How the Hourly Wage Calculator works
This tool converts a straight hourly rate into the gross pay figures most people actually plan around: what a paycheck looks like this week, what lands in a typical month, and what the job pays over a full year — including any overtime you regularly work and any unpaid weeks off.
The formula
Regular pay for the week is the hourly rate multiplied by regular hours. If you work overtime, it is paid at a multiplier of the base rate — commonly 1.5x (time-and-a-half) or 2x (double time):
Weekly gross pay = (rate × regular hours) + (rate × overtime multiplier × overtime hours)
To annualize, multiply weekly gross pay by the number of weeks you are actually paid for in a year — 52 minus any unpaid weeks off for vacation, holidays, or gaps between jobs:
Annual gross pay = weekly gross pay × (52 − unpaid weeks off)
Monthly gross pay divides the annual figure by 12. The calculator also reports an effective hourly rate — total weekly gross pay divided by total hours worked — which is useful for comparing an overtime-heavy schedule against a flat-rate job with no overtime.
Worked example
At $25/hour, 40 regular hours, 5 hours of overtime at 1.5x, and 2 unpaid weeks off: regular pay is $1,000, overtime pay is 5 × $25 × 1.5 = $187.50, so weekly gross pay is $1,187.50. Paid for 50 weeks a year, that's $59,375 annually and about $4,947.92 a month. The effective hourly rate across all 45 hours worked is $1,187.50 / 45 ≈ $26.39/hour.
Overtime rules to keep in mind
Under the U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), most non-exempt employees must be paid at least 1.5x their regular rate for hours worked beyond 40 in a single workweek. Some states set stricter daily-overtime rules, and some employers voluntarily pay double time on holidays or after a higher threshold. Set the overtime multiplier and hours to match your actual pay policy — the formula itself does not assume any particular jurisdiction's rules.
Gross pay versus take-home pay
Every figure this calculator produces is gross pay — pay before federal, state, and local income taxes, FICA (Social Security and Medicare), and any benefit or retirement deductions. Take-home pay is always lower than gross pay and depends on your withholdings, tax bracket, and location, so use these results for budgeting the top-line number, not for predicting the exact amount that lands in your bank account.