Value of Your Time Calculator
What an hour — and a minute — of your time is worth from your income and hours, and whether paying someone to save you a chunk of time is worth it.
Divide what you earn by the hours you work for an hourly figure, then price any task by the minutes it takes.
How the value of your time calculator works
Divide what you earn by the hours you work for an hourly figure, then price any task by the minutes it takes. Compare that with what it costs to have it done: if the price is below the value of the time saved, and you would use the time for something worth at least that, pay. The commute row adds unpaid work-related time, which lowers the real hourly value.
Formula: hourly value = income ÷ (hours per week × weeks); task cost = minutes ÷ 60 × hourly
Worked examples
| Inputs | Your time is worth per hour | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 95,000 a year, 38 hours, 48 weeks | 52.08 | 52.08 an hour; the 90-minute task is worth 78 |
| 45,000, 37.5 hours, 46 weeks | 26.09 | 26.09 an hour |
| Part-time: 30,000, 20 hours, 48 weeks | 31.25 | 31.25 an hour |
FAQFrequently asked questions
Should I use before-tax or after-tax income?
After-tax gives the money you would actually keep by working an extra hour, which is the fairer comparison when you are paying for a service out of taxed income. Before-tax is simpler and what most people know; either way, be consistent.
Is my time really worth my hourly rate?
Only if you would use the freed time for something of that value — extra paid work, or leisure you value as much. If you would spend it scrolling, the true value is lower; if you are a freelancer turning away work, it may be higher.
Why include the commute?
Because it is time you give to work without pay. Counting it lowers the hourly value and is a more honest basis for deciding whether a longer commute to a higher-paid job is worth it.
What about tasks I enjoy?
Then the time is not a cost — do them. The calculation is for chores you would rather not do, where paying someone buys back time you would use better.
Where these figures come from
- ISO 8601 — Date and time — Representations for information interchange — the yyyy-mm-dd format and the week-numbering rules used here
- US Naval Observatory — Calendars — the Gregorian leap-year rule
- GOV.UK — bank holidays — bank holidays by nation (not applied here)
Last checked: September 2026. The Gregorian calendar rules do not change; working-day counts exclude Saturdays and Sundays only.