An hourly to salary calculator converts an hourly wage into equivalent annual, monthly, biweekly, and weekly pay figures. It is used by hourly workers considering salaried positions, employers building compensation packages, freelancers setting rates, and anyone comparing job offers with different pay structures. The conversion helps you make fair, apples-to-apples comparisons between different compensation types.
How to Use This Calculator
- Enter your hourly rate.
- Input the number of hours worked per week.
- Choose the number of weeks worked per year (typically 52, or fewer if you account for unpaid vacation).
- Review your equivalent annual, monthly, biweekly, and weekly salary figures.
What This Calculator Measures
The hourly to salary calculator converts a variable-hours pay structure into standardized annual equivalents.
- Annual salary — Total yearly earnings based on the hourly rate and hours worked.
- Monthly pay — Annual salary divided by 12, useful for monthly budget planning.
- Biweekly pay — The amount received every two weeks, the most common payroll frequency for salaried workers.
- Weekly pay — Hourly rate multiplied by hours per week.
- Effective hourly rate — Useful when comparing a salaried position by converting the salary back to an hourly equivalent.
Formula or Logic
Annual Salary = Hourly Rate × Hours per Week × Weeks per Year
The standard calculation uses 40 hours per week and 52 weeks per year, giving a multiplier of 2,080. A quick shortcut: double your hourly rate and add three zeros to estimate annual salary ($25/hr ≈ $50,000/year for a 40-hour week). Monthly pay is annual divided by 12; biweekly is annual divided by 26.
Example Calculations
Example 1: $22/hour × 40 hours × 52 weeks = $45,760/year. Monthly: $3,813. Biweekly: $1,760.
Example 2: $35/hour × 35 hours × 50 weeks = $61,250/year. This accounts for two weeks of unpaid time off.
Understanding Your Results
When comparing an hourly job to a salaried position, also factor in benefits. A salaried job with health insurance, paid vacation, and retirement matching may be worth significantly more than the salary alone. An hourly job without benefits requires you to fund those independently, which increases the effective cost of working.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Using 52 weeks without accounting for unpaid vacation or time between jobs
- Ignoring overtime — if you regularly work over 40 hours, your actual annual earnings may be higher
- Not comparing benefits packages when evaluating hourly vs. salaried roles
- Forgetting that freelance or contract hourly rates should be higher than employee rates to cover self-employment tax and benefits