Home › Calculators › Break-Even Mileage Calculator
Break-even mileage is the point where the drive eats the entire shop fee. This calculator finds that distance for any assignment. It applies the correct 2026 IRS standard mileage rate for the half of the year you drove.
Why break-even mileage decides whether a shop pays
Break-even mileage is the round-trip distance at which vehicle costs equal your total pay. Divide the shop fee plus any bonus by the IRS standard mileage rate. Drive farther than that number and the assignment costs you money.
The shop fee is not your profit. It is your gross pay, before the drive takes its cut.
The IRS standard mileage rate is the cleanest proxy for what a mile actually costs you. It bundles fuel, insurance, maintenance, tires, and depreciation into one number.
Most new shoppers only count gas. That is why a $20 shop 30 miles away feels profitable and is not.
- January 1 – June 30, 2026: 72.5 cents per mile
- July 1 – December 31, 2026: 76 cents per mile
The IRS raised the standard mileage rate mid-year, which is rare. It last did so in 2022. The change came in an announcement published in Internal Revenue Bulletin 2026-29. It covers miles driven on or after July 1.
That increase makes your break-even mileage shorter, not longer. A higher cost per mile means the fee runs out sooner.
Check any shop fee against the drive
Enter the shop fee, any bonus, and the round-trip distance. The tool returns your break-even mileage, the vehicle cost of the trip, and what you actually keep. Switch standard mileage rate periods to match when you drove.
Fee and miles are all you need. Add a bonus if the shop carries one.
Vehicle cost uses the IRS standard mileage rate as a stand-in for real operating cost. It does not include your time, parking, or tolls.
Break-even mileage by shop fee
A $20 shop breaks even at 27.6 round-trip miles under the January rate and 26.3 miles under the July rate. Every fee level lost roughly five percent of its break-even distance when the rate rose.
| $10 | 13.8 miles | 13.2 miles |
| $15 | 20.7 miles | 19.7 miles |
| $20 | 27.6 miles | 26.3 miles |
| $25 | 34.5 miles | 32.9 miles |
| $30 | 41.4 miles | 39.5 miles |
| $40 | 55.2 miles | 52.6 miles |
| $50 | 69.0 miles | 65.8 miles |
| $75 | 103.4 miles | 98.7 miles |
| $100 | 137.9 miles | 131.6 miles |
Scan the column that matches when you drove. A $15 shop 25 miles away is underwater in either period.
Notice how every break-even mileage figure fell when the rate rose. Higher cost per mile buys you a shorter drive.
How to run the check before you accept a shop
Add the fee and bonus, then pull the round-trip distance from your maps app. Pick the rate period and compare it against your break-even mileage. Then sanity-check the time. Five steps, under a minute once it becomes habit.
- Add up the total pay. Combine the base fee and any bonus. Reimbursement is not pay, so leave it out here.
- Pull the round-trip distance. Use door to door, then double it. Estimating from memory is where shoppers get burned.
- Pick the rate period. Miles driven through June 30 use 72.5 cents. Miles from July 1 forward use 76 cents.
- Compare against your break-even mileage. If your round trip sits above that distance, the drive costs more than the shop pays.
- Check the time, not only the miles. A shop can clear break-even mileage and still pay poorly per hour.
From my own routing: I stopped accepting single shops past roughly 15 miles one way unless they carried a bonus. The math was consistent enough that it became a standing rule rather than a per-shop decision.
When to ignore your break-even mileage
Break-even mileage assumes one shop, one dedicated trip. Route batching, commute overlap, bonuses, and early reputation building each break that assumption. In those cases the number is a starting point rather than a verdict.
You are batching a route
Mileage splits across every shop on the trip. A distant assignment that fails alone can pass as one stop among four.
Run the whole route through the route planner ROI calculator instead of scoring shops one at a time.
The shop sits on your commute
For the accept-or-decline call, count only the extra miles. A gas station two blocks off your normal route barely moves your break-even mileage.
Your mileage log works differently. The IRS splits the trip by leg, not by detour.
Driving from your day job to the shop counts as travel between two workplaces, so that leg deducts. The drive from the shop to your house is commuting, and it does not.
A qualifying home office changes that answer. It can make both legs deductible at the standard mileage rate, which the home office deduction guide walks through.
The shop is bonused
A $15 shop with a $20 bonus is a $35 shop. Bonuses appear when a shop has gone unclaimed, so recheck the math each time one lands.
You are still building a score
Early on, a marginal shop can be worth taking to establish a record with a scheduler. Treat the shortfall as a deliberate cost, not an accident.
What the standard mileage rate covers and what it does not
The standard mileage rate covers fuel, oil, insurance, maintenance, tires, registration, and depreciation. Parking and tolls are deductible separately, on top of the per-mile figure. The rate is a deduction, so it lowers taxable income rather than refunding cash.
This distinction trips up new shoppers constantly. A 30-mile trip at 76 cents produces a $22.80 deduction, not $22.80 back in your pocket.
What the standard mileage rate saves you depends on your bracket and your self-employment tax. Details sit in the mystery shopper tax deductions guide.
Keep a contemporaneous log either way. The mileage tracking walkthrough covers what the IRS expects you to record.
Tracking, deductions, reimbursement math, and route strategy in one place.
Read the mileage guideFrequently Asked Questions
What is break-even mileage for a mystery shop?
Break-even mileage is the round-trip distance where vehicle costs equal your total pay. Divide the fee plus bonus by the IRS standard mileage rate. Anything beyond that distance means the shop costs you money.
Does the IRS mileage rate mean I get that money back?
No. The rate is a deduction, not a refund. It lowers your taxable income, so the cash value depends on your tax bracket and self-employment tax rate.
Which 2026 standard mileage rate should I use?
Use 72.5 cents for miles driven from January 1 through June 30, 2026. Use 76 cents for miles driven from July 1 through December 31, 2026. The date of the drive controls it, not the date you get paid.
Should I count one-way or round-trip miles?
Always round trip for this calculator. You pay for the drive home whether or not it deducts. Counting one way understates your real cost by half.
Do reimbursements change my break-even mileage?
Only if the reimbursement exceeds what you had to spend. A required purchase reimbursed at cost is a wash. Any surplus above your out-of-pocket spend can be added to total pay.
Deciding which shops clear the bar in the first place is covered in how to choose profitable mystery shops.