Tax

Calculate Your Hourly Take-Home Pay

Built by Kevin Glover · @gloverbuilds · Verified formula

Enter hourly rate, hours worked, and deductions to see your gross pay, tax withholding, and net paycheck.

📅 Updated April 2026 ✅ Formula verified 📖 4 min read 🆓 Free · No sign-up

In this article

Understanding Your Paycheck
Overtime Rules

Understanding Your Paycheck

Your take-home pay is significantly less than your gross pay. From a $22/hour wage working 40 hours bi-weekly, your $1,760 gross becomes roughly $1,350-1,450 after deductions. Federal income tax (10-37% based on bracket), FICA (7.65% — Social Security 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%), and state income tax (0-13% depending on state) all reduce your check.

Overtime Rules

Federal law (FLSA) requires 1.5x your hourly rate for hours over 40 per week for non-exempt employees. At $22/hour, overtime pays $33/hour. Some states (California) also require overtime for hours over 8 in a single day. Overtime pay is taxed at your normal rate — the higher withholding on overtime checks is not a "penalty," it is just matching the annualized tax bracket.

⚡ CalcWolf Insight

Hourly paycheck calculator gets 55K+ monthly searches. Every hourly worker in America wants to know their take-home pay. The search is especially common on payday and tax season.

Frequently asked questions

How much tax is taken from my paycheck?▾

Approximately 22-35% of gross pay depending on income, filing status, and state. Breakdown: federal income tax (10-22% for most earners), FICA (7.65%), and state tax (0-13%). Use the calculator above for your specific situation.

Why is so much taken from my overtime check?▾

Overtime is not taxed at a higher rate. However, your employer withholds at a rate assuming you earn that amount every pay period — annualizing it into a higher bracket. The excess withholding is refunded when you file your tax return.

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Kevin Glover · @gloverbuilds

Founder, CalcWolf · GLVTS · Blickr

All formulas sourced from primary references — IRS publications, peer-reviewed research, and official standards. Results are tested against independent reference calculators before publishing. Rates and brackets updated when official sources change. Editorial policy →