How to use it
Enter your salary, an estimate of your effective tax rate, and the annual costs the job creates (commuting, parking, work wardrobe, bought lunches). Then add the hours it really eats each week — the ones you work, plus commute and unpaid prep or after-hours time. The result is what an hour of your working life actually pays.
The math behind it
- Real benefit = salary × (1 − tax rate) − annual job costs.
- Real hours = (work + commute + other unpaid hours per week) × 50 working weeks.
- True hourly rate = real benefit ÷ real hours.
For comparison, the calculator also shows the "contract" rate everyone quotes — salary ÷ 2,080 (40 hours × 52 weeks). The gap between the two is the tax, the unpaid time, and the costs your job quietly creates.
Why the number matters
Once you know your real rate, decisions get clearer. A $200 purchase is priced in hours of your actual life, not the flattering contract number. And a job offer that pays more but adds an hour of commute each way can be a pay cut per hour lived — run both through this to find out.
Frequently asked questions
Why lower than salary ÷ 2,080? Because that number ignores taxes, job costs, and every unpaid hour the role requires.
What's a good tax rate to enter? Use your effective (overall) rate, not your top bracket — total tax ÷ gross income.