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.
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.
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.
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.
Every figure above is hand-checked: the worked example was recomputed independently of the calculator code, and tax figures track 2026 IRS limits. 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.