Hourly Paycheck Calculator
Built for people whose hours change. Enter your rate, your regular hours and any overtime at time and a half or double time, and this calculator works out gross pay, every withholding line and the take-home figure for that specific paycheck.
Tax year 2026 · Updated 2026-08-29 · Federal, state and local withholding · Free, no sign-up
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How hourly pay is taxed
Hourly wages are taxed exactly like salary — there is no separate rate. What feels different is the volatility. The withholding formula annualizes whatever you earned in that pay period, so a fortnight with sixteen hours of overtime is treated as though every fortnight looked like that. The result is a higher withholding rate on that particular check, which reverses over the rest of the year and comes back at filing.
This is the single most common misunderstanding about overtime. Overtime is not taxed at a penalty rate. It is withheld at a rate calculated as if the overtime were permanent.
Overtime, double time and the new federal deduction
The Fair Labor Standards Act requires non-exempt employees to be paid at least one and a half times their regular rate for hours worked beyond forty in a workweek. A handful of states — California, Alaska, Nevada and Colorado — also require overtime after a set number of hours in a single day.
For 2026 the distinction between the whole overtime payment and the premium portion suddenly matters. Federal law now allows a deduction of up to $12,500 ($25,000 filing jointly) for qualified overtime, but only the extra half in time-and-a-half counts — not the full overtime check. On $30 an hour, ten overtime hours pay $450 but only $150 of that is the deductible premium. The tips and overtime calculator works out what that is worth to you, and the overtime calculator breaks a single week down hour by hour.
What common hourly rates pay after tax
Full-time hourly work is conventionally 2,080 paid hours a year — forty hours across fifty-two weeks. These figures assume that schedule with no overtime, a single filer and no pre-tax deductions, in a state with no income tax.
| Hourly rate | Gross per year | Total tax | Take-home per year | Take-home per hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $15.00/hr | $31,200 | $3,951 | $27,249 | $13.10 |
| $18.00/hr | $37,440 | $5,177 | $32,263 | $15.51 |
| $20.00/hr | $41,600 | $5,994 | $35,606 | $17.12 |
| $25.00/hr | $52,000 | $8,038 | $43,962 | $21.14 |
| $30.00/hr | $62,400 | $10,082 | $52,318 | $25.15 |
| $35.00/hr | $72,800 | $12,755 | $60,045 | $28.87 |
| $45.00/hr | $93,600 | $18,922 | $74,678 | $35.90 |
| $60.00/hr | $124,800 | $28,233 | $96,567 | $46.43 |
The effective hourly figure in the last column is the number worth carrying in your head when you are deciding whether an extra shift is worth taking.
Unpaid breaks, partial weeks and rounding
Federal law does not require meal breaks, but where an employer provides an unpaid break of thirty minutes or more it does not count as hours worked. Short rest breaks of five to twenty minutes are compensable and must be paid. If your employer rounds time to the nearest quarter hour, the rounding must be neutral over time rather than always in the employer's favour.
The timecard calculator totals daily hours, subtracts unpaid breaks and applies the forty-hour overtime threshold before running the tax calculation, which is the closest match to how a weekly stub is actually built.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate hourly pay after taxes?
Multiply your rate by regular hours, add overtime hours at 1.5 times the rate, subtract any pre-tax deductions, then apply federal withholding from your W-4, 6.2% Social Security, 1.45% Medicare and your state and local income tax. The calculator above does all of it and shows each line.
Why does overtime get taxed so much?
It does not have a special rate. Your employer's payroll system annualizes the pay period, so a check containing overtime looks like a much larger annual salary and is withheld at that higher rate. The over-withholding comes back as a refund when you file.
How many hours is full time?
The Fair Labor Standards Act does not define full time — employers do. For benefits purposes the Affordable Care Act treats 30 hours a week as full time, while payroll conventions generally use 40 hours a week or 2,080 hours a year.
Do I get overtime after 8 hours in a day?
Under federal law, no — overtime is triggered by hours over 40 in a workweek. California, Alaska, Nevada and Colorado apply daily overtime rules on top of that.
How much is $20 an hour a year after taxes?
About $35,606 a year for a full-time single filer in a state with no income tax, from $41,600 of gross pay. In a state with income tax it lands between roughly $32,504 and $35,606.