$18 an Hour Is How Much a Year?
At 40 hours a week, $18 an hour is $37,440 a year before taxes — $3,120 a month, $1,440 every two weeks, $720 a week. After federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare, a single filer keeps about $32,263 in a state with no income tax and $31,605 in California. That is an after-tax rate of $15.51 per hour.
$18 an hour by hours worked
The $$37,440 figure assumes 2,080 paid hours — 40 hours a week for 52 weeks, the convention payroll systems and the Bureau of Labor Statistics use. Unpaid time off reduces it; paid holidays and vacation do not. Part-time schedules scale in a straight line:
| Hours / week | Weekly | Biweekly | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | $360 | $720 | $1,560 | $18,720 |
| 25 | $450 | $900 | $1,950 | $23,400 |
| 30 | $540 | $1,080 | $2,340 | $28,080 |
| 35 | $630 | $1,260 | $2,730 | $32,760 |
| 40 (full-time) | $720 | $1,440 | $3,120 | $37,440 |
Federal taxes on $37,440
For 2026 the standard deduction is $16,100 for a single filer, so $37,440 of wages becomes $21,340 of taxable income, which reaches the 12% federal bracket. Federal income tax comes to $2,313. Social Security takes 6.2% ($2,321) and Medicare 1.45% ($543). Total federal withholding: $5,177, leaving $32,263 — or $2,689 a month — before any state tax.
A married couple filing jointly on the same $37,440 keeps $34,052, $1,789 more, because the joint standard deduction is $32,200 and the brackets are twice as wide.
$18 an hour after taxes in every state (2026)
State income tax is where $37,440 starts to diverge. Nine states take nothing; Oregon takes the most at this income. Every row applies that state's real 2026 brackets and standard deduction for a single filer.
| # | State | State + local tax | Take-home | Monthly | Effective rate | After-tax / hr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alaska | $0 | $32,263 | $2,689 | 13.8% | $15.51 |
| 2 | Florida | $0 | $32,263 | $2,689 | 13.8% | $15.51 |
| 3 | Nevada | $0 | $32,263 | $2,689 | 13.8% | $15.51 |
| 4 | New Hampshire | $0 | $32,263 | $2,689 | 13.8% | $15.51 |
| 5 | North Dakota | $0 | $32,263 | $2,689 | 13.8% | $15.51 |
| 6 | South Dakota | $0 | $32,263 | $2,689 | 13.8% | $15.51 |
| 7 | Tennessee | $0 | $32,263 | $2,689 | 13.8% | $15.51 |
| 8 | Texas | $0 | $32,263 | $2,689 | 13.8% | $15.51 |
| 9 | Washington | $0 | $32,263 | $2,689 | 13.8% | $15.51 |
| 10 | Wyoming | $0 | $32,263 | $2,689 | 13.8% | $15.51 |
| 11 | Ohio | $313 | $31,950 | $2,662 | 14.7% | $15.36 |
| 12 | Arizona | $534 | $31,730 | $2,644 | 15.3% | $15.25 |
| 13 | New Jersey | $593 | $31,670 | $2,639 | 15.4% | $15.23 |
| 14 | South Carolina | $639 | $31,624 | $2,635 | 15.5% | $15.20 |
| 15 | New Mexico | $643 | $31,620 | $2,635 | 15.5% | $15.20 |
| 16 | California | $658 | $31,605 | $2,634 | 15.6% | $15.19 |
| 17 | Louisiana | $748 | $31,515 | $2,626 | 15.8% | $15.15 |
| 18 | Mississippi | $766 | $31,497 | $2,625 | 15.9% | $15.14 |
| 19 | Missouri | $800 | $31,463 | $2,622 | 16.0% | $15.13 |
| 20 | Iowa | $811 | $31,452 | $2,621 | 16.0% | $15.12 |
| 21 | Vermont | $835 | $31,428 | $2,619 | 16.1% | $15.11 |
| 22 | Colorado | $939 | $31,324 | $2,610 | 16.3% | $15.06 |
| 23 | North Carolina | $985 | $31,278 | $2,606 | 16.5% | $15.04 |
| 24 | Wisconsin | $994 | $31,269 | $2,606 | 16.5% | $15.03 |
| 25 | Rhode Island | $995 | $31,268 | $2,606 | 16.5% | $15.03 |
| 26 | Montana | $1,003 | $31,260 | $2,605 | 16.5% | $15.03 |
| 27 | West Virginia | $1,014 | $31,249 | $2,604 | 16.5% | $15.02 |
| 28 | Nebraska | $1,042 | $31,221 | $2,602 | 16.6% | $15.01 |
| 29 | Idaho | $1,131 | $31,132 | $2,594 | 16.8% | $14.97 |
| 30 | Pennsylvania | $1,149 | $31,114 | $2,593 | 16.9% | $14.96 |
| 31 | Kentucky | $1,193 | $31,070 | $2,589 | 17.0% | $14.94 |
| 32 | Minnesota | $1,203 | $31,060 | $2,588 | 17.0% | $14.93 |
| 33 | Oklahoma | $1,229 | $31,034 | $2,586 | 17.1% | $14.92 |
| 34 | Hawaii | $1,229 | $31,034 | $2,586 | 17.1% | $14.92 |
| 35 | Maine | $1,238 | $31,025 | $2,585 | 17.1% | $14.92 |
| 36 | Arkansas | $1,285 | $30,978 | $2,581 | 17.3% | $14.89 |
| 37 | Kansas | $1,289 | $30,974 | $2,581 | 17.3% | $14.89 |
| 38 | Georgia | $1,320 | $30,943 | $2,579 | 17.4% | $14.88 |
| 39 | Michigan | $1,345 | $30,918 | $2,577 | 17.4% | $14.86 |
| 40 | Delaware | $1,375 | $30,888 | $2,574 | 17.5% | $14.85 |
| 41 | Virginia | $1,407 | $30,856 | $2,571 | 17.6% | $14.83 |
| 42 | New York | $1,425 | $30,838 | $2,570 | 17.6% | $14.83 |
| 43 | Connecticut | $1,435 | $30,828 | $2,569 | 17.7% | $14.82 |
| 44 | Alabama | $1,516 | $30,747 | $2,562 | 17.9% | $14.78 |
| 45 | Massachusetts | $1,652 | $30,611 | $2,551 | 18.2% | $14.72 |
| 46 | Utah | $1,666 | $30,597 | $2,550 | 18.3% | $14.71 |
| 47 | Illinois | $1,712 | $30,551 | $2,546 | 18.4% | $14.69 |
| 48 | Indiana | $1,713 | $30,550 | $2,546 | 18.4% | $14.69 |
| 49 | Maryland | $2,589 | $29,674 | $2,473 | 20.7% | $14.27 |
| 50 | Oregon | $2,719 | $29,544 | $2,462 | 21.1% | $14.20 |
The gap between Alaska ($32,263) and Oregon ($29,544) is $2,719 a year at $18 an hour — $227 a month. Use the state comparison tool to put two specific states side by side.
Overtime at $18 an hour
Time-and-a-half on $18 is $27.00 an hour. Overtime is taxed as ordinary income — the 22% figure people quote is a withholding rate on supplemental pay, not a separate tax — so what you keep depends on your bracket. For tax years 2025 through 2028 the One Big Beautiful Bill Act also allows a federal deduction for the premium portion of qualified overtime pay (up to $12,500 for a single filer), which this table does not include; see the overtime tax calculator for the deduction-aware figure.
| Overtime / week | Extra gross / year | New annual gross | Extra take-home (fed + FICA) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 hours | $7,020 | $44,460 | +$5,641 |
| 10 hours | $14,040 | $51,480 | +$11,281 |
Is $18 an hour a good wage?
At $18 an hour you are at or above every state minimum wage and earn 2.5× the federal floor. The $37,440 annual figure is still under the roughly $62,000 a median full-time American worker earns, and about 45% of the $83,700 median household income — which usually means two earners. The 30%-of-gross rule puts a comfortable rent ceiling near $936 a month. Nearly all of this income falls in the 12% federal bracket, so each extra dollar earned keeps about 80 cents after federal tax and FICA in a no-income-tax state.
Every $1-an-hour raise adds $2,080 a year before tax — about $1,671 after federal tax and FICA at this income. Negotiating from $18 to $20 is therefore worth roughly $3,343 a year in your pocket, before state tax.