How to convert a salary to an hourly rate
Use hours per week and paid weeks per year so a salary and an hourly wage describe the same work.
Short answer
Divide the annual salary by the number of hours you are paid for in the year. Write that year as hours per week times paid weeks, and do not hide the assumption.
The only inputs that matter
Start with gross annual pay. Then write the weekly hours the pay is meant to cover. Then write how many of the 52 weeks are paid. Multiply those two numbers before you divide. Changing either number changes the hourly rate even when the offer does not.
A 40-hour week and 52 paid weeks is 2,080 hours. That is a convention used in a lot of US full-time comparisons. It is a poor fit for a school-year contract, a 37.5-hour week, or a job with unpaid shutdowns. Put the hours you were given in the calculator instead of borrowing 2,080 because it looks familiar.
What the rate leaves out
The result is not take-home pay, and it is not an overtime rate. Benefits, unpaid overtime expected of salaried staff, and a commute do not appear in the division. If you need a monthly budget number, divide the salary by 12 on the monthly calculator rather than multiplying an hourly guess by four weeks.
Common mistakes
- Using 2,000 hours without saying so.
- Comparing gross hourly with a net paycheck.
Frequently asked questions
- Where do I calculate it?
- Use the annual salary to hourly calculator and set the hours and weeks yourself.
Related
- Annual salary to hourly rateConvert an annual salary into an hourly rate from the hours you actually work in a week and a year.
- How many hours are in a work year?See why 2,080 hours shows up so often, and when a different work year is the honest denominator.
- 52 weeks or 50 in a salary year?Pick 52 paid weeks or fewer based on unpaid time off, and say which one you used.