See whether a salary bump is actually worth the extra travel time and cost.
That's what each extra hour of commuting is paying you, after tax and travel costs.
Results are estimates for informational purposes only. Not financial advice.
A commute trade-off calculator weighs the financial gain of a higher-paying job against the financial and life cost of a longer commute. The financial cost is concrete: fuel, vehicle wear, transit fares, parking. The bigger cost is time — every extra 30 minutes of daily commute is 125 hours per year, equivalent to giving up three weeks of vacation. This calculator makes both costs visible so you can make a fair comparison.
Enter your salary increase, your hourly value (or auto-calculate from salary), the extra daily commute time, and the extra commute cost. The calculator returns the net financial benefit per year and per hour of commute. If a 'pay rise' nets out to less than your effective hourly rate, the new job is paying you less for your time — even though the salary number looks bigger.
Beyond fuel and parking, longer commutes carry research-backed costs that rarely make the spreadsheet: higher rates of stress and back pain, less sleep, less exercise, less time with family, and a measurable hit to reported life satisfaction equivalent to a significant pay cut. There's also a financial second-order effect — long commuters spend more on convenience food, takeaways, and time-saving services to claw back the lost hours. When you compare two offers, weigh the commute against not just your hourly rate but the lifestyle costs the extra hours quietly add.
Results are estimates for informational purposes only.