Payroll Calculator

Gross Pay is the total amount earned before any taxes or deductions are removed. For hourly workers, it is built from two components: regular pay and overtime pay.

The formulas: Regular Pay = Hourly Rate × Regular Hours Overtime Pay = Hourly Rate × 1.5 × Overtime Hours Gross Pay = Regular Pay + Overtime Pay

The 1.5× multiplier (called “time and a half”) is the US federal minimum under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for all hours worked beyond 40 in a single workweek.
Some states go further. California requires overtime after 8 hours in a single day, and double time (2×) applies after 12 hours in a day or on a 7th consecutive workday.

Worked example: An employee earns $22/hour and works 46 hours this week.

• Regular Pay = $22 × 40 = $880
• Overtime Pay = $22 × 1.5 × 6 = $198
• Gross Pay = $880 + $198 = $1,078

Important: Gross pay is not take-home pay. From gross pay, the employer still withholds:

• Federal income tax (varies by bracket and W-4 allowances)
• State income tax (where applicable)
• Social Security: 6.2% up to the annual wage base
• Medicare: 1.45% (plus 0.9% for high earners)
• Any voluntary deductions (401k, health insurance, etc.)

Salaried workers divide their annual salary by the number of pay periods (26 for bi-weekly, 24 for semi-monthly, 12 for monthly) to find gross pay per period. Overtime rules may not apply to salaried exempt employees.

What the annual projection is really telling you

The monthly and annual figures below are one week multiplied out, nothing more. If the week you entered included overtime, the annual number assumes you work that overtime every week for a year, which almost nobody does. Enter a typical week rather than a busy one and the projection gets a lot more honest.

Two more things the projection glosses over, both deliberately. Social Security stops at the annual wage base, so a high earner’s real 6.2% line flattens partway through the year rather than running all twelve months. And Medicare adds another 0.9% above $200,000 for a single filer. Neither matters at ordinary hourly rates, and both do if the annual figure is climbing past six figures.