How this is calculated
Yearly salary = hourly wage × hours per week × paid weeks per year. Monthly = yearly ÷ 12.
The classic shortcut says an hourly wage times 2,000 gives your annual salary — $20/hour becomes $40,000. That shortcut assumes exactly 40 hours a week for 50 weeks. This calculator does the precise version: your real hours per week, times your real paid weeks per year, times your wage.
The 'paid weeks' input is what most converters skip. If you're a W-2 employee with paid vacation, you're paid for all 52 weeks even when you're at the beach — leave it at 52. But if you freelance or work hourly without paid time off, every week you don't work is a week you don't earn. Two unpaid weeks off turns $20/hour from $41,600 into $40,000 — a 4% difference that compounds across every budgeting decision you make.
Remember these are gross (pre-tax) figures. Depending on your country, state and deductions, take-home pay is typically 70-85% of gross. When comparing an hourly offer against a salaried one, also weigh what's bundled into the salary: paid leave, health insurance, retirement matching and overtime eligibility often matter more than a small difference in the headline rate.
Frequently asked questions
Is $20 an hour a good salary?
At 40 hours for 52 weeks, $20/hour is $41,600 per year before tax. How that feels depends heavily on where you live — it's below the US median full-time income (~$60,000) but above typical entry-level retail wages.
Why do some converters use 2,080 hours and others 2,000?
2,080 is exactly 40 hours × 52 weeks. 2,000 assumes two unpaid weeks off and has the advantage of easy mental math: hourly wage × 2 = yearly salary in thousands. This tool lets you set the real numbers instead of picking a convention.
Does this include overtime?
No — it assumes a constant rate for all hours. If you regularly work overtime at 1.5×, your effective yearly income will be higher than shown; enter your average blended hourly rate for a closer estimate.
Is this before or after tax?
Before tax. Take-home pay depends on your jurisdiction, filing status and deductions — as a rough rule, expect to keep 70-85% of gross.