Hourly to Annual Salary: The 2,080-Hour Formula

To convert an hourly wage to an annual salary, multiply the wage by 2,080, which is 40 hours a week times 52 weeks. A $20 wage becomes $41,600 a year before taxes (20 × 2,080). That result is a full-time, gross estimate, and it moves with unpaid time off, regular overtime, a shorter week or an employer that counts hours differently.

Last reviewed September 30, 2026.

Quick answer

Formula: annual pay = hourly wage × hours per week × paid weeks per year. On a standard schedule that is wage × 2,080.
Reverse: annual salary ÷ 2,080 = hourly wage. $65,000 ÷ 2,080 = $31.25.
Federal pay: most civilian U.S. federal pay is divided by 2,087, not 2,080. The difference is about 0.34%.
Gross only: unpaid time off, overtime, taxes and benefits all change the real figure.

The formula, step by step

Annual pay has three ingredients: the hourly wage, the hours in a week and the number of weeks you are paid.

annual pay = hourly wage × hours per week × paid weeks

A standard full-time job has 40 hours and 52 paid weeks, so the multiplier is 40 × 52 = 2,080. Counting weekdays gives the same figure: 260 weekdays × 8 hours.

Take $27 an hour. Weekly pay is 27 × 40 = $1,080, and annual pay is 1,080 × 52 = $56,160. The hourly to salary calculator runs this multiplication with your own hours, weeks, unpaid time off and overtime.

Two details decide whether the answer matches your paycheck. "Paid weeks" is not "worked weeks," because paid vacation, holidays and sick days sit inside the 52. And 52 weeks is only 364 days while a calendar year has 365 or 366, so 2,080 is a round convention, not a count of any particular year.

Hourly wage to annual pay at common rates

These rows use 2,080 hours and are before tax. The fourth column removes two unpaid weeks, which is 80 hours, so the gap between the third and fourth columns is always 80 times the wage.

Hourly wage	Weekly (40 h)	Annual (2,080 h)	Annual, 2 unpaid weeks	Monthly (annual ÷ 12)
$14	$560	$29,120	$28,000	$2,426.67
$26	$1,040	$54,080	$52,000	$4,506.67
$45	$1,800	$93,600	$90,000	$7,800

Why the federal government divides by 2,087

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) publishes a fact sheet called "Computing Hourly Rates of Pay Using the 2087-Hour Divisor." As of September 2026 it tells agencies to divide an annual rate of basic pay by 2,087 to get the hourly rate and multiply that by 80 for a biweekly paycheck. It covers most civilian executive-branch employees, with exceptions set by law. That fact sheet is the authoritative source, and this section only summarizes it.

The number is an average, and you can reproduce it. This is an independent calculation, not an OPM derivation. The 28-year calendar cycle from 2001 through 2028 has 10,227 days, exactly 1,461 weeks. At 40 hours a week that is 58,440 hours, and 58,440 ÷ 28 = 2,087.1 hours a year. A short script that counted weekdays in each of those years found 7 years with 260 weekdays, 17 with 261 and 4 with 262. That is 7,305 weekdays, an average of 260.89, and 260.89 × 8 = 2,087.1.

So single years land on 2,080, 2,088 or 2,096 weekday hours: 2024 has 262 weekdays, 2025 through 2027 have 261 and 2028 has 260. A hypothetical worker paid $25 for every weekday hour would earn $52,400 in 2024 (2,096 × $25), $52,200 in 2026 and $52,000 in 2028.

For private-sector work, use 2,080 unless your employer states another divisor. The two conventions differ by 7 hours: a $25 wage is $52,000 on 2,080 hours and $52,175 on 2,087 (25 × 2,087). Use 2,087 when you compare a job against a federal pay table.

When 2,080 does not describe your year

The multiplier assumes 40 hours and 52 paid weeks. Change either input and the answer changes in proportion. This table uses $22.50 an hour throughout.

Schedule	Paid hours	Annual pay	Change from full-time
Full-time, 52 paid weeks	2,080	$46,800	none
Two unpaid weeks	2,000	$45,000	-$1,800 (-3.8%)
32 hours × 52 weeks	1,664	$37,440	-$9,360 (-20%)
25 hours × 52 weeks	1,300	$29,250	-$17,550 (-37.5%)
School year, 40 hours × 36 weeks	1,440	$32,400	-$14,400 (-30.8%)

Overtime

Regular overtime goes on top of the base. At $22.50 an hour, time and a half is $33.75. Six overtime hours a week add 6 × $33.75 = $202.50 a week, or $10,530 over 52 weeks. Total pay is $46,800 + $10,530 = $57,330 for 2,392 hours, an average of $23.97 per hour.

Under U.S. federal law, non-exempt employees generally must be paid at least 1.5 times their regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek, and some states add daily overtime. Exempt status depends on a salary level and a duties test, not a job title. As of September 2026, the Department of Labor lists $684 a week ($35,568 a year) as the standard salary level for most exempt white-collar roles, and some states set more. Its Wage and Hour Division is the authority.

Part-time and the 40-hour week

As first enacted in 1938, the Fair Labor Standards Act required overtime after 44 hours, which fell to 42 in 1939 and to 40 in 1940, according to standard histories of the law. The FLSA still does not define a full-time job. Employers do, and other laws use their own cutoffs for specific purposes. If yours defines full-time as 35 hours, then at $22.50 the year is 35 × 52 = 1,820 hours, or $40,950, which is $5,850 below the 2,080-hour figure.

Annual salary back to an hourly wage

The reverse conversion divides instead of multiplying:

hourly wage = annual salary ÷ (hours per week × paid weeks)

The divisor changes the answer. A $65,000 salary under four assumptions:

2,080 hours (standard): $65,000 ÷ 2,080 = $31.25
2,087 hours (federal divisor): $65,000 ÷ 2,087 = $31.15
2,340 hours (45-hour weeks, 52 weeks): $65,000 ÷ 2,340 = $27.78
1,880 hours worked (25 paid days off removed): $65,000 ÷ 1,880 = $34.57

The spread from $27.78 to $34.57 is about $6.80 an hour, and the salary never changed. A salaried role that expects 45-hour weeks pays less per hour than the same salary on 40. The salary to hourly calculator shows the rate for your own schedule. Other pay periods come from the same annual figure: $65,000 ÷ 12 = $5,416.67 a month, ÷ 26 = $2,500 every two weeks and ÷ 52 = $1,250 a week.

Comparing an hourly offer with a salaried one

A headline wage and a headline salary are comparable only once paid hours match. Suppose one job pays $30 an hour with no paid holidays or vacation, and you expect 25 days off (10 holidays and 15 vacation days). A second job pays a $58,000 salary and covers those 25 days.

Hourly job: 25 × 8 = 200 unpaid hours, so you are paid for 2,080 - 200 = 1,880 hours. $30 × 1,880 = $56,400, which is $6,000 (9.6%) below the $62,400 headline (30 × 2,080).
Salaried job: $58,000 ÷ 2,080 = $27.88 on paper, but you work 1,880 of the 2,080 paid hours, so $58,000 ÷ 1,880 = $30.85 per hour worked.

The salaried offer is ahead by $58,000 - $56,400 = $1,600, about 2.8%, even though its paper hourly figure is lower. If the hourly job paid the 10 holidays, it would pay $30 × 1,960 = $58,800 and pull ahead, so run your own numbers.

To express a difference as a percentage, divide the change by the starting value. A raise from $22.50 to $24 is (24 - 22.50) ÷ 22.50 = 6.67%, and the percentage calculator does this for any two amounts.

What the annual figure does not include

The 2,080-hour number is a starting point, not a forecast of income or take-home pay.

Taxes. Everything above is gross. The employee shares of Social Security (6.2%) and Medicare (1.45%) total 7.65% as of this writing, which is $4,314.60 on $56,400 before any federal or state income tax. The IRS and the Social Security Administration publish current rates and wage limits.
Benefits. Health insurance, retirement matching, paid leave and bonuses vary by employer. As a hypothetical, $200 a month toward premiums is 200 × 12 = $2,400 a year, about $1.15 an hour on 2,080 hours.
Variable pay. Tips, commissions and shift differentials are not in the formula.

This guide is general information, not tax, payroll, legal or financial advice. Pay and overtime rules differ by country, state and employer, so confirm details with your employer or a qualified professional. It is independent and not affiliated with OPM, the U.S. Department of Labor or the IRS.

Common mistakes

Multiplying weekly pay by 4 for a month. A month averages 4.33 weeks. At $1,250 a week, 4 × $1,250 = $5,000, which is $416.67 (7.7%) short of $5,416.67.
Confusing biweekly with semi-monthly. Biweekly is 26 paychecks and semi-monthly is 24. A $2,400 check is $62,400 a year if biweekly and $57,600 if semi-monthly.
Rounding the hourly rate early. $80,000 ÷ 2,080 is $38.4615. Round to $38.46 and multiply back and you get $79,996.80. Round at the end.

Frequently asked questions

How much is $20 an hour per year?

It is $41,600 before taxes: 20 × 40 × 52. That is $3,466.67 a month. With two unpaid weeks, it is 20 × 40 × 50 = $40,000.

How many working hours are in a year?

The standard convention is 2,080 (40 × 52). Weekday hours in a real calendar year run 2,080, 2,088 or 2,096, and federal pay uses the 2,087 average. Hours actually worked are fewer once paid vacation, holidays and sick days come out.

How do I convert an annual salary to an hourly rate?

Divide the salary by the hours you are paid for in a year, 2,080 on a standard schedule. $65,000 ÷ 2,080 is $31.25 an hour.

Is the annual figure before or after taxes?

Before. The multiplication gives gross pay, and your paycheck is smaller after taxes and any deductions you chose. Only your employer's payroll estimate can give a take-home figure.

How do I convert hourly pay to salary for a part-time job?

Multiply the wage by your weekly hours and the weeks you are paid. At $22.50 an hour, 25 hours a week and 52 weeks, that is 22.50 × 25 × 52 = $29,250. Remove any unpaid weeks, and do not assume paid time off unless your employer offers it.