Calculate your total compensation after taxes: base salary, RSUs, annual bonus, and ESPP. See what each component is actually worth after federal, state, and FICA taxes.
RSUs are taxed as ordinary income at vesting — at high total comp, they land in your highest tax bracket. If your base salary already puts you in the 32% bracket, every dollar of RSU vesting is taxed at 32% or higher for federal alone, plus state and FICA on top.
Bonuses stack on top of everything else, so each bonus dollar faces your top marginal rate. While employers often withhold at a flat 22% federal rate, your actual tax on the bonus is determined by your marginal bracket — which can be significantly higher.
ESPP discount is essentially free money, but the discount portion is taxed as ordinary income when you sell the shares. A 15% discount on $25,000 in contributions gives you $3,750 in gains, but after taxes you might keep only $2,400 of that.
State tax creates huge differences in total comp — a $225K package in California vs. Texas can differ by $15,000+ in take-home pay. That’s why comparing total comp across offers in different states requires looking at after-tax numbers, not just the gross package.