$15 an Hour Is How Much a Year?

Is $31,200 a year enough to live on?

The 2026 federal poverty guideline for a single person is $15,960 per year, so a full-time $15/hour job pays 2.0× that guideline. Many state and federal assistance programs use income limits between 1× and 2× the guideline, which means a household relying on this single income may still qualify for some of them.

Location changes the picture more at this level than at any other: the same $2,600 gross month covers very different shares of rent depending on the state, and many states set their own minimum wage above the federal $7.25 — check your state's rate before comparing offers.

Overtime changes the math at $15/hour

Hourly roles at this level are usually non-exempt, which means the FLSA guarantees time and a half — $22.50 per overtime hour. Five overtime hours a week add $5,850 a year before taxes, which is often the fastest raise available without changing jobs.

How $15/hour compares nationally

$15 is 2.1× the federal minimum wage of $7.25, and about 52.0% below the $31.27/hour equivalent of the median full-time U.S. paycheck ($1,251/week, BLS Q2 2026). Raises toward the median are most commonly reached through shift differentials, certifications, or moving to metro-area employers.

What $15 an hour is after taxes, by where you live

There is no single after-tax answer, because state income tax is charged on top of the federal bill and it is not the same anywhere. On $31,200 a year, a single filer keeps $27,249 in the nine states with no wage income tax — Texas, Florida and Washington among them — and $25,352 in Oregon, which charges the most at this income. That is a spread of $1,897 a year on identical pay.

Filing status moves it too. The same $31,200 leaves a single filer with $27,249 federally and a married couple filing jointly with $28,813 — a difference of $1,564, before any state tax. The table above uses single-filer rates.