Pay and salary · rules read October 11, 2026
Annual salary to hourly rate
Type a yearly salary and the hours you really work; the converter gives the hourly, weekly and per-paycheck figures.
Written by Radif Partners · How the hours are counted · Editorial policy
Hourly rate
$28.85
2,080 paid hours a year
| Federal method (÷ 2,087 hours) | $28.75 |
| Weekly | $1,153.85 |
| Biweekly (26 checks) | $2,307.69 |
| Semimonthly (24 checks) | $2,500.00 |
| Monthly | $5,000.00 |
| Weekly salary vs exempt level $684 | at or above |
Federal agencies divide annual basic pay by 2,087 hours (5 U.S.C. 5504(b)). Being paid a salary does not by itself make a job exempt from overtime. How this is calculated.
To turn an annual salary into an hourly rate, divide it by the hours paid in a year: 2,080 for a full-time schedule of 40 hours over 52 weeks. A salary of $60,000 is therefore $28.85 an hour, $50,000 is $24.04 and $100,000 is $48.08. The quick mental version is to halve the salary and drop three zeros: $60,000 gives about $30, slightly high because it assumes 2,000 hours. The federal government uses a different divisor for its own civilian staff. Under 5 U.S.C. 5504(b), OPM divides annual basic pay by 2,087 hours, the average number of paid weekday hours in a year over a 28-year cycle, which puts $60,000 at $28.75. Both methods are correct for what they measure. When your actual week is longer or shorter than 40 hours, or some weeks are unpaid, the converter above divides by the hours you really work, which is the number that matters when you compare a salaried offer with an hourly one.
One salary, two hourly rates
Hourly over 2,080 hours
$26.44
| Federal divisor 2,087 hours | $26.35 |
| Difference per hour | $0.09 |
| Weekly equivalent | $1,057.69 |
Where 2,080 and 2,087 come from
2,080 is simply 40 hours times 52 weeks, and it is the divisor most payroll systems, offer letters and job boards use. It is tidy, and it ignores the calendar. A year is 365 days, or 366, so it always holds 52 full weeks plus one or two extra days. In 2026 the extra day is a Thursday, which gives 261 weekdays, or 2,088 weekday hours at 8 a day, 8 more than the round figure. Leap years that start on a weekday can reach 2,096.
The federal government settled this for its own payroll in 5 U.S.C. 5504(b). OPM takes the paid weekday hours of each year across a 28-year cycle, after which the calendar repeats, and averages them. Seven of those years have 2,080 hours, seventeen have 2,088 and four have 2,096; the mean rounds to 2,087. Hourly rates for federal civilian employees are computed with it. Private employers are free to choose, and most keep 2,080 because it is easier to explain on a pay stub.
The difference looks small and adds up. On $60,000 it is $0.10 an hour; on $150,000, $0.24. When a leave balance of 200 hours is cashed out, the choice of divisor moves the check by $48.38 at the top of that range.
| Annual salary | Hourly (2,080 h) | Hourly (2,087 h) | Weekly | Biweekly (26) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $30,000 | $14.42 | $14.37 | $576.92 | $1,153.85 |
| $35,000 | $16.83 | $16.77 | $673.08 | $1,346.15 |
| $40,000 | $19.23 | $19.17 | $769.23 | $1,538.46 |
| $45,000 | $21.63 | $21.56 | $865.38 | $1,730.77 |
| $50,000 | $24.04 | $23.96 | $961.54 | $1,923.08 |
| $55,000 | $26.44 | $26.35 | $1,057.69 | $2,115.38 |
| $60,000 | $28.85 | $28.75 | $1,153.85 | $2,307.69 |
| $65,000 | $31.25 | $31.15 | $1,250.00 | $2,500.00 |
| $70,000 | $33.65 | $33.54 | $1,346.15 | $2,692.31 |
| $75,000 | $36.06 | $35.94 | $1,442.31 | $2,884.62 |
| $80,000 | $38.46 | $38.33 | $1,538.46 | $3,076.92 |
| $90,000 | $43.27 | $43.12 | $1,730.77 | $3,461.54 |
| $100,000 | $48.08 | $47.92 | $1,923.08 | $3,846.15 |
| $120,000 | $57.69 | $57.50 | $2,307.69 | $4,615.38 |
| $150,000 | $72.12 | $71.87 | $2,884.62 | $5,769.23 |
Divide by the hours you actually work
Both divisors assume a 40-hour week. Many salaried people work more, and for an exempt employee the salary does not grow with the hours. A project manager on $75,000 who logs 50 hours a week earns $28.85 for each of them, not $36.06. That effective rate is the honest comparison with an hourly position paying time and a half past 40: the hourly to salary converter runs the opposite direction with overtime included.
A part-time salary needs its own hours too. Thirty hours a week is 1,560 hours a year, and dividing a $48,000 part-time salary by 2,080 instead would understate the rate by $7.69. School-year contracts with unpaid summer weeks are the third case: remove the weeks that are not paid, keep the paid vacation weeks in.
Salary conversion stops at gross pay. Benefits, a 401(k) match or health coverage are worth real money but are not wages, and taxes depend on your own situation. A nonexempt employee paid a salary below $684 a week also has overtime rights, explained on the exempt versus nonexempt page and calculated on the salaried overtime page. In 2026, 250 of the 261 weekdays are workdays once the federal holidays are removed; those holidays stay paid for salaried staff, so they remain in the divisor.
Reading the rate off a pay stub
Pay stubs rarely print an hourly figure for salaried staff, but you can rebuild it from the gross line. Multiply the gross by the number of paychecks in the year, then divide by the yearly hours. A semimonthly check of $2,500.00 times 24 gives back $60,000; a monthly one of $5,000.00 times 12 does the same. The trap is the biweekly schedule. Twenty-six checks of $2,307.69 make the full salary, yet some years carry a twenty-seventh payday, and an employer that keeps the same check amount then pays more over the calendar year. The biweekly pay page counts the 2026 paydays from your first January check.
Once the hourly figure is known, it is often the base for extras paid by the hour on top of the salary, such as an on-call hour or a holiday shift premium under a company policy; overtime for a nonexempt salaried employee follows the hours-worked method instead. Use the same divisor your employer uses, which the handbook or the payroll office can confirm, so your check and theirs agree to the cent.