The quick answer: multiply by 2,080
To turn an hourly wage into a yearly salary, multiply it by 2,080. That is the number of hours in a full-time year at 40 hours a week for 52 weeks. At $25 an hour, 25 × 2,080 gives $52,000 a year before taxes.
For a fast estimate in your head, double the hourly rate and add three zeros. $20 an hour becomes about $40,000. The exact figure is $41,600, because the shortcut uses 2,000 hours instead of 2,080. It runs about 4% low, which is fine for a rough comparison.
Hourly to salary chart
The chart below converts common hourly wages into yearly, monthly, biweekly and weekly gross pay. Every figure assumes 40 paid hours a week for all 52 weeks, with no overtime. Monthly pay is the yearly amount divided by 12, and biweekly pay is the yearly amount divided by 26 paychecks.
| Hourly wage | Yearly | Monthly | Biweekly | Weekly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $15 | $31,200 | $2,600.00 | $1,200.00 | $600 |
| $18 | $37,440 | $3,120.00 | $1,440.00 | $720 |
| $20 | $41,600 | $3,466.67 | $1,600.00 | $800 |
| $22 | $45,760 | $3,813.33 | $1,760.00 | $880 |
| $25 | $52,000 | $4,333.33 | $2,000.00 | $1,000 |
| $28 | $58,240 | $4,853.33 | $2,240.00 | $1,120 |
| $30 | $62,400 | $5,200.00 | $2,400.00 | $1,200 |
| $35 | $72,800 | $6,066.67 | $2,800.00 | $1,400 |
| $40 | $83,200 | $6,933.33 | $3,200.00 | $1,600 |
| $45 | $93,600 | $7,800.00 | $3,600.00 | $1,800 |
| $50 | $104,000 | $8,666.67 | $4,000.00 | $2,000 |
| $60 | $124,800 | $10,400.00 | $4,800.00 | $2,400 |
Monthly pay is not the weekly amount times four. A year has 52 weeks, which is a little more than four weeks per month on average. Multiplying weekly pay by four leaves out about four weeks of pay over a year. Dividing the yearly total by 12 gives the true monthly average.
Where the 2,080 hours come from
The 2,080 figure is a convention, and it only fits one schedule. It assumes you are paid for 40 hours every week of the year, including holidays and vacation days. Many salaried jobs and some hourly jobs work this way, since paid time off counts toward the total.
Your real number of paid hours may differ. Common reasons include:
- Paid holidays and vacation. If these are paid, they count. If they are unpaid, subtract them.
- Schedules other than 40 hours. Some full-time jobs set 37.5 or 35 hours a week. At 37.5 hours, a year has 1,950 paid hours.
- Irregular shifts. If your hours change from week to week, average them over a few months before you multiply.
Part-time hours and unpaid weeks
For anything other than a steady 40 hours, use the full formula with your own hours and weeks. The chart above will overstate your pay if you work less.
Example: part-time at $20 an hour
Say you work 30 hours a week at $20 an hour, every week of the year. That is $20 × 30 × 52 = $31,200 a year, or $2,600.00 a month. The same rate at full time would pay $41,600, so the 10 fewer hours each week cost $10,400 a year.
Example: two unpaid weeks
Now say you work 40 hours a week at $20, but take two weeks off without pay. You are paid for 50 weeks, so the total is $20 × 40 × 50 = $40,000. That is $1,600 less than the chart value. Seasonal workers, contractors and people between jobs often fall into this pattern, so count only the weeks you expect to be paid.
How overtime changes the math
Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), a covered, nonexempt employee must get at least one and a half times the regular rate of pay for every hour over 40 in a workweek. The U.S. Department of Labor defines a workweek as a fixed, recurring period of 168 hours, and it does not allow employers to average hours across two or more weeks.
Example: 45 hours at $25 an hour
The first 40 hours pay $25 × 40 = $1,000. The 5 extra hours pay at $37.50 an hour (1.5 × $25), which adds $187.50. The week totals $1,187.50. Without the overtime premium, 45 hours at the straight rate would come to only $1,125.00.
A few points help when you estimate overtime:
- The FLSA does not require extra pay just because you work a weekend or a holiday. The trigger is hours over 40 in the workweek.
- Exempt employees, which includes many salaried professional and management roles, are not owed FLSA overtime.
- The FLSA does not require pay for time not worked, such as vacations or holidays. Whether those days are paid depends on your employer's policy or agreement.
- Some states set their own overtime rules. Your state labor department can tell you what applies where you work.
Because overtime varies, it is safer to estimate your base pay with the chart and treat overtime as extra, unless it is a steady part of your schedule.
Gross pay versus take-home pay
Every number in this article is gross pay, the amount before anything is taken out. Your paycheck will be smaller. Deductions usually include federal income tax withholding, Social Security and Medicare taxes, and in most places state and sometimes local income tax. Many people also have deductions for health insurance, retirement contributions or other benefits.
How much comes out depends on your filing status, where you live, your W-4 choices and your benefits, so two people at the same hourly rate can take home very different amounts. To see your own net pay, look at a recent pay stub or your employer's payroll portal. The difference between gross pay and net pay on that stub is your total deductions for the period.
When you compare job offers, compare gross pay on the same basis first, using the same hours and weeks. Then look at what each job offers in paid time off, overtime eligibility and benefits, since those can shift the real value of an offer by thousands of dollars a year.
Going the other way: salary to hourly
To turn a yearly salary into an hourly rate, divide by 2,080. A $65,000 salary works out to $31.25 an hour at 40 hours a week. If you regularly work more than 40 hours on a salary, divide by your real yearly hours instead. Your effective hourly rate will be lower than the 2,080-hour figure suggests.