Salary conversion formulas
Annual = Hourly × Hours per week × Weeks per year
Weekly pay is annual ÷ weeks per year, biweekly is annual ÷ (weeks ÷ 2), semimonthly is annual ÷ 24 and monthly is annual ÷ 12.
Comparing a salaried job with an hourly job
- Overtime: most hourly workers in the U.S. earn 1.5× for hours over 40 a week; many salaried (exempt) employees do not.
- Paid time off and holidays are worth money — 3 weeks of PTO on a $31.25 rate is worth about $3,750.
- Benefits: employer health insurance and retirement matching can be worth 20–30% of salary.
- Actual hours: if a salaried role regularly needs 50 hours a week, enter 50 to see your true hourly rate.
Track actual hours and pay with the hours worked calculator.
How to use the calculator
- Enter your annual salary, or switch to enter an hourly wage.
- Enter hours per week and paid weeks per year (52 for a salaried job with paid vacation).
- Optionally enter weeks of vacation and holidays to see the effective hourly rate for hours actually worked.
- Read the hourly, daily, weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, monthly and annual equivalents.
Salary to hourly chart
| Annual salary | Hourly (2,080 h) | Hourly after 4 weeks off (1,880 h) | Monthly | Biweekly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $30,000 | $14.42 | $15.96 | $2,500 | $1,154 |
| $40,000 | $19.23 | $21.28 | $3,333 | $1,538 |
| $50,000 | $24.04 | $26.60 | $4,167 | $1,923 |
| $65,000 | $31.25 | $34.57 | $5,417 | $2,500 |
| $80,000 | $38.46 | $42.55 | $6,667 | $3,077 |
| $100,000 | $48.08 | $53.19 | $8,333 | $3,846 |
| $150,000 | $72.12 | $79.79 | $12,500 | $5,769 |
A quick mental shortcut: divide the annual salary by 2,000 (or halve it and drop three zeros). $50,000 a year is about $25 an hour; $25 an hour is about $50,000 a year.
Biweekly vs. semimonthly
Biweekly pay means every two weeks — 26 paychecks a year, with two months each year that have three paydays. Semimonthly means twice a month, usually on the 15th and last day — 24 paychecks, each slightly larger. On $65,000, biweekly checks are $2,500 and semimonthly checks are $2,708.33 before tax.
Comparing offers fairly
- Overtime: most U.S. hourly workers earn 1.5× pay over 40 hours a week; many salaried (exempt) employees don’t.
- Benefits: health insurance, retirement matching and paid time off can be worth 20–30% of salary. A higher hourly rate without benefits may be worth less.
- Actual hours: a salaried job that regularly needs 50 hours a week pays much less per hour than the 40-hour figure suggests. Enter your real hours to see.
- Contract work: as a contractor you also pay self-employment taxes and your own benefits; see the freelance rate calculator.
Gross vs. take-home pay
All figures here are before tax. Federal and state income taxes, Social Security (6.2%), Medicare (1.45%), and deductions for health insurance and retirement plans reduce take-home pay. As a rough guide, many U.S. workers take home about 70–80% of gross pay, depending on income, state and benefit choices.