What is an hourly to salary calculator?
An hourly to salary calculator converts an hourly wage into what it adds up to per year, month, and week, so you can compare an hourly role against a salaried offer on equal terms.
The core arithmetic is hourly rate × hours per week × paid weeks per year. Where quick conversions go wrong is the assumptions: whether your time off is paid, and whether overtime is real and consistent. This tool makes both explicit rather than assuming a flat 2,080-hour year.
Note the result is gross pay — before tax and deductions.
How the conversion works
The arithmetic is simple. The assumptions underneath it are where most quick conversions go wrong.
Weekly pay first
Your hourly rate times your hours. Overtime hours are multiplied separately at 1.5× or 2× before being added.
Multiplied by paid weeks
52 weeks if you're salaried or have paid time off. Fewer if your holiday is unpaid — and that gap matters more than people expect.
Divided back down
The annual figure is split into monthly, biweekly and weekly amounts so you can compare against salaried job offers directly.
The quick mental shortcut — hourly rate × 2, then add three zeros — gives you a rough annual salary. $25/hour becomes roughly $50,000. It assumes 40 hours across 50 weeks, so it's a slight underestimate of a full 52-week year.
The unpaid time trap
Two jobs with the same hourly rate can differ by thousands a year depending on whether time off is paid.
$25/hour, 40 hours a week:
Add 5 overtime hours a week at time and a half and the same rate becomes $61,750 — but that depends on the overtime actually being offered consistently, which is worth confirming before counting on it.
Comparing an hourly job to a salaried offer
A salaried role that includes paid holiday, sick leave, and employer health contributions can be worth considerably more than an hourly role at an equivalent headline rate. When comparing, set paid weeks to reflect reality for each job rather than assuming 52 for both.
What this figure is not
It's before tax
This is gross pay. What actually reaches your account is lower after federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, and state tax. Our take-home pay calculator runs those numbers.
It assumes consistent hours
If your hours vary week to week — common in retail, hospitality and shift work — use your realistic average rather than your best week. Budgeting on your best week is how people get caught short.
It ignores benefits
Employer retirement matching, health insurance contributions, and paid leave can be worth thousands a year and don't appear in an hourly rate at all.
Common questions
The things people usually want to know before trusting a number like this.
How do I convert my hourly rate to a yearly salary?
Multiply your hourly rate by hours worked per week, then by the number of paid weeks per year. At $25/hour for 40 hours across 52 weeks that's $52,000 before tax. The quick mental version is to double your hourly rate and add three zeros, which assumes roughly 50 working weeks.
How many work hours are in a year?
A standard full-time year is 2,080 hours — 40 hours across 52 weeks. If your holiday is unpaid, subtract those hours: two unpaid weeks brings it to 2,000. Some employers calculate on 2,087 hours to account for how weekdays fall across a calendar year.
Is overtime really worth it?
In gross terms yes — time and a half means each overtime hour pays 50% more. The caveats are that overtime can push part of your income into a higher tax bracket (only the portion above the threshold, not all of it), and that it isn't guaranteed income, so it's risky to build fixed commitments like a car payment around it.
Should I use 52 weeks or fewer?
Use 52 if you're paid for your time off — which is the case for most salaried and many full-time hourly roles. Use fewer only if you genuinely take unpaid weeks. Getting this wrong is the single most common error in hourly-to-salary conversions.
Why is my paycheck less than the weekly figure shown?
Because this shows gross pay. Federal and state income tax, Social Security (6.2%), Medicare (1.45%), and any pre-tax deductions like health insurance or retirement contributions all come out before you see it.
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