Pay rates,
all in one number.

Field guide

How pay rates convert.

Every pay frequency, hourly, daily, weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly, monthly, and annual, is a different way of slicing the same total annual income. Convert any one of them and the others follow from a single piece of arithmetic:

Working weeks per year defaults to 52, minus any unpaid vacation. If your salary already includes paid time off (which it usually does for salaried employees), set vacation weeks to 0.

The standard work year

U.S. labor convention assumes:

• 40 hours per week: the FLSA full-time threshold
• 52 weeks per year: sometimes 50 if you treat 2 weeks as unpaid leave
• 2,080 work hours per year: 40 × 52, the federal benchmark

Different industries use different defaults. Teachers often calculate on 36–40 weeks. Seasonal workers might base on 30. The calculator above lets you set the schedule explicitly.

The conversion table

Once you know annual income and weekly hours, every other frequency drops out:

• Hourly = annual ÷ (hoursPerWeek × workingWeeks)
• Daily = weekly ÷ daysPerWeek
• Weekly = annual ÷ workingWeeks
• Biweekly = weekly × 2 (26 paychecks/year)
• Semi-monthly = annual ÷ 24 (2 paychecks/month, 24 total)
• Monthly = annual ÷ 12
• Annual = the headline figure

Biweekly vs semi-monthly: they're different

Biweekly means every 14 days, exactly 26 paychecks per year. Two months out of every year, you get three paychecks instead of two.

Semi-monthly means twice a month, exactly 24 paychecks per year, typically on the 1st and 15th. Always two paychecks a month, never three.

For a $52,000 annual salary, biweekly checks are $2,000 while semi-monthly checks are $2,166.67. Same total, different cadence.

Overtime math

U.S. federal law (FLSA) requires 1.5× the regular rate for hours worked beyond 40 in a single week for non-exempt employees. Some industries pay 2× (often called “double time”) for Sundays or holidays. The multiplier is configurable above.

Example: a $25/hr worker who puts in 5 OT hours a week earns 5 × $25 × 1.5 = $187.50 in overtime premium per week, on top of their regular pay. Across 50 working weeks that's an extra $9,375/year.

Effective hourly vs base hourly

With overtime, two different “hourly rates” show up in your check:

• Base hourly: the rate paid for regular hours.
• Effective hourly: total annual income divided by total annual hours worked, including OT hours. Always higher than base when OT > 0.

Salary vs hourly — the trade-off

A salaried position pays a fixed annual amount regardless of weekly hours; no overtime premium, but no dock for working less. An hourly position is paid per hour worked, with overtime owed under FLSA rules.

For a 40-hour-a-week comparison, the two are identical at the same nominal rate. The math diverges as soon as the actual weekly hours stray from 40.

Don't forget taxes

All numbers above are gross pay, what you earn before federal income tax, FICA (Social Security + Medicare = 7.65%), state/local tax, health insurance, and 401(k) deductions. Take-home pay is typically 65–80% of gross for U.S. workers, with the exact number heavily dependent on state and bracket.

Worked example

A nurse earning $38/hr works 36 hrs/week with 8 OT hrs/week (12-hour shifts). She takes 2 weeks of unpaid leave per year:

• Base weekly: 36 × $38 = $1,368
• OT weekly: 8 × $38 × 1.5 = $456
• Weekly total: $1,824
• Working weeks: 52 − 2 = 50
• Annual: $1,824 × 50 = $91,200