Salary To Hourly Formula Guide

Core Formula

Hourly rate = Annual salary / Effective worked hours per year

Where:

• Effective worked hours = (hours per week x working weeks) - (paid days off x hours per day)
• Hours per day = hours per week / 5 for a standard five-day week

Example

Assume salary is $92,000, schedule is 40 hours/week, working weeks are 52, and paid days off are 15.

• Hours per day = 40 / 5 = 8
• Effective worked hours = (40 x 52) - (15 x 8) = 1,960
• Hourly rate = 92,000 / 1,960 = $46.94

This rate is usually higher than salary/2,080 because paid days off lower worked hours.

Assumption Checklist

• Set working weeks to your real work year, not always 52.
• Adjust paid days off for holidays and employer policy changes.
• If your schedule is not five days per week, recalculate hours per day directly.
• For contractor benchmarking, add overhead for benefits and unpaid gaps.

Use This In Negotiation

When comparing offers, convert both roles to hourly value first, then evaluate bonus, match, and commute impact with the Offer Comparison Calculator.

Run your own numbers quickly with the Salary to Hourly Calculator.