How to Convert a Salary to an Hourly Rate

The formula

Hourly rate = annual salary ÷ (hours per week × weeks per year). The denominator is simply the total hours you work in a year. Choose your inputs honestly: use your real weekly hours and the weeks you are actually paid to work, and the result reflects what one hour of your time earns.

The quick benchmark most people learn is 2,080 hours a year — 40 hours across 52 weeks. Divide any salary by 2,080 and you get a rough hourly figure. For a $60,000 salary that is about $28.85 an hour, before accounting for any unpaid time off.

A worked example

Take a $52,000 salary at 40 hours a week. Using the simple 52-week year: 40 × 52 = 2,080 hours, so 52,000 ÷ 2,080 = $25.00 an hour. Clean and easy — but it assumes you are paid the same whether or not you take holiday, which is true for salaried roles.

For the effective rate, subtract paid leave. If that same worker takes 5 weeks of holiday, they actually work 47 weeks: 40 × 47 = 1,880 hours, so 52,000 ÷ 1,880 = about $27.66 an hour. The pay is identical; the effective hourly value is higher because the same money is earned in fewer worked hours.

US vs European full-time norms

The 2,080-hour benchmark assumes 40-hour weeks and no subtracted leave — the standard US full-time frame. Much of Europe works fewer weekly hours (France's legal reference is 35) and mandates several weeks of paid holiday, so the effective annual hours are lower and the effective hourly rate on the same salary comes out higher.

This is why hourly comparisons across borders can mislead. When you convert your own salary, use the norms that match your contract — your real hours and your actual paid weeks — rather than a foreign benchmark, so the hourly figure describes your job and not someone else's.

Frequently asked questions

Should I use gross or net salary?

Use gross for the standard hourly rate, since job listings and comparisons quote gross figures. If you want to know your real take-home per hour, run the same formula on your net (after-tax) salary instead.

Why divide by 2,080?

It is 40 hours a week times 52 weeks — the standard US full-time year with no leave subtracted. It gives a quick, comparable rate, though your effective rate is a little higher if you take paid holiday.

How do I handle part-time hours?

Use your actual weekly hours in the formula. If you work 25 hours a week over 52 weeks, that is 1,300 annual hours — divide your salary by that. The method is the same; only the hours-per-week input changes.

Does overtime change the calculation?

For a base hourly rate, use your contracted hours only. If you regularly work unpaid extra hours, add them to the denominator to see your true effective rate — the same pay spread over more hours lowers what each hour is really worth.