Number Of Minutes You Work For That Cup Of Coffee

I love a good cup of coffee, and I'm willing to pay for it. But I never stopped to think or translate how much of my workday it takes to pay for my obsession. Do you know the number of minutes you work for that cup of coffee?

I found out in a story by the folks at Coffeeness, who conducted a nationwide study using Starbucks as their coffee standard. Even though Starbucks is corporate, their prices are not standard. They vary from state to state.

Take for instance Washington D.C. where a cup of black coffee costs more than almost anywhere else. However, people who live there have a higher average hourly wage. So, when you do the math, that Starbucks coffee in D.C. becomes one of the most affordable in the nation.

Coffeeness calculated the D.C. coffee takes 5.67 minutes of work to pay for. We're not quite as lucky in Florida. It takes us 5.93 minutes for a Starbucks basic brew. Longer for the fancy coffee drinks.

To come up with the results, researchers calculated the average price of a Starbucks black coffee in each state. Next, they found the average hourly earnings per state as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Finally, they did the math.

Using this formula, Hawaii (7.89 minutes) is the most expensive and Nebraska (3.88 minutes) the least when it comes to working time to pay for coffee. Time well spent if you are a coffee lover.