Salary vs Hourly Calculator: Which Pays More in 2026

Two verdicts, kept separate

Salary or hourly is two questions, not one, and the answers can point in opposite directions. The first question is GROSS pay: which job puts more dollars in your pocket before benefits? The second question is TOTAL COMPENSATION: which job is worth more once the employer-paid benefits are counted? The definitions matter, and they must never be conflated. (a) Salary gross is the salary S. Salary total comp is S + B, where B is the employer-paid benefits value. (b) Hourly base gross is H × hours × weeks. The overtime premium is H × 1.5 × OT × weeks, where the overtime hours are ADDITIONAL hours beyond the base week, paid at time-and-a-half. Hourly gross is base + overtime premium. Hourly total comp is the hourly gross: there are no benefits on this side. (c) The salary hourly equivalent (straight) is S / (hours × weeks). (d) The salary effective hourly (worked hours only) is S / (hours × weeks − 8 × PTO). (e) The hourly gross with PTO unpaid is H × (hours × weeks − 8 × PTO). The benefits value applies to the SALARY side only: the hourly role is assumed to carry no employer-paid benefits. If the base hours are 0, the overtime premium is $0 and the hourly gross is $0: no base job, no overtime.

At the defaults — salary $65,000, hourly rate $31.25, base week 40 hours, 52 weeks, 10 PTO days, overtime 5 hours a week, benefits $6,000 a year — the salary gross is $65,000.00 and the salary total comp is $71,000.00 ($65,000.00 + $6,000.00). The salary monthly is $5,416.67 and the salary weekly is $1,250.00. The hourly base gross is $65,000.00 ($31.25 × 40 × 52), the overtime premium is $12,187.50 ($31.25 × 1.5 × 5 × 52), and the hourly gross is $77,187.50. The hourly monthly is $6,432.29 and the hourly weekly is $1,484.38. On gross pay, hourly wins gross by $12,187.50. On total comp, hourly wins total comp by $6,187.50. The salary hourly equivalent (straight) is $31.25/hr — the same rate as the hourly offer, so the $6,187.50 gap is ALL overtime + benefits. The salary effective hourly over 2,000 worked hours is $32.50/hr. The hourly gross with 10 unpaid PTO days is $62,500.00.

The worked example, line by line

Setup: salary $65,000, hourly rate $31.25, base week 40 hours, 52 weeks, 10 PTO days, overtime 5 hours a week, benefits $6,000 a year.

Line 1 — the salary side. Salary gross is $65,000.00. Salary total comp is $65,000.00 + $6,000.00 = $71,000.00. Salary monthly is $65,000.00 / 12 = $5,416.67; salary weekly is $65,000.00 / 52 = $1,250.00.

Line 2 — the hourly base. $31.25 × 40 × 52 = $65,000.00. The base gross is a dead heat with the salary: $65,000.00 against $65,000.00.

Line 3 — the overtime premium. $31.25 × 1.5 × 5 × 52 = $12,187.50. The 5 overtime hours a week are additional hours beyond the 40-hour base week, paid at $46.88 an hour.

Line 4 — the hourly gross. $65,000.00 + $12,187.50 = $77,187.50. Hourly monthly is $77,187.50 / 12 = $6,432.29; hourly weekly is $77,187.50 / 52 = $1,484.38.

Line 5 — the two verdicts. On gross pay: $77,187.50 against $65,000.00, hourly wins gross by $12,187.50. On total comp: $77,187.50 against $71,000.00, hourly wins total comp by $6,187.50. The benefits close half the gap; the overtime premium is the whole of the gross gap.

Line 6 — the hourly equivalents. The straight equivalent is $65,000.00 / (40 × 52) = $31.25/hr, the same rate as the hourly offer. The effective hourly is $65,000.00 / (2,080 − 80) = $65,000.00 / 2,000 = $32.50/hr: the salary is spread over 2,000 worked hours, not 2,080, because 10 PTO days are 80 hours not worked.

Line 7 — the unpaid-PTO figure. If the hourly worker is not paid for those 10 days, the hourly gross is $31.25 × 2,000 = $62,500.00 — $2,500.00 less than the salary, which is paid through PTO.

Reverse: the hourly rate that ties salary total comp ($71,000) at 5 overtime hours a week is $28.74 (exact $28.7449); at $28.74 the hourly gross is $70,987.80, $12.20 short, and at $28.75 it is $71,012.50. The salary that ties hourly total comp ($77,187.50) is $71,187.50 (exact: $77,187.50 − $6,000). The overtime hours a week that tie total comp are 2.46 h/wk (exact 2.4615 h/wk); at 2.46 the hourly gross is $70,996.25, $3.75 short. The benefits value that ties total comp is $12,187.50 (exact). The base hours a week that tie total comp are 36.19 h/wk (exact 36.1923 h/wk); at 36.19 the hourly gross is $70,996.25. The hourly rate that ties salary GROSS (no benefits, no overtime) is $31.25 (exact 31.2500).

Every branch, checked

Overtime 0 hours a week — the flip: the hourly gross is $65,000.00, a dead heat with the salary gross, and the salary total comp is $71,000.00, so salary wins total comp by $6,000.00. With no overtime, the whole hourly advantage disappears and the benefits decide it.

Overtime 10 hours a week: the hourly gross is $89,375.00 and hourly wins by $18,375.00. Doubling the overtime more than doubles the gap, because every overtime hour is paid at $46.88.

Overtime 2 hours a week: the hourly gross is $69,875.00 and salary wins by $1,125.00. Two hours of overtime are not enough: the premium is $4,875.00, short of the $6,000.00 of benefits.

Hourly rate $35: the hourly gross is $86,450.00 and hourly wins by $15,450.00; the unpaid-PTO gross is $70,000.00. A higher rate lifts the base and the overtime premium together.

Hourly rate $28 — the flip: the hourly gross is $69,160.00 and salary wins by $1,840.00; the unpaid-PTO gross is $56,000.00. At $28 an hour the overtime cannot close the gap.

Hourly rate $40: the hourly gross is $98,800.00 and hourly wins by $27,800.00. The gap grows fast with the rate, because the rate is paid on every hour, base and overtime alike.

Salary $80,000 — the flip: the salary total comp is $86,000.00 and salary wins by $8,812.50; the effective hourly is $40.00. A $15,000 higher salary beats the overtime premium outright.

Salary $55,000: the salary total comp is $61,000.00 and hourly wins by $16,187.50; the effective hourly is $27.50. A $10,000 lower salary widens the hourly win by $10,000.

PTO 0 days: the salary effective hourly is $31.25 and the unpaid-PTO gross is $65,000.00. With no PTO, the straight and effective hourly rates are the same, and the hourly worker loses nothing to unpaid days.

PTO 20 days: the salary effective hourly is $33.85 and the unpaid-PTO gross is $60,000.00. Twenty days of unpaid time cost the hourly worker $5,000.00 a year, and lift the salary’s effective hourly rate by $1.35.

Benefits $0: the salary total comp is $65,000.00 and hourly wins by $12,187.50. With no benefits, the total-comp gap is the whole overtime premium.

Benefits $12,000: the salary total comp is $77,000.00 and hourly wins by $187.50. At $12,000 of benefits the two sides nearly tie: the benefits are $187.50 short of the overtime premium.

Benefits $15,000 — the flip: the salary total comp is $80,000.00 and salary wins by $2,812.50. Past $12,187.50 of benefits, the salary wins.

Base hours 35 a week — the flip: the hourly gross is $69,062.50 and salary wins by $1,937.50; the effective hourly is $37.36; the unpaid-PTO gross is $54,375.00. A shorter base week cuts the base gross by $8,125.00, and the overtime premium cannot make it up.

Base hours 45 a week: the hourly gross is $85,312.50 and hourly wins by $14,312.50; the effective hourly is $28.76; the unpaid-PTO gross is $70,625.00. A longer base week adds $8,125.00 of base gross.

Reverse — the other way round: the hourly rate that ties salary total comp is $28.74 (exact $28.7449); the salary that ties hourly total comp is $71,187.50; the overtime that ties total comp is 2.46 h/wk (exact 2.4615 h/wk); the benefits that tie total comp are $12,187.50; the base hours that tie total comp are 36.19 h/wk (exact 36.1923 h/wk); the hourly rate that ties salary GROSS is $31.25 (exact 31.2500).

What the defaults assume

The model assumes the salary is paid through PTO and the hourly rate is not, the overtime hours are additional hours beyond the base week paid at time-and-a-half, and the benefits value applies to the salary side only: the hourly role is assumed to carry no employer-paid benefits. It assumes the hours, the rate, and the benefits stay the same all year, with no bonuses, no tips, no commissions, and no tax differences between the two jobs. It does not count job security, schedule flexibility, or the value of the time off itself. With an hourly rate of $0, the hourly gross is $0.00. With a salary of $0, the salary total comp is $6,000.00 — the benefits only. With base hours of 0, the hourly gross is $0.00: no base job, no overtime premium. This is a COMPARISON (gross vs total comp, overtime, PTO, benefits), not a pure rate converter: it is not the same as converting $31.25 an hour into an annual salary, and it does not link to a converter. Rounding convention: totals are computed from unrounded values, so rounded parts may differ by a cent from their rounded sum; the exact unrounded reverses ($28.7449, 2.4615 h/wk, 36.1923 h/wk) are stated wherever the rounded figures appear.

Output · formula · meaning

Who uses this

• The worker choosing between $65,000 a year and $31.25 an hour: they learn the hourly job wins total comp by $6,187.50 — so they know the gap is all overtime, and they check the no-overtime branch (salary wins total comp by $6,000.00) before taking the hourly job for the money alone.
• The worker offered $28 an hour against a $65,000 salary: they learn the salary wins by $1,840.00 — so they know $28 an hour is not enough, and they check the tie rate ($28.74 an hour, exact $28.7449) before negotiating.
• The worker with $15,000 of benefits on the salary side: they learn the salary wins by $2,812.50 — so they know the benefits are doing the work, and they check the $12,000 branch (hourly wins by $187.50) before assuming benefits always win.
• The worker on a 35-hour week: they learn the salary wins by $1,937.50 — so they know a shorter week cuts the hourly gross, and they check the 45-hour branch (hourly wins by $14,312.50) before assuming more hours always help the hourly side.

Accuracy & limitations

The math is exact for the numbers you enter: the salary total comp is S + B, the hourly base gross is H × hours × weeks, the overtime premium is H × 1.5 × OT × weeks, the hourly gross is base + premium, the straight equivalent is S / (hours × weeks), the effective hourly is S / (hours × weeks − 8 × PTO), and the unpaid-PTO gross is H × (hours × weeks − 8 × PTO). What the model cannot do is value the jobs themselves: check the benefits, because $12,187.50 of benefits exactly ties the overtime premium, and check the overtime, because with no overtime the salary wins by $6,000.00. It assumes the hours, the rate, and the benefits stay the same all year, with no bonuses, no tips, no commissions, and no tax differences. It assumes the salary is paid through PTO and the hourly rate is not, and that the hourly role carries no employer-paid benefits. It leaves out job security, schedule flexibility, and the value of the time off. For whether the salary is taxed the way you expect, see take-home pay calculator; for the overtime pay on its own, see overtime pay calculator.