Salary Hourly ↔ Annual Converter
Convert hourly wage to annual salary and back. Customisable work hours per week, weeks per year, vacation. Pure math, no tax. Free, no signup.
Salary Hourly Annual Converter
Convert between hourly wage and annual salary. Set your work hours per week, weeks per year, and vacation. The tool also outputs daily, weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly equivalents for any conversion. This is pure pre-tax math — for US take-home pay after tax, use your state's specific tax-aware tool.
Common US annual salaries → hourly equivalent (at your work-hour assumptions)
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How to Use the Salary Converter
Pick a direction
"Hourly → Annual" if you have an hourly rate and want to know what it translates to as an annual salary. "Annual → Hourly" for the reverse.
Configure work-hour assumptions
Default 40 hours/week × 52 weeks/year minus 2 weeks unpaid vacation = 2,000 hours/year. This matches the US BLS "full-time equivalent" of 2,080 paid hours minus 2 unpaid vacation weeks. Adjust for part-time (20-30 hr/wk), overtime-heavy (45-50 hr/wk), or specific industries.
Read all six period equivalents
The tool shows hourly, daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, and annual equivalents for any single input. Useful for evaluating job offers expressed in different units, or for freelancers translating project quotes between hour-based and salary-equivalent framing.
Use the reference table for quick comparisons
The table shows what each common annual-salary tier converts to at your work-hour assumptions. Useful for benchmarking against US salary-band averages (USD 60K, 80K, 100K) or for setting freelance/contractor target rates.
Salary vs Hourly — Why the Conversion Math Matters More Than People Think
The Standard US Conversion: 2,080 Hours Per Year
US Bureau of Labor Statistics convention treats a full-time year as 2,080 hours: 40 hours per week × 52 weeks per year. That's the number you see in most BLS occupational wage reports and what the IRS uses for FLSA exemption-threshold calculations. The catch is that "2,080" assumes zero unpaid vacation — most US workers get 2-3 weeks paid vacation included in the 2,080, with limited extra unpaid time off. EU and Asian workers tend to have more vacation: the EU Working Time Directive guarantees 4 weeks paid vacation minimum (2,000 paid hours), and Singapore guarantees 7-14 days depending on tenure. The conversion ratio between hourly and annual depends heavily on which working-hours assumption you use.
The math: annual = hourly × hours_per_week × worked_weeks. At USD 35/hr × 40 hr/wk × 50 worked weeks = USD 70,000/year. The same USD 70,000 at 35 worked weeks (heavy vacation taken) implies USD 50/hr — a 43% higher equivalent rate. For freelancers, this gap matters: a USD 50/hr contractor rate that produces USD 70K of revenue over 35 actual billable weeks is competitive with a salaried W-2 employee earning USD 70K on a 50-week calendar, but the gross-vs-net comparison favours the contractor only after self-employment tax (15.3% on net earnings) and the loss of employer benefits (typically 25-35% of W-2 comp).
Why Freelancers and Contractors Need Higher Hourly Rates
A common mistake: a freelancer leaving a USD 100K W-2 job sets their hourly target at USD 50/hr (USD 100K ÷ 2,000 hours). That math ignores the structural differences. (1) Self-employment tax adds 15.3% to net earnings — the employer's half of FICA, which the employee never sees. (2) Health insurance, dental, vision, life insurance, retirement-plan-match disappear — collectively worth 20-30% of US W-2 total compensation. (3) Paid vacation, sick days, parental leave disappear — collectively 4-6 weeks per year of paid time off, worth another 8-12% of W-2 comp. (4) Unbillable time — admin, sales, business development, taxes, accounting — typically eats 20-30% of working hours.
Net effect: the W-2-equivalent freelancer rate is typically 1.4-1.7× the naïve W-2 hourly. Someone leaving USD 100K (USD 50/hr W-2) needs to charge USD 70-85/hr as a freelancer to maintain equivalent take-home plus benefits-equivalent savings. The tool above doesn't model this directly — it's a pure-math converter — but the "vacation weeks" knob lets you adjust for the unpaid-time-off realities that distinguish freelance from W-2 work.
"At USD 35/hr × 40 hr × 50 working weeks, annual equivalent is USD 70,000. The same USD 70K W-2 job translates to a USD 50-60/hr target freelance rate after self-employment tax and benefits-equivalent — not USD 35/hr."
Comparing Job Offers Across Pay Structures
US tech and finance offers increasingly mix base salary, hourly contract rates, equity grants, and performance bonuses in different proportions. To compare apples-to-apples, convert everything to annual-base equivalent. A USD 50/hr contract role with no benefits is worth roughly USD 50K-60K W-2 equivalent for someone valuing employer-sponsored health insurance and retirement match. A USD 80K W-2 base + USD 30K target bonus is worth USD 100-110K total at-target compensation. A USD 90K base + USD 50K of vesting RSUs over 4 years is worth USD 90K + USD 12.5K/yr ≈ USD 102K annual equivalent (assuming the stock holds value).
For US-style total comp, this tool's "annual" output should be treated as base only. Add bonuses, equity vesting, and any pension/401(k) match separately. EU and ASEAN offers typically have a higher base-percentage of total comp because variable components are less common — meaning the salary-vs-hourly conversion is more directly meaningful in those markets than in US tech where equity dominates.
10 Facts About Salary ↔ Hourly Conversion
The US BLS standard is 2,080 hours per year = 40 hr/wk × 52 wk/yr. Most US salaries are quoted on this basis.
The EU Working Time Directive guarantees minimum 4 weeks paid vacation, reducing effective working hours to 1,920 per year.
Self-employment tax in the US adds 15.3% to net contractor earnings — the employer's half of FICA that W-2 employees never see.
US W-2 benefits (health, dental, retirement match, life insurance) typically cost employers 25-35% of base salary.
The freelancer billable-utilisation rate averages 60-80% — admin, sales, taxes eat the rest.
A W-2-equivalent freelance hourly rate is typically 1.4-1.7× the naïve W-2 hourly after tax + benefits + utilisation corrections.
The US federal minimum wage is USD 7.25/hr (since 2009) — equivalent to USD 15,080/yr at 2,080 hrs. State minimums often exceed this.
California's minimum wage is USD 16/hr in 2026 (USD 33,280/yr at 2,080 hrs). Other high-wage states: WA, NY, NJ.
US FLSA exempt-employee threshold is USD 35,568/yr — workers earning less must be paid overtime (1.5×) past 40 hrs/wk.
The US median household income in 2026 is roughly USD 78,000 (Census Bureau) — equivalent to USD 37.50/hr at full-time work.
Frequently Asked Questions
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US Bureau of Labor Statistics uses 2,080 hours per year (40 hr/wk × 52 wk/yr) as the standard full-time-equivalent. That's the convention behind most US salary-to-hourly conversions. Most US salaried positions include 2-3 weeks of paid vacation within the 2,080, but contractors and hourly workers should subtract unpaid time off explicitly. The tool's default of 40 × 52 − 2 vacation = 2,000 hrs is the realistic working number after typical unpaid time off.
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No. This is pure gross-pay math — no federal income tax, state income tax, FICA, or local tax. US tax outcomes depend heavily on state (no income tax in TX/FL/WA/NV; 13.3% top rate in CA), filing status (single vs married filing jointly), deductions, and dependents — too jurisdiction-specific to model usefully in a global-market tool. For state-specific take-home pay, use a state-aware tool like SmartAsset or ADP. This tool answers the gross-rate-conversion question only.
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Roughly USD 70-90/hr. The naïve math (USD 100K ÷ 2,000 hours = USD 50/hr) ignores: self-employment tax (+15.3%), lost benefits (+25-35% of W-2 comp), unbillable time (20-30% of working hours), and the freelancer's need to fund their own vacation/sick days. Industry rule of thumb: take the W-2 hourly equivalent and multiply by 1.4-1.7 for a sustainable freelance rate. For a USD 100K target, USD 70-85/hr is the working range.
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Increase "hours per week" to your actual working hours. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires US hourly workers (non-exempt) to be paid 1.5× regular rate for hours over 40/wk — this tool doesn't model that overtime premium automatically. For honest comparison: if you're working 50 hr/wk with the first 40 at regular rate and 10 at 1.5×, total annual = (regular_rate × 40 × 52) + (regular_rate × 1.5 × 10 × 52). The tool's pure-math conversion treats all hours at the same rate, which works for salary or for averaged-rate scenarios.
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Bi-weekly means every two weeks: 26 paychecks per year. Semi-monthly means twice per month: 24 paychecks per year (usually the 15th and last day). Same annual total, different per-check amount. Most US payrolls run bi-weekly (twice as common as semi-monthly per ADP data). The tool's bi-weekly output divides annual by 26 — match this to your employer's actual pay frequency. Semi-monthly is annual ÷ 24, which the tool doesn't expose as a default but is easy to compute: take monthly ÷ 2.
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Yes — adjust hours-per-week. At 20 hr/wk × 50 weeks (with 2 weeks off), total annual hours = 1,000. An hourly rate of USD 30 produces USD 30,000 annual; USD 50/hr produces USD 50,000. The Affordable Care Act defines US full-time as 30+ hr/wk for employer-mandate purposes, so part-time below 30 hr typically loses employer health insurance — factor that into total-comp comparison if relevant.
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Three factors. (1) Total comp emphasis: EU jobs typically have higher base-to-total-comp ratios (less equity, fewer bonuses) than US tech. (2) Total tax burden: EU income tax rates are higher (40-55% top marginal) but include more public services (universal healthcare, pension, education). (3) Working hours: EU Working Time Directive limits work to 48 hr/wk average; mandatory minimum 4 weeks vacation. So a EUR 60K German salary with 5 weeks paid vacation, public healthcare, and statutory pension is comparable to a USD 90-100K US W-2 in total real compensation after grossing up the implicit benefits. This tool's pure-math conversion can't capture that — context matters when comparing across jurisdictions.
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Convert to hourly at 2,080. A USD 100K offer = USD 48/hr. A USD 150K offer = USD 72/hr. A USD 250K offer = USD 120/hr. These hourly equivalents are easier to compare to what you'd consider for contract work or to assess "how much per real hour is this job worth to me?" Most people find that converting their salary to hourly helps them feel the value of overtime work in a way that the annual number doesn't — if you're working 50 hr/wk at a USD 100K salary, your actual hourly is USD 38, not USD 48.
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Substantial gap. A US software engineer at USD 150K salary (USD 72/hr) maps to Singapore SGD 110-130K (about USD 80-95K), Malaysia MYR 180-220K (USD 40-50K), Indonesia IDR 600-900M (USD 38-58K), Philippines PHP 1.5-2.5M (USD 27-45K). The cost-of-living-adjusted view narrows the gap somewhat but US tech salaries still come out ahead by 40-60% for equivalent roles in most ASEAN markets. Singapore tech is the exception — fintech and big-tech roles in Singapore now pay 80-90% of US equivalents.
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Research the US market rate for your role+ location first, then target market parity rather than home-country baseline. Levels.fyi, Glassdoor, and Blind are the standard data sources for US tech compensation. For non-tech roles, the BLS Occupational Employment Statistics database publishes median wages by city. ASEAN-trained engineers and analysts are often paid 10-20% below median initially because employers cite "credentialing risk" — push back with a portfolio, technical-interview performance, and US references after 6-12 months. The gap typically closes within 2-3 years.
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