$15 an Hour Is How Much a Year?
$15 an hour is $31,200 a year before taxes. That assumes 40 hours a week for 52 weeks, or 2,080 hours. It’s $2,600 a month, or $1,200 every two weeks. A single filer in a state with no income tax keeps about $27,249 a year after 2026 federal income tax and FICA.
$15.00 × 40 hours × 52 weeks. Estimated take-home: $27,249 (single filer, 2026).
| Per | Gross | Est. take-home |
|---|---|---|
| Year | $31,200.00 | $27,249.20 |
| Month | $2,600.00 | $2,270.77 |
| Biweekly | $1,200.00 | $1,048.05 |
| Week | $600.00 | $524.02 |
| Day (8 hrs) | $120.00 | $104.80 |
$15 an hour by pay period
| Pay period | Gross | Est. take-home (no state tax) |
|---|---|---|
| Year | $31,200.00 | $27,249.20 |
| Month | $2,600.00 | $2,270.77 |
| Semimonthly | $1,300.00 | $1,135.38 |
| Biweekly | $1,200.00 | $1,048.05 |
| Week | $600.00 | $524.02 |
| Day (8 hours) | $120.00 | $104.80 |
| Hour | $15.00 | $13.10 |
If you work fewer hours
| Hours per week | Annual pay | Monthly pay |
|---|---|---|
| 40 | $31,200 | $2,600 |
| 37.5 | $29,250 | $2,438 |
| 35 | $27,300 | $2,275 |
| 30 | $23,400 | $1,950 |
| 20 | $15,600 | $1,300 |
How the math works
Annual pay = hourly wage × hours per week × weeks per year. Here: $15 × 40 × 52 = $31,200. Paid holidays and paid vacation don’t change the result. Unpaid weeks off do. Two unpaid weeks cut the total to $30,000. That’s $1,200 gone.
Estimated 2026 taxes, step by step
- Taxable income: $31,200 − $16,100 standard deduction = $15,100.
- Federal income tax by bracket: 10% × $12,400 = $1,240.00; 12% × $2,700 = $324.00. Total $1,564.00; your top (marginal) rate is 12%.
- Social Security: 6.2% × $31,200 = $1,934.40.
- Medicare: 1.45% × $31,200 = $452.40.
- Take-home before state tax: $31,200 − $1,564.00 − $2,386.80 = $27,249 (12.66% effective rate).
Take-home pay in 5 states
State income tax moves take-home more than anything else. The gross is the same $31,200 in every row. The filer is single, and the federal rules are 2026 rules. Only the state changes.
| State | State tax + payroll | Take-home / year | / month | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | $0 | $27,249 | $2,271 | No state income tax |
| Florida | $0 | $27,249 | $2,271 | No state income tax |
| Pennsylvania | $980 | $26,270 | $2,189 | Flat 3.07% + 0.07% UI (local earned income tax not included) |
| New York | $1,254 | $25,995 | $2,166 | 2026 rates with high-income recapture, PFL and SDI (NYC tax not included) |
| California | $652 | $26,598 | $2,216 | Latest published FTB brackets + 1.3% SDI |
What $15 an hour means
At $31,200 a year, you earn 2.1× the federal minimum wage. You also earn 52% below the typical full-time U.S. worker. That gap is real. Budgets are tight at this pay in most metro areas.
Here’s something people miss. Your federal income tax is about $1,564 a year. Your Social Security and Medicare tax is about $2,387. In other words, FICA takes more than federal income tax at this pay. That’s not a small detail. The standard deduction shields a big share of your wages from income tax. It doesn’t shield anything from FICA.
- Versus the federal minimum wage: $7.25 an hour full time is $15,080 a year. This pay is 2.07× that.
- Versus the typical worker: median weekly earnings for full-time workers were $1,251 in Q2 2026 (BLS). This pay is $600 a week.
- Rent (30% rule): up to about $780 a month. That’s 30% of $2,600 gross monthly pay. Many landlords use the same line: income of about 3× the rent.
- 401(k): put 5% ($1,560 a year) into a traditional 401(k), and your federal income tax drops by about $187. That’s your 12% marginal rate at work. The 2026 employee limit is $24,500 (IRS Notice 2025-67).
Nearby hourly wages
| Hourly | Per year | Per month | Take-home / year |
|---|---|---|---|
| $15 | $31,200 | $2,600 | $27,249 |
| $20 | $41,600 | $3,467 | $35,606 |
| $25 | $52,000 | $4,333 | $43,962 |
| $30 | $62,400 | $5,200 | $52,318 |
Frequently asked questions
How much is $15 an hour biweekly?
$15 an hour is $1,200.00 every two weeks before taxes. That’s 80 hours × $15. A single filer in a state with no income tax takes home about $1,048.05 per paycheck after 2026 federal tax and FICA.
How much is $15 an hour after taxes?
About $27,249 a year, or $2,271 a month, for a single filer in Texas or Florida in 2026. That takes out $1,564 of federal income tax and $2,387 of Social Security and Medicare. California is different. State income tax and SDI cut take-home to about $26,598. That’s $652 less a year, or $54 a month.
Is $15 an hour good pay?
It works out to $600 a week. The BLS median for full-time workers was $1,251 a week in Q2 2026. So $15 an hour is 52% below the middle. The national median is one benchmark. Local rent is the other, and it often matters more.
What tax bracket is $15 an hour in?
The 12% bracket. After the $16,100 standard deduction, your taxable income is $15,100. $2,700 of it is taxed at 12%. The rest is taxed at lower rates. So your overall federal rate is only 5%.
Sources and assumptions
These are estimates. They assume a single filer with W-2 wages only and the 2026 standard deduction. They assume no pre-tax deductions, like a 401(k) or health insurance, and no credits. Your real withholding depends on your W-4. This is not tax advice.
- IRS — 2026 tax inflation adjustments (Rev. Proc. 2025-32)
- SSA — 2026 COLA fact sheet ($184,500 Social Security wage base)
- IRS — Topic 560, Additional Medicare Tax
- BLS — Usual Weekly Earnings, Q2 2026
- U.S. Department of Labor — Federal minimum wage
- California FTB — 2025 tax rate schedules, EDD — SDI rate
- New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, Pennsylvania Department of Revenue
Related calculators
Updated: October 2, 2026 · Sources and methodology