Salary to Hourly Calculator
Compare job offers, price freelance work, or find out what your time is really worth — per hour, day, week, and month, before and after tax.
Salary vs. hourly pay
Your hourly rate is the exchange rate between your time and your money — and most salaried people don't know theirs. It's the number that tells you whether a job offer, a side project, an hour of overtime, or paying someone to mow your lawn is actually a good deal. The standard math: a full-time year is 40 hours × 52 weeks = 2,080 hours, so $65,000/year is $31.25/hour before taxes.
Comparing offers fairly
A $65,000 salary and a $30/hour contract are not the same money. The hourly worker at 2,080 hours grosses $62,400 — but usually without paid vacation, sick days, employer retirement matching, or subsidized insurance. Benefits are commonly worth 20–30% on top of salary, so the honest comparison is hourly rate × hours plus the benefits you'd otherwise buy yourself. Freelancers price this in — it's why their rates look "high".
What your hourly rate is for
Once you know it, decisions get simpler. Is a $200 time-saving purchase worth it? If it saves you 10 hours and your rate is $31, yes. Is unpaid overtime "fine"? Every extra hour silently lowers your real rate — use the hours slider above and watch it happen. The rate turns vague feelings about time into arithmetic.
Common questions
Why do some calculators use 2,080 hours and others 1,920?
2,080 assumes you're paid for all 52 weeks (standard for salaried roles — vacation is paid). 1,920 assumes ~4 unpaid weeks off, which fits freelancers and contractors. Use the weeks slider: 52 for employees, 46–48 for realistic freelance planning.
What hourly rate should I charge as a freelancer?
A common starting rule: take the equivalent salary rate and multiply by 1.5–2×. The markup isn't greed — it covers self-employment taxes, health insurance, retirement, equipment, unpaid admin time, and gaps between clients. Charging your old salary's hourly rate as a freelancer is an accidental pay cut.
Is this before or after tax?
Everything here is gross (pre-tax), because tax depends on your country, region, and deductions. As a rough planning habit, assume 25–35% goes to taxes for a mid-range income and check your actual payslip for the real figure. Your true "keep rate" per hour is what remains — often a sobering but useful number.