How to Convert Salary to an Hourly Rate

Converting a salary to an hourly rate is useful for comparing job offers, budgeting a contractor's cost, or working out what a salaried role really pays per hour. The basic formula is simple, but a couple of assumptions — how many hours a year, and whether overtime applies — change the answer. Here's how to do it correctly, in both directions.

The standard formula

The most common approach uses 2,080 hours a year, which is 40 hours a week × 52 weeks:

Hourly rate = Annual salary ÷ 2,080

So a $62,400 salary is 62,400 ÷ 2,080 = $30.00 per hour. A $52,000 salary is 52,000 ÷ 2,080 = $25.00 per hour. It's a clean baseline because 2,080 is the standard full-time year.

Going the other way: hourly to salary

To estimate an annual salary from an hourly rate, reverse it:

Annual salary = Hourly rate × 2,080

A $28/hour rate is 28 × 2,080 = $58,240 a year, assuming full-time, year-round work.

Adjust for actual hours

The 2,080 figure assumes a 40-hour week with no unpaid time off. Reality varies:

• Part-time: Use actual weekly hours. Someone working 25 hours a week is 25 × 52 = 1,300 hours a year, so divide by that instead.
• Unpaid time off: If the person takes unpaid weeks, subtract those. 50 worked weeks × 40 = 2,000 hours.
• Different full-time weeks: Some employers treat 37.5 hours as full-time (1,950 a year). Use whatever your standard actually is.

Pick the hours figure that matches how the person really works, and the rate will reflect reality.

A worked example

A role pays $75,000 a year. At the standard 2,080 hours: 75,000 ÷ 2,080 = $36.06 per hour. If that role actually expects 45 hours a week (2,340 hours a year), the effective rate drops to 75,000 ÷ 2,340 = $32.05 per hour — a real difference when you're comparing offers.

The overtime caveat

This is where salaried and hourly genuinely differ. A salaried employee who is exempt from overtime is paid the same regardless of extra hours, so their effective hourly rate falls the more they work. Convert an exempt salary to hourly and you're estimating, not describing an overtime rate. An hourly (or non-exempt) worker, by contrast, earns overtime for hours over the threshold. So the two aren't perfectly interchangeable — exemption status depends on duties and salary level, not just how someone is paid. Confirm the rules that apply to you.

Know the real cost of every hour

Whether you pay salary or hourly, knowing the true hours behind the pay makes budgeting accurate. Timesheet Maker tracks actual hours worked, so you can see the effective hourly cost of any role, spot when salaried staff are routinely working well beyond their assumed hours, and cost projects accurately.

Frequently asked questions

How do I convert my salary to an hourly rate? Divide your annual salary by 2,080 (40 hours × 52 weeks). A $52,000 salary is $25.00 an hour at that standard.

Why is 2,080 the number used? It's the standard full-time year: 40 hours a week times 52 weeks. Adjust it if your actual weekly hours or worked weeks differ.

Does the conversion account for overtime? No. A simple conversion assumes standard hours. Exempt salaried employees don't earn overtime, so their effective rate falls as hours rise; non-exempt workers earn overtime separately.

How do I convert an hourly rate to a salary? Multiply the hourly rate by the annual hours you expect to work — 2,080 for standard full-time. A $30/hour rate is about $62,400 a year.

Get the rate right

Use 2,080 as the baseline, adjust for real hours, and remember overtime. To see the true hours behind any rate, try Timesheet Maker free.