Employers quote pay in different ways: one offers 25 per hour, another 4,500 per month, a third 54,000 per year. To decide between them, or to judge whether a raise is meaningful, you need to convert everything to the same unit. This guide shows how, and explains what the headline number leaves out.
The standard conversion
A full-time job is usually counted as 40 hours per week for 52 weeks a year, which equals 2,080 working hours per year. With this baseline:
- Hourly to yearly: hourly rate × 2,080
- Yearly to hourly: yearly salary ÷ 2,080
- Hourly to weekly: hourly rate × 40
- Hourly to monthly: hourly rate × 2,080 ÷ 12
Examples
From hourly to yearly: 25 per hour × 2,080 = 52,000 per year, or about 4,333 per month and 1,000 per week.
From yearly to hourly: 60,000 ÷ 2,080 = 28.85 per hour.
From monthly to yearly: 3,500 per month × 12 = 42,000 per year.
A 20 per hour wage equals 41,600 per year, and a 15 per hour wage equals 31,200 per year, before taxes.
Adjust for your real schedule
The 2,080 figure is only a baseline. Your actual hours may differ:
- Part-time: multiply by your actual weekly hours, for example 25 hours × 52 weeks = 1,300 hours.
- Unpaid leave or breaks between contracts: use fewer weeks, such as 48 or 50.
- Overtime: add overtime hours at the overtime rate if it is regular and guaranteed, but be careful about counting on it.
- Paid holidays: if holidays are paid, the standard 52 weeks is correct.
Our Salary Calculator lets you change hours per week and weeks per year, so the conversion matches your situation.
Gross vs net pay
All the numbers above are gross, meaning before income tax, social security contributions, pension contributions and other deductions. Your take-home pay, or net pay, depends on where you live, your tax situation and your benefits. Always compare offers on a net basis if you can, particularly when switching between employment and freelance work, where you pay taxes and social contributions yourself.
Compare offers beyond the headline
A higher salary is not always the better offer. Consider the whole package:
- Paid time off and public holidays. Five extra paid days is worth about 2% of a yearly salary.
- Health insurance and employer pension contributions. These can be worth thousands per year.
- Bonuses and equity. Treat uncertain bonuses cautiously and ask how often they are actually paid.
- Commute costs and time. A one-hour round trip each day adds up to over 200 hours per year.
- Flexibility. Remote or hybrid work can save money and time.
- Growth. Training, promotion paths and learning opportunities shape your future earnings.
Freelancers: set your rate correctly
If you work for yourself, you cannot simply copy an employee's hourly equivalent. You pay for your own holidays, sick days, equipment, insurance and taxes, and you will not bill every hour you work. A common rule of thumb is that your hourly rate should be noticeably higher than the equivalent employee hourly wage to cover these costs and unbilled time.
Evaluating a raise
A raise from 50,000 to 52,500 is a 5% increase. If inflation that year is 3%, your real purchasing power grows only about 2%. Compare raises with inflation to see whether you are truly better off.
Try it
Enter any pay rate in our Salary Calculator and see the hourly, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly and yearly equivalents at once. This article is for general information and does not include taxes; local rules vary.