Commute Cost
Budget the full annual cost of driving to work.
About Commute Cost
The commute cost combines fuel burned on the round trip and daily parking, scaled over the working year. Counting parking and fuel together gives the full price of a job's location, which is relevant when weighing remote work against an office.
Formula
Commute Cost
Annual fuel = round-trip miles x days x weeks / MPG x price
- round trip
- Two times the one-way distance
Worked example
With the default values below, Commute Cost returns Daily Round Trip of 30. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.
Inputs used
- One-way distanceminimum 0 mi
- 15 mi
- Work days per weekminimum 0
- 5
- Weeks per yearminimum 0
- 48
- Vehicle MPGminimum 0.1 mpg
- 28 mpg
- Fuel priceminimum 0.001 $/gal
- 4 $/gal
- Parking per dayminimum 0
- 6
Results
- Daily Round Trip
- 30 mi
- Annual Commute Miles
- 7,200 mi
- Annual Fuel Cost
- $1,028.57
- Total Annual Cost
- $2,468.57
Step by step
- 1Values used
- 2Commute Cost
- 3Daily Round Trip= 30 mi
- 4Annual Commute Miles= 7,200 mi
- 5Annual Fuel Cost= 1,028.57
- 6Total Annual Cost= 2,468.57
Assumptions and limits
- The result is derived only from the 6 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
- In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax or fees or charges into account.
- Figures are rounded for display to 2 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.
How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is Commute Cost calculated?
Annual fuel = round-trip miles x days x weeks / MPG x price The commute cost combines fuel burned on the round trip and daily parking, scaled over the working year.
Why does Commute Cost matter?
Counting parking and fuel together gives the full price of a job's location, which is relevant when weighing remote work against an office.
What values do I need to enter?
This calculator takes 6 inputs: One-way distance, Work days per week, Weeks per year, Vehicle MPG, Fuel price, Parking per day. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.