How to Compare Two Job Offers: A Step-by-Step Framework

Compare two job offers by lining up total compensation first, not just base salary, then adjusting for cost of living, benefits, and contract terms before making a call. A salary gap can flip in either direction once equity, bonuses, taxes, and vesting schedules are accounted for, so the offer that looks bigger on paper isn't always the one worth more.

Start With Total Compensation, Not Just Base Salary

Base salary is the easiest number to compare and the least complete one. Total compensation adds signing bonuses, annual bonus targets, and equity to the base, then looks at what that adds up to per year over the time you'd actually be there.

What Counts as Total Compensation

At minimum, total compensation includes base salary, guaranteed or target bonus, and the annualized value of any equity grant. Indeed's guide to comparing job offers frames this as understanding "the total value of all elements of your compensation package," including retirement contributions and paid time off. Don't compare a base-salary figure from one offer to a total-comp figure from another — use the same calculation on both sides.

How to Put a Number on Equity

For a public company, multiply the number of RSUs by the current share price and divide by the vesting period, usually four years, to get an annual value. For a private company, there's no clean market price — use the most recent 409A valuation as a rough floor, treat it as conservative, and remember it stays illiquid until an actual liquidity event. Our ISO vs. NSO guide covers how each option type is taxed differently, which changes what a grant is worth to you after tax.

Adjust for Cost of Living and Taxes

The same salary number buys very different amounts of life depending on where you're working, and take-home pay depends on more than your gross number.

Same Salary, Different Take-Home Pay

Two offers with identical base salaries in different states can produce meaningfully different paychecks once state income tax is factored in — states like California and New York tax income that states like Texas or Florida don't. If either offer involves relocating or working remotely, run both numbers through a paycheck calculator for the specific state before comparing, rather than assuming the sticker price is the real number. A remote offer can also carry a location-based pay adjustment, so confirm whether the salary is fixed or tied to where you live before treating it as comparable to an in-office offer.

Weigh Benefits and Perks That Don't Show Up in the Headline Number

Benefits rarely get much space in an offer letter relative to how much they're worth, and they're where two similar-looking offers often diverge the most.

Retirement Match and Health Insurance

A 401(k) match is deferred cash — a 4% match on a $120,000 salary is worth roughly $4,800 a year that a competing offer without a match doesn't pay. Health insurance is harder to reduce to one number, but compare premiums, deductibles, and out-of-pocket maximums directly rather than noting that both offers "include health insurance."

PTO, Flexibility, and Other Line Items

Unlimited PTO policies and accrued PTO banks aren't equivalent even when they sound similar — unlimited PTO sometimes results in less time actually taken, since there's no banked balance pushing anyone to use it. Our offer letter checklist has more on what to check in the actual policy language rather than the marketing description.

Look Past the Paycheck: Role, Growth, and Risk

Two offers with near-identical compensation can be very different bets once you look at where each one is likely to take you and how much risk each one carries.

Career Trajectory and Title

A title bump, a manager role, or exposure to a new function can be worth more over a five-year horizon than a modest salary difference today. Weigh what each role actually has you doing day to day, not just what it's called, since inflated titles with narrow scope are common enough to be worth double-checking.

Company Stability and Runway

An early-stage startup and an established company asking for the same skill set are not comparable risk profiles, even at identical pay. If equity is a meaningful part of one offer, ask directly about the company's last funding round and runway — a vague answer to a direct question is itself useful information.

Read the Fine Print in Each Offer Letter

The compensation numbers get most of the attention, but the clauses in each offer letter determine what you're actually agreeing to, and they're easy to skim past when you're focused on the dollar figures.

Vesting Schedules and Cliffs

Confirm the vesting start date and cliff length for any equity grant in each offer — a one-year cliff means you own nothing if you leave before that date, which matters if you're comparing a shorter tenure at one company against a longer one at another. Don't assume both offers use the same structure; ask for the specific terms in writing.

Non-Competes, Arbitration, and Other Restrictive Clauses

A non-compete clause that restricts your next move, or a mandatory arbitration clause that waives your right to sue, can be a real cost even if it never comes up during your time at the company. These terms vary by state — some don't enforce non-competes for most employees at all — so what a clause means in practice depends on where you live and work, not just what the offer letter says. Offer XRay is built to flag restrictive clauses like these automatically when you upload an offer letter, rather than relying on you to spot unfamiliar legal language yourself.

Severance and At-Will Terms

Most US offer letters are at-will with no severance guarantee, but some include severance terms or notice periods. If one offer includes a defined severance policy and the other doesn't, that's a real difference in downside protection, even though it rarely shows up in a salary comparison. Our severance package guide covers what a typical policy looks like.

Build a Simple Weighted Decision Matrix

Once you've gathered the numbers and the fine print, a simple scoring exercise forces you to weigh factors deliberately instead of defaulting to whichever number is biggest or whichever offer came first.

Pick Your Criteria and Assign Weights

List the factors that matter to you — total compensation, growth potential, stability, benefits, contract terms — and assign each a weight based on your situation. Someone with a young family might weight benefits and stability heavily; someone early in a career might weight growth and title more. There's no universal weighting that's correct for everyone.

When the Offers Score Nearly Even

If two offers land within a few percent of each other after scoring, the decision is close enough that either choice is defensible — let a softer factor, like team or manager fit, break the tie instead of re-running the numbers looking for a decisive answer that isn't there.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is base salary or total compensation more important when comparing offers?

Total compensation is the more complete comparison, since it captures bonus, equity, and benefits that base salary alone leaves out. Base salary still matters on its own for things tied directly to it, like some 401(k) matches calculated as a percentage of base pay.

How do I compare a startup offer with equity to a corporate offer without it?

Value the equity conservatively, using the last 409A valuation discounted for illiquidity and the real chance it's worth zero, rather than the optimistic outcome. Compare that number against the corporate offer's guaranteed cash — if the startup offer only looks competitive under a best-case scenario, that's useful information about the real gap between the two.

Should I tell one employer about a competing offer?

Many candidates do, since it can support a stronger counter, but it's a judgment call that depends on the relationship and how far along each process is. Our guide to negotiating a job offer covers how to raise a competing offer without sounding like you're bluffing.

How much time can I ask for to decide between two offers?

A few business days to a week is a common range to request, and most employers will grant a reasonable extension for a candidate who asks directly and gives a specific date. Asking early, as soon as you have both offers in hand, works better than asking right at a stated deadline.

Key Takeaways

• Compare total compensation, not just base salary — bonus, equity, and benefits can outweigh a salary gap in either direction.
• Adjust for cost of living, state taxes, and any location-based pay bands before treating two numbers as comparable.
• Read the contract terms in each offer letter, including vesting schedules, non-competes, and severance, since these affect the real value and risk of each offer.
• A simple weighted decision matrix helps when the numbers alone don't produce a clear winner, and offers within a few percent of each other are close enough to decide on fit instead.
• Offer XRay can flag vesting, non-compete, and other clause-level differences across offer letters automatically, and pricing starts at $4.99 for two analysis credits.

Comparing two offers properly takes more than eyeballing two salary numbers, but it's a few hours spent on a decision that shapes years of your working life. Line up the total compensation, benefits, and contract terms side by side before you decide — and if you want a second set of eyes on what's actually written in either offer letter, upload it to Offer XRay for a clause-by-clause breakdown.