The conversion in one line
To turn an hourly rate into a yearly salary, multiply three numbers together:
Hourly rate × hours a week × paid weeks a year = yearly pay
For most employees the number of paid weeks is 52, because paid holiday and bank holidays are part of the salaried year. So £15 an hour for a 37.5-hour week is £15 × 37.5 × 52 = £29,250 a year.
- Hours in a week37.5
- Pay for a week£15 × 37.5£562.50
- Paid weeks in a year52
- Pay for a month£29,250 ÷ 12£2,437.50
Monthly pay is the yearly figure divided by 12, not four weeks of pay. Four weeks is only 48 weeks a year, so multiplying weekly pay by four understates a month by about 8%.
Common hourly rates as salaries
Here are common hourly rates converted for a full-time 37.5-hour week, with take-home pay for someone in England, Wales or Northern Ireland with no pension or student loan deductions.
| Hourly rate | Yearly pay | Monthly pay | Take-home a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| £12.71 (National Living Wage) | £24,784.50 | £2,065.38 | £1,780.37 |
| £15.00 | £29,250.00 | £2,437.50 | £2,048.30 |
| £20.00 | £39,000.00 | £3,250.00 | £2,633.30 |
| £25.00 | £48,750.00 | £4,062.50 | £3,218.30 |
| £30.00 | £58,500.00 | £4,875.00 | £3,707.28 |
A quick mental shortcut for a 37.5-hour week: double the hourly rate and add three noughts, then subtract about 2.5%. £20 an hour becomes £40,000, less 2.5%, which is £39,000.
52 weeks or fewer?
Almost every worker in the UK is entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year. That is 28 days for someone working five days a week, and employers can include bank holidays in it. Because that time off is paid, a salaried employee is paid for all 52 weeks, and 52 is the right number to use.
Use fewer weeks when time off is not paid. That applies mainly to contractors, freelancers and some agency workers paid only for the hours they work.
- Hours a week
- 37.5
- Paid weeks
- 52
- Holiday
- Paid
- Yearly pay
- £48,750
- Hours a week
- 37.5
- Paid weeks
- 47
- Holiday
- Unpaid
- Yearly pay
- £44,062.50
The same hourly rate is worth almost £4,700 less a year to the contractor, before thinking about sick pay, pension contributions or the employer’s National Insurance an employee never sees. This is why contractor rates are usually higher than the equivalent employee rate.
Rolled-up holiday pay for irregular hours
Since April 2024, employers can pay workers with irregular hours or part-year contracts an extra 12.07% on each hour instead of paying them during their holiday. If your rate includes this, use the full rate and 52 weeks, or the basic rate and fewer weeks; not both.
Turning a salary into an hourly rate
Going the other way, divide the salary by the hours you are paid for in a year:
Yearly salary ÷ (hours a week × 52) = hourly rate
| Salary | Hours a year | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|
| £25,000 | 1,950 | £12.82 |
| £30,000 | 1,950 | £15.38 |
| £40,000 | 1,950 | £20.51 |
| £50,000 | 1,950 | £25.64 |
| £75,000 | 1,950 | £38.46 |
Comparing jobs with different hours can change the picture. A £32,000 job with a 40-hour week pays £15.38 an hour, exactly the same as a £30,000 job with a 37.5-hour week. If you value your time, compare hourly rates as well as salaries.
Unpaid lunch breaks are not counted in your contracted hours. If you are at work from 9am to 5.30pm with an unpaid hour for lunch, you are paid for 7.5 hours a day and 37.5 a week.
What you take home
Hourly workers pay Income Tax and National Insurance exactly as salaried workers do. Your employer works out tax on each payment, based on how much you have earned so far in the tax year.
- Yearly pay£29,250.00
- Income Tax(£29,250 − £12,570) × 20%−£3,336.00
- National Insurance(£29,250 − £12,570) × 8%−£1,334.40
- Take-home a month£24,579.60 ÷ 12£2,048.30
On a basic-rate salary, 28p of each extra pound goes in Income Tax and NI, so you keep 72p. That rises to 42p above £50,270, and the calculator shows your own rate when you add a pension or student loan.
If your hours vary a lot from week to week, your tax and NI will vary too. NI in particular is worked out on each payment, so a week with lots of overtime can attract more NI than an even spread of the same hours.
Overtime and extra hours
There is no legal right to a higher overtime rate. Time and a half (1.5 times) and double time (2 times) are common, but your contract decides. The legal requirements are narrower:
- Your average pay for all hours worked must not fall below the minimum wage.
- Most adults cannot be made to work more than 48 hours a week on average, usually measured over 17 weeks, unless they opt out in writing.
- Regular overtime usually has to be included in holiday pay for the first four weeks of statutory holiday.
In the calculator, add your overtime hours and rate under More options. The result includes it in your yearly pay and your take-home. Our overtime calculator goes further, showing what each extra hour is worth after tax.
Minimum wage rates from April 2026
| Age or status | Hourly rate | 37.5 hours, 52 weeks |
|---|---|---|
| 21 and over (National Living Wage) | £12.71 | £24,784.50 |
| 18 to 20 | £10.85 | £21,157.50 |
| 16 to 17 | £8.00 | £15,600.00 |
| Apprentice (under 19 or first year) | £8.00 | £15,600.00 |
The calculator checks your rate against the minimum for your age. If you are paid less, money your employer deducts for things like uniforms can make it worse, so check our minimum wage checker and speak to Acas if something looks wrong.
Daily rates and contractors
A day rate converts the same way. Divide the yearly figure by paid weeks and by the days you work each week. On £29,250 for a five-day week, that is £29,250 ÷ 52 ÷ 5 = £112.50 a day.
Contractors working through their own limited company are paid differently: no employer pays NI or holiday on their behalf, and how they are taxed depends on IR35. A contractor charging £400 a day for 46 weeks of 5 days bills £92,000 a year, but that is not comparable to a £92,000 salary. Our IR35 calculator compares the two properly.
What counts as working time
An hourly rate is only meaningful if the hours are counted properly. For the minimum wage and for your own comparisons, working time generally includes:
- Time you spend doing your job, including training your employer requires.
- Travel between jobs or appointments during the day, for example care workers going from one client to the next. Travel from home to your normal workplace does not count.
- Time on call when you must be at or near the workplace and ready to work.
- Paid breaks, if your contract pays them.
It does not usually include unpaid lunch breaks, your commute, or time asleep on a sleep-in shift when you are only required to be available. If unpaid tasks such as opening up, cashing up or changing into a uniform are required, that time can count, and it can take your real hourly rate below the minimum wage.
- Paid hours a week37.5
- Weekly pay£13 × 37.5£487.50
- Unpaid but required time15 minutes before and after each shift, 5 days2.5 hours
- Real hourly rate£487.50 ÷ 40£12.19
Variable and zero-hours work
If your hours change from week to week, a single conversion can mislead. Work out an average over a longer period, ideally 12 weeks or more, and use that as your hours a week in the calculator.
Some rules are worth knowing if your hours vary:
- Holiday for irregular-hours workers builds up at 12.07% of the hours you work. Your employer can either give you paid time off or add 12.07% to every hour as rolled-up holiday pay.
- Statutory Sick Pay is paid from the first day of sickness from April 2026, and the minimum earnings test has gone. It is 80% of your average weekly earnings or £123.25, whichever is lower.
- Tax on uneven pay evens out over the year for Income Tax, but National Insurance is worked out on each payment. A run of very busy weeks can mean slightly more NI than steady hours would.
- Universal Credit adjusts each month to what you were actually paid, so it can smooth out some of the ups and downs.
Comparing two job offers
Salaries are easier to compare once you turn them into hourly rates. Here are two offers that look different at first glance:
- Salary
- £31,000
- Hours a week
- 40
- Hours a year
- 2,080
- Hourly rate
- £14.90
- Salary
- £29,500
- Hours a week
- 35
- Hours a year
- 1,820
- Hourly rate
- £16.21
Job A pays £1,500 more a year, but Job B pays £1.31 more for every hour, and gives you 260 hours of your life back. Before deciding, also compare holiday, employer pension contributions, commuting time and costs, and whether overtime is paid. A job with a 10% employer pension contribution is worth several thousand pounds a year more than one paying the 3% minimum.
Hourly rates to salaries: full table
The table below converts more hourly rates for a 37.5-hour week with 52 paid weeks. Take-home pay assumes England, Wales or Northern Ireland, a standard tax code, and no pension or student loan deductions.
| Hourly rate | Yearly pay | Monthly pay | Take-home a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| £13.00 | £25,350.00 | £2,112.50 | £1,814.30 |
| £14.00 | £27,300.00 | £2,275.00 | £1,931.30 |
| £16.00 | £31,200.00 | £2,600.00 | £2,165.30 |
| £17.00 | £33,150.00 | £2,762.50 | £2,282.30 |
| £18.00 | £35,100.00 | £2,925.00 | £2,399.30 |
| £19.00 | £37,050.00 | £3,087.50 | £2,516.30 |
| £21.00 | £40,950.00 | £3,412.50 | £2,750.30 |
| £22.00 | £42,900.00 | £3,575.00 | £2,867.30 |
| £24.00 | £46,800.00 | £3,900.00 | £3,101.30 |
| £26.00 | £50,700.00 | £4,225.00 | £3,330.28 |
| £28.00 | £54,600.00 | £4,550.00 | £3,518.78 |
| £35.00 | £68,250.00 | £5,687.50 | £4,178.53 |
| £40.00 | £78,000.00 | £6,500.00 | £4,649.78 |
Notice how take-home grows more slowly from £26 an hour upwards. That is where yearly pay passes £50,270 and the extra pay is taxed at 40% instead of 20%.
If you work part-time, the pro rata salary calculator scales a full-time salary to your hours, and the timesheet calculator adds up a week of start and finish times.