Rex says
Money math without the spreadsheet headache. Plug in your numbers and I'll show you exactly where the dollars land.
Try a scenario
Click to load — tweak from there.Inputs
Fuel, transit, parking, clothing, bought lunches
Result
True hourly wage
$23
Nominal hourly on paper
$41
Real hours committed per week
50
Real hours per year
2,384
Unpaid hours per year
464
Net pay after tax and job costs
$55,080
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Got your number — what next?
Pick one, it takes 20 secondsHow to use this
- 1Enter gross annual salary ($/yr).
- 2Enter effective tax + payroll rate (%).
- 3Enter contracted hours per week (hrs).
- 4Enter unpaid extra hours per week (hrs).
- 5Enter round-trip commute per day (minutes).
- 6Enter onsite days per week (days).
- 7Enter daily prep time attributable to work (minutes).
- 8Enter working weeks per year (weeks).
- 9Enter annual job-related costs ($/yr) — Fuel, transit, parking, clothing, bought lunches.
- 10Read your true hourly wage on the right — it updates as you type.
- 11Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone.
About this calculator
The salary on your offer letter is divided by an idealised 40-hour week. Your actual life includes the commute, the unpaid hour after everyone leaves, the work clothes, the parking, the lunches you buy because there is no time to make one. This calculator computes the true hourly wage by adding committed hours that are not on the payroll and subtracting the costs the job creates, then divides net pay by real hours. It is the number to use when comparing two offers with different commutes, or when weighing a raise that comes with longer hours.
Worked example
Using the values the calculator loads with:
Inputs
- Gross annual salary: 78000 $/yr
- Effective tax + payroll rate: 24 %
- Contracted hours per week: 40 hrs
- Unpaid extra hours per week: 5 hrs
- Round-trip commute per day: 60 minutes
- Onsite days per week: 3 days
- Daily prep time attributable to work: 20 minutes
- Working weeks per year: 48 weeks
- Annual job-related costs: 4200 $/yr
Results
- True hourly wage: $23.10
- Nominal hourly on paper: $40.63
- Real hours committed per week: 49.67
- Real hours per year: 2,384
- Unpaid hours per year: 464
- Net pay after tax and job costs: $55,080.00
What each field means
Inputs
- Gross annual salary ($/yr)
- The gross annual salary used in the calculation, measured in $/yr. Starts at 78000 $/yr so you have a working example on load.
- Effective tax + payroll rate (%)
- The effective tax + payroll rate used in the calculation, measured in %. Starts at 24 % so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 0–60 %.
- Contracted hours per week (hrs)
- The contracted hours per week used in the calculation, measured in hrs. Starts at 40 hrs so you have a working example on load.
- Unpaid extra hours per week (hrs)
- The unpaid extra hours per week used in the calculation, measured in hrs. Starts at 5 hrs so you have a working example on load.
- Round-trip commute per day (minutes)
- The round-trip commute per day used in the calculation, measured in minutes. Starts at 60 minutes so you have a working example on load.
- Onsite days per week (days)
- The onsite days per week used in the calculation, measured in days. Starts at 3 days so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 0–7 days.
- Daily prep time attributable to work (minutes)
- The daily prep time attributable to work used in the calculation, measured in minutes. Starts at 20 minutes so you have a working example on load.
- Working weeks per year (weeks)
- The working weeks per year used in the calculation, measured in weeks. Starts at 48 weeks so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 1–52 weeks.
- Annual job-related costs ($/yr)
- Fuel, transit, parking, clothing, bought lunches
Results
- True hourly wage
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars and shown as the headline result. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Nominal hourly on paper
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Real hours committed per week
- Returned as a whole number. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Real hours per year
- Returned as a whole number. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Unpaid hours per year
- Returned as a whole number. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Net pay after tax and job costs
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
FAQ
Should commuting really count as work time?
It is time the job takes that you cannot spend otherwise, so for decision-making purposes yes. If you genuinely use the commute for something you value — reading, a walk you would take anyway — discount it, but be honest about how often that is true.
How does this help compare two offers?
Run it twice. A remote role paying 8% less frequently wins on true hourly once a daily commute and its costs disappear, and the gap widens further if the office role expects longer hours. The comparison is only fair when both sides count the same categories.
What effective tax rate should I enter?
Your total tax and payroll deductions divided by gross pay from a recent payslip, not your marginal bracket. Marginal rates overstate the burden on the whole salary and will understate your true hourly.
Should I include childcare costs?
Include the portion that exists only because you work — that is a genuine cost of the job and often the largest one. Care you would use regardless is not attributable and would distort the comparison.
Accuracy and limitations
- Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.
- Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.
- This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant.
Related tools
Cite this calculator
Writing about this topic? Grab a citation — every link helps keep these tools free.
RevenueLab. (2026). True Hourly Wage Calculator. Retrieved from https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/hourly-to-salary-true
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/hourly-to-salary-true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">True Hourly Wage Calculator — RevenueLab</a> (2026).</p>
Source: [True Hourly Wage Calculator — RevenueLab](https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/hourly-to-salary-true) (2026).