How to convert an hourly wage to an annual salary
Comparing an hourly job to a salaried one — or setting a freelance rate — starts with converting between the two. The math is easy; the assumptions are where people slip.
Skip the math — the free hourly to salary calculator runs this from your own figures.
Open the free calculator →The basic formula
To turn an hourly rate into an annual salary, multiply the rate by hours worked per week and by paid weeks per year: hourly × hours/week × weeks/year.
Example: $30 an hour × 40 hours × 50 weeks = $60,000 a year. Reverse it to go from salary to hourly: divide the annual salary by (hours/week × weeks/year).
Paid weeks matter more than you think
The number of paid weeks is where conversions go wrong. A full-time employee with two weeks of unpaid time off works about 50 weeks, not 52 — and using the wrong figure changes the result by thousands.
For salaried employees, paid holidays mean their effective paid weeks are usually the full 52. For hourly workers and freelancers, unpaid time off reduces it, which lowers the true annual equivalent.
The freelancer adjustment
Freelancers can't convert one-to-one with an employee salary, because they aren't paid for holidays, don't get benefits, and cover their own taxes and costs. To match a given salary, a freelancer needs a noticeably higher hourly rate.
A rough approach: start from the salary you want, add the benefits and employer taxes you now have to cover yourself, then divide by the (fewer) weeks you can realistically bill. The honest hourly rate is higher than a simple conversion suggests.
Use it to compare offers fairly
An hourly gig and a salaried role only compare once both are in the same units. Convert the hourly rate to an annual figure using realistic hours and paid weeks, then weigh the salary's benefits and stability on top.
Doing this stops you from being dazzled by a big hourly number that, after unpaid gaps, is worth less than a steady salary — or vice versa.
Turn it into a real decision
Once you can move between hourly and salary confidently, you can set freelance rates, evaluate job offers, and know your true earning rate for any schedule.
The free calculator below converts hourly to annual and back using your hours and paid weeks, so you can compare any two roles on equal terms in seconds.
Questions
How many work hours are in a year?
The common shorthand is 2,080 hours (40 hours × 52 weeks), which is what many salary-to-hourly conversions assume. But that counts every week as worked. If you take unpaid time off, your actual worked hours are lower — for example 40 hours × 50 weeks is 2,000 hours. Use the figure that matches your real schedule for an accurate conversion.
Should freelancers use 52 weeks to set their rate?
No — that's a common mistake that leads to underpricing. Freelancers don't bill every week: time off, admin, marketing, and gaps between clients all reduce billable weeks, often to 46 or fewer. Dividing your target income by realistic billable weeks (and hours) gives a rate that actually supports the income you want, rather than assuming you bill full-time all year.