An hourly wage and an annual salary are two ways of describing the same income, yet comparing them is surprisingly easy to get wrong. A job offer that sounds good at $25 an hour can mean something very different once you multiply it across the year, and a salaried role that looks generous on paper may actually pay less per hour once you account for overtime and unpaid leave. Smekys' hourly-to-salary calculator does the conversion for you in seconds: type your hourly rate, adjust your hours and weeks, and instantly see what you earn per year, month, biweekly paycheck, and week.
The core idea is simple. A standard full-time US schedule is 40 hours a week for 52 weeks, which is 2,080 working hours a year. So the fastest shortcut is annual salary = hourly wage × 2,080. Adjust the hours or weeks below if your schedule is different, add overtime, and estimate your after-tax take-home pay with a single slider.
How to Use
- Enter your Hourly Wage — the gross rate you earn per hour, before taxes and deductions. This is the only required field.
- Set your Hours per Week. Leave it at 40 for a normal full-time job; lower it for part-time work, and raise it if you routinely work more than a standard schedule.
- Choose your Weeks Worked per Year. Most people work all 52 weeks. If you take unpaid time off, work a seasonal contract, or are between jobs, lower this number so the annual figure reflects reality.
- Add Overtime Hours per Week if you regularly work extra hours, and set the Overtime Pay Rate — usually 1.5× for time-and-a-half, or 2× for double time.
- Optionally set an Effective Tax Rate (your combined federal and state withholding, for example 22%) to see a rough after-tax take-home estimate. Leave it at 0 if you only want gross numbers.
The result card then breaks your income into annual, monthly, biweekly, and weekly pay, separates the overtime component, and — once you enter a tax rate — shows an estimated after-tax annual and monthly take-home figure.
The Conversion Formula
Everything on this page comes from one linear conversion. For a standard schedule:
Annual Salary = Hourly Wage × Hours per Week × Weeks per Year
With overtime, the extra hours are paid at a premium, so:
Annual Salary = (Hourly Wage × Regular Hours × Weeks) + (Overtime Hours × Weeks × Hourly Wage × Overtime Multiplier)
From the annual figure, the other pay periods follow by simple division:
- Monthly = Annual ÷ 12
- Biweekly = Annual ÷ 26 (there are 26 biweekly paychecks in a year)
- Weekly = Annual ÷ 52
For a $25 hourly wage on a 40-hour, 52-week schedule: $25 × 40 × 52 = $52,000 per year, which is about $4,333 per month, $2,000 per biweekly paycheck, and $1,000 per week. Notice how a single $25 number expands into a paycheck figure you can actually budget around.
Why Hours and Weeks Matter
The 2,080-hour shortcut assumes you work every single week of the year with no unpaid time off. That is rarely true in practice. A teacher or construction worker who is paid for 40 weeks rather than 52 earns only 40/52 of the headline annual figure even at the same hourly rate, and a part-timer working 25 hours a week earns barely more than half of a full-time equivalent salary.
This is also where salaried jobs hide their true hourly value. If you are offered a $60,000 salary and routinely work 48 hours a week with no overtime, your real hourly rate is $60,000 ÷ (48 × 52) = about $24.04 an hour — less than the $28.85 a strict 40-hour comparison would suggest. Running both directions through a converter like this one helps you compare offers on equal footing.
Examples
Example 1 — A standard full-time job. You earn $22 an hour, work 40 hours a week for all 52 weeks, and have no overtime. Your annual salary is $22 × 40 × 52 = $45,760, or about $3,813 per month and $880 per week. On a biweekly pay schedule you would take home roughly $1,760 per paycheck before taxes.
Example 2 — Overtime adds up. You earn $30 an hour, work 40 regular hours plus 5 overtime hours a week at time-and-a-half (1.5×), and estimate a 22% effective tax rate. Regular pay is $30 × 40 × 52 = $62,400; overtime pay is 5 × 52 × $30 × 1.5 = $11,700. Your gross annual salary is $74,100, about $6,175 per month, and after 22% tax you are taking home roughly $57,798 a year, or about $4,817 a month.
Example 3 — Part-time and seasonal work. A retail worker earns $16 an hour, averages 25 hours a week, and is scheduled for 48 weeks of the year. Their annual pay is $16 × 25 × 48 = $19,200, or about $1,600 per month — far below what a naive $16 × 2,080 = $33,280 "full-time equivalent" would suggest. Adjusting the weeks field is what makes the number honest.
FAQ
How do I convert an hourly wage to an annual salary?
Multiply your hourly wage by the number of hours you work per week, then multiply by the number of weeks you work per year. The standard shortcut for a 40-hour, 52-week schedule is hourly wage × 2,080. For example, $25 an hour becomes $52,000 a year before taxes.
How much is $25 an hour annually?
On a full 40-hour, 52-week schedule, $25 an hour equals $52,000 per year, or about $4,333 per month, $2,000 per two-week paycheck, and $1,000 per week. If you work fewer weeks or hours, the annual figure drops proportionally.
How much is $15 an hour annually?
At 40 hours a week for 52 weeks, $15 an hour is $31,200 per year, or about $2,600 per month and $600 per week. This is close to a full-time minimum-wage equivalent in many US states.
What is the difference between biweekly and semi-monthly pay?
Biweekly means you are paid every two weeks, usually resulting in 26 paychecks per year. Semi-monthly means you are paid twice a month, usually on the 15th and last day, resulting in 24 paychecks per year. Because there are 26 biweekly periods but 24 semi-monthly periods, the same annual salary splits into slightly different per-check amounts even though the yearly total is identical.
How does overtime change my annual salary?
Overtime hours are paid at a premium, commonly 1.5× your base rate for hours beyond 40 in a workweek under US federal law. Add your weekly overtime hours to the calculator and set the multiplier to 1.5 (or 2 for double time); the overtime component is computed separately and added to your regular annual pay.
Do these numbers include taxes?
By default the calculator shows gross (pre-tax) figures. Enter your estimated effective tax rate — your combined federal, state, and local withholding as a single percentage, often 15–30% — to see an estimated after-tax annual and monthly take-home amount. The tax estimate is approximate and does not account for deductions, benefits, or Social Security and Medicare ceilings.
Should I use 52 weeks or a different number?
Use 52 if you work a full, year-round schedule with paid time off already built into your wage. Lower it if you take unpaid leave, work a seasonal contract, or are only employed for part of the year. Seasonal workers in particular should enter their actual scheduled weeks rather than assuming 52.
Disclaimer
This hourly-to-salary calculator from Smekys is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, or legal advice. All figures are gross estimates based on the hours, weeks, overtime, and tax rate you enter; actual pay, withholding, and benefits vary by employer, location, deductions, and tax program. The after-tax estimate is approximate and should not be treated as a payroll calculation. Always confirm your exact compensation and paycheck details with your employer or a qualified tax professional.