Compare multiple offers after federal withholding, FICA, state tax, 401(k), HSA, post-tax health premiums, signing bonus, and BEA cost-of-living differences.
This tool keeps raw take-home pay and COL-adjusted take-home pay side by side instead of blending tax and living-cost effects into one unclear figure. It also supports the full pre-tax deduction depth job seekers ask about when offers are close: 401(k), HSA, and filing-status-sensitive W-4 withholding.
Results are separated into raw take-home and COL-adjusted take-home so tax withholding and price-level differences never get blended into one unexplained number.
Benefits context from BLS national averages
NATIONAL AVERAGES only; retirement incidence context, not a specific 401(k) match valuation. Benefits figures are national averages for comparison context only, NOT a valuation of any specific offer. Use actual employer plan documents and offer details for individual decisions.
Worker group
Retirement access
Participation
Take-up rate
Civilian workers
75%
56%
75%
Private industry workers
72%
53%
73%
State and local government workers
92%
81%
88%
The March 2025 BLS EBS release reports retirement plan incidence and selected access metrics. It does not state a current typical employer 401(k) match percentage, so no match percentage is included.
How to read the result
Raw take-home pay is the paycheck result after the engine applies 2026 federal, FICA, state, and supported local withholding. COL-adjusted take-home is a second lens that converts each result into the price level of the first offer's state using BEA all-items Regional Price Parities.
The cost-of-living data vintage is 2024, released by BEA on 2026-02-19. The benefits benchmark release is 2025-09-25, with the next scheduled source refresh in Q4 2026.
How is this job offer comparison different from a salary comparison?
It compares raw engine-computed take-home pay and a separate BEA cost-of-living adjusted result, while also supporting 401(k), HSA, W-4 filing status, post-tax health premiums, and signing bonuses.
Does the COL-adjusted number replace take-home pay?
No. Raw take-home and COL-adjusted take-home are shown as separate comparisons. The raw number is the paycheck estimate; the COL-adjusted number translates purchasing power using BEA RPP.
Are benefits included as a dollar valuation?
No. BLS retirement benefits data is shown as national context only, not as a valuation of a specific offer. Use the employer plan document for actual match and vesting terms.