How to use this calculator
Recruiters convert between salary and hourly pay all day: comparing an hourly candidate's current pay to a salaried offer, checking a role against an exempt salary threshold, or explaining to a manager what a raise means per hour. Getting it wrong by using the wrong number of hours is one of the most common mistakes in offers and budgets.
Enter a salary or an hourly rate, plus the hours worked each week. The calculator shows the equivalent pay for every common pay frequency. For salary ranges and offers, pair it with our salary bands guide.
- Pick whether you are starting from a salary or an hourly rate.
- Enter the amount.
- Set the usual hours per week, such as 40 for full time or 37.5 for many office roles.
- Keep paid weeks at 52 unless the employee is unpaid for part of the year, such as a school-year schedule.
How it's calculated
Hourly rate = annual salary / (hours per week x paid weeks per year)
Annual salary = hourly rate x hours per week x paid weeks per year
A standard full-time year is 40 hours x 52 weeks = 2,080 hours. Paid holidays and vacation are still paid hours, so they stay in the count. Monthly pay is annual pay divided by 12. Semimonthly is annual divided by 24, and biweekly is annual divided by 26.
Worked example
A recruiter is comparing a $62,000 salaried office manager role with a candidate who earns $28 an hour.
At 40 hours a week, $62,000 / 2,080 = $29.81 an hour, so the offer is about 6 percent more on paper. But if the candidate currently works 45 hours a week as a nonexempt employee, their overtime brings real earnings to about $69,160 a year: $28 x 40 x 52 plus $42 x 5 x 52. The salaried offer is actually a pay cut of roughly $7,000 for the same hours. That's the kind of detail that decides whether an offer is accepted.
Rules to know
Converting a salary to an hourly rate doesn't change whether someone is exempt. Under the FLSA, exempt status depends on the duties test and a minimum salary, which is currently $684 a week at the federal level. Several states, including California, New York, and Washington, set higher exempt salary minimums. Check the exempt vs nonexempt guide before reclassifying anyone.
When a salaried nonexempt employee works overtime, the regular rate is the weekly salary divided by the hours the salary is meant to cover. That rate is what overtime is based on. Use the overtime calculator for those cases.
This is general information for US employers, not legal or tax advice. Rates and rules change and vary by state and city, so confirm current figures with the agency or a qualified advisor.
Common mistakes
- Using 2,000 hours instead of 2,080 for a 40-hour year.
- Dividing by 24 for biweekly pay. Biweekly means 26 paychecks.
- Forgetting overtime when comparing hourly and salaried pay.
- Assuming a salary makes the role exempt.
Email templates that go with this
Once you have the number, these templates help you explain it to employees, candidates, or managers.
Where to go from here
A calculator answers one question. The right process and software keep the numbers right every pay period.
Job descriptions with pay data
- Administrative assistant job description templateBLS median $22.86/hr. Nonexempt (overtime eligible).
- Office manager job description templateBLS median $33.41/hr. Depends on duties.
- Project manager job description templateBLS median $49.19/hr. Usually exempt.
- HR generalist job description templateBLS median $36.51/hr. Depends on duties.
State rules behind this calculation
- Minimum wage by state in 2026Every state rate in one table, checked against the US Department of Labor, with the increases already scheduled for 2027.
- Overtime laws by stateWhere state overtime rules go further than the federal 40-hour rule, and the states with their own salary tests for exempt employees.
Frequently asked questions
How many working hours are in a year?
What is $25 an hour as a salary?
What's the difference between biweekly and semimonthly pay?
Should I include benefits when comparing pay?
Written by the HRTally Research Team
Our guides are written and reviewed by people with hands-on US HR, payroll, and HR technology experience. Legal and tax facts are checked against primary sources, such as the Department of Labor, IRS, EEOC, and USCIS, and linked at the end of each guide. Vendors never review or pay for our editorial content.