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Sliding Scale and Equity-Adjusted Cost Self Assessment

About this calculator

Sliding scale pricing and equity-adjusted cost splits work because people with more financial access pay more, creating resources so people with less access can pay less, thus spreading the impact of a cost more equitably.

How to use this tool

We all know — “more” and “less” are relative — everyone’s reality and sense of what counts as “enough” is shaped by their own scarcity, experiences, and starting point.

This tool asks you 30 questions in four sections, each of which scores you up or down a resource access scale. Answer honestly about your financial and socioeconomic reality: family assets and debts, earned income, education, and the ways privilege or roadblocks show up in your life.

  • Takes about 5–15 minutes
  • 30 questions, 4 sections
  • No login, no tracking

What you get

This calculator won’t tell you exactly what to pay. At the end, you’ll get a score and a place on an access continuum — from Constricted to Abundant — that you can use to decide where you land on any sliding scale or group resource-sharing situation you encounter.

Privacy: This tool does not save or transmit your answers or data. Nothing you enter leaves your browser. Screenshot the results or show them to others, to share.

Sending some love

There’s no wrong answers, and this stuff is hard, especially if you haven’t dug into it before. Having resource access isn’t shameful, and lacking it isn’t a personal failure. This is an invitation to look at your resources (or lack of them) clearly, honestly, and generationally — and to place yourself accordingly, so you can show up in community and for sliding scale services or events informed and authentic.

This calculator is based on Hadassah Damien’s years using sliding scales and work advising on these and equitable cost splits. It builds on many variations and people’s ideas. Learn more, and download a visual guide in English or Spanish, at Sliding Scale: Why, How, and Sorting Out Who.

0 of 30 answered

Answer honestly — toggle “true for me” only for statements that apply to you

Leave a toggle off if a statement doesn’t apply or isn’t true for you. There’s no penalty for leaving something off — it simply won’t count toward your score.

Family, Assets & Inheritance Section 1 of 4

Statements about family wealth, assets, and financial safety nets.

My family has few assets, or no assets I could ever access.
Not true for me
I will inherit debt, or I know I will not inherit money or assets from family.
Not true for me
I directly support family members or other dependents financially.
Not true for me
My family has assets I could access in an emergency (like a paid-off house, investments, or retirement accounts).
Not true for me
A family member would give me money upon request — even if the conversation was hard — if I needed it.
Not true for me
I have received, or regularly receive, money from family (down payment help, monthly support, an inheritance).
Not true for me
Earned Assets, Education & Debt Section 2 of 4

Statements about your own education, career, income, and debt.

I have debt (student loans, credit cards, medical, or other) I cannot pay off in full each month.
Not true for me
I was among the first in my family to attend college, and/or I took on loans for education in my current field.
Not true for me
I need to save money just to have any financial safety net or retirement at all.
Not true for me
I received undergraduate and/or graduate education that I didn’t need loans or outside work to pay for.
Not true for me
I have savings that would cover an emergency like unemployment for a few months.
Not true for me
My career is stable and moving forward, and/or someone in my family showed me how careers and professional paths work.
Not true for me
I am currently employed, making over $60,000 a year.
Not true for me
I am currently employed, making over $125,000 a year.
Not true for me
Privilege, Body & Identity Section 3 of 4

Statements about how disability, immigration status, race, gender, or age affect your income.

My disability and/or mental health negatively impacts my ability to work or earn income.
Not true for me
My immigration status negatively impacts my income.
Not true for me
My race, ethnicity, or skin color negatively impacts my access to income.
Not true for me
My gender(s), gender presentation, or perceived sexuality negatively impacts my access to income.
Not true for me
My age negatively impacts my income.
Not true for me
Nothing systemic negatively impacts my income.
Not true for me
I have high earning power — because of education, class background, or other privilege — even if I’m not currently using it.
Not true for me
Income & Time Section 4 of 4

Statements about your day-to-day income, costs, and how you spend your time.

I struggle to cover my basic needs (food, housing, transportation) regularly.
Not true for me
I have non-optional health or wellness costs not covered by insurance that impact my resources.
Not true for me
I feel I need to work more than 40 hours/week, take extra shifts, or work multiple jobs for financial reasons.
Not true for me
I care for a dependent, or do community/activist work, part-time and unpaid.
Not true for me
I can cover my basic needs plus extras regularly (eating out, travel, etc.) without financial strain.
Not true for me
I choose to work part-time or for less pay because I have external financial support or need less money.
Not true for me
I can access wealth I don’t have to labor for — meaningful (over $100), regular payouts from unearned assets.
Not true for me
I spend money without really paying attention and even if my bank account gets low, I have enough most months and don’t really worry about it.
Not true for me
I live mostly off unearned income like an inheritance, trust, or a higher-earning partner’s income.
Not true for me

Understanding the Results

Constricted

Your answers point to current big roadblocks to financial access — debt, caregiving, income impacted by your body, identity, or circumstances. If you’re using this to place yourself on a sliding scale, the bottom end is built for exactly this. You paying less is the system working as designed.

Low

You’re carrying real constraints alongside a little bit of access. This is a common place to land toward the lower half of the scale. Trust what you know about your own finances more than any single number — if something here doesn’t sit right, it’s fine to adjust up or down.

Middle

Your answers show a mix of access and constraint that lands you around the middle — the range most sliding scales are built to average out to. Paying the standard rate here helps sustain whatever you’re paying for.

Comfortable

Your answers point to more financial access than constraint — some cushion, some stability, maybe some unearned resources. You paying in the upper half helps make room for people carrying more roadblocks.

Abundant

Your answers point to substantial financial access — through family resources, education you didn’t have to pay for yourself, unearned income, or income unaffected by identity-based roadblocks. Paying at the top of a scale or substantially more than others is likely right for you, and what makes it possible for the bottom of the scale to exist.