WageYardHourly to Annual Salary Conversion
One multiplication separates an hourly rate from the annual salary it actually represents. Here is the formula, the divisor that fits your schedule, and why the same rate produces different yearly numbers for different workers.
The formula
Nothing exotic — the whole conversion is three factors. Most confusion comes from people silently plugging in 52 weeks while their job actually pays 2,080 or 2,000 hours of work per year.
Picking the right divisor
| Divisor | Assumes | $25/hour becomes |
|---|---|---|
| 2,000 hours | 40 h × 50 weeks (2 weeks unpaid PTO — WageYard default) | $50,000 |
| 2,080 hours | 40 h × 52 weeks, paid every week of the year | $52,000 |
| 1,920 hours | 40 h × 48 weeks (4 weeks unpaid off, seasonal work) | $48,000 |
| 1,800 hours | 36 h × 50 weeks (reduced schedule) | $45,000 |
If your hourly rate came from dividing a salary by 2,080 (employers often do this in job postings), multiplying by 2,080 gets you right back to the posted salary. If you are comparing a posting against your real take-home, 2,000 hours is usually the more honest number because it discounts weeks you may not be paid for.
Worked examples
| Hourly | Annual (2,000 h) | Annual (2,080 h) |
|---|---|---|
| $18.00 | $36,000 | $37,440 |
| $22.50 | $45,000 | $46,800 |
| $27.50 | $55,000 | $57,200 |
| $35.00 | $70,000 | $72,800 |
| $48.00 | $96,000 | $99,840 |
Use the hourly → annual calculator
The calculator also estimates the after-tax version of every figure (FICA plus a rough federal approximation — not tax advice), which the raw formula above does not touch.
Guides for common rates
$15 an hour
$30,000/year — full breakdown.
$20 an hour
$40,000/year — full breakdown.
$25 an hour
$50,000/year — full breakdown.
$30 an hour
$60,000/year — full breakdown.
$40 an hour
$80,000/year — full breakdown.
All rate pages
Exact math for 41 rates from $10 to $60.