Commute Cost Calculator
The true annual cost of your commute — fuel or transit, parking, and vehicle wear.
🔒 Runs entirely in your browser — nothing here is ever uploaded
About the Commute Cost Calculator
Estimates the true annual cost of getting to work — fuel and per-mile vehicle wear for drivers, or fare cost for transit riders — plus optional parking, and projects the total cost over however many years you expect to stay in the job.
- Choose Drive or Public transit as your commute mode.
- Enter your one-way distance, fuel economy, and gas price (if driving), or your round-trip fare (if transit).
- Enter workdays per year, any monthly parking cost, and years at the job.
- Read your annual, monthly, and lifetime-of-job commute cost.
A 12-mile one-way drive, 250 workdays/year, 30 mpg, $3.50/gal gas, and the IRS 76¢/mile wear rate: 6,000 miles/year → $700 in fuel + $4,560 in wear = $5,260/year, or $26,300 over 5 years at the job.
The per-mile wear-and-depreciation figure borrows the IRS standard business mileage rate (76¢/mile as of July 1, 2026) as a reasonable stand-in for maintenance, tires, and depreciation. This doesn't model rising gas prices or fares over time, tolls, or the value of your commute time itself.
- • If you take transit with a monthly pass, divide the pass price by your monthly workdays for an equivalent round-trip fare.
- • Don't forget parking — a $150-200/month downtown parking pass alone can rival the fuel cost of the drive itself.
- • Run the numbers before accepting a job with a longer commute.
- IRS — 2026 standard mileage rates (second-half increase) — accessed 2026-08-31
- IRS — Standard mileage rates — accessed 2026-08-31
Illustrative estimate only, not financial or tax advice. Verify figures with a licensed adviser or your local tax authority.