Hourly to Salary: The Simple Conversion, Explained
The classic conversion assumes a full-time worker: 40 hours a week × 52 weeks = 2,080 hours a year. Multiply your hourly rate by 2,080 and you get your gross annual salary. It is a good starting point, but the real number depends on how many hours you actually work and what you get beyond the base rate.
The basic formula
Hourly rate × 2,080 = annual salary (full-time, no overtime)
| Hourly rate | Annual (2,080 hrs) | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| $15 | $31,200 | $2,600 |
| $20 | $41,600 | $3,467 |
| $25 | $52,000 | $4,333 |
| $30 | $62,400 | $5,200 |
| $40 | $83,200 | $6,933 |
Going the other direction: annual salary ÷ 2,080 = hourly rate. A $70,000 salary works out to about $33.65/hour.
When the 2,080 rule is wrong
Part-time work: use your real hours — $20/hour at 30 hours a week is $20 × 30 × 52 = $31,200, not $41,600. Unpaid time off: a job with two weeks of unpaid vacation is 2,000 hours, not 2,080. Overtime: time-and-a-half pay means the extra hours are worth more — a $20/hour job with 5 weekly hours of OT adds $20 × 1.5 × 5 × 52 = $7,800 to the year. Paid time off: if vacation and holidays are paid, 2,080 holds; if not, subtract the unpaid weeks.
Shift differentials, tips, commissions, and bonuses all sit on top of the base-rate conversion. For comparing two offers, always compare total compensation per hour actually worked, not just the headline rate.
From gross to take-home
The salary number is gross — before taxes. For 2026, a single filer’s standard deduction is $16,100, and the federal brackets start at 10% on income up to $12,400, then 12% to $50,400, then 22% to $105,700. FICA (Social Security + Medicare) takes another 7.65% for employees, up to the $184,500 wage base for Social Security.
Example: $62,400 gross (about $30/hour). After the $16,100 standard deduction, taxable income is $46,300 — mostly in the 10% and 12% brackets — for federal income tax near $5,000, plus about $4,770 in FICA. Take-home is roughly $52,600 before state tax, 401(k), and health insurance.
Why the conversion matters for job offers
Salaried jobs quote a number that includes paid time off; hourly jobs often do not. That is the single biggest comparison trap: a $60,000 salaried job with 3 weeks paid vacation is effectively about $30/hour for the 1,960 hours actually worked, while a $28/hour hourly job with no paid vacation lands near $58,240 for the same year. Convert both to “paid dollars per hour actually worked” before deciding.
Run the numbers
Use our hourly to salary calculator to convert any rate with overtime and time-off options, the take-home pay calculator for net pay after 2026 taxes, and the federal income tax calculator for the full bracket table. Self-employed instead? See the self-employment tax guide.