Estimator
What's My Time Worth? Real Hourly Wage
What's my time worth an hour, honestly? Salary divided by 2,080 hours flatters the answer. The real figure subtracts tax and adds the hours and costs the job creates outside the working day.
Your details
Fuel, parking, childcare, work clothing, lunches.
Your real hourly wage
$19.13
Against a headline rate of $29.81 an hour
- Take-home after tax and work costs
- $43,160
- Hours committed a year
- 2,256
- Gap versus the headline rate
- 36% lower
- Worth an hour of your day off
- $19.13
How you compare: US median weekly earnings for full-time workers translate to roughly $30 an hour before tax; the real rate after commuting and work costs is typically a third lower.
How we calculate this
Take-home pay is salary less your effective tax rate less the costs the job creates: commuting, parking, childcare, work clothing and bought lunches.
Committed hours include the commute, because that time is unavailable to you and exists only because of the job. Unpaid overtime belongs in the hours field.
The year is modelled at 48 working weeks to allow for holiday and public holidays. Adjust the hours figure if your pattern is very different.
The result is a decision tool. Use it to price whether to outsource a chore, take on extra work, or accept a longer commute for more pay.
How to use your real hourly wage
It converts time into money in both directions. A three-hour task you can pay someone $60 to do is worth outsourcing if your real rate is above $20 an hour and you would otherwise be earning.
It also prices decisions that look free: a 45-minute drive to save $12 on a shop, a two-hour queue for a rebate, a side project paying below your real rate.
The commute is the hidden pay cut
An hour each way is roughly 480 hours a year — twelve working weeks of unpaid time, plus fuel, wear and often parking.
That is why a job paying 10% more an hour further away frequently pays less in real terms, and why remote or hybrid arrangements are worth a real salary number when negotiating.
Where the figure misleads
Your real rate is not what an extra hour earns. Most salaried jobs pay nothing for the marginal hour, so working late has a marginal rate of zero.
It also ignores enjoyment. Cooking or gardening may be below your rate on paper and still be exactly what you should spend the evening doing.
Frequently asked questions
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