How do I compare two job offers?

Add up each offer's real yearly value: after-tax salary and bonus for the offer's state, plus the 401(k) match. Then divide by the hours each job takes, commute included. The bigger salary loses surprisingly often once matches, taxes and commutes are counted.

Is a 401(k) match part of my compensation?

Yes — it is pre-tax pay deposited into your retirement account. A 5% match on a $90,000 salary is $4,500 a year of real money; an offer without a match must pay roughly that much more salary to be equal.

How much is a shorter commute worth in salary?

Price the yearly commute hours at your effective hourly rate. Five extra hours a week is about 235 hours a year — at $30 an hour, roughly $7,000 of salary equivalent.

Offer Against Offer — Compare Two Job Offers Honestly

The winner’s package

Side by side

	Offer A	Offer B

What Offer B must pay to match

The losing offer’s all-in value as its salary rises. Where the line crosses the winner’s value is the matching counter-offer — a number to say out loud. Hover to explore.

Negotiation notes

How we calculate

What is included

Each offer’s value = after-tax pay (salary + bonus through this site’s 2026 tax engine — single filer, standard deduction, the offer’s state) + the 401(k) match (pre-tax, but real money). The effective-hourly line divides that value by the hours the job actually takes, including the commute hours you add. The chart solves for the salary at which the losing offer’s value equals the winner’s.

What is estimated or left out

Equity, health-plan quality, PTO days and cost-of-living differences between cities are not priced here — they can each swing thousands. A quick manual patch: add a dollar guess for them into the bonus fields. Bonuses are taxed as ordinary income (correct at filing, even though withholding looks different). Married filers: run both salaries through the full tax page for exact numbers.

The formula, in plain words

value = take-home(salary + bonus, offer’s state) + match% × salary
hourly = value ÷ ((week hours + extra hours) × 47 weeks)
winner = the bigger value; the chart finds the salary that ties it

Common questions

Which matters more — salary or the extras?: Extras move the answer more often than people expect. A 6% match is worth ~$5,500 on a $92k salary; ten extra commute hours a week can erase a $10k raise in hourly terms. That is exactly why this page adds them up instead of comparing stickers.
Should I tell each company about the other offer?: Yes, once you have both in writing — politely and with a number: “I have an offer at $X all-in; can you get closer?” The chart above gives you the exact matching number, which turns an awkward talk into arithmetic.
How do I compare cities with different costs of living?: Taxes are handled here when you set each offer’s state. Rent is the other big piece: subtract the yearly rent difference from the higher-cost offer’s value, then compare again. Our Rent or Buy page prices housing either way.