To calculate an hourly rate from a salary, divide the annual salary by the hours worked in a year. A standard full-time year is 40 hours × 52 weeks = 2,080 hours, so hourly rate = salary ÷ 2,080. A $60,000 salary works out to $60,000 ÷ 2,080 = $28.85 an hour.
What is the formula for hourly rate from salary?
The general formula is:
Hourly rate = annual salary ÷ (hours per week × paid weeks per year)
Each input matters:
- Hours per week is the scheduled workweek: 40 for most full-time jobs, 37.5 or 35 at some employers, fewer for part-time roles.
- Paid weeks per year is 52 when vacation and holidays are paid. It is lower only if some weeks are unpaid.
Worked example
A salary of $72,000 for a 37.5-hour week with all leave paid:
- Hours per year = 37.5 × 52 = 1,950
- Hourly rate = $72,000 ÷ 1,950 = $36.92
The same salary at 40 hours a week is $72,000 ÷ 2,080 = $34.62. A shorter official workweek raises the hourly equivalent of the same pay.
Why is 2,080 the standard number of hours?
2,080 is simply 40 hours × 52 weeks. It is the default used by most payroll systems, job sites and salary converters.
The U.S. federal government uses a slightly different figure. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) divides annual pay by 2,087 hours to get federal hourly rates. OPM explains that 2,080 assumes a year of exactly 52 weeks (364 days), while a real year has 365 or 366 days and therefore sometimes 261 or 262 workdays. A 1981 GAO study of the 28-year cycle after which the calendar repeats found an average of 2,087 work hours per year, and Congress made that divisor permanent in 1985.
The difference is small: $60,000 ÷ 2,087 = $28.75, against $28.85 using 2,080.
What is a salary per hour? (conversion table)
The table below uses 2,080 hours (40 hours × 52 weeks), with the 37.5-hour week shown for comparison. Figures are gross pay, rounded to the cent.
| Annual salary | Hourly (40 h/week) | Hourly (37.5 h/week) | Weekly (40 h) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $30,000 | $14.42 | $15.38 | $576.92 |
| $40,000 | $19.23 | $20.51 | $769.23 |
| $50,000 | $24.04 | $25.64 | $961.54 |
| $60,000 | $28.85 | $30.77 | $1,153.85 |
| $75,000 | $36.06 | $38.46 | $1,442.31 |
| $100,000 | $48.08 | $51.28 | $1,923.08 |
| $150,000 | $72.12 | $76.92 | $2,884.62 |
A quick mental shortcut: at full time, halve the salary and drop three zeros. $60,000 becomes about $30 an hour; the exact value is $28.85, because the shortcut divides by 2,000 rather than 2,080.
How do you convert an hourly rate to a salary?
Reverse the formula:
Annual salary = hourly rate × hours per week × paid weeks per year
At $25 an hour, full time, with paid leave: $25 × 40 × 52 = $52,000.
If the job pays only for weeks actually worked, for instance two unpaid weeks off a year, use 50 weeks: $25 × 40 × 50 = $50,000. For hourly work, the number of paid weeks is often the biggest source of error in a salary comparison.
Each $1 of hourly pay equals $2,080 a year at full time, so a raise from $20 to $21 an hour adds $2,080 to annual gross pay.
How does paid time off affect the hourly rate?
For a salaried employee, paid vacation and holidays do not change the standard hourly rate: the salary is still divided by 2,080 because those hours are paid.
Paid time off does change the effective rate for hours actually spent working. Suppose a $60,000 job includes 15 vacation days and 10 paid holidays, 25 days in total:
- Hours of paid leave = 25 × 8 = 200
- Hours actually worked = 2,080 − 200 = 1,880
- Effective rate = $60,000 ÷ 1,880 = $31.91 per hour worked
This effective rate is useful when comparing a salaried offer with generous leave against a contract or hourly role that pays nothing for time off.
What about overtime and longer weeks?
Many salaried jobs routinely run past 40 hours. Dividing the salary by the hours actually worked shows the real hourly value. A $60,000 salary for a consistent 45-hour week is $60,000 ÷ (45 × 52) = $25.64 an hour, not $28.85.
For non-exempt employees, the U.S. Department of Labor's overtime rules use the same idea. Its Fact Sheet #23 explains that a covered salaried employee's regular rate is found by dividing the weekly salary by the hours the salary is meant to cover; its example divides a $405 salary for a 45-hour week by 45 to get $9.00 an hour. Hours over 40 in a workweek then earn at least one and a half times the regular rate. Whether a job is exempt from overtime depends on its duties and pay, not on being called "salaried."
Is the hourly rate gross or net?
All of the figures above are gross pay, before taxes and deductions. Take-home pay per hour is lower once federal and state income tax, Social Security and Medicare, retirement contributions and insurance premiums are subtracted.
As a rough illustration only, if a combined 22% of pay went to taxes and deductions, a $60,000 salary would leave $46,800, or $22.50 per hour at 2,080 hours. Actual withholding depends on filing status, location, pre-tax benefits and the tax year, so a paycheck or payroll calculator gives the real figure.
How should you use the hourly figure?
Converting salary to an hourly rate helps with:
- Comparing job offers with different schedules or leave policies
- Pricing freelance or side work against a current salary (freelancers also need to cover unpaid time, benefits and self-employment tax)
- Budgeting, together with monthly figures: $60,000 ÷ 12 = $5,000 a month gross, or $60,000 ÷ 26 = $2,307.69 per biweekly paycheck
When comparing offers, use the same hours and paid weeks for every job, then weigh benefits such as health coverage and retirement matching separately, since they are not part of the hourly number.
These figures are general estimates for comparison; they are not tax, legal or financial advice.