Compare two job offers

Compare salaries, hourly pay, benefits and entered living costs in two states.

Compare two alternatives for one earner under 2026 rules. Each state is both the residence and work state for that alternative; cross-state commuting and local income taxes are excluded.

These starting values are an example. Enter your own pay and benefits, then calculate.

Offer A

Optional total from your own bills; enter 0 to leave costs out.

Hours, benefits and retirement limits

Used only with the reported-premium option; already included in pay.

Annual premium equals this amount times the selected number of pay periods.

Employer match is excluded. Choose pretax catch-up only if permitted for you and the plan.

Offer B

Optional total from your own bills; enter 0 to leave costs out.

Hours, benefits and retirement limits

Used only with the reported-premium option; already included in pay.

Annual premium equals this amount times the selected number of pay periods.

Employer match is excluded. Choose pretax catch-up only if permitted for you and the plan.

View calculated comparison

Offer B: $1,198 more estimated take-home a year

$46 more every two weeks, averaged from annual tax.

After the monthly costs entered, Offer B leaves $100 more cash per month. Costs set to zero are not included.

This estimates annual liability, not W-4 withholding or a promised paycheck. No spouse income, dependents, tax credits, local taxes, employer match or stock compensation. A tax/cost difference does not decide which place or job is better for you.

Offer A — Texas: State sources and verification notes. Qualified overtime premium $0; deduction $0. $0 of retirement saving is Roth. Full calculation.

Offer B — California: Provisional parameters. Income-tax brackets, standard deduction, exemption credit and phaseout thresholds carry forward 2025 dollar amounts. State sources and verification notes. Qualified overtime premium $0; deduction $0. $0 of retirement saving is Roth. Full calculation.

Offer A versus Offer B; differences are Offer B minus Offer A. Every two weeks uses 26 averages per year.
ItemOffer AOffer BDifference
Gross pay / year$60,000$65,000$5,000
Federal income tax / year$5,020$5,620$600
Social Security and Medicare / year$4,590$4,973$383
State tax and payroll contributions / year$0$2,820$2,820
Employee retirement saving / year$0$0$0
Health premiums / year$0$0$0
Estimated take-home / year$50,390$51,588$1,198
Average take-home / selected pay period$1,938$1,984$46
Average take-home / month$4,199$4,299$100
Entered living costs / month$0$0$0
Cash after entered costs / month$4,199$4,299$100

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Read the difference in context

Retirement saving reduces spendable cash, but remains your saving. Pretax and Roth contributions affect income tax differently. Health premiums here are employee Section 125 deductions, not a valuation of the plans' coverage. Enter costs once: living costs should exclude retirement and payroll health deductions already in the calculation.

An hourly scenario uses the paid weeks you enter and time-and-a-half for hours above 40. Eligibility controls the federal overtime deduction, not the overtime pay rate. Salary means the total annual amount entered. A midyear raise needs separate before/after earnings for that year; this comparison shows two full-year alternatives.

Annual totals are averaged into Every two weeks periods. Real payroll rounding, pay dates and withholding can differ. Calculation methods · Build a budget from take-home.

Sources and assumptions

Tax year 2026. Annual tax for one earner with no dependents, other income or credits; 52 paid weeks unless changed in the calculator. Hourly earnings assume time-and-a-half after 40 hours. The overtime deduction requires qualifying FLSA premium. Local income taxes are not included. How we calculate.