Hourly to Salary Calculator

The Exemption Distinction

In the United States (and similarly structured labor markets), workers are generally classified into two broad categories: Hourly (Non-Exempt) and Salaried (Exempt).

Hourly workers are paid for the exact amount of time they work. If you work 37 hours, you are paid for 37 hours. Crucially, under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), you are legally entitled to "time-and-a-half" (1.5x your hourly rate) for any hours worked beyond 40 in a single week. (See our Overtime Calculator to estimate this).

Salaried workers receive a fixed annual sum regardless of how many hours they actually work. If a salaried employee works 60 hours in a deadline week, their paycheck does not increase. Conversely, if they leave early on a Friday, their pay is theoretically not docked.

The '2,080 Hour' Standard

To convert between Hourly and Salary cleanly, HR departments use a standardized constant: 2,080.

This number comes from assuming a standard 40-hour work week multiplied by the 52 weeks in a calendar year (40 × 52 = 2,080). Therefore, if someone makes $50 an hour, their gross annual equivalent is simply 50 × 2,080 ($104,000).

The Vacation Variable

If you are an independent contractor (1099) or an hourly temp worker, you likely do not receive Paid Time Off (PTO). If you take a two-week vacation, you do not receive a paycheck during those weeks.

To find your true annual equivalent in this scenario, you must subtract those unpaid weeks from the total 52. Working 50 weeks at 40 hours a week nets you 2,000 hours of pay. At $50 an hour, your annual salary drops from $104,000 to precisely $100,000.