After-Tax Hourly Rate Calculator: Net Pay Per Hour (2026)
Calculate how much you actually take home per hour after tax. Enter your gross hourly rate and estimated tax rate to see your net hourly, daily, weekly, and yearly income.
On this page: Calculator · FAQs · Related calculators
For more precise results by location, use our Hourly Paycheck Tax Calculator , for a more detailed federal/FICA and state planning estimate.
Net hourly rate: $
Net daily income: $
Net weekly income: $
Net yearly income: $
Effective tax rate: %
This calculator provides an estimate only. Actual take-home pay may vary based on deductions, benefits, and tax rules.
How the After-Tax Hourly Rate Calculator Works
This calculator applies the effective tax rate you enter to your gross hourly wage. It is a planning shortcut, not a payroll-withholding engine. The same entered rate is used for the hourly, daily, weekly, and annual estimates, so the results stay internally consistent.
A useful starting point is your own year-to-date pay stub: divide income tax and payroll tax withheld by gross wages, then adjust if you expect your income or deductions to change materially. Federal income tax is progressive, while Social Security and Medicare have separate payroll-tax rules, so your top tax bracket is not the same thing as your effective total rate.
2026 benchmark: $20 per hour
At $20/hour for 40 hours per week and 52 weeks, gross annual pay is $41,600. Using the site's validated 2026 single-filer baseline, federal income tax plus employee FICA leaves about $35,606/year (about $17.12 per gross work hour) in Texas or Florida. The comparable California estimate, including California PIT withholding and 1.3% SDI, is about $34,185/year (about $16.44 per gross work hour).
Those are standardized examples, not promises about a paycheck. Benefits, 401(k) contributions, filing status, local taxes, credits, and other deductions can change actual take-home pay. For a detailed calculation, use the Texas, Florida, or California paycheck calculator.
Employee hourly rate vs contractor hourly rate
Contractors should not treat an employee's effective tax rate as interchangeable with their own. A self-employed person generally computes self-employment tax using 92.35% of net self-employment earnings and a 15.3% statutory SE-tax rate before wage-base and Additional Medicare Tax rules are considered. Business expenses, benefits, unpaid time, and estimated payments also matter. Use the after-tax self-employed calculator for that scenario.
2026 federal reference: IRS tax-year 2026 adjustments and IRS Publication 15.
After-tax hourly rate calculator: FAQs
How do I calculate my after-tax hourly rate?
Multiply your gross hourly rate by (1 minus your estimated effective tax rate). At a 25% effective rate, $20/hr × 0.75 = $15/hr net. The calculator above applies the same method to hourly, daily, weekly, and annual estimates.
What is take-home hourly pay?
Take-home hourly pay is a planning way to express net income per work hour after taxes and deductions. It is not necessarily the rate printed on a pay stub because payroll systems withhold taxes by pay period and may also deduct benefits, retirement contributions, or other items.
Is this hourly rate calculator accurate?
The arithmetic is exact for the effective rate you enter, but the tax rate itself is an estimate. Actual take-home pay depends on filing status, deductions, benefits, credits, local taxes, and other payroll items. Use a state-specific paycheck calculator when you want a bracket-based estimate.
Does this include state or provincial taxes?
It includes whatever you build into the effective rate you enter. If you want federal, state or provincial, payroll, and local taxes reflected, combine those into one planning rate rather than entering only your top income-tax bracket.
Can freelancers and contractors use this calculator?
Yes, as a simple planning tool, but contractors should use an effective rate appropriate to self-employment. The 15.3% statutory self-employment tax rate is generally applied after multiplying net self-employment earnings by 92.35%, subject to Social Security wage-base and Medicare rules. The dedicated self-employment calculator is a better starting point.
Know your hourly rate — file your taxes accurately
Hourly workers and contractors both need to file annual taxes. These filing options support common W-2 and self-employment tax situations:
TurboTax↗ — W-2 and freelance/contractor income filing
FreeTaxUSA↗ — free federal filing for W-2 hourly workers
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