In short: An annual salary is the hourly rate times the hours worked a week times the weeks paid a year. At 40 hours and 52 weeks that is 2,080 hours, so $20.00 an hour is $41,600.00 a year, and a salary divided by 2,080 gives the hourly rate. All figures are gross pay, before tax.
How hourly to salary works
- Weekly pay is the hourly rate times the hours you work in a week: $20.00 an hour at 40 hours is $800.00 a week.
- Annual pay is the weekly pay times the weeks you are paid in a year: $800.00 times 52 is $41,600.00.
- Every other period comes from the annual figure. Divide by 12 for monthly pay ($3,466.67), by 24 for semi-monthly ($1,733.33) and by 26 for biweekly ($1,600.00).
- Daily pay is the weekly pay divided by the days you work: $160.00 for a five day week.
The calculator keeps every figure to the cent and works each one out from the exact annual amount rather than from another rounded figure, so the periods agree with each other. The table below shows some common hourly rates on a 40 hour week and 52 paid weeks.
| An hour | A week | Every 2 weeks | A month | A year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $15.00 | $600.00 | $1,200.00 | $2,600.00 | $31,200.00 |
| $18.00 | $720.00 | $1,440.00 | $3,120.00 | $37,440.00 |
| $20.00 | $800.00 | $1,600.00 | $3,466.67 | $41,600.00 |
| $25.00 | $1,000.00 | $2,000.00 | $4,333.33 | $52,000.00 |
| $30.00 | $1,200.00 | $2,400.00 | $5,200.00 | $62,400.00 |
| $40.00 | $1,600.00 | $3,200.00 | $6,933.33 | $83,200.00 |
| $50.00 | $2,000.00 | $4,000.00 | $8,666.67 | $104,000.00 |
Salary to hourly: divide by the hours in your year
To go the other way, divide the annual salary by the hours in your working year. A $50,000.00 salary on a 40 hour week and 52 weeks is $50,000.00 divided by 2,080, which is $24.04 an hour once rounded to the cent. On a 37.5 hour week the year has 1,950 hours and the same salary is $25.64 an hour. Because the hourly figure is rounded, multiplying it back up gives a year a few dollars away from the salary you typed; the calculator keeps the salary exact and shows the rounded rate alongside it.
The 2,080 hour year is a convention, not a law. The US Office of Personnel Management divides federal salaries by 2,087 hours instead, the average working hours in a year over the 28 year cycle in which the calendar repeats, since some years have 261 or 262 weekdays rather than 260. For most jobs the difference is a few cents an hour; use whichever your employer uses. The guide what a salary is per hour works through 2,080, 2,087, shorter weeks and unpaid leave with the sums shown.
Weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly and monthly pay
Pay frequency changes the size of each paycheck, not the annual total. Weekly pay comes 52 times a year, biweekly (every two weeks) 26 times, semi-monthly (twice a month, often on the 15th and the last day) 24 times, and monthly 12 times. On $41,600.00 a year the paycheck is $800.00 weekly, $1,600.00 biweekly, $1,733.33 semi-monthly and $3,466.67 monthly. Biweekly and semi-monthly are easy to mix up: two months a year have three biweekly paydays, which is why a biweekly check is smaller than a semi-monthly one on the same salary.
If you are paid by the hour and want to check a time card total against a paycheck, the work hours calculator adds up a week from start and finish times, with overtime and gross pay, and the overtime pay guide covers time and a half.
Part time, four day weeks and unpaid time off
The hours and weeks fields are where the usual rule of thumb goes wrong. A part time job at $18.00 an hour for 20 hours a week is $18,720.00 a year, not half of a figure you looked up for 40 hours plus a guess. A four day week of 32 hours at $25.00 an hour is $800.00 a week, $200.00 a day and $41,600.00 a year. Two weeks of unpaid leave turns 52 paid weeks into 50, which takes $20.00 an hour from $41,600.00 to $40,000.00 a year. Salaried jobs normally pay for 52 weeks whether or not you take leave, so leave the weeks at 52 when converting a salary to an hourly rate.
Overtime, bonuses and shift premiums are not in these figures. If you regularly work paid overtime, add it to the hours a week only if it is paid at the same rate; time and a half needs a separate sum.
Gross pay, not take-home pay
Every figure here is gross: what you earn before income tax, social security or national insurance, pension contributions, health premiums and any other deductions. Take-home pay depends on your country, state, tax code and choices, so the calculator does not guess at it. The US federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, which at 2,080 hours is $15,080.00 a year gross; many states and cities set a higher rate.
Comparing two offers? Put both on the same footing: the same hours a week and 52 weeks, then compare the annual figures. The meeting cost calculator uses the same 2,080 hour year to turn salaries into an hourly cost for a meeting.
Questions people ask
How do you convert an hourly rate to a salary?
Multiply the hourly rate by the hours you work in a week, then by the weeks you are paid in a year. At 40 hours and 52 weeks that is 2,080 hours, so an hourly rate times 2,080 is the annual salary: 20 an hour is 41,600 a year. The calculator does the same sum with your own hours and weeks.
How do you convert a salary to an hourly rate?
Divide the annual salary by the hours in your working year. For a 40 hour week and 52 weeks, divide by 2,080: a 50,000 salary is 24.04 an hour. If you work 37.5 hours a week, divide by 1,950 instead. The calculator shows the hourly rate rounded to the cent and works every other period out from the exact figure.
Why 2,080 hours, and when is 2,087 used?
2,080 is 52 weeks of 40 hours, the usual full time year. The US federal government divides salaries by 2,087 instead, because a 28 year calendar cycle averages 2,087 working hours a year once the extra weekdays in some years are counted. Enter 2,087 divided by 52, which is 40.13 hours a week, to match that rule, or use 40 for the everyday figure.
What is the difference between biweekly and semi-monthly pay?
Biweekly means every two weeks, which is 26 paychecks a year; semi-monthly means twice a month, which is 24. On the same salary the semi-monthly paycheck is larger because there are fewer of them: 41,600 a year is 1,600 biweekly but 1,733.33 semi-monthly.
Is this take-home pay?
No. Every figure is gross pay, before income tax, social security or national insurance, pension contributions and any other deductions. Take-home pay depends on where you live and your own circumstances, so use a payroll or tax calculator for that.
Is my pay rate sent anywhere?
No. The calculation runs in your browser and nothing you type is sent to a server. A share link carries the amounts in the part of the address after the #, which browsers never send.