Compare job offers with salary, benefits and workload. Model raises, tuition perks, and living costs. See net income, total value, and hourly pay today.
| Field | Job A (University) | Job B (College) |
|---|---|---|
| Base salary | 72,000.00 | 78,000.00 |
| Overload pay | 2,500.00 | 3,500.00 |
| Summer salary | 8,000.00 | 0.00 |
| Employer health (monthly) | 450.00 | 380.00 |
| Retirement match (%) | 7.00 | 6.00 |
| Tuition benefit value | 5,000.00 | 2,500.00 |
| Cost‑of‑living index | 105.00 | 98.00 |
| Hours per week | 42.00 | 45.00 |
Base pay is the anchor, but academic offers often include stipends, overload pay, summer salary, and predictable annual bonuses. This calculator groups those as recurring cash, then adds one‑time items like signing and relocation in Year 1. Comparing offers using a consistent annual basis reduces bias from uneven payment timing. If one role pays nine months and another pays twelve, annualizing both prevents confusing cash flow with compensation.
Employer health contributions are converted from monthly to annual values, and retirement match is estimated as a percent of eligible compensation. Tuition remission, housing support, research allowances, and conference travel are included as benefits value, reflecting resources that reduce out‑of‑pocket spending. Enter conservative values if a benefit is uncertain or conditional. For capped plans, record the cap instead of the headline percentage so the value estimate stays realistic.
Two salaries that look similar can produce different lifestyles when local costs differ. The calculator uses a cost‑of‑living index where 100 is baseline; totals are divided by index/100 to estimate real value. If Job A is in a higher‑cost city, a larger nominal package may still yield lower real compensation. Use this view when comparing campuses when housing and commuting costs dominate budgets.
Academic roles vary by teaching load, service expectations, advising, and grant activity. By entering hours per week and weeks worked per year, the tool converts total value into an estimated hourly value. This helps compare a lighter schedule with fewer extras versus a heavier role with higher pay. It also highlights the tradeoff between time for scholarship and the compensation attached to duties.
Many institutions apply annual merit or step increases. The projection applies your raise rate to recurring cash and retirement match over the selected horizon while keeping one‑time cash in Year 1 only. Use averages across the horizon to compare long‑run outcomes, especially when promotion timing differs. When an offer includes a delayed stipend or a course release, rerun the tool with adjusted years to reflect that path.
Use a single blended percentage that reflects typical deductions and local taxes. If unsure, start with a conservative estimate and rerun scenarios to see how sensitive net cash is to your assumption.
Enter the realistic annual savings you expect to use, not the maximum advertised amount. Include only the portion that reduces your household spending during the projection horizon.
No. The tool treats retirement match as part of total value, not net cash. It improves long‑term wealth, but it is typically restricted and may vest over time.
Use any consistent index where 100 is a baseline city. The goal is relative comparison, so keep the same index source for both locations and avoid mixing different methodologies.
Those payments usually occur once at hire. Counting them only in Year 1 prevents overstating long‑run earnings and keeps multi‑year averages comparable across offers with different upfront incentives.
Yes. Enter each role’s cash, benefits, workload, and weeks worked. For roles without certain benefits, set those fields to zero to keep the comparison consistent and transparent.
Important Note: All the Calculators listed in this site are for educational purpose only and we do not guarentee the accuracy of results. Please do consult with other sources as well.