Overtime Statistics 2026: 30+ U.S. Work-Hour Stats

Quick answer: the average U.S. private-sector employee worked 34.4 hours per week in September 2026 (BLS). Manufacturing workers averaged 3.0 overtime hours per week, 9.0 million Americans (5.5%) hold more than one job, and federal law requires overtime pay of at least 1.5× the regular rate after 40 hours per week.

Last updated: October 2026

Overtime statistics: the headline numbers

Short answer: 34.4 hours is the average U.S. workweek; the average hourly wage is $37.81; manufacturing workers do 3.0 overtime hours weekly; 5.5% of workers hold two or more jobs; 55.6% of workers are paid by the hour.

Statistic	Value	Source
Average weekly hours, all private employees	34.4	BLS, Sept 2026
Average hourly earnings, all private employees	$37.81	BLS, Sept 2026
Average weekly earnings (derived: $37.81 × 34.4)	$1,300.66	BLS, Sept 2026
Manufacturing overtime hours per week	3.0	BLS, Sept 2026
Multiple jobholders	9.0M (5.5%)	BLS, Sept 2026
Workers paid hourly rates	80.3M (55.6%)	BLS, 2024
Federal overtime premium	1.5× after 40 hrs	DOL (FLSA)

The average workweek has barely moved in a year — 34.2 hours in September 2025 versus 34.4 in September 2026 — while average hourly earnings rose 3.0% over the same 12 months to $37.81. Want to run your own overtime numbers? Try our free overtime tax calculator or weekly hours calculator.

Average weekly hours by industry

Short answer: mining and logging works the longest weeks (45.8 hours); leisure and hospitality the shortest (25.5 hours). Goods-producing industries average 40.2 hours; service industries average 33.3.

Industry	Avg weekly hours
Mining and logging	45.8
Utilities	42.2
Manufacturing	40.6
Construction	39.2
Transportation and warehousing	38.0
Financial activities	37.5
Information	36.9
Professional and business services	36.7
Private education and health services	32.7
Retail trade	30.6
Leisure and hospitality	25.5

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Situation, Table B-2, September 2026 (seasonally adjusted).

The gap is enormous: a mining worker's average week is nearly 20 hours longer than a leisure-and-hospitality worker's. The short weeks at the bottom reflect part-time-heavy industries — retail and hospitality employ far more part-time staff than mining or utilities.

Manufacturing overtime: 3.0 hours per week

Short answer: manufacturing is the only major sector where the BLS tracks overtime directly: 3.0 hours per week on average across all manufacturing employees, and 4.0 hours for production and nonsupervisory workers.

Manufacturing overtime measure	Sept 2025	Sept 2026
All employees — average overtime hours	2.9	3.0
Durable goods — average overtime hours	2.9	3.0
Nondurable goods — average overtime hours	3.0	3.1
Production & nonsupervisory — overtime hours	3.8	4.0
Production & nonsupervisory — total weekly hours	41.0	42.0

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Situation, Tables B-2 and B-7, September 2026 (seasonally adjusted).

Factory-floor workers put in the most overtime in the economy: production and nonsupervisory manufacturing employees average a 42.0-hour week including 4.0 overtime hours — a full hour more overtime than the manufacturing average of 3.0. Overtime edged up year over year, from 2.9 to 3.0 hours.

Overtime pay: how the 1.5× premium works

Short answer: covered nonexempt employees must be paid at least 1.5× their regular rate for hours over 40 per week. At the average wage of $37.81/hour, 3.0 overtime hours earns about $56.72 in premium pay per week.

$37.81 — average hourly earnings, all private employees (BLS, Sept 2026), up 3.0% year over year.
$32.60 — average hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory employees.
$46.05 — what employers actually pay per hour worked in total compensation (wages $32.37 + benefits $13.68); benefits are 29.7% of compensation (BLS ECEC, Sept 2025).
$56.72/week — the overtime premium on 3.0 overtime hours at the average wage (3.0 × $37.81 × 0.5), on top of regular pay for those hours.
4.5 million — workers employed part-time for economic reasons in September 2026: they want full-time work but can't find it or had hours cut.

The premium is only the extra half of time-and-a-half — a common misunderstanding. At $37.81/hour, an overtime hour pays $56.72 total: $37.81 straight time plus $18.91 premium. Our overtime tax calculator shows how the 2025–2028 federal deduction treats that premium at tax time.

Who works overtime: a day in the American workweek

Short answer: on days they work, full-time employees average 8.1 hours — 8.4 on weekdays, 5.6 on weekend days. 87% of full-time workers work on an average weekday; only 29% on a weekend day.

8.4 hours — average worked by full-time employees on weekdays they worked (2024).
5.6 hours — average on weekend days they worked.
7.60 hours — average for all employed persons on days worked.
87% vs 29% — share of full-time workers who worked on an average weekday versus an average weekend day.
6.4 vs 4.2 hours — weekend hours worked by high-school graduates with no college versus bachelor's degree holders: less-educated workers put in longer weekend shifts.
33% — share of employed people who did some work at home on days worked in 2024, down from 35% in 2023.
7.79 vs 5.14 hours — average hours at the workplace versus at home on days worked; full-time workers average 8.15 hours at the workplace and 5.45 at home.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, American Time Use Survey 2024 (released June 26, 2025).

Multiple jobholders: 9 million Americans work two jobs

Short answer: 9.0 million Americans — 5.5% of all employed workers — held more than one job in September 2026. Most pair a full-time primary job with part-time second work.

Multiple-jobholder arrangement	Workers
Primary job full-time, secondary part-time	5,199,000
Both jobs part-time	2,250,000
Both jobs full-time	421,000
Total multiple jobholders (5.5% of employed)	9,000,000

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Situation, Table A-16, September 2026 (not seasonally adjusted).

Multiple jobholders are far more likely to work weekends: 50% worked on an average weekend day, compared with 29% of single jobholders (ATUS 2024). Tracking two schedules is exactly what our weekly hours calculator is built for.

Hourly workers and the minimum wage

Short answer: 80.3 million Americans — 55.6% of all wage and salary workers — are paid by the hour. Only 1.0% of them earn at or below the $7.25 federal minimum wage.

80.3 million hourly-paid workers age 16+ in 2024 — 55.6% of all wage and salary workers.
82,000 earned exactly the $7.25 federal minimum wage; 760,000 earned below it (tipped and exempt occupations).
1.0% of hourly workers earn at or below the federal minimum — down from 13.4% in 1979, when the data series began.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers 2024 (Report 1115).

Overtime rules matter most to hourly workers: they're the employees whose extra hours are tracked and must be compensated at the premium rate. Salaried exempt workers generally aren't entitled to overtime at all.

Overtime law facts

Short answer: the Fair Labor Standards Act requires 1.5× pay after 40 hours/week for covered nonexempt employees — but sets no maximum hours, no weekend premium, and doesn't define "full-time."

40 hours — the federal overtime threshold: hours beyond 40 in a workweek must be paid at 1.5× the regular rate (FLSA).
No federal cap — the FLSA sets no limit on how many hours employees 16 and older may work in a week.
No weekend premium required — federal law doesn't require extra pay for Saturdays, Sundays, holidays or night work unless those hours are overtime hours.
"Full-time" is undefined — the FLSA doesn't define full-time or part-time employment; employers decide. (BLS statistics typically use 35+ hours as full-time.)
2025–2028 twist — the federal "no tax on overtime" deduction lets eligible workers deduct the overtime premium from taxable income (capped at $12,500 single / $25,000 joint). See our overtime tax calculator for the math.

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division (FLSA overtime provisions).

How to cite these statistics

Short answer: cite freely — just link back to this page. Suggested citation is below; every figure traces to the BLS or DOL tables in the sources section.

Suggested citation:
ToolVaultly. "Overtime Statistics 2026: 30+ U.S. Work-Hour Stats." https://toolvaultly.com/overtime-statistics/ — data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and U.S. Department of Labor.

Journalists and bloggers: if you use these numbers, a link back helps us keep this page updated with each BLS release. For questions or corrections, reach us via the contact page.

Frequently asked questions

How many hours does the average American work per week?

34.4 hours per week. That's the average workweek for all employees on U.S. private nonfarm payrolls in September 2026, seasonally adjusted, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics — up slightly from 34.2 hours a year earlier.

How much overtime does the average manufacturing worker do?

3.0 overtime hours per week on average (September 2026, BLS). Production and nonsupervisory manufacturing workers — the factory floor — average 4.0 overtime hours per week, on top of a 42.0-hour average workweek.

What percentage of Americans work more than one job?

5.5% — about 9.0 million Americans held more than one job in September 2026 (BLS). Most (5.2 million) work a full-time primary job plus a part-time second job; 421,000 work two full-time jobs.

How is overtime pay calculated in the U.S.?

Federal law (the Fair Labor Standards Act) requires overtime pay of at least 1.5 times the regular hourly rate for hours over 40 in a workweek, for covered nonexempt employees. The overtime premium — the extra half — equals overtime hours × hourly rate × 0.5. Example: 3 overtime hours at $37.81/hour earns about $56.72 in premium pay.

Which industry works the longest hours?

Mining and logging, at 45.8 hours per week on average (September 2026, BLS) — the longest of any major industry. Utilities average 42.2 hours. The shortest workweeks are in leisure and hospitality (25.5 hours) and retail trade (30.6 hours), where part-time work is common.

Can I cite these overtime statistics in my article?

Yes — every statistic on this page is free to cite. Please link back to https://toolvaultly.com/overtime-statistics/ as your source. All figures come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Department of Labor; check the sources section for the original tables.

Sources

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Situation, September 2026 — Table B-2: average weekly hours and overtime and Table B-7: production and nonsupervisory employees.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Situation, September 2026 — Table A-16: multiple jobholders.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, American Time Use Survey 2024 (released June 26, 2025).
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, September 2025.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers, 2024 (Report 1115).
U.S. Department of Labor, FLSA overtime pay provisions.

Overtime Statistics 2026

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