Job ads love quoting hourly rates: "$22 an hour!" Sounds concrete — but is that a $45,000 job or a $35,000 one? The answer depends on hours, overtime and paid time off. Here's how to convert an hourly wage to weekly, monthly and yearly pay, and how to compare an hourly offer against a salaried one fairly.
The 2,080-hour rule
The standard assumption is 40 hours a week × 52 weeks = 2,080 hours a year. Multiply any hourly rate by 2,080 and you get its full-time annual equivalent. At $20/hour that's $41,600 a year.
It's an approximation — most full-time workers get 2–4 weeks off — but it's the number employers, lenders and mortgage underwriters use, so it's the right yardstick for comparing offers.
Hourly to salary conversion table
| Hourly rate | Weekly (40 hrs) | Monthly (avg) | Annual (2,080 hrs) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $15/hr | $600/wk | $1,950/mo | $31,200/yr |
| $18/hr | $720/wk | $2,340/mo | $37,440/yr |
| $20/hr | $800/wk | $2,600/mo | $41,600/yr |
| $25/hr | $1,000/wk | $3,250/mo | $52,000/yr |
| $30/hr | $1,200/wk | $3,900/mo | $62,400/yr |
| $35/hr | $1,400/wk | $4,550/mo | $72,800/yr |
The monthly figure assumes an even 1/12 split; in reality some months have more working days than others, but the average is what budgets and landlords care about.
Paid time off changes everything
Two "$25/hour" jobs can differ by thousands:
- Job A: 2 weeks unpaid vacation — you actually work 2,000 hours: $50,000 a year.
- Job B: 4 weeks paid vacation — you get 2,080 paid hours plus the time off: $52,000 a year.
A salaried offer that looks smaller can win once you price in guaranteed paid leave, sick days and holidays. When an hourly job has no PTO, knock roughly 4–8% off its annual equivalent for a fair comparison.
Overtime: the hourly worker's lever
In the US, most hourly workers must be paid 1.5× after 40 hours a week. Just 5 overtime hours a week at $25/hour adds 25 × 1.5 × 5 × 52 = $9,750 a year — nearly a 19% raise over the base $52,000.
Salaried (exempt) workers typically get nothing extra for a 50-hour week. A $60,000 salary worked at 50 hours/week is an effective $23/hour — below what a $30/hour hourly worker earns for the same time. To see the take-home difference after taxes for any salary figure, run it through the paycheck calculator.
Hourly vs salary: which is better?
Hourly advantages: overtime pay, and (depending on contract) extra pay for holidays and weekends. Income scales with hours worked.
Salary advantages: stable, predictable pay — which matters for mortgages and budgeting — plus usually stronger benefits, PTO and progression into management.
Rule of thumb: compare on effective hourly rate — total annual pay divided by total hours actually worked, including the unpaid extras. That single number makes any two offers honest with each other.
Convert your own rate in seconds
Our hourly to salary calculator does all of this instantly: enter your rate and hours, and it shows weekly, biweekly, monthly and annual figures, including overtime options. Then check what the salary is worth after tax with the US paycheck calculator or the UK salary calculator for British readers comparing a £/hour rate.