Hourly to Salary: How to Convert Pay Between Hourly, Monthly and Yearly
Job offers come in different units — $25 an hour, $4,500 a month, $60,000 a year — which makes them hard to compare. Converting them to the same basis takes one rule.
The 2,080-hour rule
A full-time year in the US is usually counted as 40 hours × 52 weeks = 2,080 hours. So:
- Hourly → yearly: multiply by 2,080. $25/hour ≈ $52,000/year.
- Yearly → hourly: divide by 2,080. $60,000/year ≈ $28.85/hour.
- Monthly = yearly ÷ 12, so $60,000 is $5,000 a month.
Work a different schedule? Use your real hours. At 37.5 hours a week, a year is 1,950 hours. The hourly to salary calculator converts any period to all the others using your hours and days per week.
Biweekly vs twice a month
These sound alike but aren't. Biweekly means every two weeks — 26 paychecks a year. Semi-monthly means twice a month — 24 paychecks. On $60,000 a year, a biweekly check is $2,307.69; a semi-monthly one is $2,500. Two months a year, biweekly earners get a third paycheck.
A month isn't four weeks
52 weeks ÷ 12 months = 4.33 weeks per month. Multiplying a weekly wage by 4 understates monthly pay by about 8%.
Comparing offers fairly
- All of these are gross figures, before taxes and deductions.
- Count paid time off: a salaried job with 15 paid days off is worth more than an hourly job at the same rate with none.
- Add benefits such as health insurance and retirement matching, which can be worth thousands a year.
- For overtime-eligible hourly jobs, track real hours with the time card calculator.
Freelancing instead? Your hourly rate must also cover taxes, expenses and unbilled time — the freelance rate calculator handles that.