Gross Pay Calculator

Calculate earnings before deductions

Gross pay is the starting point of a paycheck. Enter the hours that are paid at your regular rate, any hours to be paid at time-and-a-half, and how often this set of hours occurs. The calculator multiplies the hours by their respective rates and adds them. Nothing is deducted for federal income tax, state income tax, Social Security, Medicare, insurance, or retirement contributions.

For a biweekly pay period, put in the sum of regular hours across both weeks. Enter qualifying overtime hours separately. Under federal law, overtime is generally evaluated week by week for covered, nonexempt employees; a 45-hour week followed by a 35-hour week may produce five overtime hours even though the two-week total is 80 hours.

Annual estimates and variable schedules

To estimate annual gross earnings, the calculator multiplies a single pay period's result by 52 weekly periods, 26 biweekly periods, 24 semimonthly periods, or 12 monthly periods. That assumes the same regular hours and overtime every period. If your schedule changes during the year, use a representative check as a rough planning figure or total the actual gross amounts from your pay stubs instead.

A full-time worker at $22 per hour for 40 hours a week earns $880 regular gross per week. Over 52 paid weeks, that becomes $45,760 before overtime. Paid leave can still be included in regular gross pay, while unpaid leave lowers the real annual amount. A yearly estimate also may not include raises or changes in overtime availability.

Reading your pay stub

Many pay stubs list gross pay near the top and then show itemized deductions below it. The deposit to your bank account is net pay, which is usually lower. A bonus, commission, shift differential, holiday premium, or taxable benefit may increase gross pay but is not captured by this hourly-only tool. Add those separately when reconciling with a stub.

Use the worked example to check your arithmetic: 80 hours at $22 earns $1,760. Four overtime hours at $33 each add $132. Their sum is $1,892. If your stub differs, check whether the overtime hours belong in a different workweek, whether your pay rate changed, and whether a shift differential is included.

If you are salaried rather than hourly, begin with your annual salary and divide by the pay periods in the year to find gross pay per check. Do not assume that the 1.5 multiplier applies merely because you worked extra hours; eligibility depends on your employment classification and the applicable federal and state rules.

The pay frequency controls only the annual projection, not the earnings from the hours you enter. If you change from Weekly to Biweekly without changing the hours, the current-check total stays the same while the annual projection changes. For a meaningful comparison, enter 40 regular hours for a typical weekly check or 80 regular hours for a typical two-week check. Count overtime according to each actual workweek before adding it to the pay-period total.