Salary to Hourly Rate Calculator
Divide the salary by the hours. The whole question is how many hours you count — and salaried people almost always work more than the contract says.
Hourly rate
$39.06an hour
- Hourly rate
- $39.06
- Daily
- $312.50
- Weekly
- $1,562.50
- Monthly
- $6,250.00
- Hours a year
- 1,920
- Gross, before tax and deductions.
- A salary usually buys paid leave, sick pay and often pension contributions. Comparing it against a contract rate means adding the value of those back on.
About converting salary to hourly
The standard assumption is 2,080 hours a year: 40 hours across 52 weeks. On that basis a $75,000 salary is $36.06 an hour. It is the figure recruiters and comparison sites use, and it is usually generous.
Two things make it generous. Paid holiday means the hours you actually work are fewer than 2,080 — four weeks off at 40 hours is 160 hours you were paid for and did not work, which raises the real hourly rate to $39.06. And unpaid overtime pushes it the other way, often much harder.
Which direction to count depends on the question you are asking. Comparing against a contract rate, you want the hours you would actually bill — so exclude holiday. Asking what your time is really worth, count the hours you genuinely work including the ones nobody records, and the number is frequently sobering.
A salaried role with a 50-hour reality on a 40-hour contract is being paid a fifth less per hour than the headline suggests. Working that out is the point of this page, and it is why the hours and weeks are fields rather than assumptions.
For comparing against freelance work, this figure is only the start — a contract rate also has to cover unpaid holiday, sick leave, pension and unbillable time.
What it works out
- Hourly rate from an annual salary
- Daily, weekly and monthly equivalents
- Any hours per week and weeks per year
The formula
Hourly = Annual salary ÷ (Hours a week × Weeks a year)
$75,000 divided by 40 × 48, which is 1,920 hours, gives $39.06 an hour.
Change the weeks to 52 and the same salary becomes $36.06 — the familiar figure from dividing by 2,080. Neither is wrong; they answer different questions. 2,080 is the hours you are paid for, 1,920 is the hours you work.
The number that usually matters more is hours per week. At 50 hours a week over 48 weeks, $75,000 is $31.25 an hour — a fifth less than the headline. Unpaid overtime is a pay cut that never appears on a payslip, and putting it into this calculation is the only way to see it.
For comparing against contract work, take the resulting rate and treat it as a floor rather than a target. A freelancer with the same rate is worse off, because they also carry unpaid holiday, sick leave, pension and the hours they cannot bill.
- Annual salary
- Gross, before tax.
- Hours a week
- Actually worked. This is where the honest answer lives.
- Weeks a year
- 52 for hours paid, or fewer to exclude holiday and count hours worked.
A worked example
A $75,000 salary at 40 hours a week across 48 working weeks.
That works out to $39.06 an hour.
- Hourly rate
- $39.06
- Daily
- $312.50
- Weekly
- $1,562.50
- Monthly
- $6,250.00
- Hours a year
- 1,920
Questions
How do I convert salary to hourly?
Divide the annual figure by the hours you work in a year. $75,000 over 40 hours and 48 weeks is $39.06 an hour; over the standard 2,080 hours it is $36.06.
Why is 2,080 hours the standard?
40 hours across 52 weeks. It is the conventional basis for comparison and it counts paid holiday as hours worked, which slightly understates the real rate.
Should I use 52 weeks or fewer?
52 gives the hours you are paid for. Fewer gives the hours you actually work, which is the right basis for comparing against a contract rate you would bill.
How does unpaid overtime affect this?
Substantially. A $75,000 salary at 50 hours a week instead of 40 is $31.25 an hour rather than $39.06 — a fifth less. It is a pay cut that never appears on a payslip.
Is this before or after tax?
Before. Tax depends on where you live, your allowances and your other income, and nothing on this site calculates it — it is exactly the kind of figure that changes every year.
What contract rate matches my salary?
Considerably more than this figure. A contractor gets no paid holiday, no sick pay, no pension contribution, and cannot bill every hour they work. The freelance rate calculator works it out properly.
How do I get a monthly figure?
Divide the annual salary by twelve, not by four weeks per month — a year is 52 weeks, so the average month is about 4.33. Using four overstates monthly pay by roughly 8%.