Education and Side Business sources and dates
Where the starting numbers for the calculators in this group come from, and the date we checked each one. They are examples, not quotes.
Sources by Calculator
Back to all sources and dates. Each table lists a calculator's starting numbers, source links and check dates.
Side hustle real hourly profit
| Assumption / Input | Starting value | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Self-employment tax rate and 92.35% net earnings factor | 15.3% SE tax on 92.35% of Schedule C net (none under $400 of net earnings) | Internal Revenue Service Topic No. 751 Social Security and Medicare withholding rates | 2026-10-16 |
| Qualified Business Income (QBI) deduction | 20% Section 199A deduction (at least $400 from 2026 when QBI is $1,000 or more) | Internal Revenue Service Qualified Business Income Deduction | 2026-10-16 |
| IRS standard mileage deduction vs real cash vehicle cost | $0.76/mile IRS deduction; $0.32/mile cash | Internal Revenue Service Standard Mileage Rates | 2026-10-16 |
| Typical gig and side-hustle weekly hours and gross revenue | $450/week across 15 active + 4 unpaid hours | Federal Reserve Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking | 2025-11-15 |
Degree, bootcamp, or certification payback
| Assumption / Input | Starting value | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly tuition, fees and books after grants, and program length | $24,000/yr over 2 years | National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Digest of Education Statistics | 2026-04-14 |
| Current salary, starting salary after graduation, and yearly salary growth | $58,000/yr to $82,000/yr (3.0%/yr growth) | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Education Pays & Occupational Outlook Handbook | 2026-04-14 |
| Student loans borrowed, loan rate and repayment term | $36,000 borrowed at 8.07% APR for 10 years | Federal Student Aid, interest rates for Direct Loans first disbursed July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027 | 2026-10-16 |
| Marginal tax rate on earnings changes | 24% | Internal Revenue Service Federal Income Tax Brackets and FICA Rates | 2026-04-14 |
| Earnings while in school and discount rate | $15,000/yr in-school earnings, 5.0% real discount rate | Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW) ROI of Credentials | 2026-04-14 |
Craft fair and market booth payback
| Assumption / Input | Starting value | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekend craft fair or farmers market booth and permit fees | $150 booth fee, $25 event permit/insurance | USDA Agricultural Marketing Service National Farmers Market Survey | 2026-04-01 |
| In-person tap and chip card reader fee | 2.6% + $0.15 per transaction | Square Published In-Person Card Processing Rates | 2026-10-16 |
| Business driving mileage rate | $0.76/mile | IRS Standard Mileage Rates | 2026-10-16 |
| Target hourly pay for craft and culinary production | $20/hour | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics | 2026-04-01 |
Marketplace vs own online store
| Assumption / Input | Starting value | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Etsy marketplace seller fees (transaction, payment, listing, offsite ads) | 6.5% referral, 3.0% + $0.25 payment, $0.20 listing, 1.5% blended offsite ads | Etsy Published Fees and Payments Policy | 2026-10-16 |
| eBay and Amazon Handmade comparison seller fee benchmarks | 13.25% to 15.0% combined referral and payment fees | eBay Published Selling Fees | 2026-04-01 |
| Standalone online store monthly subscription and card processing | $39/month plan, 2.9% + $0.30 per online card transaction | Shopify Basic Plan Published Pricing | 2026-10-16 |
| Small business ecommerce customer acquisition cost per order | $2.50/order ad and marketing spend | U.S. Small Business Administration Ecommerce Marketing Guide | 2026-04-01 |
Community college transfer vs 4-year university
| Assumption / Input | Starting value | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Community college and 4-year university tuition and room/board | $4,000/yr 2-year tuition, $11,600/yr 4-year in-state tuition, $13,300/yr room and board | College Board Trends in College Pricing and Student Aid | 2026-04-01 |
| Transfer credit loss and extra semesters to graduation | 0.5 extra semesters (average credit transfer friction) | U.S. Government Accountability Office Higher Education Credit Transfer Report | 2026-04-01 |
| Undergraduate federal student loan interest rate | 6.52% APR on 10-year standard repayment | Federal Student Aid, interest rates for Direct Loans first disbursed July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027 | 2026-10-16 |
| Bachelor's degree starting salary benchmark | $62,000/year starting salary | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook and Education Pays | 2026-04-01 |
S-Corp vs LLC tax savings
| Assumption / Input | Starting value | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Self-employment tax and FICA rates plus Social Security wage base | 15.3% combined FICA (12.4% Social Security up to the $184,500 2026 wage base + 2.9% Medicare) on 92.35% of LLC net profit | Internal Revenue Service Topic No. 751 Social Security and Medicare withholding rates | 2026-10-16 |
| S-Corp reasonable owner W-2 compensation rules | $70,000 W-2 salary on $140,000 net business profit | Internal Revenue Service S Corporation Employees, Shareholders and Corporate Officers | 2026-04-01 |
| Qualified Business Income (Section 199A) 20% deduction | 20% QBI deduction rate at 22% marginal federal bracket | Internal Revenue Service Qualified Business Income Deduction | 2026-10-16 |
| S-Corp payroll software, Form 1120-S CPA preparation, and state franchise fees | $1,800/yr payroll and Form 1120-S tax prep, $450/yr FUTA/SUTA/workers comp, $800/yr state entity fee | U.S. Small Business Administration Choose a Business Structure and State Franchise Tax Benchmarks | 2026-04-01 |
Hiring help vs turning down work
| Assumption / Input | Starting value | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employer wages, payroll taxes, workers' compensation, and benefits load | $32/hr base wage, 11.5% payroll tax & workers' comp, $4,800/yr benefits & software | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Employer Costs for Employee Compensation | 2026-04-01 |
| Recruiting, onboarding, and first-year training overhead | $2,000 upfront recruiting/onboarding + 4 hrs/wk owner supervision | Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Human Capital Benchmarking | 2026-04-01 |
| Small agency and professional services billable utilization and realization | 65% billable utilization at $95/hr ($110/hr owner rate) | U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy Small Business Profiles | 2026-04-01 |
Tuition assistance clawback
| Assumption / Input | Starting value | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tax-free limit (taxFreeCap) | $5,250 a year | IRS, Updates to frequently asked questions about educational assistance programs, FS-2026-10 and IRS Publication 15-B | 2026-10-17 |
| Other help that shares the limit (otherAssistance) | $0 | IRS, FS-2026-10. That loan help is now permanent is secondary: it comes from law firm summaries, not the IRS page | 2026-10-17 |
| Graduate and undergraduate courses | Both qualify | IRS, Frequently asked questions about educational assistance programs, FS-2024-22 | 2026-10-17 |
| Amounts above the limit are wages | Taxed as pay | IRS Publication 15-B and FS-2026-10 | 2026-10-17 |
| Payroll tax (ficaPct) | 7.65% | IRS Topic 751, Social Security and Medicare withholding rates. The 2026 wage base of $184,500 was not checked against the SSA page, which was unreachable | 2026-10-17 |
| Federal tax rate (fedRatePct) | 22% | Typical, edit this. Brackets are on the IRS inflation adjustments page | 2026-10-17 |
| State and local tax rate (stateRatePct) | 0% | Typical, edit this | 2026-10-17 |
| Tax on a repayment (repaymentTaxTreatment) | No tax back | IRS Publication 525, Repayments | 2026-10-17 |
| Tuition the employer pays (tuitionPaid) | $5,250 a year | Typical, edit this. Secondary: a SHRM spokesperson quoted in a news article (Northeast Times, August 2026) | 2026-10-17 |
| Repay window, share repaid and cliff or prorated (clawbackMonths, clawbackSharePct, clawbackType) | 24 months, 100%, cliff | Typical, edit this. Three examples in public documents, not a sample: a county agreement (https://WWW.CO.MARION.OR.US/HR/Documents/Tuition%20Assistance%20and%20Employment%20Agreement.pdf), a library board policy (https://prl.ab.ca/-/media/files/sylvan-lake/2025/board/library-board-update/18-staff-development-tuition-reimbursement---approved-2021.pdf), a health system form | 2026-10-17 |
| Legal limits on repay-if-you-leave terms | Not modeled, linked in a note | Secondary: a law firm summary, the statutes were not read. Epstein Becker Green Workforce Bulletin | 2026-10-17 |
| Months before you leave and chance of leaving (leaveMonth, leaveProbabilityPct) | 12 months, 30% | Typical, edit this | 2026-10-17 |
| Extra yearly pay of an outside offer (outsidePayRaise) | $5,000 a year | Typical, edit this. For context: Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Wage Growth Tracker | 2026-10-17 |
| Months to cover the repayment (recoupMonths) | 12 months | Typical, edit this | 2026-10-17 |
| Share you would pay yourself (valuePct) | 100% | Typical, edit this | 2026-10-17 |
ISA vs student loan
| Assumption / Input | Starting value | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal undergraduate loan rate | 6.52% a year | U.S. Department of Education, interest rates for Direct Loans first paid out 2026-07-01 to 2027-06-30 | 2026-10-17 |
| Federal graduate unsubsidized loan rate | 8.07% a year | U.S. Department of Education, interest rates for Direct Loans first paid out 2026-07-01 to 2027-06-30 | 2026-10-17 |
| Private loan rate | 10% a year (typical, edit this) | Typical value, no official average was reachable on 2026-10-17 | 2026-10-17 |
| Loan length | 120 months (typical, edit this; the standard federal term is 10 years, not verified on studentaid.gov) | Federal Student Aid, not reachable on 2026-10-17 | 2026-10-17 |
| Amount funded | $20,000 (typical, edit this) | Typical value, a round example with no official source | 2026-10-17 |
| ISA share of income | 5% of income each month (typical, edit this; reported range 2% to 20%) | Hechinger Report | 2026-10-17 |
| ISA length | 120 months (typical, edit this; one provider's agreements ran 20 years) | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, order against an ISA provider | 2026-10-17 |
| ISA payment cap | 2.0 times the amount funded (typical, edit this; reported caps of 2.5 and up to 3 times) | Hechinger Report | 2026-10-17 |
| ISA income threshold | $30,000 a year (typical, edit this; providers set their own threshold) | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, order against an ISA provider | 2026-10-17 |
| Extra months for months with no payment | 0 months, off (maximum 60) | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, order against an ISA provider | 2026-10-17 |
| Middle path: starting income and yearly change | $55,000 a year, 3% a year (visitor must check) | Typical value, no official source | 2026-10-17 |
| Low path: starting income and yearly change | $28,000 a year, 1% a year (typical, edit this) | Typical value, no official source | 2026-10-17 |
| High path: starting income and yearly change | $90,000 a year, 5% a year (typical, edit this) | Typical value, no official source | 2026-10-17 |
| ISAs are treated as credit | Context only, no number used | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, order against an ISA provider | 2026-10-17 |
| An ISA can be a private education loan | Context only, no number used | U.S. Department of Education, Electronic Announcement GENERAL-22-12 | 2026-10-17 |
| Federal loan limits and the new Repayment Assistance Plan | Not printed on the page, reported only, verify on studentaid.gov | Stanford financial aid; Western Carolina University; NYC.gov student loan changes page | 2026-10-17 |
| Not found | No figure used | Not available | 2026-10-17 |
Section 179 vs. lease
| Assumption / Input | Starting value | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Section 179 limit, tax years beginning in 2026 (stale, indexed every year) | $2,560,000 | IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32, section 4.24 and IRS Publication 946 | 2026-10-17 |
| Section 179 phase-out threshold, 2026 (stale) | $4,090,000 | IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32, section 4.24 | 2026-10-17 |
| Heavy SUV cap on Section 179, 2026 (stale) | $32,000 | IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32, section 4.24 | 2026-10-17 |
| 2025 preset: limit $2,500,000, threshold $4,000,000 | $2,500,000 and $4,000,000 | IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32, sections 2.10 and 3.02 | 2026-10-17 |
| 2025 preset: heavy SUV cap | $31,300 (confirm) | IRS Rev. Proc. 2024-40, section 2.25 | 2026-10-17 |
| Bonus depreciation percent (stale: law) | 100% | IRS Notice 2026-11 and IRS Publication 946 | 2026-10-17 |
| Section 179 income limit and carryforward | Deduction limited to taxable income from the active conduct of your trades or businesses; the unused part carries to the next year | IRS Publication 946, chapter 2 | 2026-10-17 |
| Recovery period (property class) | 7 years for machinery and office furniture, 5 years for computers, cars and light trucks | IRS Publication 946, chapter 4 | 2026-10-17 |
| MACRS percentages, half-year convention | Typical published values, confirm against Table A-1. 5-year: 20.00, 32.00, 19.20, 11.52, 11.52, 5.76. 7-year: 14.29, 24.49, 17.49, 12.49, 8.93, 8.92, 8.93, 4.46 | IRS Publication 946, Appendix A, Table A-1 | 2026-10-17 |
| Passenger cars under 6,000 lb (not modeled) | Not used | IRS Publication 946 | 2026-10-17 |
| True lease versus purchase | Confirm (this copy was not opened). An FMV (fair market value) buyout is treated as a true lease. A $1 or nominal buyout is treated as a purchase | Rev. Rul. 55-540, 1955-2 C.B. 39, copy at | 2026-10-17 |
| Combined tax rate | 30% (typical, edit this) | IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32, section 4.01 (2026 individual rate tables) | 2026-10-17 |
| Equipment loan rate | 8.0% a year (typical, edit this) | Federal Reserve H.15 Selected Interest Rates, for the bank prime rate of 7.00% only | 2026-10-17 |
| Discount rate | 8.0% a year (typical, edit this) | No primary source, a round example value | 2026-10-17 |
| Lease payment, lease term, buyout price | $1,000 a month for 5 years, buyout $18,000 (typical, edit this) | No primary source, no lease quote was looked up | 2026-10-17 |
| Equipment price, down payment, resale value | $60,000, down $6,000 (10%), resale $18,000 (30% after 5 years) (typical, edit this) | IRS Publication 946, chapter 4 (cost basis includes sales tax, freight and setup) | 2026-10-17 |
| Business taxable income | $150,000 a year (typical, edit this) | IRS Publication 946, chapter 2 | 2026-10-17 |
| State conformity | Not looked up | IRS Topic no. 704, Depreciation | 2026-10-17 |
Bookkeeper vs accounting software
| Assumption / Input | Starting value | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bookkeeper fee, Standard | $500 a month (100 to 300 transactions). Typical, edit this. One source is a seller. | NerdWallet, bookkeeping pricing and Ecosire, outsourced bookkeeping cost 2026 | 2026-10-17 |
| Bookkeeper fee, Light and Busy | $300 (under 100 transactions) and $900 (300 to 700) a month. Typical, edit this. | Ecosire, outsourced bookkeeping cost 2026 and NerdWallet, bookkeeping pricing | 2026-10-17 |
| Fee cross-checks | Not defaults. Sellers' prices; three undated, one second-hand. | Bookkeeper360, pricing, Intuit, how much does a bookkeeper cost, Wave, pricing and South, how much does a bookkeeper cost | 2026-10-17 |
| Pages not used | Not used. Uplinq is unverified (a search-result summary only); Forbes Advisor refused the fetch. | Uplinq, a bookkeeping cost 2026 article (page text did not load), and Forbes Advisor, how much does a bookkeeper cost (HTTP 403) | 2026-10-17 |
| What a bookkeeping fee covers | Not a default. A seller's page. | Intuit, QuickBooks Live bookkeeping help article | 2026-10-17 |
| Cleanup fee | $1,000 (1 to 3 months behind), $2,000 (4 to 12), $4,000 (a year or more). Typical, edit this. | Ecosire, outsourced bookkeeping cost 2026, Bookkeeper360, pricing, NerdWallet, bookkeeping pricing and South, how much does a bookkeeper cost | 2026-10-17 |
| Your hours to catch up | 20 hours one time. Typical, edit this. No source. | No source found (an estimate) | 2026-10-17 |
| Accounting software, entry plan | $30 a month (entry plans $20 to $38); free $0, mid $60, full $100. Typical, edit this. | QuickBooks Online pricing | 2026-10-17 |
| QuickBooks price change | Not a default. Context for the yearly rise. | Intuit, QuickBooks price changes | 2026-10-17 |
| Accounting software, other plans | Xero Early $27, Growing $59, Established $97 a month. Typical examples, edit this. | Xero US pricing | 2026-10-17 |
| Accounting software, other plans | FreshBooks Lite $23, Plus $43, Premium $70 a month. Typical examples, edit this. | FreshBooks pricing | 2026-10-17 |
| Accounting software, other plans | Zoho Books Standard $20, Professional $50, Premium $70 a month billed monthly. Typical examples, edit this. Page undated. | Zoho Books pricing | 2026-10-17 |
| Accounting software, other plans | Wave Starter $0, Pro $19 a month or $190 a year. Typical examples, edit this. Page undated; may be out of date. | Wave pricing | 2026-10-17 |
| Value of an hour | $33.54 an hour (BLS mean hourly wage, all occupations, May 2025). Sourced; a placeholder for your own number. | BLS, Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2025, news release 2026-05-15, Table 1 | 2026-10-17 |
| Pay of a bookkeeping clerk (for scale) | $24.36 an hour. Sourced; shown beside the result, not used in the math. | BLS, Occupational Outlook Handbook, bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks | 2026-10-17 |
| Your hours a month on the books | 10 alone, 2 with a bookkeeper (Light 5 and 1, Busy 20 and 4). Typical, edit this. Unverified: no primary source. | No primary source found (secondary figures disagree) | 2026-10-17 |
| Share of freed hours that become money | 100 percent. Assumption, not a measured figure. | None (an assumption; 50 percent is shown as a sensitivity) | 2026-10-17 |
| Mistakes and late fees | $0 a year. No source for a rate, so the visitor types their own estimate. | IRS, failure to deposit penalty and IRS, failure to file penalty | 2026-10-17 |
| Who stays responsible for payroll tax | Not a default. | IRS, outsourcing payroll duties | 2026-10-17 |
| Recordkeeping | Not a default. | IRS, recordkeeping and IRS, Publication 583 | 2026-10-17 |
| New York sales tax filing | Not a default. | New York tax bulletin, filing requirements for sales and use tax returns and New York DTF, filing sales tax returns | 2026-10-17 |
| New York wage reporting | Not a default. | New York, NYS-45-I instructions (1/26) and New York, withholding due dates | 2026-10-17 |
| Payroll, sales-tax add-ons and tax prep | $0. No price read for a bookkeeper's add-on fee or a preparer's fee. | Xero US pricing and Wave pricing | 2026-10-17 |
| Years and yearly rise | 3 years and 0 percent. Typical; no source for a rise was checked. | None (typical values) | 2026-10-17 |
Standard mileage vs actual car costs
| Assumption / Input | Starting value | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| IRS rate through June 30 | $0.725 a mile (72.5 cents), for miles driven January 1 to June 30, 2026. IRS, read. | IRS, standard mileage rates and IRS Notice 2026-10 | 2026-10-18 |
| IRS rate from July 1 | $0.76 a mile (76 cents), for miles driven on or after July 1, 2026. Valid through 2026-12-31. IRS, read. | IRS, Announcement 2026-11 in Internal Revenue Bulletin 2026-29 and IRS, standard mileage rates | 2026-10-18 |
| Share of business miles from July 1 | 50 percent. Typical, edit this. | A calendar count, not a survey: 184 of 365 days fall on or after July 1 (50.4 percent) | 2026-10-18 |
| Business miles a year | 8,000. Typical, edit this. | No survey. IRS Publication 463 (commuting is not business mileage) | 2026-10-18 |
| Other miles a year | 7,000. Typical, edit this. | AAA study uses 15,000 miles a year in all. AAA Northeast, copy of the 2026 release | 2026-10-18 |
| Depreciation or lease a year | $4,422. A stand-in for a new car's average yearly loss in value, not a tax figure. | AAA Northeast, copy of the AAA release of 2026-09-15; AAA's own newsroom page was not opened | 2026-10-18 |
| Insurance a year | $2,098. Typical, edit this. Second-hand. | CarPro, report on the AAA 2026 study, dated 2026-10-01 | 2026-10-18 |
| Registration and fees a year | $100. Typical, edit this. | New York DMV, passenger vehicle registration fees (the page carries no date) | 2026-10-18 |
| Miles per gallon | 30. Typical, edit this. The EPA benchmark the site uses for a gasoline car; not re-checked since 2026-10-08. | U.S. EPA, fueleconomy.gov | 2026-10-08 |
| Fuel price | $4.35 a gallon of regular gasoline (U.S. average, EIA weekly, 2026-10-05). New York $4.38 (2026-10-08). | U.S. EIA, gasoline and diesel fuel update | 2026-10-16 |
| Repairs, oil and tires | $0.117 a mile (11.7 cents). Typical, edit this. Second-hand. | CarPro, report on the AAA 2026 study, dated 2026-10-01 | 2026-10-18 |
| Tax rate | 30 percent. Typical, edit this. Type 0 to turn the tax value off. The state part is unverified. | IRS, Topic 554, self-employment tax and IRS, federal income tax rates and brackets | 2026-10-18 |
| Parking and tolls a year | $0. Starts at 0. | IRS, Topic 510 | 2026-10-18 |
| Years to compare | 5. Typical, edit this. | AAA Northeast, copy of the 2026 release | 2026-10-18 |
| Yearly rise | 0 percent. Starts at 0 because no source for a rise was checked. | Not a sourced input | 2026-10-18 |
| First-year rule (linked, not a default) | A heading and links to IRS Topic 510 and Publication 463 (2025 edition). The rule is not quoted or decided on the page. IRS, read. | IRS, Topic 510 (reviewed 09-Oct-2026) and IRS, Publication 463 (2025 edition) | 2026-10-18 |
| Employees (note only) | Most employees cannot deduct unreimbursed car costs. IRS, read. | IRS, Topic 510 and IRS Notice 2026-10 | 2026-10-18 |
Coworking vs home office
| Assumption / Input | Starting value | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extra home bills | $25 a month. Typical, edit this. About $6.50 is a desktop PC's power; the rest is a guess. | Repo appliance data (LBNL typical wattage) and state energy prices (EIA, as of 2026-10-08) | 2026-10-18 |
| Desk prices: hot desk, dedicated desk, private office for one | $185, $300 and $600 a month. Typical, edit this. Near the middle of the "from" prices read; a plan you want may cost more. | LiquidSpace marketplace pages and CoworkingCafe directory pages (not linked; prices undated) | 2026-10-18 |
| Rochester, coworking | Open desk from $149 a month, day pass $35, private office for one $389 to $550. "From" prices read, undated. | LiquidSpace page for Serendipity Labs at Innovation Square (latest review 2025-11-25), LiquidSpace Rochester city page and CoworkingCafe city page (not linked) | 2026-10-18 |
| Buffalo, coworking | Open desk from $199 a month, day pass $35, private office $699 (listed for one person and for two). "From" prices read, undated. | LiquidSpace marketplace page for Serendipity Labs at Seneca One (latest review 2025-02-03) and CoworkingCafe city page (not linked) | 2026-10-18 |
| Syracuse, coworking | Open desks $185 and $245 a month, day pass $30, private office for one $600 and $640. Read, undated. | LiquidSpace and CoworkingCafe city pages (not linked) | 2026-10-18 |
| Albany, coworking | Open desk from $149 a month, dedicated desk from $329, day passes $25 and $38. "From" prices read, undated. | LiquidSpace and CoworkingCafe city pages (not linked) | 2026-10-18 |
| New York City, coworking | Stated average membership $358.98 a month, shown only beside the upstate figures. Directory figure, undated. | CoworkingCafe directory page (not linked) | 2026-10-18 |
| Day pass | $30. Typical, edit this. Upstate day passes read: $20 to $38. | LiquidSpace and CoworkingCafe city pages (not linked) | 2026-10-18 |
| National coworking prices | Open workspace $149 and dedicated desk $322 (end of Q4 2023). Q2 2026: $219 a month for open workspace or dedicated desk together, down from $225 a year earlier. Read. | CoworkingCafe article (published 2024-02-07, modified 2025-02-25) and CFO Dive, 2026-07-28 | 2026-10-18 |
| Meeting rooms | $0 a month. Median $45 an hour nationally (Q2 2026). Read. | CFO Dive, 2026-07-28 quoting CoworkingCafe and Yardi | 2026-10-18 |
| Office rent: Rochester | $17.50 a square foot a year average asking rent, Class A $21.00, vacancy 19.9 percent. Second-hand; lease type not stated. | TenantBase page labeled Q3 2026, quoting Cushman & Wakefield and Pyramid Brokerage for Q2 2026 (broker-run site, not linked) | 2026-10-18 |
| Office rent: Albany | $19.03 a square foot a year average asking rent, full gross, vacancy 12.0 percent. Second-hand. | TenantBase page quoting CBRE Capital Region Office Market Outlook, H2 2025 (broker-run site, not linked) | 2026-10-18 |
| Office rent: Buffalo | $17.93 a square foot a year, 2025 average, vacancy 12.00 percent. Read. | CommercialCafe market page, data from Yardi Research (not linked) | 2026-10-18 |
| Office rent: downtown Syracuse | Class A $18.51, Class B $14.32, Class C $12.06 a square foot a year (ranges $15 to $24, $10 to $32, $9 to $16). Downtown only. Read. | Downtown Syracuse Partnership, Spring 2026 Commercial Occupancy Report (survey 2025-10-10 to 2026-04-11) | 2026-10-18 |
| Small office rent | $450 a month: 300 square feet at $18 a square foot a year. Typical, edit this. | A round figure inside the four asking rents above ($12.06 to $21.00) | 2026-10-18 |
| Office utilities, internet and insurance | $125 a month. Typical, edit this. Insurance partly sourced, the internet price is unverified, utilities are a guess. | Insureon (a seller of insurance): median business owner's policy $83 a month, $58 for home-based businesses | 2026-10-18 |
| Furniture and setup, security deposit | $1,000 and $900 (two months of the default rent). Typical, edit this. No source found. | None found for furniture costs or commercial deposits | 2026-10-18 |
| Days a week, miles, lease length | 3 days a week and 16 miles round trip. Typical, edit this. | None: round typical values | 2026-10-18 |
| Minutes there and back | 40. Census survey means, one way: Rochester 19.89, Buffalo 21.26, Albany 21.43, Syracuse 20.23 minutes. Read. | FRED, Monroe County, Erie, Albany and Onondaga (Census American Community Survey 5-year estimates, period ending 2024) | 2026-10-18 |
| Cost of driving a mile | $0.76 a mile. Sourced: the IRS business rate from 2026-07-01, valid to 2026-12-31. Used as a cost, not a deduction. | IRS standard mileage rates, Announcement 2026-11 | 2026-10-16 |
| Value of an hour of travel | $16.77 an hour: half of the BLS mean hourly wage. The half is second-hand and a convention, not a measured cost. | BLS Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2025 and Federal Register, 76 FR 61625, 2011-10-05 | 2026-10-18 |
| Value of an hour of paid work | $33.54 an hour: the BLS mean hourly wage, May 2025. A placeholder for your own rate after costs, before tax. | BLS Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2025 | 2026-10-18 |
| Years, yearly price rise | 3 years and 3 percent a year. Typical, edit this. No source for a rise; the flat-price test shows none. | None: round typical values | 2026-10-18 |
| Parking and coffee, larger home, tax rate | 0. No price read. The tax rate is off. | None found | 2026-10-18 |
| Tax facts (not used in the math) | Simplified home office method: $5 a square foot, up to 300 square feet. Commuting is generally personal. Read. | IRS simplified option for home office deduction, Publication 587, Publication 334 and Publication 463 | 2026-10-18 |