How do I compare two offers properly?

Total each one — salary plus pension plus premiums plus the cash value of leave beyond what the other offers — then compare. In this example a 60,000 job beats a 66,000 job with no match, no cover and standard leave.

Which benefit is worth the most?

Usually employer-paid insurance, then the pension match, then leave. But the ranking depends on you: to someone with a chronic condition the health cover can dominate everything else on the list.

Benefits Value

Calculate total value of benefits package

PTO value:$5000

Total value:$25000

Benefits are worth about 15% of salary — and they are why the lower offer sometimes wins

Two offers rarely differ only in salary. A pension match, an employer-paid health premium and five extra days of leave are real money, but they never appear on the headline figure, so comparisons get made on the one number that leaves them out.

How it works

Prices each benefit in money: employer pension contributions, insurance premiums paid on your behalf, and leave beyond the statutory minimum.
Converts extra holiday into cash at your own daily rate, which is the only way to compare it against salary.
Produces a total compensation figure so two offers can be compared on the same basis.

pension match = salary × employer match %

extra leave = days above the comparison offer × (salary ÷ 260 working days)

total compensation = salary + pension + insurance premiums + extra leave

Worked example

A 60,000 role with a 5% pension match, 4,800 of employer-paid health cover, and 25 days of leave against a comparison offer's 20.

pension match: 60,000 × 5% = 3,000
employer health premium: 4,800
daily rate: 60,000 ÷ 260 = 230.77
five extra days: 5 × 230.77 = 1,154
benefits total: 8,954

Total compensation is 68,954 — the benefits add 14.9% on top of salary. A competing offer would need to pay nearly 69,000 in straight salary to match it.

Reading the result

The pension match is the line most often left on the table. It is money the employer will pay you and simply does not if you fail to contribute enough to trigger it — the only part of a package with a guaranteed instant return.
Value insurance at what it would cost you to buy, not at what the employer spends. A policy you would never have purchased is worth less to you than its premium; one covering a condition you actually have may be worth considerably more.
Extra leave is worth its cash value only if you take it. Days that expire unused are worth nothing, and a culture that discourages leave turns this line into decoration.
Some benefits are taxed and some are not, and the treatment differs by country. Employer pension contributions and health cover are often more tax-efficient than the equivalent salary, which widens the gap further than these figures show.

Common questions

How do I compare two offers properly?: Total each one — salary plus pension plus premiums plus the cash value of leave beyond what the other offers — then compare. In this example a 60,000 job beats a 66,000 job with no match, no cover and standard leave.
Which benefit is worth the most?: Usually employer-paid insurance, then the pension match, then leave. But the ranking depends on you: to someone with a chronic condition the health cover can dominate everything else on the list.