Salary converter

Converting pay between periods is arithmetic, but the assumptions matter more than the maths. The two that trip people up are how many hours a year count as full-time, and how many pay periods there are.

annual = hourly × hours per week × weeks per year hourly = annual ÷ (hours per week × weeks worked)

2,080 hours

40 hours × 52 weeks is the standard US full-time year, which makes the shortcut “halve the hourly rate and read it as thousands” remarkably accurate: $25/hour ≈ $52,000. In the UK and much of Europe, statutory leave is paid, so the salary is unchanged but the hours worked are fewer — and the effective hourly rate is correspondingly higher.

Biweekly is not the same as twice a month

Paid every two weeks gives 26 cheques a year; paid on the 1st and 15th gives 24. The annual total is identical, but the individual cheques differ by about 8% — and biweekly pay produces two “three-cheque months” a year, which is a budgeting quirk worth planning around.

This is gross pay

Income tax, national insurance or FICA, pension contributions and health premiums all come out before you see it. Total compensation also includes employer pension matching, insurance and bonuses, which can add 20–30% on top of the salary line.