Dividing a salary by 2,080 hours gives the figure most people quote, but it understates the value of the job: a salary pays for holidays and vacation as well as hours worked. Dividing the same salary by the hours actually worked is the honest comparison against an hourly or contract rate.
Hourly equivalent of the salary
$30.00 per hour
$62,400 a year is $30.00 an hour across 52 paid weeks, or $31.20 for each of the 50 weeks actually worked.
| Period | Pay |
|---|---|
| Hour | $31.20 |
| Day (8 hours) | $249.60 |
| Week | $1,248.00 |
| Two weeks | $2,496.00 |
| Monthly | $5,200.00 |
| Quarterly | $15,600.00 |
| Annual | $62,400.00 |
Monthly and quarterly figures divide the annual total, which is how salaried pay is normally spread.
This calculator converts in both directions, shows pay at every interval from an hour to a year, and puts a number on the paid leave a salaried job includes.
A $62,400 salary over 40-hour weeks is $30.00 an hour across 52 paid weeks (2,080 hours). If two of those weeks are paid leave and the rest are worked, the same salary is $31.20 for each of the 2,000 hours actually worked.
Both numbers are correct; they answer different questions. Use the 52-week figure to compare pay rates, and the hours-worked figure to compare against a contractor, freelancer or overtime rate.
Going the other way, annual pay is the hourly rate times hours per week times weeks paid. At $30 an hour for 40 hours across 50 working weeks, that is $60,000 a year.
The same $30 an hour paid for 52 weeks is $62,400. That difference is exactly the value of paid leave, which is why an hourly job and a salaried job at the same nominal rate rarely pay the same.
Tax, retirement contributions, health insurance premiums, commuting costs and unpaid overtime are all excluded. So are benefits that only salaried roles receive, such as employer retirement matches or paid parental leave, and the instability of hourly schedules.
For a like-for-like comparison, add the value of benefits to the salaried figure and subtract unpaid time from the hourly one, then compare the annual totals.
Each example below was run through the calculator on this page when the site was built, so the numbers match what you see when you enter the same inputs.
Hourly equivalent of the salary
$30.00 per hour
$62,400 a year is $30.00 an hour across 52 paid weeks, or $31.20 for each of the 50 weeks actually worked.
$30.00 an hour across 52 paid weeks, or $31.20 for each of the 2,000 hours actually worked.
Annual pay at this hourly rate
$60,000.00
$30.00 an hour for 40 hours across 50 weeks, before tax.
Hourly work pays only for hours worked, so the annual total is $60,000 rather than $62,400.
Annual pay at this hourly rate
$57,600.00
$30.00 an hour for 40 hours across 48 weeks, before tax.
Unpaid time off and gaps between contracts cut the annual figure far more than most people expect.
Divide the salary by the hours it covers: for 40-hour weeks that is either 2,080 hours (52 paid weeks) or 2,000 hours (50 working weeks, with two weeks of paid leave). The first number compares pay rates; the second compares what an hour of work is worth.
It is 40 hours a week for 52 weeks, the standard full-time year used in payroll, overtime and benefit calculations. It includes paid holidays and vacation, which is why it produces a lower hourly figure than hours actually worked.
It depends on the hours and the weeks. $25 an hour over 2,000 working hours is $50,000 a year. Over 40-hour weeks with unpaid time off, the annual figure falls with every unpaid week, so always compare annual totals rather than hourly rates.
A full-time year is 2,080 paid hours. If you take three weeks of leave and work 40-hour weeks, that is 1,960 hours of actual work; at 45-hour weeks it is more like 2,205 hours.
A salary covers the whole year, holidays included, and salary is not reduced for them. An hourly job usually pays nothing for a holiday unless the employer offers holiday pay, which is why the two are rarely worth the same at the same nominal rate.
Take the contract rate times realistic billable hours, then subtract the costs a salary covers: paid leave, holidays, employer FICA, health insurance and the unpaid admin time between contracts. A common rule of thumb is that a contract rate needs to be roughly 25% to 40% higher to match a salaried package.
Last reviewed 2026-09-14. This page is an estimate tool, not financial, tax or legal advice.Read the full disclaimer.