A salary is not the same as pay. These tools work out what lands in your bank account after tax, commuting and unpaid time — before you say yes.
The number in a job offer is the gross figure. What you live on is what remains after federal tax, state tax, FICA, your commute and the unpaid hours that come with a salaried role. On a $70,000 salary in a state with income tax, that gap is routinely $20,000 a year or more.
What actually reaches your account after federal tax, state tax and FICA, using 2026 brackets and the standard deduction.
Convert between hourly and annual pay, then adjust for unpaid leave, overtime and the hours you really work.
Put two offers side by side: base, bonus, equity, benefits and commute, converted to one comparable number.
What a raise is worth after tax, and what it is worth in real terms once inflation is taken out.
What your commute costs per year in fuel, wear, parking and the hours you never get back.
Estimate a severance offer, check it against common policy formulas, and see how long it covers you.
What you have to charge to replace a salary, once self-employment tax, unpaid time and lost benefits are counted.
Salaried offer or contract rate, compared after tax — plus the rate at which they break even.
Whether a bigger salary in a pricier city is really a raise, after cost of living and state tax.
Time and a half or double time, your real hourly rate, and the 2026 exempt salary threshold.
The 22% flat withholding rate is not your real tax. See what a bonus costs you and what comes back.
Three things are usually taken out before you see anything: federal income tax, state income tax where it applies, and FICA (Social Security at 6.2% and Medicare at 1.45%). On top of that, pre-tax deductions such as health premiums and retirement contributions reduce taxable income but also reduce the cash you receive. Someone on $70,000 filing single with no state income tax takes home roughly $56,000–58,000 after FICA and federal tax alone.
Often not. A $95,000 offer in a high-cost city can leave you worse off than $78,000 somewhere cheaper once rent, state income tax and commuting are counted. The comparison is not the salary, it is what remains after the costs the job forces on you. Use the offer comparison tool and enter the commuting distance for both, because commute cost is the item people most often leave out.
Convert both to the same basis. Take the salary, divide it by the hours you will actually work including the unpaid extra hours a salaried role usually carries, then compare that figure with the hourly rate. Then account for overtime eligibility: hourly workers are generally entitled to overtime pay, salaried workers above the exemption threshold are not, which can reverse the result entirely.
Treat them as a strong estimate, not a filing-grade calculation. Payroll withholding depends on your W-4 entries, pre-tax deductions, local taxes and mid-year changes in a way a general calculator cannot fully capture. Use the output to understand the shape of an offer and to ask better questions; verify anything contractual with the employer's payroll team or a tax professional.