Salary is only part of what a job pays, and benefits can erase a salary gap of several thousand dollars. Before you accept, add each offer’s 401(k) match to its salary, subtract your health premiums and deductible, and take the offer that comes out ahead.
Benefits made up 30% of what private employers spent on compensation in June 2026, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That share varies by employer, and the salary figure on an offer says nothing about it.
Picture two offers that differ only in salary, 401(k) match, and health premiums, so their plans carry the same deductible and out-of-pocket maximum. Say you’d contribute enough to collect a full match and stay long enough to keep it. Offer A pays $80,000 with no match and takes $6,850 a year from your pay for family health coverage. That’s KFF’s 2025 average for workers enrolled in employer family plans. Offer B pays $76,000, adds a 4% match worth $3,040, and charges $3,000 a year for family coverage. By our arithmetic, Offer B comes to $76,040 a year before taxes and Offer A to $73,150, so B pays about $2,900 more even though its salary is $4,000 lower.
Put each of these in dollars for both offers:
- The 401(k) match, figured from its formula, and the vesting schedule that decides when that money is yours to keep.
- Your share of the health premiums, the deductible, and the out-of-pocket maximum, which together decide what a year of heavy medical bills costs you.
- Any employer deposit into a health savings account (HSA), which works like extra pay set aside for medical bills.
- Paid time off, valued at your daily pay. Divide the salary by the 260 workdays in a year, so five extra days on an $80,000 salary are worth about $1,540.
- The bonus target, and how much of it the company actually paid out in recent years.
- Costs the job adds or removes, such as a longer commute or remote days that skip the trip.
Ask HR for the benefits summary before you accept, since an offer letter may list only the salary. If the two totals come out close, negotiate the terms beyond salary before you sign.
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