$15 an hour after taxes in New York
$15.00 an hour is about $26,138 a year after federal taxes and New York state tax — roughly $2,178 a month take-home. That's an estimated 16.2% of gross pay going to income tax, Social Security, and Medicare.
Take-home from $15/hour
$26,138 / year
$2,178 a month · $1,005.32 per bi-weekly paycheck
| Gross pay | $31,200.00 |
|---|---|
| Federal income tax | −$1,564.00 |
| New York income tax | −$1,111.00 |
| Social Security | −$1,934.40 |
| Medicare | −$452.40 |
| Net (take-home) | $26,138.20 |
Effective tax + FICA rate: 16.2% · Assumes 40 hrs/week, single filer, New York.
Estimate only. Excludes local/city taxes, W-4 adjustments, and other withholdings. This is not tax advice.
$15.00 an hour is close to what a typical U.S. full-time worker earns. Over a year of 40-hour weeks that is $31,200 before taxes.
At this level most of your income falls in the 10% and 12% federal brackets after the standard deduction. Contributing to a 401(k) or HSA lowers the income that's taxed (though not the Social Security and Medicare portion), so pre-tax deductions are one of the few levers that noticeably change take-home pay here.
New York note: Progressive 4%–10.9% using New York's 2025 Form IT-201 rate schedule (2026 schedule not yet published; New York's thresholds are statutory and rarely change). Estimates exclude New York City and Yonkers local income taxes, and the state tax-benefit recapture that applies above $107,650, so figures for high earners may be slightly low.