The 2,080-hour rule, in one paragraph
A standard full-time year holds 2,080 working hours: 40 hours a week × 52 weeks. Multiply any hourly rate by 2,080 and you have the textbook annual salary — $20 an hour becomes $41,600, $25 becomes $52,000, $30 becomes $62,400. Memorize that one number and you can convert in your head: every dollar an hour is worth $2,080 a year at full time. The rest of this guide is about when the textbook answer is wrong — part-time schedules, unpaid weeks, and overtime — and how to fix it.
Step 1: Multiply rate × hours × weeks
The general formula works for any schedule, not just full time:
Three inputs, one multiplication. The rate is your gross hourly pay — before taxes. Hours per week is your usual schedule. Weeks per year is 52 minus any unpaid time off. Run it for the three most common rates and the pattern is obvious:
Worked examples: $20, $25, and $30 an hour
$25 × 40 × 52 = $52,000 a year ($1,000/week · $4,333.33/month)
$30 × 40 × 52 = $62,400 a year ($1,200/week · $5,200/month)
Answer: each $5-an-hour step is worth $10,400 a year at full time. Notice the monthly figures are the annual number divided by 12 — not four times the weekly pay, a common mistake that understates the month by about 8%.
Step 2: Use your real schedule, not the textbook one
The 2,080 rule assumes a metronome life: exactly 40 hours, every week, all year. Two adjustments make it honest. First, hours: if your schedule swings, use your true average. Add up a typical month of hours and divide by 4.33 (the average weeks in a month) — someone alternating 32- and 40-hour weeks should enter 36, not 40. Second, weeks: unpaid time off is unpaid. Two unpaid weeks means 50 working weeks, which turns $25 an hour from $52,000 into $50,000. Part-time math is the same formula with smaller inputs: $22 an hour at 24 hours a week for 50 weeks is $26,400 a year.
Step 3: Add overtime on top
Overtime is paid at a premium — usually time-and-a-half (1.5×), sometimes double time — and it stacks on top of the base salary:
Five overtime hours a week at $25 an hour: $25 × 1.5 × 5 × 52 = $9,750 a year — about 16% on top of the $52,000 base. That is the number people consistently underestimate: five extra hours is only 12.5% more time, but the 1.5× multiplier makes it punch above its weight. If your overtime is sporadic rather than weekly, estimate your yearly overtime hours directly (say, 100 hours) and multiply by rate × 1.5.
Step 4: Going the other way — salary to hourly
To turn an annual salary into an hourly rate, divide by your total working hours:
$65,000 at 40 hours × 52 weeks = $31.25 an hour. But here is the catch that matters for salaried workers: if you actually work 55-hour weeks, your real rate is $65,000 ÷ (55 × 52) = $22.73 an hour. Salaried roles that quietly demand long weeks can pay a lower true hourly rate than the hourly job you left — always divide by the hours you really work.
The benefits catch when comparing offers
Once both offers are in annual terms, the comparison still is not finished. A $58,000 salary usually bundles paid vacation, holidays, health insurance, and often a 401(k) match — together worth thousands a year that never appear in the headline number. An hourly offer's headline is more honest but thinner: no paid time off, and benefits vary wildly. Price the benefits roughly (two weeks of PTO at your rate, the employer's insurance contribution) and add them to each side before you decide. An hourly job with steady overtime can still win — just make sure it wins on the full math, not the headline.
Frequently asked questions
Why 2,080 hours and not 2,000?
2,080 is exact: 40 hours × 52 weeks. Some people round to 2,000 for mental math, which understates the salary by about 4% — fine for a quick estimate, but use 2,080 (or your real hours) when the number matters.
Is my monthly pay just my weekly pay × 4?
No — that is the most common conversion mistake. There are 4.33 weeks in an average month, not 4. Weekly × 4 understates the month by about 8%. Always divide the annual figure by 12 instead: $52,000 ÷ 12 = $4,333.33.
Does the salary figure include paid time off?
The formula counts working weeks, so paid vacation does not reduce it — you are paid for those weeks. Only unpaid time off shrinks the number. If you take two unpaid weeks, use 50 weeks in the formula.
Should I include bonuses or tips in the conversion?
Keep them separate. Convert the base rate first, then add expected bonuses, tips, or commissions as their own line — they vary too much to bake into the hourly figure. If you earn tips, the tip calculator can help estimate that side of your income.
Is this gross pay or take-home pay?
Gross — before taxes and deductions. Federal income tax, Social Security (6.2%), and Medicare (1.45%) all come off afterwards, so your actual paychecks will be lower than every number on this page.
Try it: run your own numbers through the free hourly to salary calculator — including overtime and the reverse salary-to-hourly mode. Comparing job offers? The commission calculator handles base-plus-commission pay.