Hourly to Salary Calculator

Converting an hourly rate to a salary usually means 40 hours times 52 weeks, or 2,080 hours. That assumes you are paid for every week of the year, which is not true in a job without paid time off.

This calculator takes unpaid weeks separately. Two unpaid weeks makes it 50 weeks times 40 hours, or 2,000 hours, so the same salary implies a higher hourly rate. That gap is exactly what separates an offer with paid leave from one without.

The reverse direction works the same way. Converting salary to an hourly rate means dividing by the hours actually worked. A salaried job that runs 50-hour weeks pays 20% less per hour than the 40-hour figure suggests.

Comparing an hourly rate against a salary on the headline numbers misleads. Salaried roles often pay nothing extra beyond 40 hours while hourly roles earn overtime. Convert both to an hourly figure using the hours you will really work.

Ignoring benefits makes salaried roles look worse than they are. The employer's share of health premiums, a 401(k) match and paid leave frequently add up to 20-30% of salary. Compare total compensation.

A 1099 contract rate is not comparable at face value. You carry the full 15.3% self-employment tax and buy your own health coverage, so the same headline income leaves considerably less in hand.

The table converts common hourly rates at 40 hours a week, first for 52 paid weeks (2,080 hours) and then with two unpaid weeks (2,000 hours). The first row is the federal minimum wage, $7.25 an hour since July 24, 2009. Many states and cities set a higher minimum, and where they do the higher one applies.

Going the other way, the hours you actually work matter as much as the salary. The table divides common salaries by 52 weeks of 40, 45 and 50 hours. An employee who is not exempt from overtime must still be paid time and a half for hours past 40, even on a fixed salary, so for them the longer weeks raise pay rather than lowering the hourly figure.

A converted salary is gross pay. Federal and state income tax and 7.65% of Social Security and Medicare come out before you see it; the paycheck calculator turns the yearly figure into take-home pay.

Tipped jobs are different: federal law lets an employer pay a cash wage as low as $2.13 an hour if tips bring the total to at least the minimum wage, so the hourly figure on the offer is not the hourly figure you earn.

The same conversion works for part-time schedules: multiply the hourly rate by the hours you actually work each week and by 52. At $20.00 an hour, the table shows how quickly a few hours a week add up over a year.

Thirty hours is a line worth knowing. For a large employer's health coverage obligations under the Affordable Care Act, an employee who averages at least 30 hours a week, or 130 hours a month, counts as full-time. Many benefit plans set their own eligibility rules, so check the plan documents as well.