To convert an annual salary to an hourly rate, divide the salary by the paid hours in a year — hours per week times weeks per year. At the standard 40 hours and 52 weeks (2,080 hours), a $52,000 salary works out to $25.00 per hour. The same formula runs in reverse to turn an hourly rate into a salary.
How to convert salary to hourly (or hourly to salary)
- Multiply hours per week by weeks per year to get paid hours per year. The default full-time schedule is 40 × 52 = 2,080 hours.
- Salary → hourly: divide the annual salary by those hours. $52,000 ÷ 2,080 = $25.00 per hour.
- Hourly → salary: multiply the rate by the same hours. $25.00 × 2,080 = $52,000 per year.
- For the in-between figures, weekly pay is the hourly rate times hours per week, and monthly pay is the annual salary divided by 12.
How the math works: the 2,080-hour year
The conversion rests on a single number — paid hours per year — and everything else is one multiplication or division away:
hourly rate = annual salary ÷ (hours per week × weeks per year)
The figure 2,080 is simply 40 hours times 52 weeks. It is a payroll convention, not a law of the calendar: it assumes a full-time schedule with every week of the year paid, including any vacation and holiday weeks. Actual calendar years contain 260 to 262 weekdays, so the count of potential working hours drifts between roughly 2,080 and 2,096 from year to year — the work hours in a year calculator computes the exact number for any year. The federal government smooths that drift the other way: OPM converts federal annual salaries to hourly rates using a 2,087-hour divisor, which averages the calendar variation over a full leap-year cycle. For everyday comparisons, 2,080 is the figure almost every employer and job posting uses.
Monthly pay deserves one caution: a month is not four weeks. Twelve months hold 52 weeks plus a day or two, so the average month is 52 ÷ 12 ≈ 4.33 weeks. That is why this calculator derives monthly pay as the annual salary divided by 12 rather than weekly pay times 4 — the times-4 shortcut understates a month by about 8 percent.
Why your real hourly value can differ
The standard formula treats salaried and hourly pay as if they bought the same thing. In practice the two compensation structures handle time off differently, and that is where a paper-equivalent rate and the real value part ways:
Salaried with paid time off. A salaried employee is typically paid for all 52 weeks even while on vacation or out for a holiday. Someone who actually works 49 weeks but is paid $52,000 earns that salary over 49 × 40 = 1,960 worked hours, which is about $26.53 per hour of actual work — more than the $25.00 the 2,080-hour math suggests.
Hourly without paid time off. The reverse applies to an hourly worker whose unworked weeks are unpaid. At $25.00 per hour, two unpaid weeks off shrink the year to 50 paid weeks: 25 × 40 × 50 = $50,000, not $52,000. If that describes your job, set "weeks per year" to the weeks you expect to actually be paid for and the calculator gives you the honest annual figure.
Overtime. Hourly, overtime-eligible workers generally earn 1.5 times their regular rate for hours past 40 in a workweek, which can push real annual earnings well above the straight-time conversion. Most salaried-exempt roles get nothing extra for the same hours. The overtime pay calculator quantifies the first case, and the federal overtime basics guide explains how the 40-hour threshold works.
None of these wrinkles change the arithmetic — they change which inputs are honest for your situation. The formula itself is the same in every case.
Worked example, both directions
Salary to hourly. An offer letter says $62,400 per year for a full-time role. Hours per year: 40 × 52 = 2,080. Hourly rate: 62,400 ÷ 2,080 = $30.00 per hour. Weekly that is 30 × 40 = $1,200.00, and monthly it is 62,400 ÷ 12 = $5,200.00.
Hourly to salary. A part-time job pays $22.00 per hour for 38 hours a week, and the worker expects 50 paid weeks (two unpaid weeks off). Hours per year: 38 × 50 = 1,900. Annual pay: 22 × 1,900 = $41,800 per year. Weekly that is 22 × 38 = $836.00, and monthly it is 41,800 ÷ 12 ≈ $3,483.33.
Common salaries as hourly rates (40 h/week, 52 weeks)
| Annual salary | Hourly (÷ 2,080) | Weekly (÷ 52) | Monthly (÷ 12) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $30,000 | $14.42 | $576.92 | $2,500.00 |
| $35,000 | $16.83 | $673.08 | $2,916.67 |
| $40,000 | $19.23 | $769.23 | $3,333.33 |
| $45,000 | $21.63 | $865.38 | $3,750.00 |
| $50,000 | $24.04 | $961.54 | $4,166.67 |
| $55,000 | $26.44 | $1,057.69 | $4,583.33 |
| $60,000 | $28.85 | $1,153.85 | $5,000.00 |
| $65,000 | $31.25 | $1,250.00 | $5,416.67 |
| $70,000 | $33.65 | $1,346.15 | $5,833.33 |
| $75,000 | $36.06 | $1,442.31 | $6,250.00 |
| $80,000 | $38.46 | $1,538.46 | $6,666.67 |
| $90,000 | $43.27 | $1,730.77 | $7,500.00 |
| $100,000 | $48.08 | $1,923.08 | $8,333.33 |
Hourly figures are rounded to the cent, so multiplying one back out can land a few dollars off the original salary — that is rounding, not an error in the formula.
Frequently asked questions
Is a work year always 2,080 hours?
No. 2,080 is the payroll convention (40 × 52). A real calendar year holds 260 to 262 weekdays, so the count of weekday working hours ranges from about 2,080 to 2,096 depending on which days of the week January 1 and any leap day land on. Use the work hours in a year calculator for the exact figure in a specific year.
Should I use 52 or 50 weeks per year?
Use 52 if every week of the year is paid — the normal case for salaried jobs with paid vacation, and for comparing job offers on equal footing. Use a smaller number if some weeks are unpaid: an hourly worker who takes two unpaid weeks off should enter 50 to see what the year actually pays.
Does the conversion account for overtime?
No — it is a straight-time conversion. If you regularly work more than 40 hours a week in an overtime-eligible job, your real annual earnings will be higher than the converted salary because hours past 40 are typically paid at 1.5×. Estimate that with the overtime pay calculator.
Why isn't monthly pay just weekly pay times 4?
Because the average month is about 4.33 weeks (52 ÷ 12), not 4. This calculator divides the annual salary by 12 instead. Note that "monthly equivalent" is also not the same as a paycheck — biweekly and semimonthly schedules split the year differently, which the pay period calculator lays out.
Is the result gross or take-home pay?
Gross. Everything here is pay before taxes, insurance premiums, retirement contributions, and other withholding. Take-home pay depends on your individual withholding and deductions, which this tool deliberately does not model.
Is anything I type stored or sent anywhere?
No. The conversion runs entirely in your browser; nothing you enter is transmitted or saved.