Guides
Salary vs Hourly Pay
Compare salary and hourly pay using work hours, paid weeks, and effective hourly rate.
Two common pay structures
Hourly pay means you are paid based on the number of hours you work.
Salary usually means you are paid a fixed amount over the course of the year, regardless of small changes in weekly hours.
The important comparison is not only annual pay. It is also the number of hours you expect to work for that pay.
How to compare salary and hourly pay
A common full-time estimate uses 40 hours per week and 52 paid weeks per year, or 2,080 hours per year.
Under that assumption, a $52,000 salary is roughly $25 per hour because $52,000 divided by 2,080 hours equals $25.
When the estimate changes
The estimate changes if you work more or fewer hours, take unpaid time off, or have a schedule that changes throughout the year.
For salaried jobs with long weeks, the effective hourly rate can be lower than the simple 40-hour calculation suggests.