Side hustle vs overtime calculator.

How it is calculated

Overtime: gross per extra hour = wage × multiplier. Net per hour = gross × (1 − federal rate − state rate − 7.65%), where 7.65% is the employee share of FICA (6.2% Social Security + 1.45% Medicare). It ignores the Social Security wage base cap and any federal overtime deduction. Hustle: profit, SE tax and income tax as in the net hourly pay calculator, with your W-2 wages taken as hourly wage × regular hours × 52. Overtime hours to match = the hustle’s after-tax profit per year ÷ overtime net per hour. Raise = wage × raise % × regular hours × 52 × the same take-home factor; it needs no extra hours, so it is shown per year rather than per hour.

Worked example (illustrative inputs)

A $30 wage at 1.5x is $45 gross per overtime hour and $29.41 net at 22% + 5% + 7.65%. The example hustle ($1,000 revenue, $300 in costs, 25 hours a month) nets $17.02 per hour, so overtime is ahead by $12.39 per hour in this illustration. The hustle keeps $5,105.35 a year, which would take about 174 overtime hours (3.3 a week) to match. A 3% raise is worth about $1,223.35 a year after tax. Different inputs will reverse these comparisons; the example is not a typical outcome.

What this does not cover

• The 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax on high earnings.
• The qualified business income (QBI) deduction, the standard or itemized deduction, credits, and bracket changes caused by the extra income: the model applies one flat marginal rate you choose.
• State self-employment rules, local taxes, sales tax and the details of any one platform’s fees: enter them as costs.
• Quarterly estimated-tax timing and penalties (see estimated tax due dates).
• The value of your time at other uses, burnout, and whether the work is enjoyable.
• The federal deduction for qualified overtime pay, modelled separately on the no tax on overtime page.
• Whether your employer offers overtime, or whether the hustle can absorb more hours at the same rate.

Method and sources

Sources: IRS Topic no. 751, Social Security and Medicare withholding rates (6.2% Social Security and 1.45% Medicare for the employee; retrieved 2026-10); IRS Topic no. 554, Self-employment tax (15.3% total, 12.4% Social Security plus 2.9% Medicare, on 92.35% of net earnings; half of the tax is deductible; retrieved 2026-10); Instructions for Schedule SE (Form 1040) ($400 net-earnings rule and the Social Security earnings limit; retrieved 2026-10); SSA contribution and benefit base (the Social Security wage base; the tool starts from $184,500 for 2026 and lets you overwrite it; this page could not be re-opened automatically in 2026-10, so confirm the current figure there; our own taxable maximum by year page lists it); IRS 2026 inflation adjustments (the seven federal rates, 10% to 37%, and their income thresholds; retrieved 2026-10). Your marginal federal rate is an input, not a lookup. Wage, multiplier, rates and raise are inputs.