Job Offer Comparison Calculator

Choosing between job offers is one of the highest-stakes financial decisions in a healthcare career, and it's hard to compare offers when every package is built differently. One has a higher salary, another has a big loan repayment benefit, and a third is in a cheaper city. This calculator puts them on equal footing.

What this calculator does

For each offer, enter the base salary, expected annual bonus, one-time sign-on or relocation money, employer retirement contribution, annual loan repayment benefit, and a cost-of-living index for the city. Then enter how many years you expect to stay. The calculator shows:

• each offer's annual value, adjusted for cost of living,
• which offer comes out ahead and by how much per year, and
• the total difference over your expected stay.

The formula in plain English

Annual value = base salary + bonus + retirement contribution + loan repayment + (sign-on and relocation ÷ years you'll stay).

Adjusted value = annual value × (100 ÷ cost-of-living index).

An index of 130 means the city costs about 30% more than average, so each dollar there buys less. Dividing by the index turns both offers into "average-city dollars" you can compare directly.

This calculator focuses on pay. It doesn't adjust for state income tax differences, which can be significant. If one offer is in a state with no income tax, run each salary through the take-home pay calculator as well.

A worked example

Dr. Lee, finishing an emergency medicine residency, has two offers:

• Offer A in a coastal city: $300,000 salary, $20,000 bonus, $25,000 sign-on, $12,000 retirement contribution, cost-of-living index 130.
• Offer B in a mid-sized city: $270,000 salary, $15,000 bonus, $10,000 sign-on, $15,000 retirement contribution, $20,000 a year in loan repayment, cost-of-living index 95.

Over a three-year stay, Offer A is worth about $261,800 a year in average-city dollars, and Offer B about $340,400 — roughly $78,600 a year more, or about $235,700 over three years.

The headline salary favored Offer A by $30,000. Cost of living and loan repayment flipped the result.

Why it matters at each career stage

If you're: Resident / fellow

Your first job sets your starting salary and your lifestyle. Ask each employer for the full benefits summary, the exact bonus formula and the repayment terms on any sign-on money. Lower-cost cities can speed up debt payoff dramatically.

If you're: Employed

When you're thinking about a move, remember the hidden costs: moving, selling a home, a new license and time without pay between jobs. Use the years-you'll-stay field to spread those out fairly.

Comparing offers in different roles

The same approach works whether you're a nurse comparing two hospitals, a pharmacist weighing retail against a health system, or a dentist choosing between associate positions. For hourly roles, turn the offer into an annual number first: hourly rate × expected hours, plus any shift differentials you'll regularly earn. For production-based roles, use a realistic first-year estimate rather than the best case the recruiter describes.

If an offer includes a pension instead of a 401(k) match, estimate the yearly value as a percentage of salary — your HR department can often tell you the employer's contribution rate.

Before you decide

Get it in writing. Verbal promises about bonuses and partnership don't count.

Read the restrictive covenants. A non-compete can limit where you work next.

Model the downside. What happens to Offer A if the bonus doesn't pay out? Set the bonus to zero and run it again.

Talk to people who work there. Turnover, culture and workload are hard to put in a spreadsheet but easy to learn from a candid conversation.

For productivity-based offers, use the wRVU calculator. To see how hours change the picture, try the effective hourly rate calculator.