Salary to Hourly
Calculator
Convert any annual salary to an equivalent hourly rate — or an hourly wage to annual salary. Accounts for PTO days, paid holidays, and actual hours worked. Instantly see monthly, bi-weekly, weekly, and daily pay.
| Period | Calendar | Paid Off | Actual Work |
|---|
| Annual Salary | Hourly (40hrs) | Monthly | Bi-weekly | Daily |
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Why actual hours worked matters
A $65,000 salary sounds the same no matter where you work — but if one job gives 25 days of PTO and another gives 10, the effective hourly rate is quite different. With 40 hrs/week, $65k/year works out to $31.25/hour at 2,080 hours. But with 25 PTO + 11 holidays (36 days off = 288 hours fewer), actual hours worked drop to 1,792 — making the effective rate $36.27/hour. This matters when comparing job offers.
The real cost of a salary cut vs hourly
Salaried employees often work more than 40 hours without overtime pay — common in tech, finance, and management roles. If a $80,000 salary actually requires 50 hours/week, your true hourly rate is $30.77 ($80k ÷ 2,600 hours), not $38.46 at 40 hours. Hourly workers earn overtime (1.5×) for hours above 40/week under FLSA, which is a significant financial benefit for heavy workloads.
Salary vs contractor rate conversion
If you're going from a salaried role to freelancing, you need to charge more than your effective hourly rate to account for the benefits you're losing — typically health insurance ($300–800/mo), employer's 7.65% FICA contribution, retirement match, and paid time off. A simple rule: multiply your salaried hourly rate by 1.3–1.5 to find a comparable freelance rate before considering profit.
Standard US work year hours
A standard full-time US work year has 2,080 hours (52 weeks × 40 hours). With the average US worker receiving 11 federal holidays and 15 PTO days (26 days total), actual hours worked drop to approximately 1,872 per year. Many salary-to-hourly conversions online use the full 2,080 — which overstates how much you're paid per hour you actually work.
Find your true hourly rate from any annual, monthly, or weekly salary — adjusted for actual working days.