By Mudassir Khan
We took the newest Bureau of Labor Statistics wage estimates for all 50 states plus Washington DC and turned them into one simple ranking: how much is the overtime premium on a single hour worth where you live? Every number below is an estimate built from public BLS data, and the methodology section shows exactly how we got there.
Published November 2, 2026 · Data: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 release
Using the BLS May 2025 all occupations mean wage for each state, the estimated overtime premium, the extra half time on top of straight pay, on one hour ranges from $12.22 in Mississippi to $26.69 in the District of Columbia. The national average works out to $16.77 per overtime hour. These are estimates, not promises: your own premium depends on your regular rate of pay.
Click any column header to sort the table. Rank is by premium, highest first. All figures are estimates derived from BLS data; see the methodology below for the full recipe.
| Rank▼ | State | Avg hourly wage (estimate) | OT premium per hour (estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | $53.37 | $26.69 |
| 2 | Massachusetts | $41.16 | $20.58 |
| 3 | Washington | $40.06 | $20.03 |
| 4 | New York | $39.65 | $19.83 |
| 5 | California | $38.79 | $19.40 |
| 6 | New Jersey | $37.52 | $18.76 |
| 7 | Maryland | $37.30 | $18.65 |
| 8 | Connecticut | $37.22 | $18.61 |
| 9 | Colorado | $37.11 | $18.56 |
| 10 | Alaska | $35.92 | $17.96 |
| 11 | Virginia | $35.60 | $17.80 |
| 12 | Oregon | $34.84 | $17.42 |
| 13 | Rhode Island | $34.57 | $17.29 |
| 14 | New Hampshire | $34.31 | $17.16 |
| 15 | Minnesota | $34.21 | $17.11 |
| 16 | Illinois | $34.20 | $17.10 |
| 17 | Hawaii | $33.78 | $16.89 |
| 18 | Delaware | $33.60 | $16.80 |
| 19 | Vermont | $33.20 | $16.60 |
| 20 | Arizona | $32.51 | $16.26 |
| 21 | Utah | $31.87 | $15.94 |
| 22 | Georgia | $31.69 | $15.85 |
| 23 | Maine | $31.63 | $15.82 |
| 24 | Texas | $31.61 | $15.81 |
| 25 | Pennsylvania | $31.60 | $15.80 |
| 26 | Michigan | $31.21 | $15.61 |
| 27 | Florida | $31.09 | $15.55 |
| 28 | Ohio | $30.96 | $15.48 |
| 29 | North Carolina | $30.91 | $15.46 |
| 30 | Wisconsin | $30.90 | $15.45 |
| 31 | North Dakota | $30.79 | $15.40 |
| 32 | Nebraska | $30.00 | $15.00 |
| 33 | New Mexico | $29.96 | $14.98 |
| 34 | Missouri | $29.89 | $14.95 |
| 35 | Nevada | $29.83 | $14.92 |
| 36 | Wyoming | $29.60 | $14.80 |
| 37 | Idaho | $29.41 | $14.71 |
| 38 | Montana | $29.27 | $14.64 |
| 39 | Indiana | $29.25 | $14.63 |
| 40 | Tennessee | $29.23 | $14.62 |
| 41 | Kansas | $29.15 | $14.58 |
| 42 | Iowa | $28.76 | $14.38 |
| 43 | South Carolina | $28.50 | $14.25 |
| 44 | Kentucky | $28.36 | $14.18 |
| 45 | South Dakota | $27.70 | $13.85 |
| 46 | Alabama | $27.65 | $13.83 |
| 47 | Oklahoma | $27.38 | $13.69 |
| 48 | Louisiana | $27.21 | $13.61 |
| 49 | West Virginia | $27.15 | $13.58 |
| 50 | Arkansas | $26.39 | $13.20 |
| 51 | Mississippi | $24.43 | $12.22 |
Estimates based on BLS OEWS May 2025 all occupations mean hourly wages, cross industry. Premium equals half the mean wage, rounded to the cent. US territories are published by BLS but excluded from this ranking.
Transparency first. Here is the exact recipe, so anyone can reproduce the table:
Wage figures: BLS OEWS tables page (May 2025 downloads) and the May 2025 state occupational employment and wage estimates. Survey background and methods: OEWS overview and the data tables for the May 2025 overview.
Every figure starts from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics release for May 2025, published May 15, 2026. We took the all occupations mean hourly wage for each state and the District of Columbia, then multiplied it by 0.5 to get the estimated premium on one overtime hour.
The 1.5x rate includes straight time pay the worker would have earned anyway. The premium, the extra half, is the part overtime law actually adds on top of a normal hour. Ranking the premium isolates the dollar value the overtime rule contributes, which is the number journalists and researchers usually want.
Only if your own regular rate of pay equals your state's all occupations average, which is unlikely. Your real premium is 0.5 times your regular rate, and your regular rate includes shift differentials and nondiscretionary bonuses, not just your base wage. Use our overtime pay calculator with your own numbers for an exact figure.
The BLS publishes Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics once a year with a May reference date. The next release is expected in spring 2027, and we will refresh this ranking when the new state wages are published.
State averages are interesting; your paycheck is personal. Use the overtime pay calculator for your exact premium, the main overtime calculator for weekly totals, or the no tax on overtime calculator to see what the 2025 to 2028 federal deduction saves you on that premium.