How to use the salary comparison calculator
Pick one of the three modes with the tabs.
- Compare two offers. For Offer A and Offer B enter the salary, any yearly bonus, the state you would work in, your filing status, the percentage of salary you would put into the 401(k), the employer match (for example 50% of your contribution up to 6% of salary) and your monthly health insurance premium. The table shows both offers side by side with the difference, and the headline tells you which one leaves more in your pocket.
- Same salary, different states. Enter one salary and filing status to rank every state in our data by take-home pay. Highlight my state marks your row; the filter box jumps to a state.
- Raise calculator. Enter your current salary and the raise as a percentage or a dollar amount. You see your new take-home pay, how much of the raise you keep after tax, and what it adds to each monthly and biweekly paycheck.
Results update as you type; Copy results copies the current mode's figures. Inputs are remembered on this device only.
How the comparison works
Each scenario runs through the same 2026 take-home pay engine as our US salary calculator:
- Federal income tax on salary plus bonus, minus your pre-tax 401(k) and health premiums, minus the 2026 standard deduction ($16,100 single, $32,200 married filing jointly, $24,150 head of household), taxed in the 2026 brackets from 10% to 37%.
- Social Security at 6.2% on wages up to $184,500 and Medicare at 1.45% on all wages, plus 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax above $200,000 for single filers ($250,000 joint). Traditional 401(k) contributions still count as wages for these taxes; section 125 health premiums do not.
- State income tax and any employee payroll programs the state runs, such as disability or paid family leave insurance, using each state's own brackets, deductions and credits. States with no wage income tax show $0.
- 401(k) and employer match. Your contribution is capped at the 2026 elective deferral limit of $24,500 (catch-up contributions for people 50 and over are not modeled). The employer match is the match rate × your contribution, limited to the "up to" percentage of salary.
Take-home pay is gross pay minus taxes, your 401(k) contribution and health premiums. Because money in a 401(k) is still yours, the offers table also shows take-home plus all 401(k) savings, which adds your contribution and the employer match. That is often the fairer way to compare two offers with different retirement plans.
Worked examples
Two offers. Offer A pays $65,000 in Texas with a 5% 401(k) contribution ($3,250), a dollar-for-dollar match up to 4% ($2,600) and a $150 monthly premium. Offer B pays $72,000 plus a $3,000 bonus in Florida with the same 5% contribution ($3,600), a 50% match up to 6% ($1,800) and a $250 premium. As a single filer, Offer A leaves $50,101.20 a year ($4,175.10 a month) and Offer B $56,674.00 ($4,722.83 a month): $6,572.80 more with Offer B. Counting all 401(k) money, the gap is $62,074 against $55,951.20, or $6,122.80, because Offer A's match is richer.
A 5% raise. A single filer in Texas earning $65,000 who gets 5% ($3,250) goes from $54,407.50 to $56,843.88 take-home. Federal income tax rises by $565 (part of the raise moves from the 12% into the 22% bracket) and Social Security and Medicare by $248.63, so the raise adds $2,436.38 a year, about $203.03 a month or $93.71 per biweekly paycheck. That is 75% of the raise.
What the comparison leaves out
- Cost of living. Rent, house prices, insurance and sales tax vary far more between cities than income tax does. A higher take-home pay in one state can still buy less.
- Local income taxes. Some cities and counties levy their own income tax on top of the state's; these are not included.
- Other benefits. Paid time off, commuting, equity and health plan deductibles matter too. Convert an offer's hours and time off into an hourly figure with the salary to hourly calculator.
- Withholding. These are estimates of the tax you owe for the year, not what payroll withholds from each paycheck. Check a single paycheck with the paycheck calculator.
To plan for retirement in more depth, use the 401(k) calculator, and to find the salary you would need for a target take-home pay, the net to gross calculator. All tools are listed under salary and money calculators.
Frequently asked questions
How do I compare two job offers with different salaries and benefits?
Compare take-home pay after federal, FICA and state taxes, your 401(k) contribution and health premiums, then add the 401(k) money (yours and the employer match) to see the total value. Offer B above pays $7,000 more in salary and $3,000 in bonus, yet the difference in take-home pay is $6,572.80, not $10,000.
Which state has the highest take-home pay?
For the same salary, states without a wage income tax leave the most take-home pay, because federal tax, Social Security and Medicare are identical everywhere. The "Same salary, different states" mode ranks every state in our data for your salary and filing status.
How much of a raise will I actually keep?
It depends on your marginal rates: federal income tax, 7.65% for Social Security and Medicare (below the wage base), and your state's top rate on the extra income. A single filer earning $65,000 in Texas keeps about 75% of a $3,250 raise. The raise calculator shows the exact split.
Can a raise lower my take-home pay?
Not through tax brackets: only income above a threshold is taxed at the higher rate, so you always keep part of a raise. Take-home pay can fall only if you also raise your 401(k) percentage, change health plans, or lose an income-tested credit or benefit.
Does the comparison include the cost of living?
No. It compares taxes and payroll deductions only, so weigh the take-home figure against housing, transport and everyday prices in each place.
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