A real example: $50,000 a year in hourly terms
A standard full-time job is 40 hours a week × 52 weeks = 2,080 hours a year. So a $50,000 salary works out to:
$50,000 ÷ 2,080 = about $24.04 an hour
That also means roughly $962 a week, $1,923 every two weeks, or $4,167 a month before tax. If you take two weeks of unpaid leave (2,000 hours), the same salary is worth $25.00 an hour. Enter your own salary and hours above.
How it's calculated
Your hourly rate is simply your annual salary divided by the total hours you work in a year:
Hourly = Annual salary ÷ (hours per week × weeks per year)
At a standard 40 hours a week for 52 weeks (2,080 hours), a $60,000 salary works out to about $28.85 an hour. Working more hours for the same salary lowers your real hourly rate — useful to know when weighing a "salaried" job against an hourly one.
Salaried vs hourly — what to watch
- Unpaid overtime quietly cuts your effective hourly pay. A 50-hour week on the same salary is a real pay cut per hour.
- Benefits matter: salaried roles often include paid time off, health insurance and retirement matching that raise total compensation.
- Freelancers: set your rate well above your old hourly wage to cover taxes, gaps between gigs, and your own benefits.
Make your income work harder
Budget your take-home
Knowing your hourly rate is step one — now plan where it goes.
Open budget tool →Frequently asked questions
Is this before or after tax?
Before tax (gross). To see take-home pay, use the paycheck calculator.
How many work hours are in a year?
Full-time is usually counted as 2,080 hours (40 × 52). Subtract unpaid time off by lowering the "weeks per year" slider.