Take someone on a £40,000 salary, working 40 hours a week, commuting an hour a day. That's what the salary looks like per hour worked. After tax, National Insurance, and around £120 a month in travel costs — with the commute itself counted as unpaid time — the real number is closer to £13.20 an hour.
Illustrative example using assumed 2026/27 tax and NI thresholds and typical UK commuting costs. Run your own numbers in the calculator below.
Stakkr
What's your real hourly wage?
Student loan repayments (if any)
Your true hourly wage
per hour actually spent on this job
Enter your pay as the amount that lands in your account. The rate is your take-home — minus the costs you only have because of the job — spread over the hours it really takes, commute included. If you're paid for your time off, holiday is shown separately as a plus — it's pay for weeks off, not part of your hourly rate. If you're not, your pay is spread over just the weeks you work, and the weeks you're not paid for are shown as the income a salaried role would still give you. A rough guide for reflection, not tax advice. Your entries stay in this browser.