Pay Rate Converter
Hourly ↔ Salary Calculator
Convert between hourly rates and annual salaries — with weekly, fortnightly and monthly equivalents, plus what you'd take home after tax.
Salaried staff are typically paid 52 weeks including leave. Casuals and contractors should enter actual working weeks (often 46–48).
Equivalent pay rates (gross)
| Frequency | Amount |
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After tax
Net per year
Net per month
Net per hour
Assumes a single resident taxpayer on standard settings. For a full payslip breakdown, use the salary calculator.
Worth Knowing
Comparing hourly and salaried offers fairly
A higher hourly number doesn't automatically beat a salary. The comparison depends on paid leave, guaranteed hours and benefits.
The paid-leave gap
A salaried role typically pays for 52 weeks while you work about 47 after leave and holidays. An hourly worker without paid leave must earn the same annual amount in fewer paid weeks — so an equivalent hourly rate needs to be roughly 10–25% higher than a simple division suggests.
Overtime changes everything
Hourly workers are usually paid for every hour, often at premium rates beyond standard hours. Salaried staff frequently work unpaid extra hours, which quietly lowers their true hourly rate. Divide your salary by the hours you actually work to see your real rate.
Benefits are money too
Employer pension or super contributions, health insurance, sick pay and paid parental leave can be worth 15–30% of a salary package — and hourly or casual roles often include few of them. When comparing offers, price each benefit: an employer contributing 10% to your retirement fund on a $60,000 salary is quietly paying you another $6,000 a year that a bare hourly rate has to match.
Freelancing? Price the invisible hours
Contractors and freelancers carry costs employees never see: unpaid admin and pitching time, equipment, insurance, self-funded leave and, in many countries, both halves of social security contributions. A common rule of thumb is to charge 25–50% above the employee-equivalent hourly rate just to break even — more if your utilisation is low or your gear is expensive.
A worked example: is $30/hour better than a $59,000 salary?
On paper they look identical: $30 an hour at 38 hours a week for 52 weeks is $59,280 — effectively the same gross pay as the salaried offer. But the two rows of that equation hide different assumptions. The salaried employee is paid for 52 weeks while actually working about 47 once annual leave and public holidays are taken. The casual on $30/hour is only paid for weeks worked: at 47 weeks, their year is worth $53,580 — roughly $5,700 less, before counting sick days.
To genuinely match the salary across 47 paid weeks, the hourly rate needs to be about $33.20, not $30. Then add the benefits ledger: if the salaried role includes employer retirement contributions and paid sick leave, the break-even hourly rate climbs higher still. This is why "the hourly job pays more" is so often an illusion — the headline rate is compared against the wrong denominator. Flip it around and the same trap catches salaried workers: if that $59,000 employee routinely works 45-hour weeks, their true rate is about $25 an hour, and suddenly the hourly offer deserves a second look.
The converter above does the gross maths for you and estimates take-home pay using your country's 2026 tax rules; the honest comparison comes from feeding it the hours and weeks you will actually work. For the full picture including pensions and student loans, finish in the salary calculator.
Frequently asked questions
How do I convert an hourly rate to an annual salary?
Multiply your hourly rate by the hours you work per week, then by the weeks you work per year. For example, $30 per hour at 38 hours a week for 52 weeks is 30 × 38 × 52 = $59,280 a year.
Should I use 52 weeks or fewer?
Salaried employees are usually paid for 52 weeks including paid leave. If you're a casual, contractor or freelancer without paid leave, use the weeks you actually expect to work — commonly 46 to 48 once holidays and gaps are counted.
Does the take-home estimate include tax?
Yes. The net figures apply your country's income tax and social levies for a single resident on standard settings. For student loans, pension contributions and state taxes, use the full salary calculator.
What's my real hourly rate as a salaried employee?
Divide your salary by the hours you actually work, not the hours in your contract. On $70,000 at a contracted 38 hours a week, your rate is about $35.40; if you routinely work 45 hours, it's really about $29.90. That gap is the price of unpaid overtime — worth knowing before you agree to "just this one crunch".
How much more should a freelancer charge than an employee earns?
A common starting point is 25–50% above the employee-equivalent rate, to cover unpaid leave, self-funded retirement contributions, insurance, equipment and the hours spent finding work rather than doing it. The right premium depends on your country's tax treatment of self-employment and how much of your week is billable.