Hourly to Salary Calculator
Updated August 2026 · Free · No sign-up
Convert your hourly wage to an annual salary based on your real weekly hours — with weekly, biweekly, and monthly equivalents, overtime-adjusted earnings, and the chart for common rates.
Quick answer: Annual salary = hourly rate × hours per week × weeks per year. At full-time hours (40 × 52 = 2,080), $25/hour = $52,000 per year. Quick shortcut: hourly rate × 2 ≈ salary in thousands.
Hourly to Salary Formula
Annual Salary = Hourly Rate × Hours per Week × Weeks per Year
The standard full-time year is 2,080 hours (40 × 52), which produces the mental shortcut: double the hourly rate and read it as thousands — $25/hour ≈ $50k (exact: $52,000). Unpaid time off reduces weeks per year; steady overtime adds 1.5x hours on top.
Worked Examples
Example 1 — full time. $25/hour × 40 × 52 = $52,000/year; $1,000/week, $2,000/biweekly, $4,333/month.
Example 2 — with regular overtime. $22/hour with 5 OT hours weekly: base $45,760 + OT (5 × $33 × 52 = $8,580) = $54,340 — overtime lifted effective pay 18.7%. Salaried offers that eliminate OT must beat this number, not the base.
Example 3 — part-year work. $30/hour, 40 hrs, 44 paid weeks (seasonal): $52,800 — comparing against 52-week salaries without adjusting weeks is the classic seasonal-worker mistake.
Hourly to Salary Chart (40 hrs/week, 52 weeks)
| Hourly | Annual | Monthly | Hourly | Annual | Monthly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $15 | $31,200 | $2,600 | $28 | $58,240 | $4,853 |
| $18 | $37,440 | $3,120 | $30 | $62,400 | $5,200 |
| $20 | $41,600 | $3,467 | $35 | $72,800 | $6,067 |
| $22 | $45,760 | $3,813 | $40 | $83,200 | $6,933 |
| $25 | $52,000 | $4,333 | $50 | $104,000 | $8,667 |
Comparing an Hourly Job Against a Salaried Offer
The honest comparison needs four adjustments beyond the base conversion:
- Overtime: hourly non-exempt work pays 1.5x beyond 40 hours; salaried exempt work doesn't. If you regularly work 45+ hours, an "equal" salary is a pay cut — run your real weeks through the overtime pay calculator first.
- Benefits: employer health premiums, 401(k) match, and PTO are commonly worth 20–30% of salary. An hourly job without them needs a 20-30% higher equivalent salary to break even.
- Paid time off: hourly workers without PTO earn nothing on vacation — a 2-week unpaid holiday cuts effective weeks to 50, trimming ~4% off the annual figure.
- Schedule risk: hourly pay flexes down in slow seasons (cut shifts); salary doesn't. Stability itself has value.
Contractors and Freelancers: The 1099 Conversion
Self-employed hourly rates need a bigger haircut before comparing with W-2 salaries: add ~7.65% extra self-employment tax (both FICA halves), your full health premium, zero paid leave, unbillable admin hours, and equipment. The working rule: a 1099 hourly rate ÷ 1.3 to 1.5 ≈ equivalent W-2 salary rate. So $60/hour freelance ≈ $40-46/hour employed ≈ $83-96k salary equivalent — not the $124,800 the naive ×2,080 math suggests. Setting your own rate? Work backwards with the same multiplier from your target salary.
Which Payment Structure Wins?
| You should prefer… | When |
|---|---|
| Hourly | Overtime is real and paid, hours are stable-or-plentiful, benefits exist anyway |
| Salary | Hours cluster at/below 40, benefits are rich, income stability matters (mortgage applications love salaries) |
| Either, computed honestly | Always — convert both to expected annual totals including OT and benefits, then decide |
Going the other direction? The salary to hourly calculator reveals what a demanding salaried role really pays per hour, and the biweekly pay calculator maps either number onto your actual paycheck rhythm.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is $25 an hour annually?
$52,000 per year at 40 hours a week, 52 weeks (2,080 hours). Shortcut: hourly rate × 2 in thousands.
How much is $20 an hour per year?
$41,600 at full-time hours — $3,467/month or $1,600 per biweekly paycheck, before taxes.
How much is $30 an hour annually?
$62,400 at 2,080 hours. With five weekly overtime hours at 1.5x it rises to about $74,100.
How do I convert hourly to salary?
Multiply hourly rate × hours per week × paid weeks per year. Use your real hours — 45-hour weeks at $25 are $58,500, not $52,000.
Does overtime count in a salary conversion?
Add it explicitly: OT hours × rate × 1.5 × weeks. Regular overtime can add 15-25% — a salaried offer replacing an OT-heavy hourly job must beat the WITH-overtime figure.
How do unpaid weeks change the math?
Reduce weeks per year: $30/hour with 4 unpaid weeks is 30 × 40 × 48 = $57,600 rather than $62,400.
What salary equals $50 an hour freelance?
After self-employment tax, benefits, and unbillable time, roughly $70-80k W-2 equivalent — divide contractor rates by 1.3-1.5 before comparing with employed salaries.
Is $25 an hour a good wage?
It annualizes to $52,000 — near the US median household income territory and well above minimum wages, but adequacy depends heavily on local cost of living and benefits.
How many working hours are in a year?
2,080 at 40 hours × 52 weeks. Subtracting ~10 holidays and 2 weeks vacation leaves about 1,880 actually-worked hours for a typical US full-timer.
Gross vs take-home: what will I actually see?
These conversions are gross. Take-home typically runs 70-80% after FICA (7.65%), federal/state income tax, and benefit premiums.
✓ Formula verified • Last updated: August 20, 2026