"Should I take the job offer in Toronto or the one in Chicago?" It's a question we hear constantly, and the honest answer is that a straight salary comparison is almost useless. A $90,000 offer in Canadian dollars and a $90,000 offer in US dollars are not the same money, and even after converting currency, the deductions, benefits, and hidden costs on each side of the border tell very different stories. Let's run the actual numbers.
Same Salary, Different Paycheck
Take a single filer earning $90,000/year with no dependents, working a standard corporate job. In Ontario, after federal tax, Ontario provincial tax, CPP (Canada Pension Plan), and EI (Employment Insurance), take-home pay lands around $67,800 — an effective deduction rate of about 24.7%. In Illinois (a flat 4.95% state tax state), the same $90,000 after federal tax, state tax, Social Security, and Medicare nets roughly $69,700, an effective rate of about 22.6%.
On paper, the American paycheck wins by about $1,900/year. But that comparison stops at the payroll line — and payroll is not the whole story.
| Category | Ontario, Canada | Illinois, USA |
|---|---|---|
| Gross salary | $90,000 | $90,000 |
| Federal/state/provincial tax + CPP/SS + EI/Medicare | ~$22,200 | ~$20,300 |
| Take-home pay | $67,800 | $69,700 |
| Employee health premium (family) | $0 | -$2,400 to -$4,800 |
| Adjusted net (post-premium) | $67,800 | ~$65,600 |
The Healthcare Wildcard
This is where the comparison flips. In Canada, the taxes withheld already fund provincial healthcare — there's no separate premium, and a hospital stay, surgery, or cancer treatment costs the patient $0 at the point of care (prescriptions and dental are usually separate, private-insured items). In the US, even with employer-sponsored insurance, the employee typically pays $100-$400/month in premiums, plus a deductible ($1,500-$5,000 is common for a mid-tier plan) before coverage kicks in fully.
Run the numbers on a real event: a family facing a $30,000 knee surgery with a $3,000 deductible and 20% coinsurance up to a $7,000 out-of-pocket max will pay somewhere between $3,000 and $7,000 out of pocket in the US. In Ontario, that same surgery is fully covered. For anyone with an ongoing condition, a new baby, or simply bad luck, this single factor can outweigh years of the "higher" US paycheck.
State and Province Matter More Than the Country
The Canada-vs-US framing hides a bigger truth: which state or province you land in matters more than which country. Texas, Florida, Washington, and Nevada have no state income tax at all, so a $90,000 salary there nets noticeably more than in California (up to 13.3% top state rate) or New York City (which stacks state and local tax). On the Canadian side, Alberta has no provincial sales tax and a relatively flat provincial rate, while Quebec and Nova Scotia carry the country's highest combined tax burdens.
- Highest take-home, US: Texas, Florida, Washington, Tennessee, Nevada (no state income tax)
- Lowest take-home, US: California, Hawaii, New York, New Jersey, Oregon
- Highest take-home, Canada: Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia
- Lowest take-home, Canada: Quebec, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador
Don't Forget the Exchange Rate
If you're actually comparing a job offer in one country against one in the other, remember that CAD and USD are not 1:1. At a typical rate of roughly 1.36 CAD per USD, a C$90,000 Canadian salary converts to about US$66,200 — meaningfully less than a straight $90,000 US offer. Always convert to a single currency before comparing, and then separately compare local cost of living, since a lower nominal salary in a cheaper city can still leave you ahead.
Retirement Contributions Change the Picture Again
US employers commonly match 401(k) contributions up to 3-6% of salary — essentially free money that a simple take-home comparison ignores entirely. Canadian employers offer RRSP matching less universally, though it's becoming more common. If your US offer includes a 4% match on a $90,000 salary, that's $3,600/year in additional compensation that never appears in your paycheck but absolutely belongs in the comparison.