Commute Cost Calculator
Enter the one-way distance, how many days a year you commute, the vehicle's MPG and fuel price, and any parking, tolls, wear cost, carpool riders and transit fare.
Miles driven per year
7,500 mi
Fuel per year
$875.00
Parking and tolls per year
$2,000.00
Wear per year
$0.00
Total per day (whole car)
$11.50
Total per month (whole car)
$239.58
Total per year (whole car)
$2,875.00
Your cost per day
$11.50
Your cost per month
$239.58
Your cost per year
$2,875.00
Transit fares per year
$1,375.00
Your driving cost minus transit, per year
$1,500.00
How it works
A commute is two trips a day, so the miles per year are twice the one-way distance times the commuting days. Fuel is those miles divided by MPG, times the price per gallon. Parking and tolls are daily amounts multiplied by the days, and the optional wear cost is a cents-per-mile figure multiplied by the miles.
The total is fuel plus parking, tolls and wear. Per day it is the yearly total divided by the commuting days; per month it is the yearly total divided by 12, so it spreads the cost evenly over the year. In a carpool the whole-car cost is split evenly among the people sharing the car.
Transit is costed as two fares a day on the same days. The last result is your share of the driving cost minus the transit fares: positive when driving costs you more, negative when it costs less, zero when they match.
Formula
miles/year = 2 × one-way miles × days fuel/year = miles/year ÷ MPG × price parking + tolls = (parking/day + tolls/day) × days wear/year = miles/year × wear ¢/mi ÷ 100 total/year = fuel + parking + tolls + wear your cost/year = total/year ÷ people sharing transit/year = 2 × fare × days difference = your cost/year − transit/year
Example
A 15-mile commute on 250 days is 2 × 15 × 250 = 7,500 miles a year. At 30 mpg and $3.50 a gallon the fuel is 7,500 ÷ 30 × 3.50 = $875.00. Parking at $8 a day adds $2,000.00, for $2,875.00 a year: $11.50 a commuting day or $239.58 a month.
A $2.75 fare each way on the same days is $1,375.00 a year, so driving alone costs $1,500.00 more. Shared by two people, each pays $1,437.50 a year, $62.50 more than transit.
Assumptions and limitations
- Fuel economy, fuel price, parking and tolls are held constant all year. The defaults are illustrative, not local prices.
- Wear is optional and entered as cents per mile. AAA's Your Driving Costs 2026 (published September 2026) puts the average maintenance cost of its surveyed vehicles at 11.73¢ a mile; insurance, depreciation, registration and financing are not included in this page's total.
- A carpool is assumed to drive the same miles as a solo commute and to split every cost evenly; pick-up detours are not added.
- Transit is costed as single fares; passes, employer benefits and pre-tax commuter programs are not modelled. Results are an estimate, not financial or tax advice.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the monthly cost not the daily cost times 21?
The monthly figure spreads the yearly cost over 12 months. At 250 commuting days a year that is 20.8 days a month on average, so it differs slightly from any one month's working days.
What does AAA count as the cost per mile of driving?
AAA's Your Driving Costs 2026 lists, for its 2026 weighted average vehicle, fuel at 17.32¢ a mile and maintenance at 11.73¢, an operating cost of 29.04¢ a mile, or $4,356 a year at 15,000 miles (the components are rounded, so they add to 29.05¢). Insurance, depreciation, registration and finance charges come on top.
More in Automotive calculators.