How to Compare Two Job Offers When the Salaries Are Close
When two offers are far apart, the decision is usually easy. When the salaries are within a few thousand dollars of each other, the headline number stops being a good guide, because the parts of the package nobody leads with (bonus, retirement match, health benefits, paid time off) can easily be worth more than the salary gap. This guide compares two close offers with the Job Offer Comparison Calculator, then does the step most comparisons skip: testing how the answer changes when the uncertain parts do not turn out as promised.
What the calculator adds up
For each offer, the calculator builds a single total compensation figure:
- base salary
- plus annual bonus
- plus equity per year (the value you expect to vest each year)
- plus the employer's retirement match in dollars
- plus the yearly value of other benefits (such as the employer's share of health premiums)
- plus a value for paid time off: your base salary divided by 260 working days, times the number of PTO days
It can then divide each total by a cost-of-living index you supply, so an offer in an expensive city does not win just because its numbers are bigger. In this guide both jobs are in the same place, so the index stays at the default of 100 and the adjusted totals equal the raw ones. (Our guide to salaries in expensive cities covers the index.)
One point to understand before reading the results. The PTO value is not extra cash. Your salary already pays you for days off. The calculator credits each paid day off at your daily rate so that an offer with more paid days off ranks higher, which reflects that you are paid the same for fewer working days. It is a reasonable way to compare, but do not add it to your budget.
The two offers
| Offer A | Offer B | |
|---|---|---|
| Base salary | $85,000 | $88,000 |
| Target bonus | $5,000 | none |
| Retirement match (dollars a year) | $4,250 | $2,640 |
| Other benefits (employer share) | $6,000 | $4,500 |
| Paid time off | 15 days | 10 days |
On salary, Offer B is $3,000 better. Here is what the calculator returns:
| Offer A | Offer B | |
|---|---|---|
| PTO value | $4,903.85 | $3,384.62 |
| Total compensation | $105,153.85 | $98,524.62 |
| Rank | 1 | 2 |
Offer A leads by $6,629.23. The pieces of that swing are easy to trace: the bonus is worth $5,000, the match $1,610 more, benefits $1,500 more, and five extra days off $1,519.23 more in the calculator's terms. Together they outweigh the $3,000 salary gap more than twice over.
Now stress-test it
A total is only as good as its inputs, and some inputs are much less certain than others. Base salary is contractual. A target bonus is a target. The useful question is: which parts of Offer A's lead depend on things that might not happen?
If the bonus pays half
Set Offer A's bonus to $2,500 and the lead falls to $4,129.23. Offer A still wins.
If the bonus pays nothing
Set it to zero and the lead is $1,629.23. Offer A still wins, narrowly, on the strength of its match, benefits and leave.
If the bonus pays nothing and the match is smaller than you assumed
Suppose you read the plan documents and find Offer A's match is 3% of salary, $2,550, not the 5% you entered. With no bonus and the smaller match, the totals are $98,453.85 for A and $98,524.62 for B. Offer B now leads by $70.77. The two offers are, in money terms, a tie.
That last test is the important one. It tells you that Offer A's advantage rests mainly on its bonus and its match. So before deciding, those are the two things worth confirming in writing:
- Bonus: how is it decided, what share of target has it paid out in recent years, and do you need to be employed on the payment date to receive it?
- Match: what is the exact formula, how much do you have to contribute to receive all of it, and is there a vesting period before the employer's money is yours?
Employers are usually willing to answer these questions once an offer has been made. If an answer is vague, enter the cautious figure.
What you will see in your paycheck
Total compensation is the right basis for comparing offers, but it is not what lands in your account every two weeks. Offer B's higher salary means a larger paycheck, even though Offer A is worth more overall. Run both salaries through the Take-Home Pay Calculator with the same settings. With a biweekly schedule and a 24% combined effective rate:
- Offer A: $2,484.62 net per paycheck
- Offer B: $2,572.31 net per paycheck
Offer B pays $87.69 more per paycheck, $2,280 a year. If your budget is tight, that matters: the bonus arrives once a year, the match goes into a retirement account, and the benefits show up as lower premiums or better cover. Weigh whether you need the cash now or value the package more.
The 24% rate is an illustration. The take-home calculator applies one combined effective rate that you supply; it does not model any country's or state's tax rules, tax brackets or the tax year, and it is an estimate, not tax advice. Read your own rate off a pay stub (see our guide to finding your effective tax rate), and for anything that depends on your exact tax position, check your tax authority's guidance or ask a tax professional. If the two jobs are in different states or countries, use a different rate for each.
Check the hours too
Salary is pay for a job, not for a number of hours. On a 40-hour week, Offer A's base is $40.87 an hour and Offer B's is $42.31, using the Salary to Hourly Calculator. If you learn that Offer B's team routinely works 45-hour weeks, its base works out to $37.61 an hour, below Offer A. Ask both employers what a normal week looks like and run the converter at the answer.
A step-by-step comparison
- Get every component in writing. Base, bonus target and how it is paid, retirement match formula and vesting, the employer's share of health premiums, PTO days and any accrual rules, equity and its vesting schedule.
- Convert everything to dollars a year. A match given as a percentage becomes salary times that percentage (provided you contribute enough). Health benefits become the employer's monthly premium share times 12. Equity becomes the value you realistically expect to vest per year.
- Enter both offers in the Job Offer Comparison Calculator and note the gap.
- Stress-test the uncertain parts. Halve the bonus, then zero it. Cut equity to zero. Use the cautious reading of the match. If the ranking flips, you know exactly what the decision rests on.
- Check the paycheck with the take-home calculator, so you know what you will live on month to month.
- Check the hours with the salary converter.
- Then weigh what the numbers cannot: the work, the manager, the commute, the stability of the company, and where each role leads.
When the numbers come out as a tie
The stress test above ended with the two offers $70.77 apart, which is no difference at all on a total near $100,000. That is a common result when salaries are close, and it is useful rather than frustrating: it tells you the money is not the deciding factor, so you can stop recalculating and choose on everything else. A few questions that tend to separate close offers:
- Which manager did you trust more in the interviews, and which team would you rather learn from?
- Which role builds the skills you want to be paid for in three years?
- How secure is each job? A slightly lower offer from a stable employer can be worth more than a higher one with a shaky outlook.
- What does each commute or remote arrangement cost you in time and money each week?
- Is either employer willing to close the gap on the component you care about most?
Write your answers next to the totals. A decision you can explain in both columns is one you are less likely to second-guess.
Common questions
Should I enter my own retirement contribution?
No. The match field is the employer's contribution only. Your own contribution is part of your salary, so it is already counted. If you contribute less than the amount needed to receive the full match, enter only the match you will actually get.
What counts as "benefits value"?
The cleanest figure is what the employer pays toward your benefits each year, mainly its share of health, dental and vision premiums. Some employers state this in the offer or the benefits guide; if not, ask. Do not include things you would not use.
What if the two jobs have different health plans with different deductibles?
The calculator only takes one benefits number per offer, so it cannot model deductibles or out-of-pocket maximums. If you expect significant medical costs, estimate your likely out-of-pocket spending under each plan and subtract the difference from that offer's benefits value. Our guide to valuing benefits in an offer works through this in more detail.
Can I use this to negotiate?
Yes, honestly. If you prefer the offer that is worth less, you can explain which component makes the difference and ask whether it can move. Our guide to negotiating an offer honestly shows how to check that a change actually raises the total. An employer may say no, and no calculation guarantees a different answer.
What the calculator leaves out
- It treats every dollar as equal. A guaranteed salary dollar and a target bonus dollar count the same, which is why stress-testing matters.
- It does not discount equity for risk, vesting or the chance you leave before it vests.
- It credits PTO at your daily rate; that is a way to compare paid days off, not cash.
- It does not know about taxes, which can differ between offers in different places.
- It cannot value growth, stability, flexibility or how much you would enjoy the work.
When salaries are close, the decision usually turns on one or two uncertain components. Find them with the stress test, confirm them in writing, and you will know what you are really choosing between.