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401(k) Match Calculator

Enter your salary, contribution rate, employer match rate, and match limit to find the employer match.

How it is calculated

The tool works on a yearly salary and four percentages. Your own contribution is salary × contribution% ÷ 100. The employer only matches the part of your contribution up to the match limit, so the matched base is salary × min(contribution%, limit%) ÷ 100. The employer match is then matched base × match rate% ÷ 100, and the total is your contribution plus the employer match. The match rate is how many cents the employer adds per dollar you put in (50 means 50 cents per dollar), and the limit is the share of salary the employer is willing to match. Results are shown in dollars with two decimals. Negative or empty inputs return no result. The tool does not apply the annual IRS deferral cap or vesting rules, and plan formulas differ between employers.

Worked example

Salary $80,000, you contribute 8%, the employer matches 50% of contributions up to 6% of salary. Your contribution: 80,000 × 8% = $6,400. The matched base is the smaller of 8% and 6%, so 6%: 80,000 × 6% = $4,800. Employer match: 4,800 × 50% = $2,400. The result is an employer match of $2,400.00, and a total of $8,800.00 going into the account. The extra 2% you contributed above the limit earns no match.

Try this example →

Common mistakes

  • Entering the match as a share of salary instead of a rate: a "50% match up to 6%" means match rate 50 and limit 6, not 50 for both.
  • Confusing the match rate with the match limit; swapping them gives a very different employer amount.
  • Expecting a higher contribution to raise the match without limit: anything above the limit percentage earns nothing extra.
  • Typing a monthly or per-paycheck salary when the tool expects the yearly figure, so the dollar amounts come out far too small.
  • Forgetting that the tool ignores vesting; unvested employer money may not be yours if you leave early.

Sources

About this calculator

An employer 401(k) match is money a company contributes to an employee’s retirement account on top of the employee’s own contributions, based on a formula the employer sets — common structures include a full 100% match up to 3% of salary, or a partial match like 50 cents on the dollar up to 6% of salary. This “free money” doesn’t count against most contribution limits the way employee deferrals do.

This calculator takes your salary, contribution percentage, and your employer’s match formula to show exactly how many dollars the employer adds to your account, alongside your own contribution and the combined total. The amounts are for the salary figure you type in: enter your annual salary to see the yearly amounts, or your pay for one paycheck to see the amounts for that paycheck. Financial advisors near-universally recommend contributing at least enough to capture the full match before directing savings elsewhere, since failing to do so is effectively turning down guaranteed, immediate return that no other investment can match.

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