Overtime Pay Calculator

How time-and-a-half works

Under the US Fair Labor Standards Act, covered non-exempt employees earn 1.5× their regular rate for hours past 40 in a week — so a $25 rate becomes a $37.50 overtime rate, and each overtime hour is worth half as much again as a straight-time hour. This calculator applies exactly that: overtime pay = hourly rate × 1.5 × overtime hours, added on top of the regular week. Salaried exempt workers are generally outside this rule, and some states add their own triggers (California requires overtime past 8 hours in a day), so confirm which regime covers you before treating the output as a pay stub.

Formula: overtime rate = hourly rate × 1.5; weekly total = (rate × regular hours) + (rate × 1.5 × overtime hours); annual total = weekly total × weeks per year.

Time-and-a-half at common hourly rates

Most searches behind this page are one rate and one question — what is time-and-a-half on my pay? The table below answers the six rates workers ask about most, each paired with what five overtime hours cost at that rate. Find your row, then run your exact hours through the calculator above.

A $30 rate at straight time is $1,200 for a forty-hour week ($30 × 40) and $62,400 across 52 weeks — the overtime rows above stack on top of that base whenever extra hours clear the weekly threshold.

Why overtime punches above its weight

Five overtime hours a week is only 12.5% more time, yet at the defaults it produces $9,750 a year — nearly 19% above the $52,000 base. That leverage is why hourly workers comparing offers should always ask how much overtime is genuinely available: a $22-an-hour role with steady overtime routinely out-earns a $25-an-hour role without it. Our $25 an hour guide walks the full $61,750 year, and the $40 an hour guide prices a 45-hour week at $98,800.

Overtime is taxed like ordinary income

There is no special "overtime tax rate" — extra pay is taxed as ordinary income at your marginal bracket, the same as a raise of the same size. Paychecks can look over-withheld because payroll systems annualize a big week as if every week paid that much, but the actual liability follows the annual total and any over-withholding comes back as a refund. For the take-home on your own numbers, run the weekly total through our tax set-aside calculator.

Worked example: $30 an hour with 8 overtime hours

Take figures different from the defaults: a $30 rate with 8 overtime hours a week. The overtime rate is $30 × 1.5 = $45 an hour. The regular week pays 40 × $30 = $1,200; overtime adds 8 × $45 = $360; the week totals $1,560. Over 52 weeks that is $1,560 × 52 = $81,120 a year — $18,720 above the $62,400 straight-time base (40 × $30 × 52). Eight steady extra hours move a $30-an-hour worker past what $39 an hour pays at straight time ($39 × 2,080 = $81,120 exactly), which is why the overtime question belongs in every offer comparison.

Worked example: $18 an hour with 5 overtime hours

Same arithmetic one rung down, since $18-an-hour roles generate a steady stream of time-and-a-half questions. The overtime rate is $18 × 1.5 = $27 an hour. The straight week pays 40 × $18 = $720; five overtime hours add 5 × $27 = $135; the week totals $855. Across 52 weeks that is $855 × 52 = $44,460 a year — $7,020 above the $37,440 straight-time base (40 × $18 × 52). At this rate the overtime premium alone ($135 a week) nearly covers a modest grocery run every single week, which is the concrete way to weigh a lower-rate offer with real overtime against a higher rate without it.

Freelancers: price extra hours the same way

No law grants contractors time-and-a-half, but the economics still apply: rush work, weekend work, and over-scope hours should be quoted at a premium or they silently reprice your whole engagement downward. A practical rule is 1.5× your effective hourly rate for deadline-driven extras — the same multiple employees get by statute. Build the base rate from your income target with our hourly rate calculator, convert any day-rate quotes with the day rate converter, and gross employment comparisons up properly with the contract rate converter.

When the rate itself is complicated

Not every paycheck has one clean hourly rate. Workers with two different rates in the same week — say $24 an hour on weekdays and $28 on weekends — are owed overtime on a blended weighted average, not on either rate alone: total straight-time earnings divided by total hours, times 0.5 for each overtime hour. Shift differentials, non-discretionary bonuses, and piece-rate earnings all fold into the regular rate the same way before the 1.5 multiple applies, which is why the calculator's single-rate math is a starting estimate for anyone whose pay varies within the week. Salaried non-exempt workers convert first (weekly salary ÷ 40, or ÷ actual hours depending on the arrangement) and then apply the same multiple. If any of these describe your pay, treat this page's output as the floor of the conversation with payroll, not the final answer.

Sources

Overtime mechanics above follow the federal time-and-a-half rule for covered non-exempt workers; state daily-overtime rules (notably California's) can add triggers beyond the weekly 40. When overtime forms a large share of pay, verify your classification and the current thresholds rather than relying on a rule of thumb.

The time-and-a-half rows on this page were recomputed by hand under the stated overtime rule, independently of the calculator. How we check every page.

Related calculators

Overtime grows the paycheck; these tools decide what it is worth: the hourly rate calculator builds a rate from your income target, the contract rate converter translates salaries into freelance equivalents, and the tax set-aside calculator holds back the right share of every enlarged check. The annual math behind steady extra hours is worked rung by rung in our $25 an hour guide.