How to Calculate Your Hourly Rate From Salary
Converting a salary into an hourly rate is one of the most useful pay calculations you can do. It lets you compare a salaried job offer against contract or hourly work, sanity-check whether your time is fairly paid, and price freelance projects. The math is simple once you fix two assumptions: how many hours you work per week and how many weeks you work per year.
The formula
Hourly rate = Annual salary ÷ (hours per week × weeks per year). For a standard full-time schedule that is 40 hours a week for all 52 weeks, which gives 2,080 working hours in a year.
A worked example
Say you earn $60,000 a year and work a standard full-time schedule. Divide $60,000 by 2,080 hours and you get about $28.85 per hour. Change the schedule and the answer moves: at 37.5 paid hours a week (1,950 hours/year) the same salary works out to roughly $30.77 per hour.
| Annual salary | Hourly (2,080 hrs) | Hourly (1,950 hrs) |
|---|---|---|
| $40,000 | $19.23 | $20.51 |
| $60,000 | $28.85 | $30.77 |
| $80,000 | $38.46 | $41.03 |
| $100,000 | $48.08 | $51.28 |
The assumptions that change your answer
- Paid time off: if your salary already covers vacation, your effective hourly rate for hours actually worked is higher.
- Overtime: salaried roles often involve unpaid extra hours, which lowers your real hourly rate.
- Part-time schedules: fewer hours per week raise the hourly figure for the same annual pay.
The fastest way to get an exact number for your own schedule is to use a calculator that lets you set your own hours and weeks.
Run your own numbers
Convert salary to hourly and estimate your take-home pay in seconds.
Open the calculatorFrequently asked questions
What is the quick formula to convert salary to hourly?
Divide the annual salary by the total hours worked in a year. For a 40-hour week across 52 weeks, that is 2,080 hours, so hourly rate = salary ÷ 2,080.
How many work hours are in a year?
A standard full-time year is 2,080 hours (40 hours × 52 weeks). If you take unpaid time off or work part-time, the number is lower.
Is $60,000 a year a good hourly wage?
$60,000 a year is about $28.85 per hour on a standard full-time schedule. Whether that is good depends on your location, cost of living and industry.