Salary Comparison Calculator
Compare two job offers on what actually lands in your account. Enter each one as a salary, a package or an hourly rate, with its own hours, super rate and bonus, and the calculator sets take-home pay, super and the rate per hour worked side by side. The common trap is comparing a base salary against a total remuneration package that already contains super, which overstates the package offer by the super rate.
Applies to both offers
Offer A takes home more
$850 a year
Offer A is worth $850 a year more than Offer B in take-home pay, or $32.69 a fortnight. Offer A pays $150 a year more super, which is shown beside take-home, not added to it.
| 2026-27 | Offer A | Offer B | B minus A |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross a year, with bonus | $95,000 | $105,000 | +$10,000 |
| Employer super, paid on top | $11,400 | $11,250 | -$150 |
| Taxable income | $95,000 | $93,750 | -$1,250 |
| Income tax | $19,020 | $18,645 | -$375 |
| Medicare levy | $1,900 | $1,875 | -$25 |
| Take-home a year | $74,080 | $73,230 | -$850 |
| Take-home a fortnight | $2,849.23 | $2,816.54 | -$32.69 |
| Gross per hour worked | $48.08 | $47.44 | -$0.63 |
| Take-home per hour worked | $37.49 | $37.06 | -$0.43 |
Take-home is after income tax and the Medicare levy, on the full year, with the low income tax offset left off as PAYG withholding does. Super is shown beside take-home, never added to it.
Worked examples, with the arithmetic.
The same sums the tool runs, on real figures. Every number below is computed by the tested engine from the published rates, so the prose and the tool can never disagree.
Worked through: a $105,000 package against a $95,000 base salary
$105,000 package / 1.12 = $93,750 taxable salary take-home on $95,000 = $74,080 take-home on $93,750 = $73,230
No. The $105,000 package contains super, so the taxable salary is $93,750 and the take-home is $73,230, against $74,080 on the $95,000 base. The bigger headline number is worth $850 a year less.
How do I tell which kind of number I have been given?
"salary + super" -> base salary "total remuneration package" -> includes super "package" or "TRP" -> almost always includes super
Ask directly. A base salary has super paid on top, a total remuneration package has super inside it, and at a 12% guarantee rate the two readings of the same number differ by 10.7% of the salary. Take-home differs by less, because the lost salary comes off the top: at $105,000 it is $80,880 against $73,230, 9.5% less.
Worked through: $100,000 for a 50-hour week against $90,000 for 38 hours
$90,000 / (38 x 52) = $45.55 an hour gross $100,000 / (50 x 52) = $38.46 an hour gross take-home an hour = $35.77 against $29.80
The $100,000 offer takes home $6,800 a year more, but it asks for 12 more hours every week. Per hour worked it pays $29.80 of take-home against $35.77, so the smaller salary is the better rate for the time. Enter the hours each role really runs to, not the contract minimum.
Is this accurate, and how does it work?
The method is published rather than described. Nothing here is a black box, and the limits are listed as plainly as the workings.
- 1Put both offers on a year. Weekly, fortnightly and monthly figures are multiplied up to a year, and an hourly rate is multiplied by the hours you enter for 52 weeks. A bonus is added as cash on top.
- 2Take super out of a package. A package that includes super is grossed down to its taxable salary at that offer's own super rate, because tax applies to the salary, not the package. Compulsory super stops at the maximum contribution base, so above it only the capped amount comes out.
- 3Tax each independently. Both offers run through the same resident scale with the Medicare levy, and through HECS/HELP and the Medicare levy surcharge when you tick them, so the comparison is like for like.
- 4Show super beside take-home, not inside it. Super is real value but it is not spendable now. It is listed separately so a higher-super offer is visible without distorting the take-home comparison.
- 5Divide by the hours. Take-home per hour worked shows when a bigger salary is buying longer weeks rather than a better rate.
What this does not cover.
- It compares two offers on the resident scale for a single taxpayer, with the low income tax offset left off as PAYG withholding does. It does not model salary sacrifice, deductions or family surcharge thresholds.
- A bonus is taxed as part of the year's income and counts toward super at the offer's rate. The withholding on the day it is paid is a separate calculation, worked out on the Tax on Bonus Calculator.
- HECS/HELP and the surcharge are worked on taxable income. Reportable fringe benefits and reportable super contributions also count toward both and are not entered here.
- Super is capped at the maximum contribution base at every rate, though an employer paying above the guarantee may pay on earnings above it. It is not discounted for the time until you can access it.
- It does not value leave entitlements, equity or benefits, which often decide the real comparison. It assumes both roles run for a full financial year of 52 paid weeks.
Where these figures come from.
- ATO, Tax rates for Australian residents, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-08-13. Retrieved 2026-09-02.
- ATO, Super guarantee rate, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-04-17. Retrieved 2026-09-02.
- ATO, Medicare levy reduction for low-income earners, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-06-30. Retrieved 2026-09-02. Not yet published for 2026-27: this is the prior year’s figure carried forward and labelled as such, never estimated. It is corrected as soon as the ATO publishes.
- ATO, Study and training loan repayment thresholds and rates, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-06-30. Retrieved 2026-09-11.
- ATO, Medicare levy surcharge income, thresholds and rates, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-06-22. Retrieved 2026-09-11.
Every rate this site uses is listed on the Methodology page.
Common questions.
How do I compare two job offers properly?
Convert both to the same basis first. If one is a total remuneration package including super and the other is a base salary, gross the package down by the super rate before comparing, then compare take-home pay and list super separately. If the hours differ, compare the rate per hour worked as well.
Is a $105,000 package better than a $95,000 base salary?
Often not. At a 12% super guarantee, a $105,000 package including super is a taxable salary of about $93,750, which is less than a $95,000 base. The package number looks bigger and is worth less.
Should I count super when comparing offers?
Count it, but separately. It is genuine remuneration and compounds for decades, but it is not money you can spend this year, so folding it into a take-home comparison hides the difference that affects your budget now.
What if one employer pays more than the guarantee?
Enter its rate. Universities and some public sector employers pay well above the guarantee: on a $100,000 base, 17% is $17,000 of super a year against $12,000 at 12%, $5,000 more, with take-home unchanged. APS agreements, for one, set 15.4% for members of the Public Sector Superannuation Accumulation Plan and other accumulation funds, as APS Pay Scales sets out. On a package the higher rate cuts the other way, because more of the headline number goes to super and less is salary. Employer contributions count as concessional contributions, so at high incomes the extra can also attract Division 293 tax, which the Division 293 Calculator works out.
Does a HECS/HELP debt change which offer is better?
It lowers take-home on both, and by more on the offer with the higher taxable income, because the repayment is a share of income above the threshold. That narrows the gap between two offers but rarely reverses it. Tick the toggle and it applies to both. The HECS Repayment Calculator shows the bands.
Can this tell me what a role should pay?
No. It compares two offers you already have. To see the minimum a role pays under its award, start from Award Pay Rates or Pay Rates by Occupation. To work out what to ask for from the take-home you need, the Reverse Pay Calculator runs the sum backwards. To set a contract offer against a salaried one, the Contractor vs Employee Calculator turns either into the other. How a salary sits against the ABS median weekly earnings for full-time and part-time employees is on the Wage Calculator.
What else should I weigh beyond the numbers?
Leave beyond the four-week minimum, whether the role attracts overtime or penalty rates, salary packaging availability, and commuting cost. This page compares the cash, which is the part that is calculable.
Related pages.
- Pay Rise CalculatorSee what a pay rise is worth after tax, how much of a salary increase you keep at your marginal rate, and the extra super paid on top.
- Super Guarantee CalculatorWork out the superannuation your employer must pay on top of your wage at the 12% guarantee rate for 2026-27.
- HECS Repayment CalculatorWork out your compulsory HECS, HELP or STSL study loan repayment for 2026-27 on the marginal thresholds that replaced the old flat-rate tables.
- Medicare Levy Surcharge CalculatorWork out whether the Medicare levy surcharge applies to you and what it costs, with the 2026-27 single and family thresholds.
- Salary Sacrifice CalculatorSee what salary sacrificing into super saves in tax and costs in take-home pay, with the 15% contributions tax netted off.
- Reverse Pay CalculatorEnter the take-home pay you need and see the gross salary required to reach it, for the year or one payslip, with HECS, the Medicare levy surcharge and super.
Every calculator on this site is listed on the Wage Calculator page.