The salary conversion formula
Everything hangs off one identity:
Annual salary = hourly rate × hours per week × weeks paid per year
At the standard 40 hours and 52 weeks that's 2,080 paid hours a year — so 25/hour is 25 × 2,080 = 52,000 a year, and a 50,000 salary is 50,000 ÷ 2,080 ≈ 24.04/hour. Every other period is derived from the annual figure: ÷ 12 for monthly, ÷ 26 for biweekly, ÷ 24 for semi-monthly, ÷ 4 for quarterly. Change the hours, days or time-off fields and the whole table recomputes.
Biweekly is not semi-monthly (and it matters)
Paid every two weeks means 26 paychecks a year; paid twice a month means 24. On a 52,000 salary that's 2,000.00 per biweekly check versus 2,166.67 per semi-monthly check — same annual money, different rhythm. Biweekly schedules also produce two "three-paycheck months" every year, a favorite budgeting bonus. Check which one your employer actually uses before comparing offers.
The 30-second mental shortcut
For quick 40-hour conversions, double the hourly rate and read it as thousands: 15/hour ≈ 30k, 25/hour ≈ 50k, 36/hour ≈ 72k. It works because 2,080 hours ≈ 2,000. The error is only 4% — fine for a phone-screen salary conversation, and this calculator gives the exact number when it counts.
Unpaid time off quietly changes your real rate
Salaried jobs usually include paid holidays, so a 52,000 salary stays 52,000 whether you vacation or not. Hourly and contract work is different: take two unpaid weeks and your paid year is 50 weeks, so 25/hour yields 50,000, not 52,000. Flip it around when comparing a contract rate against a salaried offer — a contractor's hourly rate needs to be meaningfully higher than the salary-equivalent to cover unpaid leave, holidays and benefits.
Gross vs take-home
Every figure here is gross — before income tax, social contributions, retirement deductions and insurance. Take-home pay varies enormously by country, state and personal situation (commonly 15–35% lower), so use gross numbers when comparing offers like-for-like, and your local tax rules for budgeting actual cash flow.
Salary vs hourly: which is better?
Salary buys predictability: same paycheck every period, usually with paid leave and benefits. Hourly pays for every hour you actually work — including overtime, often at 1.5× — but income swings with the schedule. The honest comparison is annual: convert the hourly offer at realistic hours (including likely overtime) and realistic unpaid weeks, then compare against the salary plus the value of its benefits.