Salary is the number people compare and it is the least informative one on the page. Put both offers in and see real take-home, the match you would actually earn, and what it all buys in the state you would live in.
Tax is computed the same way the paycheck calculator computes it, using 2026 federal brackets and the real income tax rules for all 51 jurisdictions, so the same salary priced on both pages agrees to the cent. The cost-of-living figure is the Bureau of Economic Analysis regional price parity for the state, where the US average is 100 — it is a state-wide average, and a city can sit well above or below its own state.
Not counted, because no calculator can know them: equity and how likely it is to be worth anything, vesting schedules, bonus targets that are not guaranteed, paid leave, the real cost of a commute, whether the health plan is good or merely cheap, and everything about the job that is not money. Treat the number as one input to the decision rather than the decision.
Compare what each is worth after tax, after the employer's 401(k) match and health premiums, and after local prices, not the headline salary. A higher offer in a high-tax, high-cost state can be worth less than a lower one elsewhere. The comparison shows how much each of those changes the answer.
As money you actually receive, as long as you contribute enough to earn it. A 100% match on the first 4% of pay adds 4% of salary; a 50% match on 6% adds 3%. The page uses the contribution rate you set, so an unclaimed match is not counted. What total compensation is covers the rest of the package.
With the Bureau of Economic Analysis regional price parities for each state, which measure how far a dollar goes there against the national average. Take-home pay is converted into what it would buy at average US prices.