An $88,000 offer can pay you $3,300 more a year than a $95,000 one. That gap is not a tax trick — it is a 401(k) match, a cheaper health plan and a target bonus, three lines sitting underneath the number in the subject line of the offer email. Comparing two jobs properly means pulling all of those lines into one table, then adding the cost that appears on neither letter: the hours you spend getting to work.
What to Compare Beyond Base Salary
Base salary is the easiest number to compare and the least complete. Six other lines move real money, and every one of them is knowable before you accept.
- Target bonus. A percentage of base, paid annually or quarterly. Ask what percentage of target the company actually paid in each of the last two years.
- 401(k) match. Free money, but only if you contribute enough to earn it. Ask for the formula and the vesting schedule in writing.
- Health premiums. Your monthly share, times twelve. A $125 monthly difference is $1,500 a year straight out of your paycheck.
- Paid time off. Days, plus whether unused days roll over or are paid out when you leave.
- Equity. Grant value divided by the vesting period, with the cliff noted separately.
- Commute and work location. Unpaid hours, plus fuel, parking or transit fares.
When a posting is long and vague about the benefits, paste it into the text summarizer to pull out the concrete requirements first, then ask the recruiter to fill the remaining gaps by email so you have it on the record.
Worked Example - Offer A at $95,000 vs Offer B at $88,000
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Every figure below is an illustration, not survey data. Offer A pays $95,000 with no 401(k) match, 15 PTO days, a $220 monthly health premium and no bonus. Offer B pays $88,000 with a dollar-for-dollar match up to 5% of salary, 25 PTO days, a $95 monthly premium and a 5% target bonus.
| Line | Offer A | Offer B |
|---|---|---|
| Base salary | $95,000 | $88,000 |
| Target bonus | $0 | $4,400 |
| 401(k) match | $0 | $4,400 |
| Health premium, your share | −$2,640 | −$1,140 |
| Cash-equivalent total | $92,360 | $95,660 |
Offer B wins by $3,300 a year before a single day of leave is counted. The match is the swing: 5% of $88,000 is $4,400, and you collect it only if you contribute 5% yourself. Check the vesting schedule too, because a match you forfeit by leaving in year one was never really compensation. The employee deferral limit is set and updated annually — confirm the current figure on the IRS 401(k) contribution limits page before you plan around it. This is general information, not financial advice.
PTO sits outside that table on purpose. Base salary already pays for it, so adding it again double-counts. Value it as a rate instead: Offer B's 10 extra days are worth roughly $3,385 of time at its own daily rate of $338 ($88,000 ÷ 260 working days). If your own two offers differ on more lines than these, run them through the comparison calculator rather than rebuilding the table by hand.
Turning Commute Time Into an Effective Hourly Rate
Offer A is onsite five days a week, 45 minutes each way. Offer B is hybrid — two days a week, 30 minutes each way. Neither letter mentions it, and it is the largest uncosted difference between them.
| Measure | Offer A | Offer B |
|---|---|---|
| Commute days per week | 5 | 2 |
| Round trip | 90 min | 60 min |
| Commute hours per week | 7.5 | 2.0 |
| Working weeks after PTO and holidays | 47 | 45 |
| Commute hours per year | 352.5 | 90.0 |
| Paid hours per year | 1,880 | 1,800 |
| Committed hours per year | 2,232.5 | 1,890.0 |
| Nominal hourly rate | $49.13 | $53.14 |
| Commute-adjusted hourly rate | $41.37 | $50.61 |
The two offers are $9.24 an hour apart. Two forces produce that. The obvious one is 262 extra hours a year in a car or on a train — about six and a half working weeks of unpaid time. The quieter one is that Offer B's extra leave shrinks the denominator: the same pay spread across fewer worked hours is a higher rate per hour, which is precisely what more PTO buys you. If you want to sanity-check either base against your occupation and metro area first, the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes wage data for both.
A Decision Table for Culture, Growth and Remote Work
Soft factors resist arithmetic, which is why most comparisons either ignore them or let them quietly overrule a $3,300 gap. Score each one deliberately, and be explicit about how much weight it carries for you right now rather than in general.
| Factor | The question that actually tests it | Weight it heavily if | Weight it lightly if |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manager | How long has this team reported to you, and where did the last person in this role go? | You are early career and need coaching | You already work independently |
| Growth | What did the last two promotions on this team look like, and how long did they take? | A title change within two years matters | You are optimizing for cash now |
| Remote policy | Is the hybrid split written into the offer, and who can change it? | Your commute runs over 30 minutes each way | You live ten minutes from the office |
| Team stability | What was voluntary turnover on this team last year? | You are backfilling someone who quit | The team is new and growing |
| Scope | Which decisions are mine to make without approval? | Low autonomy is why you are leaving | You want a lower-stress stretch |
Set your threshold before the calls: a factor you would not trade $3,300 for is a tiebreaker, not a deciding factor. That number is much harder to be honest about after a good conversation with a hiring manager.
When the Lower Number Is Actually the Better Offer
The smaller base wins often enough to be worth a checklist. It usually happens when at least two of these are true.
- A match you will genuinely earn. You can afford to contribute up to the cap, and the vesting schedule is short enough that you expect to keep it.
- A materially cheaper health plan. Compare the monthly premium and the deductible. A $125 monthly gap plus a $1,000 deductible gap is real money in a year you actually use the plan.
- A bonus with a payout history. Target is not guaranteed. A 10% target paid at 60% for two straight years is a 6% bonus, and you should model it that way.
- Ten or more extra PTO days. That is two working weeks of your life, and it raises your effective hourly rate whether or not you value it in dollars.
- A shorter or genuinely optional commute. Hours are the one resource you cannot negotiate more of later.
The bigger base still wins when raises, future offers and severance are all calculated from it, when the equity is in a private company with no liquidity path, or when your cash flow will not stretch to the contribution the match requires. And if the two jobs are in different cities, settle the cost-of-living question separately before you compare anything — a 12% pay gap and a 30% rent gap are not the same conversation.
Compare Your Own Offers Side by Side
Put both letters in front of you, fill in the six lines above for each, and write the commute row even if it feels petty. The arithmetic takes about ten minutes and it routinely changes the answer, because the number the recruiter said out loud is only one of the five that pay you.
Enter both offers into our free Job Offer Comparison Calculator to see total compensation, effective hourly rate and a plain-English verdict side by side.
FAQ
Should I count a target bonus as guaranteed income?
No. A target bonus is a plan, not a promise, and almost every plan pays out somewhere between 0% and 120% of target depending on company and individual performance. Ask the recruiter what percentage of target was paid across the company in each of the last two years, then model the bonus at that rate rather than at 100%.
If they will not answer, treat the bonus as zero when you compare offers and as upside when it arrives.
Does a 401(k) match count as salary when I negotiate?
It counts toward what the job is worth to you, but not toward the number the employer is trying to hold down, which is usually base salary. That asymmetry is useful. If a company cannot move on base, a better match, a signing bonus or an extra week of leave sometimes has room in it, and each one is worth a calculable amount of money.
How do I compare offers in two different cities?
Compare the cash-equivalent totals first, exactly as above, then adjust separately for housing and taxes rather than folding everything into one figure. Keeping the two steps apart shows you whether the offer is genuinely stronger or simply denominated in a more expensive city, and it stops a large rent difference from hiding a weak benefits package.