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How to use this calculator#
- Pick the figure you already knowHourly, daily, weekly, monthly or yearly — enter whichever one your offer letter or payslip actually states. Everything else is derived from it, so entering an estimate in the wrong row corrupts every other row.
- Set hours per week honestlyUse contracted hours, not the hours you work. If you are salaried at 37.5 and routinely do 50, run it both ways — the second number is your real hourly rate, and it is often the most useful output on this page.
- Get paid weeks per year rightSalaried staff are paid through holidays, so 52 is correct. Hourly workers and contractors who take unpaid time off should enter 48, or 46 for a contractor pricing in bench time between engagements.
- Remember every figure here is grossIncome tax, national insurance or FICA, pension contributions and health premiums all come out afterwards. Deductions of 20–40% are typical, so treat these numbers as the size of the offer, not the size of the deposit.
The formula#
Pay-period conversion
Annual = Hourly × HoursPerWeek × WeeksPerYear Monthly = Annual ÷ 12 Weekly = Annual ÷ WeeksPerYear Daily = Annual ÷ (DaysPerWeek × WeeksPerYear)
- Annual
- Gross yearly pay — every other figure is derived from it
- HoursPerWeek
- Contracted hours per week, e.g. 40 or 37.5
- WeeksPerYear
- Paid weeks: 52 for salaried, fewer if holiday is unpaid
- DaysPerWeek
- Working days per week, used for the day-rate row
Monthly is always annual ÷ 12, never weekly × 4 — there are 4.333 weeks in an average month, so the ×4 shortcut understates monthly pay by 7.7%. If you are paid fortnightly you receive 26 payments a year, so two calendar months contain three payslips.
How the conversions work#
Everything is derived from annual pay. Annual equals hourly x hours per week x weeks per year; monthly is annual divided by 12 and weekly is annual divided by the weeks you work. On a 40-hour week across 52 weeks, 25 an hour is 52,000 a year, 4,333 a month and 1,000 a week. Halve the weeks and every derived figure halves with it.
The weeks-per-year box is where salaried and hourly work diverge. Salaried staff are paid through their holidays, so 52 is correct. Contractors and hourly workers who take four unpaid weeks off should enter 48 instead — that one change reduces the annual figure by nearly 8%, which is exactly the sort of gap that makes an hourly offer look better than it is.
Gross pay is not take-home pay#
These figures are gross, before income tax, national insurance or social security, pension contributions and health premiums. Deductions of 20-40% are typical depending on country and bracket, so a 60,000 salary can land nearer 45,000 in the bank. Marginal rates also mean a raise is taxed at a higher rate than your average pay, so a 10% increase never adds 10% to take-home.
Comparing a contract rate with a salary#
A day rate is not directly comparable to a salary. Contractors fund their own holiday, sick pay, pension, insurance and accounting, and carry unpaid gaps between engagements. A widely used rule is to bill 20-30% above the salaried equivalent and to assume only 44-46 billable weeks, so bench time is priced in rather than discovered in December.
Worked examples#
$25 an hour, full time
40 hours a week, 5 days a week, paid for all 52 weeks.
- Annual = 25 × 40 × 52 = 52,000
- Monthly = 52,000 ÷ 12 = 4,333.33
- Weekly = 52,000 ÷ 52 = 1,000.00
- Daily = 52,000 ÷ (5 × 52) = 52,000 ÷ 260 = 200.00
- Total paid hours = 40 × 52 = 2,080
$52,000 gross a year, $4,333.33 a month, $1,000 a week, $200 a day, across 2,080 hours.
A day rate against a salary
Comparing a $60,000 salaried role with a $350-a-day contract.
- Salary equivalent per day: 60,000 ÷ 260 working days = 230.77
- Contract at 52 weeks: 350 × 5 × 52 = 91,000 — but nobody bills 52 weeks
- Contract at 46 billable weeks: 350 × 5 × 46 = 80,500
- Deduct roughly 20% for unpaid holiday, sick days, pension and accounting: about 64,400 comparable
$350 a day is worth about $80,500 gross at 46 billable weeks — a genuine premium, but far less than the 52-week figure of $91,000 implies once bench time and self-funded benefits are priced in.
Reference tables#
| Hourly | Weekly | Monthly (52 wk) | Annual (52 wk) | Annual (48 wk) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $15 | $600 | $2,600.00 | $31,200 | $28,800 |
| $18 | $720 | $3,120.00 | $37,440 | $34,560 |
| $20 | $800 | $3,466.67 | $41,600 | $38,400 |
| $25 | $1,000 | $4,333.33 | $52,000 | $48,000 |
| $30 | $1,200 | $5,200.00 | $62,400 | $57,600 |
| $40 | $1,600 | $6,933.33 | $83,200 | $76,800 |
| $50 | $2,000 | $8,666.67 | $104,000 | $96,000 |
| $75 | $3,000 | $13,000.00 | $156,000 | $144,000 |
| $100 | $4,000 | $17,333.33 | $208,000 | $192,000 |
Quick mental version: double the hourly rate and add three zeros. $30 an hour is roughly $60,000, and the exact figure is rate × 2,080.
| Annual | Monthly | Weekly | Daily | Hourly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $30,000 | $2,500.00 | $576.92 | $115.38 | $14.42 |
| $40,000 | $3,333.33 | $769.23 | $153.85 | $19.23 |
| $50,000 | $4,166.67 | $961.54 | $192.31 | $24.04 |
| $60,000 | $5,000.00 | $1,153.85 | $230.77 | $28.85 |
| $75,000 | $6,250.00 | $1,442.31 | $288.46 | $36.06 |
| $100,000 | $8,333.33 | $1,923.08 | $384.62 | $48.08 |
| $150,000 | $12,500.00 | $2,884.62 | $576.92 | $72.12 |
| $200,000 | $16,666.67 | $3,846.15 | $769.23 | $96.15 |
If you actually work 50 hours a week rather than 40, divide the annual figure by 2,600 instead — a $100,000 salary becomes $38.46 an hour.
| Hours per week | Hours per year | Weekly | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | 832 | $400.00 | $20,800 |
| 20 | 1,040 | $500.00 | $26,000 |
| 30 | 1,560 | $750.00 | $39,000 |
| 35 | 1,820 | $875.00 | $45,500 |
| 37.5 | 1,950 | $937.50 | $48,750 |
| 40 | 2,080 | $1,000.00 | $52,000 |
| 45 | 2,340 | $1,125.00 | $58,500 |
| 50 | 2,600 | $1,250.00 | $65,000 |
The gap between a 37.5-hour and a 40-hour contract is $3,250 a year at this rate — worth checking before you assume two offers at the same salary are the same offer.
Common mistakes#
- Multiplying weekly pay by four to get monthlyA month averages 4.333 weeks, not 4. On $1,000 a week the shortcut gives $4,000 instead of $4,333.33 — a $4,000 error across the year, always in the direction that makes your budget look tighter than it is.
- Comparing a contract day rate straight against a salaryA salary includes paid holiday, sick pay, employer pension contributions, insurance and no gaps between jobs. A contractor funds all of it and bills perhaps 44–46 weeks. The usual working rule is that a day rate needs to be 20–30% above the salaried equivalent just to break even.
- Assuming a 10% raise adds 10% to take-homeThe increase is taxed at your marginal rate, which is higher than your average rate. In a 32% marginal bracket a $6,000 raise adds about $4,080 before payroll taxes — real, but not what the percentage suggested.
- Using 52 weeks for hourly work with unpaid time offFour unpaid weeks turns $52,000 into $48,000. That 7.7% gap is exactly the kind of thing that makes an hourly offer look better than a salaried one on a spreadsheet and worse in your bank account.
Frequently asked questions#
How many working hours are in a year?
A standard full-time year is 2,080 hours — 40 hours a week across 52 weeks. Deducting two weeks of unpaid holiday brings it to 2,000.
How do I convert an hourly rate to a salary quickly?
Double the hourly rate and add three zeros for a rough annual figure at 40 hours a week: 30 an hour is roughly 60,000. The exact figure is the rate times 2,080.
Is monthly pay just annual divided by 12?
Yes for monthly-paid staff. If you are paid fortnightly you receive 26 cheques a year and weekly gives 52, so two months each year contain an extra payment.
Does this show tax or take-home pay?
No, every figure is gross. Deductions depend on your country, filing status, allowances and pension choices, which vary far too much for a single conversion.
Key terms#
- Gross pay
- Total pay before any deduction. Every figure this calculator produces is gross, which is also how job offers are quoted.
- Net pay
- What actually reaches your account after income tax, social security or national insurance, pension and benefit deductions — commonly 60–80% of gross.
- Marginal tax rate
- The rate applied to your next dollar of income, as opposed to the average rate across all of it. Raises and bonuses are taxed at the marginal rate.
- FTE (full-time equivalent)
- A role expressed as a fraction of full time. A 20-hour week where full time is 40 is 0.5 FTE, and a salary quoted 'FTE' is the full-time figure, not what you will be paid.
- 2,080 hours
- The standard US full-time working year: 40 hours × 52 weeks. Used to convert between salary and hourly rate in almost every payroll system.
- Day rate
- A contractor's fee for one working day, excluding holiday, pension, sick pay and employer taxes — all of which the contractor funds from it.
Sources#
- Overtime pay and the Fair Labor Standards Act — U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Tax withholding estimator and marginal rate brackets — Internal Revenue Service
Figures last checked .
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