Americans Spend $3,000 Per Year To Go To Work: Commute, Day Care and Coffee Costs Add Up

“The cost of work is often what the rest of your budget is centered around,” said Rosemary Haefner, chief human resources officer at CareerBuilder. “Knowing how much it amounts to can help you trim costs and make different lifestyle choices if need be. You can vow to carry lunch to work every day, stop buying coffee out, look for cheaper business clothes. Managing those costs can help account for others, like commuting and childcare, which won’t subside.”

Breaking Down Every Day Expenses

Driving

The majority of workers (84 percent) typically commute to work by driving. Thirty-seven percent of these employees spend $25 or more a week on gas, while the majority (63 percent) spend less than $25 on gas a week:

• Less than $10: 17 percent
• $10 to less than $25: 47 percent
• $25 to less than $50: 30 percent
• $50 or more: 7 percent

Public Transportation

Of those that take public transportation (7 percent), nearly half (47 percent) spend $25 or more on fare per week:

• Less than $10: 19 percent
• $10 to less than $25: 34 percent
• $25 to less than $50: 33 percent
• $50 or more: 14 percent

Lunch

While most workers (72 percent) say they bring their lunch to work, half of employees that buy their lunch (50 percent) spend $25 or more on it a week:

• Less than $10: 19 percent
• $10 to less than $25: 31 percent
• $25 to less than $50: 37 percent
• $50 or more 13 percent

Daycare

Among working parents with children 18 years old and younger living at home with them, 29 percent say they spend money on daycare per month. Of these working parents who spend money on daycare, more than 1 in 3 (36 percent) spend $500 or more per month on daycare:

• Less than $250: 31 percent
• $250 to $499: 32 percent
• $500 to less than $1,000: 26 percent
• $1,000 or more: 10 percent

Pet Care

Fifty-eight percent of workers say they have a pet. Of these, more than half spend less than $10 per week on pet care:

• Less than $10: 52 percent
• $10 to less than $25: 33 percent
• $25 to less than $50: 12 percent
• $50 or more: 3 percent

Coffee

Half of workers (49 percent) buy coffee during a typical work week. Of these workers, the spend is:

• Less than $10: 71 percent
• $10 to less than $25: 25 percent
• $25 or more: 3 percent

Clothing, Shoes and Accessories

When asked how much they spend on clothing, shoes and accessories for work in a given year, nearly half (47 percent) spend $250 or more; nearly 1 in 4 (24 percent) spend $500 or more; and more than 1 in 10 employees (13 percent) spend $750 or more:

• Less than $250: 53 percent
• $250 to $499: 24 percent
• $500 to $749: 11 percent
• $750 to $999: 5 percent
• $1,000 to $1,499: 4 percent
• $1,500 to $1,999: 1 percent

• $2,000 or more: 2 percent

Paying to Get Paid

Slightly more than 8 in 10 workers (81 percent) say they did not incur any costs the last time they looked for a new job; but, of those who did incur costs, many (27 percent) have had to spend $200 or more to purchase items, including:

• Clothing: 68 percent
• Transportation: 49 percent
• Printing (resumes, cover letters, etc.): 44 percent
• Travel: 40 percent
• Networking events: 7 percent
• Computer hardware/software: 6 percent
• Recruiters: 5 percent

When asked what they spent the most money on during their job search, most employees who incurred costs said clothes, followed by transportation and travel:

• Clothing: 39 percent
• Transportation: 22 percent
• Travel: 21 percent
• Printing (resumes, cover letters, etc.): 7 percent
• Recruiters: 1 percent
• Computer hardware/software: 1 percent
• Networking events: Less than 1 percent