the normal case whenever the two offers sit in different states. The practical rule is simple: compare net annual value including the match and after premiums, and if you want one number to argue about, use value per working day, because it is the only figure that prices time off honestly.
▲ how to do it
How to compare two job offers and turn the gap into a counter.
Get both offers in writing before you compare anything
A verbal number is not an offer and it cannot be compared, because the parts that decide the comparison are the parts nobody says out loud on a call. You need the base, the target bonus and whether it is guaranteed or discretionary, the equity grant with its vesting schedule and the price it was struck at, the signing bonus and its clawback period, the 401(k) match formula, the health premium you personally pay, and the PTO policy including whether unused days are paid out. Ask for the full offer letter and the benefits summary. Every company has both, and asking for them is normal rather than pushy.
Annualize everything so the components are actually comparable
Offers are quoted in mixed units on purpose, and the mixing is what makes them hard to read. Convert a four year equity grant to its annual value, and divide a signing bonus by the number of years you realistically expect to stay rather than counting it as year one money. Turn a bonus percentage into dollars against that offer's own base, since 15 percent of 120,000 is less than 10 percent of 190,000. Turn the health premium into an annual figure. Once everything is expressed as dollars per year you can add it up, and the ranking often changes before you have done any tax at all.
Take tax off, and take state seriously
This is the step that flips outcomes. Federal income tax, Social Security up to the 2026 wage base of 184,500 dollars and Medicare apply to both offers similarly, but state income tax does not, and the spread is enormous. The table above shows a 150,000 dollar offer in a state with no wage income tax needs 171,846 dollars elsewhere to leave you the same money. If you are comparing an offer in Texas, Florida or Washington against one in California, New York or New Jersey, you cannot compare the headline numbers at all. Note that the state that taxes you is generally the one you work in, which matters if either role is remote.
Count the employer 401(k) match, because it is untaxed compensation
A match is the most undervalued line in any offer. It is money the employer pays on your behalf, it is not taxed as wages when it goes in, and the difference between a 3 percent and a 6 percent match on a 140,000 dollar salary is 4,200 dollars a year of pure additional compensation. Read the formula rather than the headline: a company matching 50 percent of the first 6 percent contributes 3 percent, not 6, and a company with a two year vesting cliff on the match is offering you nothing at all if you expect to leave inside two years. Both of those details are in the benefits summary.
Price the time off as money per working day
Twenty five days of PTO against fifteen is ten extra paid days, and the honest way to value that is to divide net annual value by the number of days you actually work. At a 150,000 dollar salary those ten days are worth about 6,892 dollars of base, which is more than most people would ever leave on the table by accident. Check the policy behind the number too, since an unlimited policy with a culture of taking twelve days is worth less than a fixed twenty. Ask what the average employee actually took last year. If unused days are paid out on exit, that is a real cash value as well, and our page on PTO payout rules and what your accrued days are worth covers how that works by state.
Work out the break-even base salary, which is your counter
Once you know which offer wins after tax and by how much, the number you need is not the gap. It is the base salary the losing offer would have to reach for the two to be equal, and that figure is larger than the gap because raising base also raises the percentage bonus and the percentage match while pushing more income through higher brackets. The calculator solves it exactly. Bringing a specific figure to a recruiter changes the conversation: a request for 8,400 dollars because that is what closes a measurable gap is something finance can approve, while a request to see if there is any more room is something a recruiter can decline in one line.
Ask the offer you prefer to close the gap, without naming the other company
You do not have to disclose who the other offer is from, and you generally should not. Say that you have a competing written offer, that this role is your preference, and that the gap is a specific number. Naming the rival invites the recruiter to argue about whether that company is comparable, and it turns a solvable arithmetic problem into a debate about brand. Give a decision date so the request has a reason to move, and be honest about it. Our page on how to use a competing job offer to negotiate a higher salary has the full sequencing, including what to do when the deadlines do not line up.
Be ready to accept if they meet the number
Only ask for a figure you would sign at. The fastest way to lose goodwill and occasionally an offer is to get exactly what you asked for and then ask for something else, because it tells the employer the first number was not real. Decide your break-even, add whatever premium the non financial factors are worth to you, name that, and mean it. If the answer is no, the comparison you already did tells you precisely what accepting the other offer is worth, which is a far calmer place to make the decision from than a spreadsheet of gross numbers.
copy and paste
The email that asks the offer you want to close a specific gap.
Send this after both offers are in writing and you have run the numbers. It works because it does not ask for more money in the abstract, it identifies one figure, explains where the figure came from, and makes it obvious that the answer ends the process. Recruiters can take that to a compensation team. They cannot do anything with a general request to see what is possible.
Subject: Offer for [role], one number to close out Hi [name], Thank you for the offer. This is the role I want and the team I would rather join, so I would like to get it signed this week. I do have a second written offer, and after running both packages properly, including tax, the 401(k) match and the difference in time off, the other one comes out about [gap] a year ahead on net value. I would rather not decide on that basis. Bringing the base to [break-even figure] would close the gap exactly. That is the only change I am asking for, everything else in the offer works for me, and I will accept the same day it is confirmed. Happy to talk it through if that is easier. Best, [Your name]
Swap the bracketed parts for your own numbers. Counteroffer writes this for your exact offer.
▲ frequently asked
Job offer comparison questions people actually ask.
How do I compare two job offers?
Value each offer after tax rather than by base salary. Add base, target bonus, annualized equity, the signing bonus divided by the years you expect to stay, and the employer 401(k) match, then subtract federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, state income tax and the health premium you pay. Divide the result by the days you actually work so the PTO difference is priced. The offer with the higher net annual value wins, and it is frequently not the one with the higher base.
Which job offer should I take if one pays more but has worse benefits?
Convert the benefits into dollars and the question usually answers itself. An employer 401(k) match is untaxed compensation, so three extra percentage points of match on a 140,000 dollar salary is worth 4,200 dollars a year. A health premium difference of 400 dollars a month is 4,800 dollars of after tax money, worth roughly 7,000 of salary. Ten extra PTO days at 150,000 dollars is about 6,892 dollars of base. Add those up before deciding that the higher salary is ahead.
How much is a job offer in a no income tax state worth?
Roughly 4 to 9 percent more than the same headline salary in a state that taxes wages, depending on the rate. A 150,000 dollar base in Texas, Florida or Washington leaves you the same money as about 161,196 dollars at a 5 percent state rate or 171,846 dollars at 9.3 percent. Cost of living is a separate question and often moves in the opposite direction, so treat the tax figure as the pay comparison and housing as its own line.
Is a signing bonus worth more than a higher base salary?
Almost never, unless you expect to leave quickly. A signing bonus is paid once, is withheld at the flat 22 percent supplemental rate, and usually carries a clawback if you leave inside twelve or twenty four months. Base salary is permanent, it compounds into every future raise and bonus because both are percentages of it, and it sets the anchor for your next job. A 25,000 dollar signing bonus against 8,000 dollars of extra base is a bad trade by year four. Our bonus tax calculator shows what the signing figure is actually worth after withholding.
Should I tell a company I have another job offer?
Yes, if the offer is real and in writing, and no if it is not. Saying you have a competing written offer is normal, expected and the single most effective thing you can do to move a number. What you should not do is name the company, invent an offer that does not exist, or send the other offer letter. Give the gap as a figure and a decision date instead, which is specific enough to act on and leaves nothing to be checked.
How do I compare a job offer to my current job?
The same way, with two adjustments. Count what you would forfeit by leaving, including any unvested equity, a bonus that pays out after a date you would miss, and accrued PTO your state does not require to be paid out. Then count what you would gain that is not pay, such as a title that changes your market rate. Most people find the true switching cost is one to three months of pay, and that is the number the new offer has to clear before it is genuinely better.
What is the difference between base salary and total compensation?
Base salary is the fixed amount you are paid for the year regardless of performance. Total compensation adds everything else the employer spends on you: target bonus, equity, signing bonus and often the employer 401(k) match and the value of benefits. Total compensation is the better comparison figure, but it is a gross number and the components are taxed differently, which is why net annual value is better still. Our page on how to calculate total compensation breaks down each component.
Can I negotiate both job offers at the same time?
You can, and it is usually the right move, but sequence it. Go to your preferred employer first with a specific figure and a decision date. If they meet it, accept and withdraw from the other process politely and immediately. Running both to the end to squeeze a final few thousand risks a reputation you will carry in a small industry, and the marginal money is rarely worth it. Never accept an offer you intend to renege on.
How long can I take to decide between two job offers?
A week is normal and most employers will grant it if you ask once, early, and give a specific date. Exploding offers that demand an answer in twenty four hours are a genuine warning sign about how the company treats people, and it is reasonable to say so politely. Ask for the extension in the same message as your counter rather than separately, so the recruiter is solving one problem instead of two.
Does a higher base salary or more equity make a bigger difference?
Base, for almost everyone who is not senior at a late stage private company. Base is certain, it is paid whether or not the company performs, and every percentage figure in your package is calculated from it. Equity is a probability weighted number and public company RSUs are worth what the shares are worth on the day they vest, not the day they were granted. Value private company equity at whatever you would genuinely pay for it in cash, which for most people is a good deal less than the offer letter implies.
▲ sources
- IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32: 2026 federal tax brackets and standard deduction
- Social Security Administration: 2026 contribution and benefit base
- IRS Publication 15 (Circular E): supplemental wage withholding
- IRS: 401(k) plan employer contributions and vesting
Last updated September 2026. Figures are estimates and market data changes; verify anything you plan to quote in a negotiation.
▲ what it uses
The features behind job offer comparison.
▲ more use cases
Walk in knowing your number.
Counteroffer is educational career coaching, not legal, financial, or HR advice.