$16 an Hour Is How Much a Year?
Multiply $16 by the 2,080 hours in a standard full-time year (40 hours × 52 weeks) and you get $33,280 a year. Split across the calendar that's roughly $2,773 a month or $1,280 in each biweekly paycheck, gross. Hourly schedules vary more than salaried ones — at 25 hours a week you'd earn $20,800, while overtime hours at time-and-a-half ($24.00/hr) push the total the other way. The calculator below takes your actual hours and weeks; the sections after it cover part-time totals, taxes and comparable jobs.
$16 an hour breakdown
Prefer the other direction? See $32,000 a year is how much an hour, or use the full Salary Calculator.
$16 an hour part-time and overtime
Hourly pay scales with your schedule, so the "how much a year" answer depends on the hours you actually work. Here's $16 an hour across common weekly schedules (52 paid weeks), plus the overtime rate — most non-exempt workers earn at least time-and-a-half ($24.00/hr) past 40 hours a week under the FLSA.
| Hours per week | Weekly pay | Annual pay |
|---|---|---|
| 20 hrs | $320 | $16,640 |
| 25 hrs | $400 | $20,800 |
| 30 hrs | $480 | $24,960 |
| 35 hrs | $560 | $29,120 |
| 40 hrs (full-time) | $640 | $33,280 |
$16 an hour after taxes
Full-time at $16 an hour ($33,280 a year), estimated federal income tax is about $1,814 for a single filer taking the 2026 standard deduction — an effective rate of 5.4%, with the top dollar taxed in the 12% bracket. That leaves roughly $31,466 in federal take-home pay: about $2,622 a month, or an effective $15.13 an hour. Social Security and Medicare (FICA, about 7.65%) come out of every paycheck on top of that, and most states add income tax of their own — while nine (including Texas and Florida) charge none. Try other filing statuses in the Income Tax Calculator.
Federal income tax only (2026 brackets, standard deduction, full-time hours). Excludes FICA and state/local tax.
Jobs that pay around $16 an hour
These occupations have a national median wage closest to $16 an hour (full-time equivalent), per the Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS, May 2024). Actual pay varies widely by state, metro area and experience.
| Occupation | ≈ Median hourly | Median annual |
|---|---|---|
| Cashiers | $14.76 | $30,710 |
| Housekeepers | $16.08 | $33,450 |
| Retail salespersons | $16.70 | $34,730 |
| Home health aides | $16.78 | $34,900 |
| Restaurant cooks | $17.20 | $35,780 |
How $16/hr compares to nearby wages
| Hourly wage | Annual | Monthly | Federal take-home |
|---|---|---|---|
| $15 an hour | $31,200 | $2,600 | $29,636 |
| $17 an hour | $35,360 | $2,947 | $33,297 |
| $18 an hour | $37,440 | $3,120 | $35,127 |
| $16 an hour (this page) | $33,280 | $2,773 | $31,466 |
Take-home is federal income tax only (2026, single filer, standard deduction, full-time hours), before FICA and state tax.
Is $16 an hour good pay?
Measured against the U.S. middle, $16 an hour sits about 45% below the typical full-time worker's rate (roughly $28.85/hr, or $60,000 a year) — and well above the $7.25 federal minimum, though many states and cities set higher floors. For hourly workers the schedule matters as much as the rate: at $16/hr the difference between 30 and 40 scheduled hours is $8,320 a year. Taxes take their cut too — federal tax alone trims the effective rate to about $15.13, before FICA and state tax — so judge offers on net pay and guaranteed hours, not the headline number.