Prison officer commute cost calculator

What this commute cost calculator shows

A prison is rarely on a bus route into a city centre, and officers often travel a long way to get to the gate for an early start or home after a late finish. This commute cost calculator turns your journey into three numbers that matter: what it costs per shift, per month and per year; what share of your take-home pay that is; and what your pay per hour really is once you count the unpaid time spent travelling.

You can model a car (fuel or the HMRC rate as a benchmark, parking, tolls and car-sharing), public transport (annual, monthly or per-journey tickets) or cycling, and compare two options side by side, for example your current prison against one closer to home, or driving against the train.

It runs in your browser. Your answers stay on your device unless you choose to ask the AI assistant a question, and then only the figures on screen are sent.

How the cost is worked out

• Shifts a year. Shifts a week multiplied by weeks worked (take off leave and sickness; the default is 4 shifts for 46 weeks).
• Car, fuel method. Miles a year divided by your miles per gallon, converted to litres at the pump price you enter, plus a per-mile allowance for tyres and servicing, plus parking and tolls, divided by the people sharing.
• Car, HMRC benchmark. From 6 April 2026 the HMRC approved mileage rate for cars and vans is 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles and 25p a mile afterwards (it was 45p for the first 10,000 for the previous fifteen years). We use it only as a benchmark of the whole cost of running a car.
• Public transport. Your ticket price, annual, monthly or fare each way.
• Cycle. A small per-mile running cost for maintenance and consumables.

Your real hourly pay

Pay per hour looks clean on a payslip, but a long commute quietly dilutes it. The calculator divides your annual take-home, less your commute cost, by your contracted hours plus the hours you spend travelling. A National Band 3 officer on 37 hours at the top pay point takes home about £28,400 a year, which is roughly £16.70 an hour over 1,702 contracted hours (37 hours for 46 weeks). Add a 14-mile, 30-minute drive each way for four shifts a week (about £1,140 of fuel and running costs and 184 unpaid hours) and the real figure falls to about £14.50 an hour once the travel cost and the unpaid travel time are both counted.

That is not a reason to avoid a long commute; for many people it buys a cheaper home or a prison they want to work in. It is a reason to know the number when you compare offers or transfers.

Comparing two prisons or two ways to travel

Switch on 'Compare with a second option' to set a second journey: another prison, a different mode or car-sharing with colleagues. The comparison table shows the difference in annual cost and travel hours, and which option leaves you with the higher real hourly pay.

Pay zones matter here as well. London prisons sit in Outer or Inner London zones with fixed cash differentials, and 18 prisons currently pay market supplements of £1,500 to £3,500 a year to Band 3 officers. A longer commute to a prison paying a supplement or a London differential can pay for itself, or not, and the calculator lets you set your pay and see the commute against it. For pay differences by prison see the prisons directory and market supplements.

A worked comparison: car, train and car-share

Using the defaults (14 miles and 30 minutes each way, 4 shifts a week for 46 weeks, a car doing 45 miles to the gallon with fuel at 140p a litre and 8p a mile for running costs), driving costs about £1,141 a year, £6.20 a shift, and takes 184 hours of unpaid travel. That is 4% of the £28,400 take-home of a National Band 3 officer on the top pay point, and brings the real hourly figure from £16.68 down to £14.45.

Swap the car for a £150 monthly train pass with a 50-minute journey each way and the cost rises to £1,800 a year (£9.78 a shift, 6.3% of take-home) and the travel time to 307 hours, so the real hourly figure is £13.24. The cheaper option on paper is not always the better one once time is counted. Share the car with one colleague and the car cost halves to about £570, lifting the real hourly pay to £14.75. Those are the comparisons the calculator lets you run for your own journey in seconds.

Ways to bring the cost down

• Car-sharing. Dividing fuel and parking between two or three officers cuts the cost per person and is the biggest single lever for a car commute. Set 'People sharing' to see it.
• Season tickets. An annual ticket is often cheaper per journey than monthly or single fares. HMPPS lists a season ticket loan among staff benefits; terms are not covered here, so ask HR.
• Cycle to work. HMPPS also lists a cycle to work scheme among its benefits. Check the current terms with your establishment.
• Shift pattern. Fewer, longer shifts mean fewer commutes a week. Our shift pattern earnings planner shows what a pattern is worth.
• Transfer. If the commute is the problem, see the transfer guide and the commuting costs guide.

Limits

• Pay is England and Wales (PSPRB 2026 tables); use your own salary for anything else.
• Car cost excludes insurance, road tax and depreciation unless you include them in 'other running cost'.
• Parking at some establishments is free or subsidised; enter your actual cost.
• It is an estimate for comparison, not a tax or expenses claim.