The hourly-to-salary formula
The conversion is simple multiplication, but the assumptions behind it decide whether the answer reflects your real income. The standard formula is:
Annual pay = hourly rate × hours per week × weeks per year
A full-time schedule is 40 hours for 52 weeks, which is 2,080 paid hours. If you are paid for holidays and vacation, those hours count. If you take two weeks unpaid, enter 50 weeks. If you routinely work overtime, enter the extra hours and the calculator adds them at time-and-a-half.
Quick reference: common hourly rates
| Hourly rate | Weekly | Biweekly | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $15/hr | $600 | $1,200 | $2,600 | $31,200 |
| $18/hr | $720 | $1,440 | $3,120 | $37,440 |
| $20/hr | $800 | $1,600 | $3,467 | $41,600 |
| $25/hr | $1,000 | $2,000 | $4,333 | $52,000 |
| $30/hr | $1,200 | $2,400 | $5,200 | $62,400 |
| $40/hr | $1,600 | $3,200 | $6,933 | $83,200 |
| $50/hr | $2,000 | $4,000 | $8,667 | $104,000 |
| $75/hr | $3,000 | $6,000 | $13,000 | $156,000 |
Looking for a specific wage? Each of our hourly wage pages from $15 to $50 an hour shows the annual salary, the take-home pay in several states and what overtime adds.
Gross pay versus take-home pay
The annual figure above is gross pay, before any tax. Federal income tax, Social Security (6.2%) and Medicare (1.45%) apply to nearly everyone, and most states add an income tax on top. As an example, a $25 hourly wage is a $52,000 salary. A single filer keeps about $43,962 of that in a state without income tax, and about $41,495 in New York, where state income tax and state disability and paid-family-leave premiums apply.
Things that make hourly pay differ from a salary
- Overtime. Non-exempt hourly employees must be paid at least one and a half times their regular rate for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. Most salaried professionals are exempt and receive no overtime. Compare with the overtime calculator.
- Unpaid time. Many hourly jobs pay only for hours worked. A week of unpaid time off reduces annual pay by one week’s wages (about 1.9%).
- Benefits. Salaried roles often include health insurance, retirement matching and paid leave. When comparing offers, include the dollar value of those benefits.
- Variable schedules. If your hours change week to week, use your average weekly hours over a representative period.
When you want to reverse the math, use the salary to hourly calculator. For a detailed explanation of how to compare an hourly job with a salaried offer, read what an hourly wage is worth per year.
Using the result to compare job offers
An hourly offer and a salaried offer are only comparable once both are expressed as annual pay with the same assumptions. Enter the hourly rate, the hours you expect to work each week and the number of weeks you will be paid, then compare the annual figure with the salary offered. If the job includes regular overtime, enter the overtime hours separately: they are paid at a higher rate and can change the comparison substantially. Then look beyond pay: health insurance premiums, a retirement match, paid holidays and the stability of the schedule can be worth several dollars an hour. A $2 an hour difference is about $4,160 a year at full-time hours, and a single month of employer-subsidized health insurance can be worth a good part of that.
Frequently overlooked inputs
- Unpaid weeks. Teachers, seasonal workers and contractors often work fewer than 52 paid weeks. Reduce the weeks input to match.
- Variable hours. If your hours change, use an average of several months rather than the best week.
- Tips and commissions. These are not included unless you add them. Use a conservative estimate.
- Different pay frequency. The calculator shows weekly, biweekly, semimonthly and monthly gross amounts so that you can match them to your pay stubs.
For a deeper explanation of the formula and the 2,080-hour rule, read our guide on hourly wage to annual salary. When you want to see take-home pay for your state and filing status, run the annual figure through the paycheck calculator.