Living Wage Calculator (Hourly Wage Needed for Your Budget)

How it works

monthly costs = housing + food + transport + childcare + health + other · take-home needed = monthly costs × 12 · gross needed = take-home ÷ (1 − tax rate) · living wage per hour = gross ÷ earners ÷ (weekly hours × 52)

A living wage is the pay needed to cover a basic but decent standard of living — more than the legal minimum wage in most places. Methods such as the MIT Living Wage Calculator and the Anker methodology build a budget of essential costs for a household, add taxes, and divide by full-time working hours. This calculator does the same with your own costs and tax rate, so it works for any city or country. It leaves no room for savings or debt payments: add them to "other essentials" if you want them covered.

Worked example

Monthly essentials of $1,200 housing, $500 food, $300 transport, $0 childcare, $250 health care and $400 other add up to $2,650.00 a month, or $31,800.00 a year after tax. With 15% lost to taxes, the household needs $37,411.76 gross a year ($3,117.65 a month). For 1 earner working 40 hours a week, the living wage is $17.99 per hour.

Sources: MIT — Living Wage Calculator methodology · Global Living Wage Coalition — Anker methodology

Frequently asked questions