Hourly to Salary: Work Out Your Annual Pay

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

Multiply your hourly rate by the hours you work each week, then multiply again by the number of weeks you are paid each year. The result is your gross annual salary — before income tax, National Insurance, pension and any student loan.

Example: £15 an hour on a 37.5-hour week for 52 weeks gives £15 × 37.5 × 52 = £29,250 gross a year. That is about £2,438 a month before deductions, or roughly £2,048 take-home in 2026/27 with no pension or student loan.

What is the hourly-to-salary formula?

The core formula is simple, but each part needs to match your contract. Use your contracted hours, not an average that includes unpaid breaks. Use paid weeks — usually 52 for year-round roles, but fewer for term-time jobs.

• Weekly gross = hourly rate × hours per week.
• Annual gross = weekly gross × weeks per year.
• Monthly gross = annual gross ÷ 12 (most payslips show 1/12 of annual salary each month).
• Effective hourly rate (reverse) = annual salary ÷ (hours per week × weeks per year).

How many working hours are in a year?

UK full-time jobs commonly use either 37.5 or 40 hours a week. Over 52 paid weeks, that gives about 1,950 hours (37.5 × 52) or 2,080 hours (40 × 52). Paid holiday is usually built into the annual salary rather than deducted from these totals.

If you work fewer weeks — for example 39 weeks in a term-time school role — multiply by 39, not 52. Our Pro-Rata Salary Explained guide covers how hours and weeks combine when a job is part-time or part-year.

Worked examples: common hourly rates

The table below uses 2026/27 take-home figures for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with no pension contribution or student loan. Scotland uses different income tax bands, so net pay there may differ slightly at the same gross salary.

Use our Hourly to Salary Calculator to plug in your own rate, hours and weeks — then run the annual figure through the PAYE Salary Calculator for your exact deductions.

Is hourly pay before or after tax?

Job adverts, employment contracts and minimum wage rates are almost always quoted before tax — gross pay. Your payslip then shows income tax and National Insurance deducted through PAYE, plus pension and student loan if they apply.

Do not compare an hourly job offer directly to a friend's salaried take-home without converting both to the same basis. A £30,000 salaried role and £15 an hour on 37.5 hours look similar on gross pay (£29,250), but pension and benefit differences can change the net figure.

How do part-time hours change the annual total?

The same hourly rate on fewer hours produces a lower annual salary. At £15 an hour, 30 hours a week gives £23,400 gross a year versus £29,250 on 37.5 hours — a £5,850 difference for the same rate.

Shift workers with variable hours should use a realistic average across the year, or model best- and worst-case weeks. Overtime at enhanced rates sits on top of basic hourly pay — see our Overtime Pay Explained guide for time-and-a-half and double-time calculations.

How do you convert salary back to an hourly rate?

Divide gross annual salary by total hours worked in the year. On a £35,000 salary with a 37.5-hour week for 52 weeks, that is £35,000 ÷ 1,950 ≈ £17.95 an hour.

Employers sometimes use slightly different divisors — 1/195 of monthly salary, for example. For comparing job offers, use the same method for both roles. The Hourly to Salary Calculator works both ways: enter a salary to see the equivalent hourly rate.

Does your hourly rate meet the minimum wage?

From April 2026, the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over is £12.71 an hour. Younger workers and apprentices have lower legal minimums. If your effective hourly rate — gross pay divided by hours actually worked — falls below the band for your age, your employer may be breaking the law.

Read our National Living Wage 2026 guide for the full rate table and take-home figures at the legal minimum. The Hourly to Salary Calculator flags when a rate is below the selected minimum wage band.

Hourly vs salaried: what to compare on job offers

When weighing an hourly role against a salaried one, compare gross annual pay first, then take-home after tax, then benefits — pension match, paid leave, sick pay and overtime rules.

Salaried roles may include unpaid overtime in the headline figure; hourly roles may offer overtime pay on top. A £32,000 salary with regular unpaid extra hours can work out below £15 an hour in practice. Divide total earnings by hours worked to see the real rate.

• Compare gross annual equivalents using the same hours assumption.
• Check whether overtime is paid, TOIL or unpaid.
• Factor in pension contributions and employer match.
• Run both figures through the PAYE Salary Calculator for net pay.

Convert your hourly rate to annual pay

Use our Hourly to Salary Calculator to convert any hourly rate to weekly, monthly and annual gross pay, and check it against the correct National Minimum Wage band for your age. Then use the PAYE Salary Calculator for take-home pay after tax, National Insurance, pension and student loan.