$16 an Hour Is How Much a Year? (2026)
$16/hour converted to every pay period
Yearly
$33,280
Monthly
$2,773
Biweekly
$1,280
Weekly
$640
Daily (8h)
$128
The math: $16 × 40 hours × 52 weeks = 33,280. Working 2,080 hours a year, every $1/hour of wage adds $2,080 to annual pay.
Who earns $16 an hour, and what it buys in 2026
At $16 an hour you are earning almost exactly what the lowest-paid tenth of full-time American workers earn. The BLS weekly earnings survey for the second quarter of 2026 puts the 10th percentile at $642 a week, which is $16.05 an hour on a 40-hour schedule. Cashiers, 3.1 million of them, have a median of $15.83; bartenders $16.51 before tips; dishwashers $16.73; childcare workers $16.82; hotel desk clerks $16.86. These are the jobs where $16 is normal pay rather than a raise.
Four states have minimums at or just above this rate: Hawaii, New York (outside the New York City area) and Rhode Island at $16.00, and California at $16.90 for every employer regardless of size. Connecticut is at $16.94. Work a $16 job in San Francisco or Hartford and you are legally underpaid; work it in Texas or Georgia and you are earning $8.75 above the state floor.
The annual figure, $33,280, sits below the $35,568 salary test for the federal overtime exemption, so a salaried $16-an-hour-equivalent worker cannot legally be classified as exempt and must be paid time and a half ($24.00 an hour) past 40 hours. Thirty hours a week at this rate is $24,960 a year, and because the Affordable Care Act treats 30 hours as full-time for employer coverage, a large employer that keeps you at 30 hours still has to offer health insurance. Cut to 29 and that obligation disappears, which is exactly why so many retail and food service schedules hover just under it.
$16 an hour after taxes, in all 50 states
Single filer earning $33,280 (2026 rates, standard deduction). Sorted by take-home pay.
| State | Take-home / year | Take-home / month | State income tax | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | $28,920 | $2,410 | None | 13.1% |
| Florida | $28,920 | $2,410 | None | 13.1% |
| Nevada | $28,920 | $2,410 | None | 13.1% |
| New Hampshire | $28,920 | $2,410 | None | 13.1% |
| North Dakota | $28,920 | $2,410 | None | 13.1% |
| South Dakota | $28,920 | $2,410 | None | 13.1% |
| Tennessee | $28,920 | $2,410 | None | 13.1% |
| Texas | $28,920 | $2,410 | None | 13.1% |
| Wyoming | $28,920 | $2,410 | None | 13.1% |
| Ohio | $28,788 | $2,399 | $133 | 13.5% |
| Washington | $28,727 | $2,394 | $193 | 13.7% |
| New Mexico | $28,457 | $2,371 | $464 | 14.5% |
| New Jersey | $28,426 | $2,369 | $495 | 14.6% |
| Mississippi | $28,321 | $2,360 | $599 | 14.9% |
| Louisiana | $28,308 | $2,359 | $612 | 14.9% |
| Iowa | $28,308 | $2,359 | $613 | 14.9% |
| Arizona | $28,297 | $2,358 | $623 | 15.0% |
| Missouri | $28,294 | $2,358 | $627 | 15.0% |
| Rhode Island | $28,289 | $2,357 | $631 | 15.0% |
| Nebraska | $28,282 | $2,357 | $638 | 15.0% |
| Idaho | $28,265 | $2,355 | $656 | 15.1% |
| Vermont | $28,239 | $2,353 | $681 | 15.1% |
| Connecticut | $28,200 | $2,350 | $720 | 15.3% |
| Utah | $28,193 | $2,349 | $727 | 15.3% |
| Wisconsin | $28,168 | $2,347 | $753 | 15.4% |
| California | $28,167 | $2,347 | $753 | 15.4% |
| Colorado | $28,165 | $2,347 | $756 | 15.4% |
| Montana | $28,113 | $2,343 | $807 | 15.5% |
| North Carolina | $28,101 | $2,342 | $819 | 15.6% |
| Washington, D.C. | $28,090 | $2,341 | $831 | 15.6% |
| South Carolina | $28,081 | $2,340 | $840 | 15.6% |
| West Virginia | $28,045 | $2,337 | $875 | 15.7% |
| Oklahoma | $27,968 | $2,331 | $952 | 16.0% |
| Indiana | $27,968 | $2,331 | $952 | 16.0% |
| Minnesota | $27,959 | $2,330 | $962 | 16.0% |
| Pennsylvania | $27,899 | $2,325 | $1,022 | 16.2% |
| Kentucky | $27,873 | $2,323 | $1,047 | 16.2% |
| Kansas | $27,854 | $2,321 | $1,067 | 16.3% |
| Arkansas | $27,835 | $2,320 | $1,085 | 16.4% |
| Virginia | $27,821 | $2,318 | $1,100 | 16.4% |
| Georgia | $27,816 | $2,318 | $1,104 | 16.4% |
| Hawaii | $27,807 | $2,317 | $1,113 | 16.4% |
| Maine | $27,782 | $2,315 | $1,139 | 16.5% |
| Michigan | $27,757 | $2,313 | $1,164 | 16.6% |
| Delaware | $27,750 | $2,313 | $1,170 | 16.6% |
| New York | $27,720 | $2,310 | $1,200 | 16.7% |
| Maryland | $27,703 | $2,309 | $1,217 | 16.8% |
| Alabama | $27,496 | $2,291 | $1,424 | 17.4% |
| Illinois | $27,418 | $2,285 | $1,503 | 17.6% |
| Massachusetts | $27,323 | $2,277 | $1,597 | 17.9% |
| Oregon | $26,838 | $2,237 | $2,082 | 19.4% |
Part-time at $16/hour
| Hours / week | Weekly pay | Yearly pay (gross) |
|---|---|---|
| 20 hours | $320 | $16,640 |
| 25 hours | $400 | $20,800 |
| 30 hours | $480 | $24,960 |
| 35 hours | $560 | $29,120 |
Check your exact take-home pay
Estimated take-home pay · Texas
$28,920 / year
Monthly
$2,410
Biweekly
$1,112
Hourly
$13.90
- Gross pay
- $33,280
- Federal income tax
- −$1,814
- TX state income tax
- −$0
- Social Security (6.2%)
- −$2,063
- Medicare (1.45%)
- −$483
- Take-home pay
- $28,920
- Effective tax rate
- 13.1%
Related wages
$16/hour FAQ
$16 an hour is how much a year?+
$16 per hour is $33,280 per year for full-time work (40 hours/week × 52 weeks). That's $2,773 per month, $1,280 biweekly, or $640 per week before taxes.
$16 an hour is how much a year after taxes?+
After federal tax and FICA, a single filer earning $16/hour ($33,280/year) takes home about $28,920 in a no-income-tax state like Texas, and about $28,167 in California. That works out to roughly $13.54 to $13.90 per hour worked, depending on your state.
Is $16 an hour a good wage in 2026?+
$16/hour ($33,280/year full-time) is below the US median full-time wage of roughly $60,000 to $63,000 in 2026. Whether it's comfortable depends heavily on your state's taxes and cost of living; the same wage stretches much further in Texas than in California or New York.
How much is $16 an hour working part-time?+
At $16/hour: 20 hours/week is $16,640/year, 25 hours is $20,800/year, 30 hours is $24,960/year, and 35 hours is $29,120/year, all before taxes.
What's the biweekly paycheck for $16 an hour?+
Full-time at $16/hour, the gross biweekly paycheck is $1,280 (80 hours). After taxes a single filer typically keeps about $1,112 per biweekly check in a no-tax state.