Free Calculator

Compare Two Job Offers Properly

The higher salary is not always the better offer. Bonus, benefits, and the commute can quietly flip which one actually leaves you better off. Put both side by side and compare what each one really puts in your life.

Offer A
Offer B
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Leave a field at 0 if it does not apply. Remote roles usually have 0 commute cost.

Better offer on the money

Offer A

Offer A effective comp

$0

Offer B effective comp

$0

Difference in effective comp

$0

What This Number Means for You

The headline salary lied, or told the truth. Now you know which.

Price the pieces before you trust them.

Get each input right rather than guessing: value the packages with the benefits package value calculator, and the commute with the cost of commute calculator. Small errors in those two lines are what flip the wrong offer into first place.

Money settles first so the human factors get heard.

Once the money question is clean, weigh the things no calculator can: the manager, the team, growth, and how the work feels. When the comp is close, those factors should decide, and they predict your daily experience far better than a few thousand dollars.

About the numbers: Effective comp = base + bonus + benefits value − annual commute cost, for each offer. It is a pre-tax comparison; if the offers are in different tax jurisdictions, adjust for that separately. It does not price equity (which is uncertain), the time cost of the commute (priced in the cost of commute calculator), or any of the non-money factors that often matter more. Use it to settle the cash question cleanly, then decide the rest deliberately. Planning estimate, not financial advice.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why compare total effective comp instead of just salary?
Because base salary is often the least interesting number in an offer. A higher salary can be more than erased by a worse bonus, a weaker benefits package, or a brutal commute, and a lower salary can be the better deal once you count what surrounds it. This calculator adds base plus bonus plus benefits value, then subtracts the annual cost of the commute, so you compare what each offer actually puts in your life, not just the headline.
How do I estimate the benefits value?
Add up the employer's real annual contribution: health insurance premium they cover, retirement match in dollars, and any perks with a clear cash value (stipends, allowances). If you want a rigorous number, run each package through the benefits package value calculator first, then bring the totals here. A strong benefits package is commonly worth 20 to 40 percent of base salary, so ignoring it can flip which offer is genuinely better.
Should I really subtract the commute?
Yes, because it is a real cost that one offer may impose and the other may not. A daily commute costs money (fuel, transit, parking) and time you could spend otherwise, and a remote or nearby role hands both back. This calculator subtracts the money cost; the time cost is often even larger, and the cost of commute calculator prices that separately. A remote offer that pays slightly less can win purely on the commute it eliminates.
What about things I cannot put a number on?
Keep them on a separate list and weigh them consciously. Growth potential, the manager you would report to, the health of the team, job security, and how the work actually makes you feel are frequently more important than a few thousand dollars either way. Use this calculator to settle the money question cleanly, so that the non-money factors get the honest attention they deserve instead of being lost in salary math.
The offers are basically tied. Now what?
A tie on money is useful information: it means money should not decide this, and you are free to choose on the human factors. When the effective comp is within a few percent, pick the manager and the team over the marginal dollars almost every time. Who you work for and with predicts your day-to-day experience far more reliably than a small comp difference you will stop noticing within two pay cycles.
Does this work for comparing a new offer to my current job?
Exactly. Put your current role in one column and the offer in the other, and be honest about your current benefits and commute. This is also the right frame for weighing a counteroffer: run the numbers before the emotion, because the reasons you were looking usually are not solved by money, even when the money improves.

Settle the Money. Then Pick the Manager.

Get the comp comparison clean, then let the human factors decide, because who you work for shapes your days more than a few thousand dollars will.

Calculator: Benefits Package Value → Calculator: Cost of Commute →

Related: Salary Raise Calculator →

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