PTO payout calculator

What your unused PTO or vacation is worth when you leave a job, and roughly what you keep after federal withholding. Pick your state to see whether the law requires it to be paid. The example is 80 hours at $25 an hour.

80 h of unused PTO, before tax $2,000.00 Breakdown

State you work in

The state decides whether unused time must be paid. The amount is worked out the same way everywhere.

I’m paid

By the hourA salary

Hourly rate

Use your final rate of pay, including any recent raise.

My balance is in

HoursDays

Unused PTO or vacation

The balance on your last pay stub, plus anything earned since.

Wages paid so far this year

Only matters near the Social Security wage base ($184,500 in 2026) or above $200,000.

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Your PTO payout

Federal withholding estimate for 2026

$2,000.00 before tax, for 80 hours

Your PTO payout, line by line
Unused PTO 80 h × $25.00	$2,000.00
Federal income tax Flat 22% supplemental rate	−$440.00
Social Security 6.2%	−$124.00
Medicare 1.45%	−$29.00

Estimated after federal withholding

$1,407.00

Hourly value: $25.00
Share withheld: 29.65%

Whether this is owed depends on your state and your employer’s written policy. Choose a state above to see its rule.

State and local income tax are not included. Your employer may withhold federal tax by the aggregate method instead of the flat rate; either way, the final tax is settled on your return.

How a payout is worked out

A payout is your unused balance multiplied by your rate of pay. In the example, 80 hours × $25.00 = $2,000.00 before tax. If your balance is in days, multiply by the hours in your usual workday first.

On a salary, convert to an hourly rate by dividing by the hours you work in a year. A $65,000.00 salary over 2,080 hours is $31.25 an hour, so 60 unused hours are worth $1,875.00. Use the rate you are paid on your last day. States that treat vacation as wages require it, and a raise late in the year raises the value of every banked hour.

How a PTO payout is taxed

A payout is taxable wages. Because it is paid on top of your regular wages, IRS Publication 15 lets your employer treat it as a supplemental payment and withhold federal income tax at a flat 22%. Social Security (6.2%) and Medicare (1.45%) come out as well.

On the example payout that is $440.00 of federal income tax, $124.00 of Social Security and $29.00 of Medicare, leaving about $1,407.00 before any state tax. Withholding is an estimate of the tax, not the tax itself. If your real tax rate is lower than 22%, the difference is settled on your return, usually as part of a refund.

States that require payout

Most states leave payout to the employer’s written policy: if the handbook promises it, it is owed, and if the handbook says unused time is forfeited, it usually is not. These states go further.

States whose law requires unused vacation to be paid in some or all cases
State	Rule	Source
California	Payout required	Cal. Lab. Code § 227.3
Colorado	Payout required	C.R.S. §§ 8-4-101(14)(a)(III), 8-4-109(1)(a); Nieto v. Clark's Market, Inc., 2021 CO 48, 488 P.3d 1140
Illinois	Payout required	820 ILCS 115/5; 56 Ill. Adm. Code 300.520
Louisiana	Payout required	La. R.S. 23:631(D); Wyatt v. Avoyelles Parish Sch. Bd., 831 So. 2d 906 (La. 2002)
Massachusetts	Payout required	Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 149, § 148
Montana	Payout required	23 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 56 (Mont.); McConkey v. Flathead Elec. Coop., 2005 MT 334, 330 Mont. 48, 125 P.3d 1121
Nebraska	Payout required	Neb. Rev. Stat. § 48-1229(6); Roseland v. Strategic Staff Mgmt., 272 Neb. 434, 722 N.W.2d 499 (2006)
North Dakota	Payout required	N.D. Cent. Code § 34-14-09.2; N.D. Admin. Code ch. 46-02-07
Indiana	Required unless a written policy says otherwise	Die & Mold, Inc. v. Western, 448 N.E.2d 44 (Ind. Ct. App. 1983)
Maryland	Required unless a written policy says otherwise	Md. Code Ann., Lab. & Empl. § 3-505(b)
New York	Required unless a written policy says otherwise	N.Y. Lab. Law §§ 198-c, 195(5)
North Carolina	Required unless a written policy says otherwise	N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 95-25.12, 95-25.13
Wisconsin	Required unless a written policy says otherwise	Wis. Stat. ch. 109
Wyoming	Required unless a written policy says otherwise	Wyo. Stat. §§ 27-4-507, 27-4-501(a)(iii)
Maine	Required under conditions	26 M.R.S. § 626
Rhode Island	Required under conditions	R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-14-4(b)

Every state’s rule, with its source and what it means for you, is on PTO payout laws by state.

Before your last day

Check your balance on your latest pay stub and add anything earned since. Read the vacation section of your handbook for a payout or forfeiture clause, and whether it treats quitting and being let go differently. If your state requires payout, the money is part of your final paycheck, and the deadline for that paycheck is set by state law, sometimes as soon as your last day.

Planning the months before you leave? The PTO accrual calculator shows what your balance will be on a given date, at 4.62 hours a pay period for a typical 120-hour plan.

Questions people ask

How is a PTO payout calculated?

Multiply your unused hours by your hourly rate. 80 hours at $25.00 is $2,000.00 before tax. On a salary, divide the annual salary by 2,080 (40 hours × 52 weeks) for the hourly rate first.

Which states require unused PTO to be paid out?

California, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota require earned vacation to be paid when a job ends. Several others require it unless a written policy says otherwise, and 35 leave it to the employer’s policy. The table below lists the states that require some form of payout.

Why is so much tax taken out of my PTO payout?

A payout on top of regular wages is a supplemental wage payment, so many employers withhold federal income tax at a flat 22%, plus Social Security and Medicare. That is withholding, not the final tax; any difference is settled when you file your return.

Is PTO paid at my final rate of pay?

In states that treat earned vacation as wages, such as California and Illinois, it must be paid at your final rate, even if you earned the time when you were paid less. Elsewhere, the employer’s policy decides.

Does sick leave get paid out too?

Usually not. State paid sick leave laws generally do not require payout at the end of a job. A combined PTO bank that can be used for any purpose is often treated like vacation, which is why some states require it to be paid.

Can my employer refuse to pay unused PTO if I quit?

In states that require payout, no; earned vacation is owed whether you quit or are fired. In most other states, a written policy that says unused time is forfeited on quitting is enforceable. Check your handbook and your state’s rule.

Sources

Each source was read on September 25, 2026.