Three twelve-hour shifts is a full-time week in nursing, and it is 36 hours. Federal overtime starts at 40. So you finish four hours short of the threshold every single week — which means the extra shift you pick up now and then is not paid at your rate at all. It is paid at a great deal more, and almost nobody works out how much.
That is $68,093 a year, $1,309 a week, or $436 in your account for every shift you walk into. The figures on this page come from Cimplora's own engine using 2026 federal tax tables — the same calculation you get if you enter your own rate below.
| Item | Per year |
|---|---|
| Gross pay | $84,240 |
| Federal income tax | −$9,703 |
| State income tax (Texas) | −$0 |
| Social Security (6.2%) | −$5,223 |
| Medicare (1.45%) | −$1,221 |
| Take-home | $68,093 |
Nursing is one of the few jobs you can do in almost any state, so where you work moves this number more than it does for most people. The same three twelves at the same $45:
| State | State tax | Take-home / year | Per month | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas · Florida | $0 | $68,093 | $5,674 | 81% |
| Pennsylvania | −$2,586 | $65,507 | $5,459 | 78% |
| California | −$3,972 | $64,121 | $5,343 | 76% |
| New York | −$4,486 | $63,607 | $5,301 | 76% |
That is a $4,486 spread between the same job in Texas and in New York — about $2.40 an hour once you divide it back down. A travel contract or a move across a state line is worth checking against your real schedule before you compare the headline rates.
Federal overtime is calculated per workweek, and the threshold is 40 hours. Three twelves is 36. You are four hours short:
| Shifts that week | Hours | Regular | Overtime | Gross |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Three 12s | 36 | 36 | 0 | $1,620.00 |
| Four 12s | 48 | 40 | 8 | $2,340.00 |
| Five 12s | 60 | 40 | 20 | $3,150.00 |
This is the part worth knowing. Each of your first three shifts is worth $540. The fourth one is worth $720 — because four of its hours finish off your regular 40, and the remaining eight are overtime at $67.50.
Working four twelves every week rather than three is 33% more hours. It is 39% more take-home, because so much of the extra is overtime:
| Three 12s | Four 12s | |
|---|---|---|
| Hours per week | 36 | 48 |
| Gross per year | $84,240 | $121,680 |
| Take-home per year | $68,093 | $94,432 |
| Take-home per month | $5,674 | $7,869 |
| You keep | 81% | 78% |
An extra $26,339 a year, or $2,195 a month. Note the keep rate falls from 81% to 78% — more of the money lands in a higher bracket, so the last dollars are taxed harder than the first. That is normal and it is not a reason to turn down the shift, but it is why "time and a half" never feels like time and a half once it hits your account.
A night or weekend differential is real money and it is not modelled above, because it varies far too much between employers to put a single figure on — anywhere from a flat dollar an hour to a percentage of base. Two things worth knowing about it:
First, a differential that forms part of your regular rate of pay should be reflected when your overtime rate is worked out. If your employer pays a shift differential but calculates overtime on base rate alone, that is worth a conversation with payroll.
Second, it lands on the hours you actually work, so it scales when you pick up a shift in the same way your base rate does — on top of the overtime effect above, not instead of it.
Nurses compare hourly rates constantly, and the rate is only one of five inputs. Shift length, shifts per week, the overtime threshold, differentials and your state all move the final figure more than a dollar on the rate does. A nurse on $42 picking up a fourth shift most weeks out-earns a nurse on $48 working a straight three, and neither of them can tell that from the rate.
Enter your rate and your shift pattern. Cimplora gives you take-home per shift, week, month and year, with every deduction itemised — and shows you what an extra shift is really worth. Free, no account, no sign-up — your pay data stays on your own device.
Open the calculator