How this number is made
Salary offers and hourly jobs are the same money written two ways. Multiply the wage by the hours you actually work, then by the weeks you actually work. Unpaid leave is why 52 weeks overstates some jobs.
- Enter the straight-time hourly rate, before overtime.
- Use scheduled hours, not the hours you wish you had.
- Drop weeks for unpaid vacation. A job with two unpaid weeks is 50, not 52.
Formula
Annual gross = hourly wage × hours per week × weeks per year.
Worked example
$28 an hour × 40 hours × 52 weeks = $58,240 a year, about $2,240 every two weeks before tax. At 50 paid weeks the same wage is $56,000.
Questions
Should overtime be included?
Not in this converter. Overtime is a premium on extra hours, not a higher base salary. Use the overtime calculator, then add that weekly premium to the weekly line here.
Is monthly pay just annual divided by 12?
Yes for a salaried comparison. People paid every two weeks receive 26 checks, so two months a year have three checks. Don’t budget every month as annual ÷ 12 if you are paid biweekly and the extra checks are how you catch up.