When comparing job offers, looking only at the base salary can be a costly mistake. Modern employment packages include various "invisible" benefits that significantly increase your true earning power. This calculator helps you see the full picture by aggregating salary, bonuses, and benefits into a single metric.
Key Components of Job Value
Base Salary: The guaranteed fixed amount you receive before taxes and benefits.
Variable Pay: This includes performance-based bonuses and commissions. While not guaranteed, they are part of your expected income.
Retirement Matching: If a company matches 3% of your 401k contributions, that is effectively a 3% raise that is tax-deferred.
Health & Welfare: The employer-paid portion of your health insurance premiums, HSA contributions, and life insurance.
Equity and Stocks: RSUs (Restricted Stock Units) or Stock Options represent ownership and can be the most lucrative part of a tech or startup package.
Example Calculation
Consider a job offer with a $75,000 base salary, a 10% bonus, and a $5,000 annual stock grant. If the employer also pays $6,000 toward your health insurance and matches 4% ($3,000) of your 401k, your Total Compensation is $96,500. At 40 hours per week, your "True Hourly Rate" is roughly $46.39, even though your base salary hourly rate would only be $36.05.
Why Effective Hourly Rate Matters
A job offering $100,000 that requires 50 hours of work per week pays less per hour than an $85,000 job requiring only 35 hours per week. Always factor in your expected work-life balance to understand the real value of your time.
function calculateJobValue() {
var baseSalary = parseFloat(document.getElementById('baseSalary').value) || 0;
var bonusPercent = parseFloat(document.getElementById('bonusPercentage').value) || 0;
var equity = parseFloat(document.getElementById('equityValue').value) || 0;
var matchPercent = parseFloat(document.getElementById('matchPercentage').value) || 0;
var healthVal = parseFloat(document.getElementById('healthValue').value) || 0;
var workHours = parseFloat(document.getElementById('workHours').value) || 40;
// Calculations
var bonusAmount = baseSalary * (bonusPercent / 100);
var retirementAmount = baseSalary * (matchPercent / 100);
var totalBenefits = bonusAmount + equity + retirementAmount + healthVal;
var totalCompensation = baseSalary + totalBenefits;
// Effective Hourly Rate (Total Comp / Total Hours in a year)
var annualHours = workHours * 52;
var effectiveHourly = annualHours > 0 ? totalCompensation / annualHours : 0;
// Monthly Gross (Base + Bonus + Equity shared monthly)
var monthlyGross = totalCompensation / 12;
// Formatting
var formatter = new Intl.NumberFormat('en-US', {
style: 'currency',
currency: 'USD',
});
// Display results
document.getElementById('totalComp').innerText = formatter.format(totalCompensation);
document.getElementById('hourlyRate').innerText = formatter.format(effectiveHourly) + ' / hr';
document.getElementById('monthlyGross').innerText = formatter.format(monthlyGross);
document.getElementById('benefitValue').innerText = formatter.format(totalBenefits);
document.getElementById('results').style.display = 'block';
}