Choose the hours behind the comparison
A common planning assumption is 2,080 annual hours (40 hours × 52 weeks). Divide annual gross salary by that total for an hourly comparison. Multiply an hourly rate by the same hours to estimate annual gross earnings. Use your actual expected schedule if it differs.
For example, $62,400 ÷ 2,080 = $30 per hour. Conversely, $30 × 40 × 52 = $62,400 per year. These figures match only under the stated schedule. If the salaried role regularly takes 45 hours each week, $62,400 ÷ (45 × 52) is about $26.67 per hour as a comparison figure.
Weeks and pay frequency change the picture
For an hourly worker paid only for 50 working weeks, $30 × 40 × 50 = $60,000, rather than $62,400 for 52 paid weeks. A salary may include compensated leave that is not actual hours worked; compare the offers using the hours and paid weeks that apply to each.
A biweekly paycheck means every two weeks; a semimonthly paycheck means twice a month. The calculator annualizes a biweekly input with 26 periods and a semimonthly input with 24 periods, independently of the selected hourly-equivalent weeks. Compare annual gross totals before comparing individual paychecks.
What the conversion leaves out
- Benefits, paid leave, bonuses, commissions, taxes and deductions can change the value of an offer.
- Overtime entitlement and its rate depend on the applicable employment rules and facts; a mathematical salary-to-hourly equivalent does not decide them. The U.S. Department of Labor's regular-rate fact sheet explains why payroll calculations can use different inputs.
- If hours vary week to week, test more than one realistic schedule instead of presenting one rate as guaranteed.
Compare your own schedule
Enter an annual, monthly or other pay amount in the Salary ↔ Hourly Calculator, then set hours per week and weeks per year. To see how a proposed increase affects your current pay, read how to calculate a pay raise.
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