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Real hourly pay is take-home income after work costs divided by the total time the job takes. It is a personal comparison measure, separate from your contractual hourly rate or award entitlement.
Count the time you actually give the job
Enter commute minutes for one direction; the tool doubles them for the return trip. Add regular unpaid overtime separately. Working weeks are the weeks you actually attend work, after allowing for leave. They are used for ordinary working time, commuting and unpaid overtime.
Paid salary is annualised separately. A salaried employee with paid leave can have 52 paid weeks but only 46 working weeks. At 38 ordinary hours a week, that means 1,748 hours actually worked before adding commuting or unpaid overtime. Paid leave adds to your income without adding hours at work.
Only include costs caused by work
Travel tickets, parking, tolls and extra work-related spending can be useful inputs. Add costs you would avoid if you stopped doing this job. Do not put all household spending into the work-cost fields.
This tool subtracts those costs from take-home pay. It does not claim they are all tax-deductible. Ordinary home-to-work travel is generally different from travel between workplaces for tax purposes.
Use it to compare two real options
A job with more salary can still offer less cash per real hour if it needs more unpaid time or a much longer commute. Run the same set of assumptions for each role before comparing.
The result cannot decide whether a job is worthwhile. Career progression, flexibility, security and enjoyment matter too. It gives you a clearer money-and-time starting point for that decision.
Common questions
Is this the hourly rate my employer must pay?
No. This is a personal measure of cash and time. Minimum pay and award entitlements are based on employment law and the relevant working arrangement.
Are commute costs tax-deductible?
Not automatically. This tool treats them as personal spending caused by work, not as a claim on your tax return. Ordinary commuting is generally private travel.
Sources you can check
Sources checked for this page on 2 October 2026. Statistics keep their own measurement dates.