Salary Calculator
Convert an hourly rate to annual salary, with automatic 1.5× overtime pay for hours worked beyond 40 in a week.
Calculator verified • Last updated: August 2026
Hourly Pay Details
Hours over 40/week are paid at 1.5× your hourly rate — see the formula below.
When hours vary, overtime is calculated separately for each of the 4 weeks (since the 40-hour threshold applies per week), then averaged into the figures shown.
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Pay Breakdown
| Component | Hours | Rate | Weekly Pay |
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How to Convert Hourly Pay to Annual Salary
The basic conversion multiplies your hourly rate by the hours you work in a week, then by the number of weeks you work in a year. It gets more accurate once overtime is factored in, since US labor law requires time-and-a-half pay for any hours worked beyond 40 in a single week — this calculator applies that rule automatically instead of just multiplying your total hours by a flat rate.
Regular Pay: hourly rate times the first 40 hours of the week.
Overtime Pay: hourly rate times 1.5, times any hours beyond 40.
Why Overtime Isn't Just "Hours × Rate"
A common mistake is multiplying total weekly hours by the base hourly rate, which understates pay for anyone working more than 40 hours. If you earn 20 dollars an hour and work 45 hours in a week, the first 40 hours pay 800 dollars, and the remaining 5 hours pay 30 dollars each (20 × 1.5), for 150 dollars — a total of 950 dollars, not the 900 dollars a flat multiplication would suggest.
Worked Example
At 25 dollars an hour, 45 hours a week, 52 weeks a year: the first 40 hours pay 1,000 dollars, and the 5 overtime hours pay 187.50 dollars (25 × 1.5 × 5), for 1,187.50 dollars a week. Multiplied by 52 weeks, that's 61,750 dollars a year — noticeably more than the 52,000 dollars a straight 40-hour week at the same rate would produce.
A Brief History of the 40-Hour Workweek and Overtime Pay
The 40-hour workweek and the requirement to pay 1.5 times the regular rate for hours beyond it were established in the United States by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, following decades of labor organizing that had pushed for shorter working hours since the late 19th century. Not every job qualifies for overtime — many salaried, executive, and professional roles are classified as "exempt" under the same law — but the standard hourly-overtime rule remains the default for most hourly workers.
Common Salary Conversion Mistakes
Assuming every week is a full 52-week paid year is the most frequent error — unpaid time off, unpaid holidays, or seasonal work all reduce the real annual total below a simple 52-week multiplication. Forgetting that overtime only applies past 40 hours in a single week (not averaged across a pay period) is another common mix-up, and can meaningfully understate pay for anyone with irregular weekly hours.
Salary Terms You Should Know
Gross Pay — total pay before taxes and other deductions are subtracted.
Overtime Rate — the higher pay rate, typically 1.5 times the regular rate, owed for hours worked beyond a legal threshold.
Exempt vs. Non-Exempt — non-exempt employees are legally entitled to overtime pay; exempt employees (often salaried, professional, or executive roles) generally are not.
These figures are gross pay estimates before taxes, benefits, or other deductions, for planning purposes only.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is overtime pay calculated?
Under the standard US overtime rule, any hours worked beyond 40 in a single week are paid at 1.5 times the regular hourly rate. The first 40 hours are paid at the normal rate, and only the hours above that threshold get the higher overtime rate.
Why is my biweekly pay not just double my weekly pay?
It usually is close, but biweekly pay here is calculated from the annual salary divided by 26 pay periods, not simply doubled from a single week — this avoids compounding rounding errors and matches how payroll systems typically compute it.
Does this account for taxes?
No — these figures are gross pay, before any tax withholding or deductions. Use the Take-Home Paycheck Calculator to estimate your after-tax pay.
Do I qualify for overtime pay, or am I an exempt employee?
It depends on your job duties and how you're paid, not just your job title. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, non-exempt employees — almost all hourly workers — are legally entitled to overtime pay. Exempt employees, typically salaried workers in executive, administrative, or professional roles above a minimum salary threshold, generally are not, no matter how many hours they work. If you're paid hourly like this calculator assumes, the overtime math above almost certainly applies to you.