Salary to Hourly: How to Convert Your Pay the Right Way

The short answer

Divide your yearly salary by the hours you are paid for in a year. For a full-time job that is 40 hours × 52 weeks = 2,080 hours.

Hourly rate = annual salary ÷ 2,080

So $58,000 a year is $58,000 ÷ 2,080 = $27.88 an hour. Going the other way, $25 an hour × 2,080 = $52,000 a year.

That is the number most payroll and HR departments use, and it is right for a typical salaried job with paid holidays and vacation. It can be wrong in three situations: you have unpaid time off, you regularly work more than 40 hours, or you are comparing yourself with a job that uses a different divisor. Each one is worked through below.

Where 2,080 comes from, and when it is not 2,080

A 40-hour week for 52 weeks is 2,080 hours. Paid holidays and paid vacation are still paid hours, so they stay in the count. If your salary keeps arriving while you are off, the divisor does not change.

Not every employer uses 2,080. The federal government’s Office of Personnel Management tells agencies to divide the annual rate of basic pay by 2,087 hours to get an hourly rate. On the same $58,000, that gives $58,000 ÷ 2,087 = $27.79, nine cents less. If you are comparing a federal job with a private one, use the divisor each employer actually uses.

Example 1: unpaid weeks off

Say your $58,000 job is seasonal and you are unpaid for two weeks each winter. You are paid for 40 × 50 = 2,000 hours, not 2,080.

$58,000 ÷ 2,000 = $29.00 an hour

The salary did not change, but each paid hour is worth more because there are fewer of them. This matters when you compare it with an hourly offer: a $28.00 job that pays for 52 weeks ($58,240 a year) actually pays more in total, even though the hourly rate is lower.

Only count time you are genuinely not paid for: unpaid leave, a seasonal shutdown, a layoff period. Do not subtract paid vacation.

Example 2: the real rate for long weeks

Now say you are paid the same $58,000 but routinely work 47 hours a week.

47 × 52 = 2,444 hours, and $58,000 ÷ 2,444 = $23.73 an hour

That is $4.15 an hour less than the 2,080-hour figure. If you are exempt from overtime (see below), this is the honest number to compare against an hourly job, because the extra 7 hours a week are unpaid.

Quick conversion table

All figures before tax, at 2,080 hours a year.

Annual salary	Hourly	Weekly	Biweekly (26 checks)	Monthly
$35,568	$17.10	$684.00	$1,368.00	$2,964.00
$45,000	$21.63	$865.38	$1,730.77	$3,750.00
$58,000	$27.88	$1,115.38	$2,230.77	$4,833.33
$70,000	$33.65	$1,346.15	$2,692.31	$5,833.33
$90,000	$43.27	$1,730.77	$3,461.54	$7,500.00
$120,000	$57.69	$2,307.69	$4,615.38	$10,000.00

The first row is not random. It is the federal salary threshold for overtime exemption, explained next.

Exempt or non-exempt: why the hourly figure can mean overtime

Being paid a salary does not, by itself, take away your right to overtime. Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, you can only be treated as an exempt “white-collar” employee if you meet both of these:

• A salary test. The Department of Labor’s current standard salary level is $684 a week, which it lists as equal to $35,568 a year. (Highly compensated employees have a separate test at $107,432 a year.)
• A duties test. Your main job has to be executive, administrative, professional, computer or outside sales work as defined in the DOL’s Fact Sheet #17A. Managing a department and directing at least two full-time employees, for example, or office work that involves independent judgment on significant matters.

If you earn less than $684 a week, or your job does not meet a duties test, you are generally non-exempt and owed at least time and a half for hours over 40, salary or not. State overtime rules can differ from the federal ones, so check your state labor department as well.

How overtime works on a salary

The DOL’s Fact Sheet #23 says a fixed salary for a regular workweek longer than 40 hours does not get an employer out of overtime. Its method: divide the salary by the hours it is meant to cover, then add half that rate for each hour over 40.

Worked example. You are non-exempt, hired to work 45 hours a week for $990.

• Regular rate: $990 ÷ 45 = $22.00 an hour.
• Overtime owed on top of the salary: 5 hours × $11.00 (half of $22.00) = $55.00.
• Weekly pay: $990 + $55 = $1,045.

If a salaried non-exempt job regularly runs past 40 hours, the hourly conversion is not just a curiosity. It is the starting point for checking whether you are being paid correctly.

Biweekly is not the same as semimonthly

Two pay schedules sound alike and are not:

• Biweekly means every two weeks: 26 checks a year. On $58,000 each check is $58,000 ÷ 26 = $2,230.77.
• Semimonthly means twice a month, usually the 15th and the last day: 24 checks. Each check is $58,000 ÷ 24 = $2,416.67.

Same salary, different check. When you budget on a biweekly schedule, two months of each year have a third payday.

Common mistakes

• Subtracting paid vacation. It is still paid time. Only unpaid weeks reduce the hours.
• Comparing a salary with an hourly job at different hours. A 45-hour salaried week against a 40-hour hourly job is not a like-for-like comparison. Convert both at their real hours.
• Ignoring benefits. Health insurance, retirement matching and paid leave are part of total pay. Two jobs with the same hourly figure can be worth very different amounts.
• Assuming “salaried” means “exempt.” The salary level and the duties both have to pass.
• Mixing gross and take-home pay. Every figure here is before income tax, Social Security, Medicare and benefit deductions.

When to ask for help

If you are paid a salary under $684 a week, or your duties look nothing like management or professional work and you regularly work over 40 hours without overtime, ask your employer in writing how your exemption was decided. The DOL’s Wage and Hour Division and state labor departments handle questions about misclassification.

For your own numbers, the salary to hourly calculator converts either way, lets you set your real hours and unpaid weeks, and shows daily, weekly, biweekly, semimonthly and monthly pay side by side.

General information about U.S. pay rules, not legal or tax advice. State law and your employment contract can change the answer.