Two Offer Calculator: Which Job Pays More?

Compare two job offers side by side: 2026 take-home pay with federal and state tax, 401(k) match, BLS pay percentile at each city.

Offer A

Annual base pay, before tax
Taxed as ordinary wages
Employer match, % of base salary

Offer B

Annual base pay, before tax
Taxed as ordinary wages
Employer match, % of base salary

Shared details

Used for the local pay percentile

The total package is base salary + bonus + 401(k) match. The match is a straight match rate x base salary; real plans can cap or vest the match, so treat this as the simple case. The pay percentile uses base salary against BLS OEWS wages for the occupation and metro.

Turning the winning offer into a signed offer? The Salary Negotiation Brief ($19) fills your counter-offer numbers with your own market position and take-home math.

Developers: this data is available as a free JSON API → API docs

Estimate only - not tax advice. Tax year 2026, federal + FICA + state income tax (single or married filing jointly). Excludes local/city income taxes (e.g., NYC, Philadelphia) and individual credits. Cost of living is BEA Regional Price Parities; pay percentiles are BLS OEWS. See our methodology.

Add this calculator to your site — free

Copy this snippet to embed the Two Offer Calculator: Which Job Pays More? on your blog or website. Keep the "Powered by" line directly under the calculator, as a plain do-follow link: that is the deal. Embed program details.

Developers: the calculator data is also available as a free JSON API → API docs

Frequently Asked Questions

It converts each take-home pay into national dollars by dividing it by the local price level from BEA Regional Price Parities, where 100 is the U.S. average. A $92,418 take-home in Chicago (price level 103.6) buys like $89,211 in an average city. The offer with the higher real value wins, and the verdict names the difference in dollars and percent. Take-home itself comes from the same 2026 tax engine as our paycheck calculator: federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax on base salary plus bonus.

For annual tax purposes, no: a bonus is ordinary wage income, so the calculator runs the same federal, FICA, and state tax walk on base plus bonus. A big bonus can push part of your pay into a higher bracket, which the comparison reflects automatically. The main thing it leaves out is timing: a bonus paid in January versus December shifts cash between tax years, which does not change the annual math here.

The headline verdict compares the real value of take-home pay, so the match does not sway it. The match is still real money, so each offer's 401(k) match dollars and total package (base plus bonus plus match) are shown side by side. The match is computed as match rate x base salary, a deliberate simplification: real plans can cap the matched percentage or vest the match over time, so check your offer letter for those details.