How Much Is Your Time Worth?
Should you outsource that task — or do it yourself?
⏱️ How Much Is Your Time Worth?
True Hourly Rate · Opportunity Cost · Outsource Threshold · Rate Benchmarks
Results update in real time. Calculates your true hourly rate after tax and commute, opportunity cost, and which tasks are economically rational to outsource.
💼 Income
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🕐 Time Inputs
💰 Tax & Multiplier
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Your time has a dollar value — and most people have never calculated it precisely enough to make rational outsourcing and time-allocation decisions. There are actually four different ways to measure what your time is worth. Your nominal gross rate is what your employer pays per scheduled hour. Your nominal net rate strips out taxes. Your true net rate accounts for all work-related time including commute. And your opportunity rate — the most important figure — reflects what you could realistically earn with a free hour, considering your skills, demand for your expertise, and the rest premium that distinguishes leisure from productive work. The outsourcing decision is simple once you know your true rate: any task you can pay someone else to complete for less than your true hourly rate generates positive economic value to outsource. At $30/hour true rate, paying $25/hour for house cleaning frees up that time for higher-value activities — work, rest, family, or anything that generates more than $25/hour in value to you. At $15/hour, the economics flip. This calculator builds your complete rate stack and applies it to eight common household tasks, telling you definitively which to outsource and which to do yourself based on your specific situation.
- →You want to decide whether to outsource household tasks like cleaning, lawn care, or grocery shopping
- →You are evaluating whether to hire help or do projects yourself
- →You do freelance work and want to compare your after-tax rates across different income sources
- →You want to understand the economic value of protecting your peak productive hours
- →You are considering a career change and want to compare the real hourly value of different options
Sam earns $90,000/year ($43/hr gross). After 28% tax and a 45-minute daily commute, true net rate is $26/hr. Opportunity rate (with 1.5x skill multiplier) is $39/hr. Outsource threshold: $26/hr. House cleaning at $25/hr — outsource (below threshold). Lawn mowing at $40/hr — do yourself (above threshold). Grocery delivery effective rate: $15/hr — outsource. Tax preparation at $35/hr CPA rate — borderline, but frees peak hours for higher-value work.
- ✕Using gross hourly rate as the outsource threshold instead of after-tax true rate
- ✕Not accounting for commute in the true rate calculation
- ✕Treating all free time as equally valuable — peak productive hours are worth more than late-night recovery time
- ✕Outsourcing tasks with genuine personal value (hobbies, creative work) based purely on rate calculation
What is the difference between true rate and opportunity rate?
Your true net rate is the mechanical calculation: annual net income divided by all work-related hours including commute. Your opportunity rate is the market value of a truly free hour — what you could realistically earn if you chose to use that time productively. It is usually higher than your true rate because it accounts for your specific skills and the premium that comes from choosing when to work. For most salaried workers, the opportunity rate is 1.3-2x the true rate.
How do I use the outsource threshold practically?
For any task you are considering outsourcing, get a market rate quote and compare it to your true hourly rate. If the market rate per hour is below your true rate, outsourcing is economically rational — you get more value from the time you recover than the cost you pay. If it is above your rate, doing it yourself is more economical, assuming the time recovered would actually be used productively.
What if I do not have the option to use freed time productively?
The economic case for outsourcing weakens if freed time would be spent passively rather than productively or restoratively. However, rest, health maintenance, and quality family time have real economic value even when not monetizable. The calculation is clearest for people who can use freed time for income (freelance, side work) or whose time is genuinely constrained by competing high-value demands.
Does this mean I should outsource everything below my rate?
Not necessarily. Some tasks have non-economic value: the satisfaction of DIY projects, gardening as a hobby, cooking as a creative outlet. The outsourcing framework applies to tasks you find neutral or negative — where time recovery has value but the task itself does not. Tasks with intrinsic value to you should be evaluated differently, even if they fall below the economic threshold.