The truth about your paycheck
What do you really earn per hour?
Your paycheck says one number. Your commute, your unpaid hours and your work costs say another. Find your real hourly wage, and what things really cost in hours of your life.
Your paycheck says one number. Your commute, your unpaid hours and your work costs say another. Find your real hourly wage, and what things really cost in hours of your life.
Your real hourly wage is what you keep for every hour your job actually takes from your life. It starts with take-home pay, subtracts the money you spend just to be able to work (commuting, lunches, work clothes), and divides by all the hours work takes, including the commute and unpaid extra time. The idea was popularized by the personal finance classic Your Money or Your Life.
Real hourly wage = (yearly pay after taxes - yearly work costs) / (paid hours + commute hours + unpaid work hours). We assume 50 working weeks a year.
When you know your real wage, every price tag becomes a question of time: a $90 dinner might be 5 hours of your life. It's also the best way to compare two job offers: a higher salary with a long commute can pay less per hour of your life.
Your total effective rate across federal, state and payroll taxes. For many people it lands between 15% and 25%. Your last pay stub (taxes divided by gross pay) gives you the exact number.
Yes. Set ‘days you go to work’ to only the days you commute. Remote days have no commute time or commute cost.
No. Everything stays in your browser.