How to Convert Hourly Wage to Annual Salary in the US
Ever wondered what your hourly wage adds up to over a year? Converting hourly to annual takes one simple multiplication: hourly rate × 2,080 hours. At $25/hour, that’s $52,000/year gross before taxes, deductions, and any unpaid time off.
But here’s the thing — that $52,000 figure assumes you work every single scheduled week at exactly 40 hours. Real life is rarely that neat. Let’s break this down.
The Standard US Annual Salary Formula
The US standard work year is 2,080 hours: 52 weeks multiplied by 40 hours per week. This is the baseline the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and most US payroll systems use.
Formula:
Annual salary = Hourly wage × 2,080A $25/hour worker earns $25 × 2,080 = $52,000/year. A $20/hour worker earns $41,600/year. The math is the same whether you’re paid weekly, biweekly, or semimonthly — the total annual dollar amount doesn’t change with pay frequency.
Hourly-to-Annual Comparison Table
| Hourly Wage | Annual (×2,080) | Monthly Gross | Weekly Gross |
|---|---|---|---|
| $15/hour | $31,200 | $2,600 | $600 |
| $20/hour | $41,600 | $3,467 | $800 |
| $25/hour | $52,000 | $4,333 | $1,000 |
| $30/hour | $62,400 | $5,200 | $1,200 |
A $15/hour full-time worker makes $31,200/year — below the FLSA salary exempt threshold of $35,568/year (effective May 15, 2026). A $30/hour worker clears $62,400/year, well above that line.
What 2,080 Hours Misses
The 2,080-hour figure assumes you work every scheduled week at 40 hours with no overtime and no unpaid time off. Real annual earnings often differ in three ways.
1. Overtime. Hours over 40 in a workweek are paid at 1.5× under FLSA. A $20/hour worker who picks up 5 overtime hours each week earns $41,600 base + ($20 × 1.5 × 5 × 52) = $41,600 + $7,800 = $49,400/year. That’s $7,800 more than the flat 2,080 formula predicts.
2. Unpaid PTO or sick time. If you take 2 weeks unpaid leave, your paid hours drop to 2,000. At $25/hour, that’s $50,000 instead of $52,000. Most US employers fund PTO, but not all.
3. Unpaid breaks. Federal law doesn’t require paid breaks. If your employer deducts a 30-minute unpaid meal break per 8-hour shift, you’re paid for 7.5 hours, not 8. Over a year, that’s 2,080 − 260 = 1,820 paid hours, which at $20/hour is $36,400, not $41,600 — a $5,200 difference.
Actually, I had a friend who worked at a restaurant and didn’t realize her unpaid breaks were cutting into her annual earnings. She thought she was making $18/hour, but after accounting for the 30-minute unpaid meal break every shift, her effective hourly rate was closer to $16.50.
The FLSA Exempt Threshold Context
The FLSA salary threshold for exempt (overtime-ineligible) white-collar employees is $684/week, or $35,568/year, effective May 15, 2026. Highly Compensated Employees (HCE) need at least $107,432/year. Computer employees can be exempt at $27.63/hour.
If your annualized hourly wage is below $35,568, you’re non-exempt and entitled to overtime pay under federal law — regardless of job title. A $17/hour worker ($35,360/year) sits just under that line and is owed 1.5× for hours over 40.
How to Convert in the Other Direction
To convert an annual salary back to an hourly rate:
Hourly = Annual salary ÷ 2,080A $50,000 salary equals $50,000 ÷ 2,080 = $24.04/hour. A $60,000 salary equals $28.85/hour. This works for any annual figure assuming a standard 40-hour week.
State Variations
More than a dozen states set their own overtime thresholds above the federal floor. California requires overtime over 8 hours/day and double time over 12 hours/day. Alaska, Nevada, and Colorado also have stricter daily-overtime rules. Always check your state labor code — the 2,080-hour formula gives you the federal baseline, not the final paycheck.
Verify Your Number
Run your numbers through the hourly salary calculator to confirm the annual total, then check monthly cash flow with the monthly pay estimator. Both tools assume the standard 2,080-hour US work year.
