To convert any hourly wage to a yearly salary, multiply it by 2,080 — the number of work hours in a standard US full-time year (40 hours a week times 52 weeks). So $25 an hour is $52,000 a year before taxes, $20 an hour is $41,600, and $30 an hour is $62,400. This is a gross figure: it is what you earn, not what lands in your bank account after taxes.
That single number, 2,080, answers most "$X an hour is how much a year" questions in one step. But it assumes you are paid for all 52 weeks and work exactly 40 hours. Below is the full chart, the monthly and weekly breakdowns, and how unpaid weeks or a part-time schedule change your real annual total. Plug your own wage into the Hourly to Salary Calculator to follow along.
Where 2,080 comes from
2,080 is 40 hours per week multiplied by 52 weeks per year. US payroll systems, recruiters, and the federal government use it as the default full-time year because it is simple and consistent. It already counts paid vacation and paid holidays as worked hours, which is why a salaried employee on two weeks of paid leave still earns the full annual figure.
The shortcut version is even faster: double your hourly wage and add three zeros for a rough yearly estimate. $25 an hour becomes roughly $50,000 (the true figure is $52,000). $18 an hour becomes roughly $36,000 (true figure $37,440). It runs a little low because 2 times 1,000 equals 2,000, not 2,080, but it is close enough to size up a job posting in your head.
Hourly to annual salary chart
Here is what common hourly wages work out to across a full-time year, with the monthly and weekly breakdowns. All figures are gross (pre-tax) and assume 40 hours a week for 52 paid weeks (2,080 hours).
| Hourly wage | Per week (40 hrs) | Per month (avg) | Per year (2,080 hrs) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $15.00 | $600.00 | $2,600.00 | $31,200 |
| $18.00 | $720.00 | $3,120.00 | $37,440 |
| $20.00 | $800.00 | $3,466.67 | $41,600 |
| $25.00 | $1,000.00 | $4,333.33 | $52,000 |
| $30.00 | $1,200.00 | $5,200.00 | $62,400 |
| $35.00 | $1,400.00 | $6,066.67 | $72,800 |
| $40.00 | $1,600.00 | $6,933.33 | $83,200 |
| $50.00 | $2,000.00 | $8,666.67 | $104,000 |
| $75.00 | $3,000.00 | $13,000.00 | $156,000 |
| $100.00 | $4,000.00 | $17,333.33 | $208,000 |
Notice the monthly column is an average. You actually get paid by the hour, so a 4-week month and a 5-Friday month look different on your statements. Dividing the annual figure by 12 smooths that out into a budgeting number.
Weekly, biweekly, and monthly: pick the right divisor
The period you care about decides which math to use. Start from the annual figure, then divide:
- Weekly pay = hourly wage times hours per week. At $25 and 40 hours, that is $1,000 a week. Or take annual divided by 52.
- Biweekly pay = weekly pay times 2 (most common US pay cycle). $25 an hour is $2,000 every two weeks. Note this produces 26 paychecks a year, not 24.
- Semi-monthly pay = annual divided by 24 (paid on the 1st and 15th). $52,000 divided by 24 is about $2,166.67 per check.
- Monthly pay = annual divided by 12. $52,000 divided by 12 is about $4,333.33.
Biweekly and semi-monthly are easy to confuse. Biweekly means every two weeks (26 checks); semi-monthly means twice a month (24 checks). The annual total is identical, but the per-check amount differs.
The catch: 2,080 assumes you are paid for every week
If you take unpaid time off, your true annual pay is lower than the 2,080 estimate. Hourly workers without paid vacation only earn money for hours actually clocked. Two unpaid weeks off means you work 50 weeks, not 52 — and the math shifts.
Watch how the same $25 wage changes as paid weeks drop:
| Paid weeks worked | Annual hours | Gross annual pay at $25/hr |
|---|---|---|
| 52 weeks (PTO paid or none taken) | 2,080 | $52,000 |
| 50 weeks (2 unpaid weeks off) | 2,000 | $50,000 |
| 48 weeks (4 unpaid weeks off) | 1,920 | $48,000 |
| 46 weeks (6 unpaid weeks off) | 1,840 | $46,000 |
Every unpaid week at $25 an hour and 40 hours costs you exactly $1,000. This is the single biggest reason an hourly worker's real W-2 comes in under the headline conversion: the 2,080 figure quietly assumes you never miss a paid hour all year.
Part-time hours scale the same way
For part-time work, replace 2,080 with your actual annual hours. The formula never changes — only the hours go down. A $25 wage at different weekly schedules, across 52 weeks:
- 30 hours a week = 1,560 hours a year = $39,000 gross.
- 25 hours a week = 1,300 hours a year = $32,500 gross.
- 20 hours a week = 1,040 hours a year = $26,000 gross.
If you are stacking more than one job to hit your target income, the math gets a little more involved — combine the totals before you compare to any salaried number.
This is gross, not take-home
Every figure above is before taxes. Your actual deposit is reduced by federal income tax, FICA (Social Security and Medicare), any state income tax, and deductions like health insurance or a 401(k). As a rough rule, take-home often lands 20-30% below gross, though it varies widely by state and situation. To estimate the after-tax number, run your annual figure through the Take-Home Pay Calculator.
The flip side of this calculation — turning a yearly salary back into an hourly rate — is covered in our salary to hourly conversion guide, which is the right tool when you are handed an annual number and want to know what your time is worth per hour.
Project it forward after a raise
A small bump per hour compounds across 2,080 hours fast. A $1.50 raise on a $25 wage is $25 plus $1.50 equals $26.50, which is $26.50 times 2,080 equals $55,120 a year — $3,120 more without changing your schedule. See how to size a raise in dollars and percent in our pay raise guide, or use the Pay Raise Calculator to model it.
For the official US figures on hourly and weekly earnings, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes wage data you can use as a benchmark.
When you are ready to run your own wage and real schedule, the Hourly to Salary Calculator does every line above instantly and lets you test unpaid weeks and part-time hours side by side.
Try it yourself
Run your own numbers in the free Hourly to Salary Calculator — instant, private, no sign-up.
Open the Hourly to Salary Calculator →Frequently asked questions
- $25 an hour is how much a year?
- $25 an hour is $52,000 a year before taxes, based on a standard full-time year of 2,080 hours (40 hours a week times 52 weeks). That works out to about $4,333.33 per month and $1,000 per week. If you take unpaid time off or work part-time, your true annual pay will be lower.
- $20 an hour is how much a year?
- $20 an hour is $41,600 a year before taxes at 40 hours a week for 52 weeks. That is about $3,466.67 a month, $1,600 every two weeks, and $800 a week. Multiply $20 by 2,080 to get the annual figure yourself.
- How do I convert an hourly wage to an annual salary?
- Multiply your hourly wage by your total work hours for the year. For standard full-time work, use 2,080 hours (40 times 52), so wage times 2,080 equals your gross annual salary. For part-time or unpaid weeks, use your real hours instead: hours per week times paid weeks per year.
- Is the hourly-to-salary number before or after taxes?
- It is before taxes (gross). The 2,080-hour conversion gives your gross annual pay, which is what you earn, not what you keep. Federal tax, FICA, state tax, and deductions reduce it — take-home is often 20-30% lower. Use a take-home pay calculator to estimate the after-tax amount.
- Why is 2,080 the standard number of work hours per year?
- 2,080 equals 40 hours per week multiplied by 52 weeks per year, the default US full-time schedule. Payroll systems and recruiters use it because it treats paid vacation and holidays as worked hours, giving a clean, consistent annual figure.
- What is the quick way to estimate yearly pay from an hourly wage?
- Double your hourly wage and add three zeros. $25 an hour becomes roughly $50,000 (the exact figure is $52,000). It runs slightly low because it uses 2,000 hours instead of 2,080, but it is fast and close enough to vet a job offer in your head.
- Does $25 an hour change if I take unpaid time off?
- Yes. The $52,000 figure assumes you are paid for all 52 weeks. Each unpaid week at $25 and 40 hours costs $1,000, so two unpaid weeks drop your real annual pay to $50,000 and four unpaid weeks drop it to $48,000. Hourly workers only earn money for hours actually worked.
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