How salary and hourly pay convert
To find the hourly rate, divide annual salary by total hours worked per year: hours per week × weeks per year. Someone earning $52,000 a year working 40 hours a week for 52 weeks earns $25 per hour. Reducing weeks to account for vacation — 50 worked weeks plus 2 vacation weeks — raises the effective hourly value of the salary.
Note what the number does not include: taxes, overtime (paid at 1.5× for most hours over 40), bonuses, commissions or benefits. For comparing job offers, calculate the hourly value of the full package — salary, health benefits, retirement match and paid leave — because a lower salary with better benefits can win.
Handy hourly facts
- $50,000/year at 2,080 hours = $24.04/hour
- Overtime: time and a half = 1.5× your base rate
- Paid time off is usually excluded from the hourly conversion