How much is a commute worth?

"ncasolowork2" (ncasolowork2)
06/10/2014 at 15:12 • Filed to: None

My current commute 5.37 miles @ ~10 minutes. Fuel cost $1.58/day.

Potential commute 30.46 miles @ ~35-45 minutes. Fuel cost $7.78/day

How much is my time worth and how much does the additional mileage mean to operating cost of my vehicle? The going rate is $0.56/mile if a company is reimbursing you for mileage. Doing the math and comparing that to my current commute that's an expense of ~$7,000 more per year than my current commute. The fuel expense difference alone is $1,558.

So if this other job opportunity materializes I've got to try and figure out what a proper offer looks like. On paper a $2,000 salary increase might look good, but when I consider the time and added overhead it puts me in the hole. At the same time a $7,000 bump might be a bit much, but that might honestly be what I need when you consider I'm likely going to be coming home at 6:00 every night instead of 4:30 and still getting up at the same time every morning.

What say you jalops? What value would you put on a short commute vs. a long commute? Is $0.56/mile reasonable or is it too high?

DISCUSSION (28)

Diesel > ncasolowork2
06/10/2014 at 15:14

I live 8 minutes from my office. I can go home and take a shit at lunch time. There's no way you can put a money value on that.

cazzyodo > ncasolowork2
06/10/2014 at 15:15

I think my company's reimbursement for miles is $.565 per mile driven.

Only expensed driving once and that was two years ago, though. Still, seems reasonable to me!

CRider > Diesel
06/10/2014 at 15:16

Lunch is for putting food in, not shitting it out. Take your shits on the clock like everyone else.

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > Diesel
06/10/2014 at 15:17

This is the most beautiful thing I have ever read.

Diesel > CRider
06/10/2014 at 15:17

Go home, eat, shit, take a nap, fall asleep and miss the rest of the day.

LIKE A BOSS.

CRider > Diesel
06/10/2014 at 15:20

I guess that works if you are the boss, otherwise you're just unemployed.

CAR_IS_MI > ncasolowork2
06/10/2014 at 15:20

My Commute = 46 miles round trip. Average 16 mpg. average cost of fuel 3.77 / gal, average cost per day = $10.84

The real question is, will the other job further your career / life goals? If yes, who cares about the drive?

pfftballer > ncasolowork2
06/10/2014 at 15:21

Don't underestimate the value of your time either. An extra 25 minutes each direction is nearly an extra hour every day devoted to your job. For a month with 24 work days you're looking at an extra 100 hours over and beyond the short commute. It's not just about fuel cost.

yamahog > ncasolowork2
06/10/2014 at 15:21

I have a 20 minute commute right now and that seems to be the sweet spot. If you can get a $5000 raise though, that might be worth it to me.

Then again, I hate traffic (and many other things) so much I took a $5k paycut to leave LA for Michigan, but cost of living more than covers that.

mcseanerson > ncasolowork2
06/10/2014 at 15:21

The route and traffic is really important. Between my last two jobs I used to commute 45 and 65 miles one way. The 45 mile commute required barely entering the city and was later hours when traffic was better. The 65 mile commute required either driving straight through downtown or taking the loop the whole way around adding ten miles. Both were awful for traffic even more so because I was working 9am-6pm.

Fortunately now I work 8am-5pm 10 miles away at the sacrifice of a little pay. My sanity was worth it.

Chris Clarke > CRider
06/10/2014 at 15:22

Home field advantage.

BrtStlnd > ncasolowork2
06/10/2014 at 15:24

I'm 22 miles (about to be 28 miles since I'm moving) from my office. It usually takes me 35-45 minutes during rush hour. I can't say that it really bothers me all that much but I'm used to it.

McMike > ncasolowork2
06/10/2014 at 15:27

When I drive (round trip): $20/day

$5.00 in fuel, $15 (parking and subway) go 40 miles.

When I take the motorbike (round trip): $10/day

$5.00 in fuel and $5.00 in parking to go 40 miles.

ncasolowork2 > CAR_IS_MI
06/10/2014 at 15:29

It might be a lateral move with just as much future potential as my current job. Both are large companies. It isn't cut and dry in that regard either.

ncasolowork2 > pfftballer
06/10/2014 at 15:31

That's why I talked about time. The morning time is meaningless to me. The time that matters is when I get home at the end of the day. I work 8-4 with no lunch. This will likely be 8-5 with a lunch. Getting home at 5:35-5:45 is a lot different than 4:15-4:20. That's why it isn't just overhead operating cost in my mind. That time is worth a lot of money.

ncasolowork2 > mcseanerson
06/10/2014 at 15:32

The long commute will be a very easy one. There's a reason the 31mile commute is supposed to take 34 minutes according to Mapquest.

Nibbles > ncasolowork2
06/10/2014 at 15:33

Lol I started riding the bus today, like a common car hating, marijuana cigarette smoking hippie

Not gonna lie I liked it. Except for the fact that I spent more time waiting for the bus than riding it. But $140 for the monthly bus pass vs $250 for gas and parking, and well there's a clear winner.

So I am no loger qualified to comment on whether or not your commute change would be worth it. I just thought I'd stop by and say I rode a bus.

ncasolowork2 > Nibbles
06/10/2014 at 15:38

I don't have the option to take a bus. There isn't any public transportation available to me except for a taxi and that'd be really damn expensive.

JEM > ncasolowork2
06/10/2014 at 16:10

Quick response, sorry if I'm not answering completely but, ironically(?) I'm trying to leave work ASAP to beat traffic...

I commute 40 miles each way (80 total) in a 96 Cherokee getting ~20mpg. It takes about an hour each way.

I do get to work from home one day a week now, so that helps offset that.

This time thing is big, but bigger than that is the quality of life when I'm home. I work next to Boston and could never afford a house anywhere near work, so I'd still wind up driving ~20 miles each way. Instead I drive 40 miles (the last 15 are a breeze) which is almost all highway and get to come home to a house with my music studio in the basement, a decent backyard, and on a dead end street. Sure I have less time to spend there, but I get a better product in the long run I think.

TL:DR Somethings you can't put a price on.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > ncasolowork2
06/10/2014 at 16:38

Lateral moves are good stuff, you ask any higher-up in a company how they got there, it's often because they made a bunch of lateral moves before making a big move.

James May is my spirit animal > ncasolowork2
06/10/2014 at 16:40

My commute to anywhere is valued at $0.85 per mile, and $30.00/hr in "labor" (I value my time...).

Furthest job I had from my home was 12.75 miles each direction. This was on a rural highway, so 60mpg/avg was my typical home to work speed.

40 minutes of driving, and 25.5 miles is roughly $40 in fuel and maintenance costs, daily.

I wasn't able to negotiate that extra $40 a day, but I was able to get $1.15 an hour more than what they originally negotiated with me. 1.15 x 9 (10.35) x 4 = $41.5 a week of wages devoted specifically to my obligatory commute.

The Girl's father drives 28 miles on one and two lane roads to get to his clinic every day. he owns a Rav4, and I still can't imagine how much I'd expect to get for driving an extra 60 miles every day. I would probably kill myself if I had to drive that much each and every day........ (not 100% serious).

The Real Dacia Sandero > ncasolowork2
06/10/2014 at 16:41

How do you deal with traffic? For better or worse, traffic infuriates me. If I had a 5 mile commute, and was considering a job with a 30 mile commute and had to deal with traffic beyond a normal amount, it would take at least $10k to make it worth it to me.

I live about 60miles south of DC. I know a few people who commute there every day, and there is absolutely no way I would do it. On some days it takes them 2-3 hours to get home. There is no amount of money in the world that would make it worth dealing with that commute. If I could live in DC, sure, but if I had to drive it would not even be a consideration.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > ncasolowork2
06/10/2014 at 16:44

My drive is about 10 miles, so 20 miles a day is less than a gallon a day (22mpg), <$4. And I have to say, I hope I never have to drive any further to work, it's nice to be close.

But these days if you aren't set on making your career at the company or department you are at it makes sense to move positions from time to time for the sake of your resume, it may cost you a little bit now, but in the end it could mean the difference between getting a huge promotion at some point.

BoulderZ > ncasolowork2
06/10/2014 at 17:06

At least for negotiating purposes, the only commute cost that matters is the IRS standard for mileage, which includes insurance, maintenance, gas, and depreciation. I've been using that with my employer for about 13 years, and it has gone up and down over the years, but mostly up. Set at about $0.56 per mile right now. Info here: http://www.irs.gov/Tax-Profession…

For time, you should go by what you project your time will be worth, not what it's worth now. It can change dramatically, usually increasing, over time. If you're setting out on what looks like a pretty good professional career, your free time will be worth $100 / hour before you know it. Don't sell you or your time short. The other side of the negotiation is more than happy to do that for you, and time is one thing you absolutely can not ever get back.

Speaking of time, that commute is likely not going to get shorter. Figure it increasing 10% or more per year.

Another possible cost consideration: any change in work dress code. Even khakis and collared shirts cost more than t-shirts and jeans, are harder to clean, and don't last as long. If it's a suit and tie gig, those are much more expensive and dry cleaning is not at all cheap. It could easily cost you $1000+ in your first year to work in a formal office.

I got lucky, and made a few decent choices. My commute is 10 minutes by bicycle to a job I love that is fine with me wearing jeans (winter) or shorts (summer) and casual polo-type shirts. This keeps my cost-of-earning-money about as low as it can go.

There are a lot of really good articles popping up under the search of "the cost of going to work" and "dollar value of free time", a lot of them with calculators. Also, if you want, almost any money basics are covered here: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/mone… with links to calculators for figuring things like the value of your time, etc.

Good luck with the new job!

ncasolowork2 > BoulderZ
06/11/2014 at 08:00

Most helpful post ever on Oppo.

pfftballer > Nibbles
06/11/2014 at 10:25

Riding the bus is always an interesting sociological experiment. Just remember to film all bus related antics in portrait mode per bus rider code.

TheCraigy > ncasolowork2
06/11/2014 at 17:25

0.56/mile is probably pretty decent in compensating you for your vehicle-related expenses, unless you drive something that depreciates heavily or has expensive consumables, or both.

However it doesn't compensate you for your time and/or your stress. A long commute really, really sucks. I had about a sixty mile commute each way for over a year. I now thankfully have a much shorter commute, about six miles per day. I am a happier person with more free time and less stress. That is invaluable.

Also keep in mind that commuting expenses are generally not deductible, and reimbursement of commuting expense is typically includable in income, so be sure to consult a tax professional in your area and see if the tax consequences will cost you more money.

TheCraigy > ncasolowork2
06/11/2014 at 17:26

Is your morning time really meaningless? Do you enjoy sleeping? ;)