Income
Hourly to Salary Calculator
Convert any hourly wage into weekly, monthly, and annual gross income. Useful for comparing a new hourly job offer against a salaried position, sizing up freelance rates, or projecting income at different hours per week.
Income
Hourly to Salary Calculator
Result
An hourly rate can sound simple until you try to turn it into a yearly number. Ten dollars an hour is not just ten dollars an hour once your schedule changes, unpaid time off gets involved, or a job offer starts comparing itself to a salary. This calculator gives you the clean annual estimate first, then helps you slow down and ask the better question: what does this pay rate actually look like in real life?
Use it when a job posting lists hourly pay, when you are comparing hourly work with a salaried role, or when you need a quick income number for budgeting. The result is gross income, meaning it is before taxes, insurance, retirement contributions, and anything else that comes out of your paycheck.
How this calculator works
The math is straightforward:
The three inputs matter more than people think:
- Hourly rate. Your pay per hour before taxes or deductions.
- Hours per week. Use the schedule you actually expect, not the schedule you hope for. A 32-hour week and a 40-hour week create very different annual numbers.
- Weeks per year. Use 52 if you expect to be paid every week. Use fewer weeks if the work is seasonal, unpaid breaks are common, or you know you will take unpaid time off.
A small schedule change can move the annual number quickly. At $25 per hour, 40 hours a week is about $52,000 a year. At 32 hours a week, it is about $41,600. Same hourly rate, very different budget.
Quick reference: common hourly-to-salary conversions
At 40 hours per week for 52 weeks, a full-time year is 2,080 paid hours:
$15/hr → $31,200
$20/hr → $41,600
$25/hr → $52,000
$30/hr → $62,400
$35/hr → $72,800
$40/hr → $83,200
$50/hr → $104,000
$60/hr → $124,800
$75/hr → $156,000
$100/hr → $208,000
The quick mental shortcut is to double the hourly rate and add three zeros. That gets you close because it assumes roughly 2,000 hours a year. The calculator uses 2,080 hours when you enter 40 hours and 52 weeks, so the exact number is a little higher.
What the result does and does not tell you
The annual result is a gross estimate. It is useful for comparing offers, building a budget, or deciding whether a schedule is workable. It is not the amount you will actually take home.
- Taxes still come out. Federal tax, state tax where applicable, and FICA can change the final paycheck substantially.
- Benefits can change the comparison. Health insurance, paid time off, retirement match, and sick time can make one job worth more than another even if the hourly number looks lower.
- Overtime may change the real total. If you regularly work more than 40 hours and qualify for overtime, your annual income may be higher than the basic estimate.
- Variable hours matter. A job that offers “up to 40 hours” is not the same as a guaranteed 40-hour schedule.
For a closer take-home estimate after taxes and deductions, pair this with the Paycheck Calculator.
A practical way to compare hourly and salary offers
When you compare an hourly offer with a salary offer, do not stop at the headline number. Ask what you are giving up or gaining.
For example, $26 per hour at 40 hours a week is about $54,080 a year before taxes. That may look better than a $48,000 salary at first glance. But if the salaried role includes paid vacation, health insurance, a retirement match, steadier hours, and paid sick time, the lower salary may still be the stronger offer. On the other hand, an hourly role with reliable overtime can beat a salary that quietly expects long unpaid weeks.
Good times to use this calculator
- Before accepting a job offer. Convert the rate into a yearly number and compare it with your actual expenses.
- When hours are changing. See what happens if your schedule drops from 40 to 35 hours, or rises during a busy season.
- For freelance or contract work. Estimate what your hourly rate produces over the number of billable hours you can realistically work.
- For budget planning. Use the weekly and monthly equivalents as a starting point before estimating taxes and deductions.
Why your actual income may differ
This calculator assumes the numbers you enter stay consistent. Real life is messier. Unpaid time off, shift cuts, overtime, bonuses, commissions, seasonal breaks, and self-employment taxes can all change the final number. If your hours fluctuate, run a conservative version and an optimistic version. The conservative number is usually the one you want for rent, bills, and savings planning.
Frequently asked questions
How do I convert an hourly wage to an annual salary?
Multiply the hourly rate by hours worked per week, then by weeks worked per year. The standard assumption is 40 hours per week for 52 weeks: hourly_rate × 40 × 52. So $25 per hour becomes $52,000 per year ($25 × 40 × 52). If you take 2 weeks of unpaid vacation, you'd use 50 weeks instead, dropping the annual figure to $50,000. The calculation gives you gross income — before taxes, retirement contributions, and other deductions.
How many work hours are in a year?
The standard answer is 2,080 hours: 40 hours per week multiplied by 52 weeks. This assumes no unpaid time off. Many salaried jobs include paid vacation and holidays (typically 10-15 days per year), so actual working hours might be closer to 1,960-2,000. For salary-to-hourly conversions, 2,080 is the most common base unless the role has unusual hours.
Why is this calculation gross instead of take-home pay?
Gross income (before taxes and deductions) is the universal point of comparison between hourly and salaried roles, used in job postings, contracts, and tax brackets. Take-home pay depends on your specific tax situation, state, retirement contributions, health insurance premiums, and other deductions — none of which are part of the wage rate itself. To estimate take-home, deduct roughly 20-30% for federal/state taxes and FICA, plus any benefits. Use our Paycheck Calculator for a closer estimate.
Does the calculation work for part-time or freelance hours?
Yes, just adjust the hours-per-week input. Part-time at 25 hours per week and $30 per hour would be $30 × 25 × 52 = $39,000 annually. For freelance or variable schedules, use your average weekly hours over a typical month or quarter. Freelancers should also factor in that self-employment taxes (15.3% for Social Security and Medicare) are entirely on you, not split with an employer — meaning the gross-to-net gap is larger for self-employed than for W-2 workers.
Is a higher hourly rate or a salaried position better?
Depends on the role and your priorities. Salaried positions often include benefits (health insurance, paid time off, 401(k) match, sick days) worth $5,000-$15,000+ annually. Hourly roles get overtime pay (1.5x for hours over 40 in non-exempt positions) but may lack benefits. Compare total compensation, not just the headline number. A $48,000 salary with full benefits often beats $30 per hour without benefits, even though the hourly rate seems higher.
What's a livable hourly wage in the US?
It varies enormously by location. MIT's Living Wage Calculator pegs a livable wage for a single adult with no children at roughly $20-$30 per hour in most metro areas, and $35-$45 per hour or more in high-cost cities like San Francisco, New York, or Boston. Families with children require substantially more. The federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour ($15,080 annually) hasn't been raised since 2009 and is below the poverty line for most household sizes.
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A note on this estimate
WalletCalcs provides educational estimates only. Results are gross annual income before taxes, deductions, and benefits. Actual take-home pay depends on your specific tax situation, state, employer benefits, and other deductions.