How to use the hourly wage calculator
Convert pay turns any pay figure into all the others.
- Enter the amount and choose its period: hourly, daily, weekly, every two weeks, monthly or annual.
- Enter hours per week. Use the hours you are paid for, not the hours you happen to be at work.
- Enter paid weeks per year. Keep 52 if vacation and holidays are paid; subtract any unpaid weeks.
- Working days per week matters only for the daily figure.
Overtime pay works out one week. Enter your regular rate, regular hours and overtime hours, pick time and a half or double time, and add double-time hours if your job pays some hours at 2×.
The formulas
Hourly rate = Annual pay ÷ (Hours per week × Paid weeks per year)
Monthly pay = Annual pay ÷ 12Weekly pay = hourly rate × hours per week, biweekly pay = 2 × weekly pay, daily pay = weekly pay ÷ working days. A month is not four weeks: a year has 52 weeks but 12 months, so a month averages about 4.33 weeks.
Effective hourly rate = Total pay ÷ (Hreg + Hot + Hdt)R is the regular hourly rate, m the overtime multiplier (1.5 or 2), and H the regular, overtime and double-time hours.
A worked example
Converting. At $25 an hour for 40 hours a week and 52 weeks, you are paid for 2,080 hours a year. That is $52,000 a year, $4,333 a month, $2,000.00 every two weeks and $1,000.00 a week. Going the other way, a $65,000 salary is $31.25 an hour.
Overtime. Working 40 hours at $22 plus 8 hours of overtime at time and a half pays $880.00 + $264.00 = $1,144.00 for the week. The average across all hours is $23.83 an hour.
Hourly wages and annual salaries
At 40 hours a week and 52 paid weeks:
| Hourly | Weekly | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| $15 | $600.00 | $2,600 | $31,200 |
| $20 | $800.00 | $3,467 | $41,600 |
| $25 | $1,000.00 | $4,333 | $52,000 |
| $35 | $1,400.00 | $6,067 | $72,800 |
| $50 | $2,000.00 | $8,667 | $104,000 |
Hours and paid weeks shift the result as much as the rate. At 30 hours a week, $25 an hour is $39,000 a year; with two unpaid weeks it is $50,000 instead of $52,000. When you compare an hourly job with a salaried one, also compare benefits: paid leave, health cover and retirement matching can be worth several dollars an hour.
What overtime is worth
Overtime raises pay faster than the hours, because each extra hour costs the employer more than a regular one. In the example, overtime adds a premium of $88.00 on top of straight-time pay. At double time the same 8 hours pay $352.00, and the week totals $1,232.00. Adding 4 hours of double time to the default week brings it to $1,320.00.
In the US, the federal rule under the Fair Labor Standards Act is 1.5 times the regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek, for non-exempt employees. It is a weekly test: long days do not create federal overtime if the week stays at 40 hours. Several states add their own rules, such as daily overtime in California, so the hours that count can differ from the federal minimum.
What this calculator does not include
- Taxes. All figures are before tax. The salary after tax calculator converts them to take-home pay.
- Benefits and unpaid costs. Health cover, retirement matching and paid leave are not valued.
- Legal advice on overtime. Exempt status, the regular rate (which can include some bonuses) and state rules decide what you are owed; check with your employer or state labor department.