To go from hourly to salary, multiply your hourly rate by the hours you work in a week, then by 52: $20 an hour for 40 hours a week is $41,600 a year.
The same arithmetic works in pounds, dollars or any other currency, and it runs backwards just as easily when a job advert gives a yearly figure and you want to know what it means per hour. The details that change the answer are the hours per week, unpaid time off and, in the United States, overtime. This guide covers each of them with worked examples and the official minimum wage figures for the UK.
The formula for an annual salary from an hourly rate
An annual salary is the hourly rate × the hours per week × 52 weeks. The middle number is the one to get right, because full-time does not mean the same thing in every job: 40 hours a week gives 2,080 hours a year, 37.5 hours gives 1,950, and 35 hours gives 1,820.
| Hours a week | Hours a year | At 15 an hour | At 20 an hour | At 25 an hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | 2,080 | 31,200 | 41,600 | 52,000 |
| 37.5 | 1,950 | 29,250 | 39,000 | 48,750 |
| 35 | 1,820 | 27,300 | 36,400 | 45,500 |
| 20 | 1,040 | 15,600 | 20,800 | 26,000 |
For a 40-hour week there is a quick mental shortcut, because 2,080 is 2,000 + 80. Multiply the hourly rate by 2,000, then add 80 times the rate: at 18 an hour, that is 36,000 + 1,440 = 37,440 a year. Our guide to mental maths shortcuts has more ways to split a multiplication like this.
The result is a gross figure, before tax and other deductions. It is the number to compare with a salaried job advert, not the amount that reaches your bank account.
Salary to hourly: dividing the other way
To turn a yearly salary into an hourly rate, divide by the hours in a working year. A salary of $50,000 for a 40-hour week is 50,000 ÷ 2,080 = $24.04 an hour; £30,000 for 37.5 hours a week is 30,000 ÷ 1,950 = £15.38 an hour.
The same logic gives the other periods. A weekly figure is the annual salary ÷ 52, a monthly figure is the annual salary ÷ 12. A common slip is to multiply a weekly wage by 4 to get a month: a month is on average 52 ÷ 12 ≈ 4.33 weeks, so × 4 leaves out about four weeks of pay over a year.
Comparing two offers is easier once both are per hour. A job at £28,000 for 35 hours a week pays 28,000 ÷ 1,820 = £15.38 an hour, exactly the same as £30,000 for 37.5 hours, even though one salary looks £2,000 higher. The shorter week simply buys back two and a half hours of your time every week.
Overtime at time and a half in the US
In the United States, the rules are in the Fair Labor Standards Act. As the Department of Labor's overtime page explains, unless they are exempt, covered employees must receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a workweek, at a rate of at least time and one-half their regular rate of pay.
At $20 an hour, a 45-hour week pays 40 × $20 = $800 for the regular hours plus 5 × $30 = $150 for the overtime: $950 instead of the $900 that 45 plain hours would give. The extra half is where the name comes from: 1.5 × 20 = 30.
Two details from the same page matter for the calculation. The workweek is a fixed and regularly recurring period of 168 hours, seven consecutive 24-hour periods, and averaging hours over two or more weeks is not permitted: 30 hours one week and 50 the next means 10 overtime hours in the second week, even though the average is 40. And the Act does not require overtime pay for work on Saturdays, Sundays or holidays as such, only for the hours above 40 in the workweek.
Regular overtime changes the yearly figure a lot. Five extra hours every week at $30 is $150 a week, or 150 × 52 = $7,800 a year: the same job then pays $41,600 + $7,800 = $49,400, almost 19% more than the 40-hour figure. If overtime only happens in some weeks, count the weeks rather than assuming all 52.
What the UK minimum wage comes to in a year
In the UK, the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates on GOV.UK are set per hour and change on 1 April every year. From April 2026 they are £12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over, £10.85 for those aged 18 to 20, and £8 for those under 18 and for apprentices in the cases the page sets out.
| Age band | Hourly rate from April 2026 | Year at 37.5 hours a week |
|---|---|---|
| 21 and over | £12.71 | £24,784.50 |
| 18 to 20 | £10.85 | £21,157.50 |
| Under 18 and apprentices | £8 | £15,600 |
At 40 hours a week, the National Living Wage comes to 12.71 × 2,080 = £26,436.80 a year. The rate for workers aged 21 and over was £12.21 between April 2025 and March 2026, so the increase is 12.71 ÷ 12.21 ≈ 1.041, about 4.1%. To see how a rise like that compares with prices, our article on pay rises and inflation shows the calculation.
Hours worked per year, holidays and part-time work
The 52 in the formula assumes you are paid for every week of the year, including paid holidays. When some weeks are unpaid, the number of paid weeks goes down and the yearly total with it: 48 paid weeks at 37.5 hours and £15 an hour give 48 × 37.5 × 15 = £27,000, against £29,250 for 52 weeks.
Part-time work follows the same rule with fewer hours. Twenty hours a week at £13 an hour is 20 × 52 × 13 = £13,520 a year. If the hours vary from week to week, use the average over a typical month rather than a single busy week. Unpaid breaks during the day follow the same rule: count only the hours you are actually paid for.
A quick sense check catches most slips. For a 40-hour week, the yearly figure is a little over 2,000 times the hourly rate, so $25 an hour must come to just over $50,000; for 37.5 hours it is a little under 2,000 times. Going the other way, a salary divided by 2,000 gives a rate slightly above the true one: £39,000 ÷ 2,000 = £19.50, while the exact figure for 37.5 hours is £39,000 ÷ 1,950 = £20. If your answer is far from these rough figures, a zero has slipped somewhere.
Finally, remember that every figure here is before deductions. To go from a gross salary to what you actually receive each month in the UK, our guide to working out take-home pay goes through income tax and National Insurance step by step.
Frequently asked questions
How much is $20 an hour a year?
$41,600 for 40 hours a week over 52 weeks, because 20 × 2,080 = 41,600.
How many working hours are in a year?
2,080 for a 40-hour week, 1,950 for 37.5 hours and 1,820 for 35 hours, counting 52 paid weeks.
How do you convert a salary to an hourly rate?
Divide the annual salary by the hours in a working year: £30,000 for 37.5 hours a week is £30,000 ÷ 1,950 = £15.38 an hour.
Is overtime paid at time and a half?
In the US, covered employees who are not exempt must be paid at least time and one-half for hours over 40 in a workweek, under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
What is the UK minimum wage per hour in 2026?
From April 2026, £12.71 for workers aged 21 and over, £10.85 for ages 18 to 20 and £8 for under-18s and apprentices.
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