🅿️ Parking Cost Calculator
Enter your parking rate details to estimate total cost, and see how many days it takes for a monthly pass to pay for itself.
How the day rate and break-even are found
The daily cap is applied first, then the month is built from capped days:
cost per day = min(hourly rate x hours per day, daily max)
monthly total = cost per day x days per month
break-even = ceil(monthly pass / cost per day)On the starting values, 3 an hour for 9 hours is 27, but the 20 cap takes over, so a day costs 20 and twenty days cost 400. A 150 pass therefore pays for itself after 8 days - park more often than that and the pass wins. The break-even is rounded up because you cannot park a fraction of a day.
Filling in the boxes
- Daily max. Leave it at zero or empty if the garage has no cap; the tool then charges every hour. Where a cap does exist it usually binds on a full working day, which is why the hourly rate often makes no difference to the total.
- Hours parked per day. Count from gate to gate, not from the start of your shift. Garages bill on time in the structure, and a part hour is normally rounded up.
- Days per month. Around 20 for a five-day office week, fewer if you drive in two or three days a week.
Frequently asked questions
Is a monthly parking pass worth it?
It depends only on how many days you park. Divide the pass price by your capped daily cost: at 150 against 20 a day that is 8 days a month, so anyone commuting most weekdays is well past the line.
Why does my hourly rate not change the total?
Because the daily cap is lower. Once hourly rate times hours exceeds the cap, the cap is what you pay, and raising the hourly rate changes nothing until the hours drop.
Does this include the cost of driving in?
No, it prices the space only. Fuel, tolls and vehicle wear sit outside it, so add those before comparing a pass against transit fares.