About the Salary Calculator
A salary calculator converts among hourly, weekly, monthly, and annual pay — and lets you compare offers, model raises, and back-solve for the hourly rate you'd need to match a salaried role. The conversions look simple but assumptions about hours worked, paid time off, and benefits often determine which job actually pays more.
The conversion math (and the assumptions it hides)
The textbook conversion is annual = hourly × 2,080 (40 hours × 52 weeks). That assumes a year with no unpaid time off and full hours every week. A salaried employee who takes two unpaid weeks effectively works 2,000 hours; one who works 45-hour weeks for the same salary earns less per hour than the math suggests.
When comparing an hourly job to a salaried one, normalize on hours actually worked. A $90,000 salary that consistently demands 50 hours/week is $34.62/hour — meaningfully less than a $40/hour job at 40 hours, despite the headline number being lower.
Total compensation, not salary
Salary is one component of total compensation. Health insurance premium subsidies, employer 401(k) match, paid time off, equity (RSUs, options), bonuses, and HSA contributions can add 15–40% to a base salary. A $110,000 offer with no match and minimal benefits can be worse than a $95,000 offer with a 6% match, four extra PTO days, and 90% employer-paid health insurance.
When comparing offers, build a spreadsheet that accounts for: base salary, target bonus, equity (and vesting), 401(k) match dollars, health-premium difference, paid leave (treat each unpaid day as a salary haircut), and any commute or remote-work cost difference. The headline number is rarely the right comparison.
How raises actually move take-home
A 10% raise on a $80,000 salary is $8,000 gross. After 24% federal + 6% state + 7.65% FICA, take-home rises by about $5,000 — roughly $96/week. Lifestyle inflation often absorbs that within months; the long-run win comes from routing raises into retirement contributions, where the same $8,000 contributed annually for 25 years at 7% real is worth roughly $530,000.
Cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) merely keep pace with inflation; they aren't real raises. A 3% COLA in a year of 3% inflation is flat compensation. Track real (inflation-adjusted) wage growth over years to see whether your earning power is rising or just staying still.
Hourly to salaried (and back): when the conversion misleads
Going from hourly to salaried often means giving up overtime pay. A $30/hour role with 5 weekly overtime hours at 1.5× pay earns $30 × 2,080 + $30 × 1.5 × 260 = $74,100. A salaried role at $74,000 looks identical on paper — but if the salaried role expects 50-hour weeks with no overtime, you've taken a real pay cut.
Going salaried to hourly: don't forget benefits. A $50/hour contractor rate ($104,000 annualized) needs to cover the contractor's own health insurance, retirement contributions, self-employment tax (the employer's half of FICA), and unpaid time off. The W-2 equivalent is often 25–35% lower in spendable cash.
Worked examples
Hourly to annual
$25/hour × 40 hours/week × 52 weeks = $52,000 annual. Subtract 2 unpaid weeks: 2,000 hours × $25 = $50,000. Subtract overtime pay assumption (averaging 2 hr/wk at 1.5×): add $25 × 1.5 × 100 hrs = $3,750.
Salary to hourly with realistic hours
$110,000 salary, 50-hour weeks, 49 weeks worked = 2,450 hours. Effective hourly rate ≈ $44.90. Same salary at 40-hour weeks across 49 weeks (1,960 hours) ≈ $56.12/hour — a 25% gap from the same paycheck.
Headline vs. total comp
Offer A: $110,000, no match, $400/month employee health premium, 10 PTO days. Offer B: $98,000, 6% match (=$5,880), $50/month employee premium, 20 PTO days. Cash difference: $12,000. Match: +$5,880 to B. Premium difference: +$4,200/yr to B. Extra PTO ≈ $3,770. Total comp: A ≈ $110,000; B ≈ $111,830 — and B is the lower-stress role on paper.
Frequently asked questions
How many work hours are in a year?
Standard assumption is 2,080 hours (40 × 52). U.S. workers with 10–15 PTO days typically work 1,960–2,000 hours; European workers with 25–30 days often work 1,800–1,860 hours. Use the actual number for fair comparisons.
What's the difference between gross and net pay?
Gross pay is what's listed on the offer. Net (take-home) pay is what arrives in your bank account after federal income tax, FICA (Social Security + Medicare), state/local tax, and any pre- or post-tax deductions. Most U.S. workers see 25–35% withheld from gross.
How do I compare a salary across cities?
Use a cost-of-living index. A $110,000 salary in Austin and $145,000 in San Francisco can have similar purchasing power despite the $35,000 gap. Don't compare gross numbers across markets without adjusting.
Should I negotiate salary or benefits?
Salary first — it compounds via raises, bonus targets, and future jobs. Benefits second. Companies are often more flexible on signing bonus, equity, and PTO than on base pay if their structure is rigid; use those as fallbacks.
What's the difference between exempt and non-exempt?
Exempt (typically salaried) employees aren't entitled to overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Non-exempt (typically hourly) employees must be paid 1.5× their rate for hours over 40/week. Misclassification — calling someone exempt who legally isn't — is a common wage-and-hour violation.
How do bonuses fit into salary calculations?
Target bonus (e.g., 15% of base) is paid only if performance and company targets are met. When comparing offers, weight target bonuses by how reliably the company has paid them historically. A guaranteed sign-on bonus is closer to true cash; a target bonus deserves a discount.