1. Scope
Compares office, hybrid, and remote schedules by cash and time cost over a year. It does not quantify productivity differences, tax deductibility, or employer-side real-estate cost.
2. Inputs and outputs
Inputs
- commuteMinutesOneWay number
- daysPerWeekInOffice number
- transportCostPerDay number (currency)
- lunchCostPerDay number (currency) default: 0
- workingWeeksPerYear number default: 48
Outputs
- hoursPerYear
commute × 2 × daysInOffice × weeks, in hours.
- cashCostPerYear
(transport + lunch) × daysInOffice × weeks.
- totalOpportunityCost
cashCost + hours × hourlyRate (if hourlyRate entered).
Engine source: src/lib/commute-vs-remote-calculator/engine.ts
3. Formula / scoring logic
hours_per_year = 2 * commute_minutes * days_in_office * weeks / 60
cash_per_year = (transport + lunch) * days_in_office * weeks
4. Assumptions
- Commute is symmetrical; same minutes each way.
- Lunch-out is a choice, not a requirement — set to zero if the user packs lunch.
- Working-weeks-per-year defaults to 48 (2 weeks PTO + 2 weeks holidays).
5. Data sources
6. Known limitations
- Does not model career-progression trade-offs some employers impose on remote workers.
- Opportunity-cost calculation assumes commute hours would otherwise be productive; empirical evidence is mixed.
7. Reproducibility
Input
commute = 45 min, days = 5, transport = $10/day, lunch = $12/day, weeks = 48.
Expected output
hours = 360/year, cash = $5,280/year.
8. Change log
- 2026-04-24 methodology page first published.