Income & Paycheck Calculators: Which One Do You Need?
Three of these four tools are about your regular paycheck; the fourth — estate tax — only applies in a much rarer situation. Here's how they fit together.
Quick picker
- Comparing a salaried offer to an hourly one? — Salary to Hourly Calculator converts both to the same units so you're comparing like with like.
- Working (or offered) overtime hours? — Overtime Pay Calculator, with a multiplier field so it matches your actual employer policy, not just the federal default.
- Want to know what actually lands in your bank account? — Paycheck Tax Calculator — a real take-home estimate, not a tax return.
- Dealing with a large estate? — Estate Tax Calculator — only relevant once an estate approaches the multi-million-dollar federal exemption threshold.
Worked scenario: comparing two job offers
- Offer A is $72,000/year salaried; Offer B is $34/hour with regular overtime. Run Offer A through the Salary to Hourly Calculator to see its equivalent hourly rate for a standard 40-hour week.
- If Offer B genuinely includes regular overtime, run those extra hours through the Overtime Pay Calculator at the employer's actual multiplier — the "effective" hourly rate once overtime is folded in is often higher than the quoted base rate suggests.
- Run both annual figures through the Paycheck Tax Calculator to compare realistic take-home pay, not just gross numbers — the offer with the higher gross isn't always the one that puts more in your account.
All income tools
- Salary to Hourly Calculator Convert an annual salary to its true hourly rate — or an hourly wage to a yearly figure.
- Overtime Pay Calculator Add up regular and overtime hours at any multiplier and see your real gross pay for the period.
- Paycheck Tax Calculator Estimate your take-home pay after federal tax, FICA, and a simple state-tax rate you set.
- Estate Tax Calculator Estimate federal estate tax owed on an estate above the exemption threshold.
Frequently asked questions
I have a job offer with an hourly rate and one with a salary — how do I compare them?
Run the salary through the Salary to Hourly Calculator first to get it into the same units as the hourly offer. From there, also check whether either role routinely involves overtime — if the hourly role does, the Overtime Pay Calculator shows what regular hours actually convert to once overtime pay is added, which can change which offer is really higher.
Does the Paycheck Tax Calculator replace doing my actual taxes?
No — it's a take-home-pay estimate for budgeting, not a tax return. It applies simplified federal brackets and FICA to give you a realistic per-paycheck number, but it doesn't account for every deduction, credit, filing status nuance, or state-specific rule a real tax return does. Use it to answer "about how much will actually hit my bank account," not to file anything.
When would I actually need the Estate Tax Calculator?
Only if an estate's value is large enough to approach the federal exemption threshold (a multi-million-dollar figure) — most estates never come close and owe nothing federally, regardless of size in an ordinary sense. It's here in Income because it's a once-in-a-lifetime income/wealth-transfer calculation, not because it's a routine paycheck tool like the other three.
How is overtime pay actually calculated?
In the US under the FLSA, overtime is typically 1.5× your regular hourly rate for hours worked beyond 40 in a week (some states and some employers use different multipliers or thresholds). The Overtime Pay Calculator lets you set your own multiplier so it matches your actual employer's policy rather than assuming the federal default applies to everyone.