$13 an hour is $27,040 a year before tax, working 40 hours a week for 52 weeks (2,080 hours). That's $2,253.33 a month, $1,040 every two weeks and $520 a week.
Change the hours or weeks in the Salary Converter
$13 an hour, by pay period
| Pay period | 40 hours a week | 30 hours a week |
|---|---|---|
| Year | $27,040 | $20,280 |
| Month | $2,253.33 | $1,690.00 |
| Two weeks | $1,040 | $780 |
| Week | $520 | $390 |
| Day (8 hours) | $104 | $78 |
With two weeks of unpaid time off, a full-time year at $13 an hour comes to $26,000 (2,000 hours). Paid holidays keep you at $27,040.
How $13 an hour compares
- It's 1.8 times the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, or $11,960 more a year at full time. Many states and cities set a higher minimum.
- Production and nonsupervisory workers averaged $32.54 an hour in September 2026 (BLS), so $13 is 60% below that average.
- At the common 30% guideline, $13 an hour supports rent of about $676 a month.
Where $13 an hour ranks
$13 an hour is below the 10th percentile of U.S. hourly pay ($15.00): fewer than 1 in 10 workers earn less.
All occupations, May 2025 (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics). BLS publishes set percentiles; the share in between is our estimate.
Jobs that pay about $13 an hour
$13 an hour is below the national median pay of every occupation BLS tracks. These have the lowest medians (May 2025):
- Cooks, Fast Food: $14.85 an hour, 641,000 jobs
- Fast Food and Counter Workers: $15.00 an hour, 3.9 million jobs
- Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop: $15.00 an hour, 433,000 jobs
- Amusement and Recreation Attendants: $15.46 an hour, 398,000 jobs
- Shampooers: $15.67 an hour, 8,100 jobs
A median is the middle: half the people in that job earn more, half earn less. Pay also varies with state, experience and employer.
What $13 an hour matched in earlier years
To buy what $13 an hour buys in September 2026, you'd have needed:
Adjusted with the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Minutes of work for everyday prices
At $13 an hour, before tax, using U.S. average prices for September 2026:
- 10 minutes for a dozen eggs ($2.27)
- 21 minutes for a gallon of regular gas ($4.48)
- 19 minutes for a gallon of whole milk ($4.11)
What $27,040 a year buys abroad
Local prices change what a salary is worth. Spent in each country, $27,040 buys what this much would buy in the U.S. (World Bank purchasing power parity):
- United States: $27,040
- Mexico: $45,968
- Spain: $39,478
- Japan: $39,208
- Canada: $30,014
- United Kingdom: $29,203
The dashed line marks $27,040 spent in the U.S.
Compare every country in The Dollar Around the World
Sources
- BLS average prices and average hourly earnings (2026-11-02)
- U.S. Department of Labor: federal minimum wage history
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025 national estimates)
- BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) and World Bank International Comparison Program, as used on our methodology page
General information, not financial advice. Pay before tax; your take-home pay depends on taxes and deductions (try the Paycheck Calculator).