Offer A pays 25,000 Birr with a commute of 100 Birr a day. Offer B pays 23,000 with a commute of 20 Birr a day. Over 22 working days, A leaves 16,550 after tax and pension, then 2,200 goes on transport, so you keep 14,350. B leaves 15,390, then 440 goes on transport, so you keep 14,950. B is ahead by 600 Birr a month, or 7,200 a year, even though its gross is 2,000 lower. It's an estimate, not tax or legal advice.
Why is a 2,000 Birr gap not 2,000 in my hand?
Above 14,000 Birr a month, tax takes 35% and pension takes 7%, so you keep 58 Birr of each extra 100. The 2,000 Birr gap between those two offers is only 1,160 in your hand, and the longer commute costs 1,760 more. That's why the lower offer wins.
How does this tool treat allowances?
It adds cash allowances to your pay and taxes them. Most are taxable, because Proclamation 979/2016 counts allowances as employment income. It also works pension on the whole sum, which is careful, since real pension is only on basic salary. Per diem and some travel allowance can be tax free within limits, so if an offer has a lot of these, the real gap can be smaller or larger.
What should I ask before I compare?
- How much is basic salary, and how much is allowance? It decides your pension.
- Is it a contract with an end date, or permanent? Ask what happens when it ends.
- Which pension will you join? Staff of international bodies and diplomatic missions aren't in the private scheme that POESSA runs, so ask what they give you instead.
- What's the probation? The Labour Proclamation allows up to 60 working days, in writing, and during it neither side owes notice or severance.
- Do they offer health cover, a staff bus or lunch? Put a Birr value on these if you can.
I'm choosing between an NGO and a local company. What's different?
Compare the length of the contract as well as the pay. Aid and development bodies are among the biggest advertisers on this site in Ethiopia, and project posts can have an end date. A higher monthly figure on a 6 month contract may be worth less to you than a steadier job, and only you can judge that. Ask about each one in writing.
Questions people ask
Can I compare a job in Addis Ababa with one in a region?
Yes. The tool uses the same federal table for both, so the gap comes from your costs. Type in what you'd pay for transport and any extra rent. If a regional body will pay you, ask its payroll office to confirm the table it uses, since we only read the federal law.
Do you keep the numbers I type?
No. The sum runs in your browser and nothing is sent or stored.
What if one offer pays in US dollars?
Convert it to Birr first, at the rate in your contract or your bank's rate on the day. The tool only reads Birr.
Sources
Checked 2 November 2026.