diff --git a/internal/paths/paths.go b/internal/paths/paths.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cc7b425
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/paths/paths.go
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+package paths
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+)
+
+// TmpoDir returns the base directory for tmpo's data. Normally this is
+// ~/.tmpo, but when the TMPO_DEV environment variable is set to "1" or
+// "true" a separate ~/.tmpo-dev directory is used so development runs do
+// not touch production data.
+func TmpoDir() (string, error) {
+	home, err := os.UserHomeDir()
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to get home directory: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	dir := ".tmpo"
+	if devMode := os.Getenv("TMPO_DEV"); devMode == "1" || devMode == "true" {
+		dir = ".tmpo-dev"
+	}
+
+	return filepath.Join(home, dir), nil
+}
diff --git a/internal/paths/paths_test.go b/internal/paths/paths_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..932eacd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/paths/paths_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+package paths
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+func TestTmpoDir(t *testing.T) {
+	home, err := os.UserHomeDir()
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+	t.Run("uses .tmpo by default", func(t *testing.T) {
+		t.Setenv("TMPO_DEV", "")
+
+		dir, err := TmpoDir()
+		assert.NoError(t, err)
+		assert.Equal(t, filepath.Join(home, ".tmpo"), dir)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("uses .tmpo-dev when TMPO_DEV=1", func(t *testing.T) {
+		t.Setenv("TMPO_DEV", "1")
+
+		dir, err := TmpoDir()
+		assert.NoError(t, err)
+		assert.Equal(t, filepath.Join(home, ".tmpo-dev"), dir)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("uses .tmpo-dev when TMPO_DEV=true", func(t *testing.T) {
+		t.Setenv("TMPO_DEV", "true")
+
+		dir, err := TmpoDir()
+		assert.NoError(t, err)
+		assert.Equal(t, filepath.Join(home, ".tmpo-dev"), dir)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("uses .tmpo for other TMPO_DEV values", func(t *testing.T) {
+		t.Setenv("TMPO_DEV", "0")
+
+		dir, err := TmpoDir()
+		assert.NoError(t, err)
+		assert.Equal(t, filepath.Join(home, ".tmpo"), dir)
+	})
+}
diff --git a/internal/settings/global_config.go b/internal/settings/global_config.go
index 2c83488..1579177 100644
--- a/internal/settings/global_config.go
+++ b/internal/settings/global_config.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/DylanDevelops/tmpo/internal/currency"
 	"github.com/DylanDevelops/tmpo/internal/fsperm"
+	"github.com/DylanDevelops/tmpo/internal/paths"
 	"go.yaml.in/yaml/v3"
 )
 
@@ -33,14 +34,9 @@ func DefaultGlobalConfig() *GlobalConfig {
 // the TMPO_DEV environment variable is set to 1 or true, a
 // developer-specific config path is returned.
 func GetGlobalConfigPath() (string, error) {
-	home, err := os.UserHomeDir()
+	tmpoDir, err := paths.TmpoDir()
 	if err != nil {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to get home directory: %w", err)
-	}
-
-	tmpoDir := filepath.Join(home, ".tmpo")
-	if devMode := os.Getenv("TMPO_DEV"); devMode == "1" || devMode == "true" {
-		tmpoDir = filepath.Join(home, ".tmpo-dev")
+		return "", err
 	}
 
 	return filepath.Join(tmpoDir, "config.yaml"), nil
diff --git a/internal/settings/projects.go b/internal/settings/projects.go
index ed61450..79f8243 100644
--- a/internal/settings/projects.go
+++ b/internal/settings/projects.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/DylanDevelops/tmpo/internal/fsperm"
+	"github.com/DylanDevelops/tmpo/internal/paths"
 	"go.yaml.in/yaml/v3"
 )
 
@@ -25,14 +26,9 @@ type ProjectsRegistry struct {
 
 // GetProjectsPath returns the path to the global projects registry file
 func GetProjectsPath() (string, error) {
-	home, err := os.UserHomeDir()
+	tmpoDir, err := paths.TmpoDir()
 	if err != nil {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to get home directory: %w", err)
-	}
-
-	tmpoDir := filepath.Join(home, ".tmpo")
-	if devMode := os.Getenv("TMPO_DEV"); devMode == "1" || devMode == "true" {
-		tmpoDir = filepath.Join(home, ".tmpo-dev")
+		return "", err
 	}
 
 	return filepath.Join(tmpoDir, "projects.yaml"), nil
diff --git a/internal/storage/db.go b/internal/storage/db.go
index a96afa8..2e61def 100644
--- a/internal/storage/db.go
+++ b/internal/storage/db.go
@@ -3,12 +3,12 @@ package storage
 import (
 	"database/sql"
 	"fmt"
-	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/DylanDevelops/tmpo/internal/fsperm"
+	"github.com/DylanDevelops/tmpo/internal/paths"
 	_ "modernc.org/sqlite"
 )
 
@@ -17,15 +17,7 @@ type Database struct {
 }
 
 func getTmpoDir() (string, error) {
-	homeDir, err := os.UserHomeDir()
-	if err != nil {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to get home directory: %w", err)
-	}
-	tmpoDir := filepath.Join(homeDir, ".tmpo")
-	if devMode := os.Getenv("TMPO_DEV"); devMode == "1" || devMode == "true" {
-		tmpoDir = filepath.Join(homeDir, ".tmpo-dev")
-	}
-	return tmpoDir, nil
+	return paths.TmpoDir()
 }
 
 func Initialize() (*Database, error) {