How This Calculator Works
Pick whichever pay period you actually know — an hourly rate, a monthly paycheck, an annual salary, or anything in between — enter your real hours per week, days per week, holidays, and vacation days, and every other period recalculates automatically as you type. Hourly and daily rates are treated as fixed, unadjusted figures; weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, monthly, quarterly, and annual figures are treated as your actual scheduled pay for that period, extrapolated to a full year of 52 weeks.
Under "Advanced," you can add overtime hours and a multiplier if you're paid hourly, or enter your actual hours worked to reveal your true effective hourly rate if you regularly work more than scheduled. Further down the page, the Take-Home Pay section estimates your net pay after 2026 federal tax and FICA, and the Job Offer Comparison tool weighs two offers side by side, including bonuses, 401(k) match, insurance value, and PTO.
Unadjusted vs. Adjusted Pay
The unadjusted column assumes you work every single scheduled working day of the year — no holidays, no vacation, nothing subtracted. It's a clean, simple baseline: rate multiplied by hours and days, with no exceptions. The adjusted column subtracts your holidays and vacation days from that baseline, showing what each pay period actually represents once those non-working days are factored in.
Neither number is "more correct" — they answer different questions. Unadjusted is useful for comparing raw pay rates apples-to-apples; adjusted is closer to what you'll actually see arrive across a real calendar year once time off is accounted for. When comparing two job offers with different PTO policies, the adjusted figure is usually the fairer comparison.
Salary vs. Wage: What's the Difference?
A salary is a fixed amount paid on a regular schedule, usually defined as an annual figure in an offer letter or contract, that generally doesn't change based on the exact number of hours worked in a given week. A wage, by contrast, is calculated as an hourly rate multiplied by the actual hours worked, which means it fluctuates with the schedule and often comes with eligibility for overtime pay once a worker exceeds a standard threshold (commonly 40 hours a week in the U.S.).
Salaried workers are frequently classified as "exempt" from overtime rules, while hourly wage-earners are usually "non-exempt" and protected by minimum wage and overtime regulations. This is general information, not legal advice — exact classification rules depend on your job duties, pay level, and local labor law.
Weekly, Biweekly, Semi-Monthly, or Monthly?
These are the most common ways pay periods are structured, and it's easy to mix them up:
| Frequency | Paychecks/Year | Typical Pattern |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly | 52 | Paid once a week, often on Fridays |
| Bi-Weekly | 26 | Paid every two weeks — 2 months a year get 3 paychecks |
| Semi-Monthly | 24 | Paid twice a month, usually the 15th and last day |
| Monthly | 12 | Paid once a month |
| Quarterly | 4 | Paid once every three months |
Hours have to be counted before they can be paid. Our time card calculator totals a week of shifts with breaks, the hours calculator adds any set of times, and the time calculator handles arithmetic on durations.
Bi-weekly and semi-monthly are the two most commonly confused, since both sound like "twice a month" — but bi-weekly is tied to the week (every 14 days, 26 times a year) while semi-monthly is tied to the calendar month (24 times a year, on fixed dates). For the same annual salary, a bi-weekly paycheck is slightly smaller than a semi-monthly one, since the same total is spread across two more paychecks.
How to Convert Any Pay Rate to an Annual Salary
The core formula this calculator uses for an hourly rate is straightforward:
Unadjusted annual salary = hourly rate × hours per day × days worked per year
For example, at a $25 hourly rate, 8 hours a day, and a standard 5-day week (260 scheduled working days a year): 25 × 8 × 260 = $52,000 unadjusted. If that same worker takes 10 holidays and 10 vacation days (20 days off), the adjusted figure becomes 25 × 8 × (260 − 20) = $48,000. Every other period — weekly, monthly, annual — is simply this same annual figure divided by the number of pay periods in a year (52, 12, 4, and so on).
Going the other direction — from a known annual salary back to an hourly rate — just reverses the formula: divide the annual salary by (hours per day × working days per year).
What Affects Your Salary Beyond the Base Rate
The number this calculator produces is gross cash compensation — but total compensation is usually worth more than the paycheck alone. Employer-paid health insurance, retirement plan contributions or matching, paid holidays and vacation, bonuses, and equity or profit-sharing can all add meaningfully to what a job is actually worth, even when two offers show similar base pay.
Beyond benefits, base pay itself tends to move with experience, education, geographic location, and the specific industry or employer — a fact worth keeping in mind when using any single number to compare offers. Self-employed contractors typically need to set rates noticeably higher than an equivalent salaried role, since they don't receive employer-paid benefits, paid time off, or the employer's share of payroll taxes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this gross pay or take-home pay?
This calculator shows gross pay — before federal and state tax, Social Security, Medicare, insurance premiums, retirement contributions, or any other withholding. Your actual take-home pay will be lower and depends on your tax bracket, state, filing status, and benefit elections. Use the Take-Home Pay section above for a quick annual estimate, or the dedicated Take-Home Paycheck Calculator for a full per-paycheck breakdown.
What's the difference between biweekly and semi-monthly pay?
Biweekly means you're paid every two weeks, which comes out to 26 paychecks a year — two months each year will have three paydays instead of two. Semi-monthly means twice a month, typically on the 15th and the last day, for exactly 24 paychecks a year. Because 26 doesn't divide evenly into 12 months the way 24 does, a biweekly paycheck for the same annual salary is slightly smaller than a semi-monthly one, even though the yearly total is identical.
Why doesn't 40 hours × 52 weeks always equal my actual working hours?
The "2,080 hours a year" shortcut (40 hours × 52 weeks) assumes a full-time schedule with zero unpaid time off. Real schedules often differ because of holidays, vacation days, part-time hours, or a compressed work week — which is why this calculator lets you enter your actual hours per week, days per week, holidays, and vacation days rather than assuming the standard figure.
What's the difference between the unadjusted and adjusted figures?
Unadjusted figures assume you work every scheduled working day of the year with no time off at all. Adjusted figures subtract your holidays and vacation days from that total, showing what each pay period is actually worth once those non-working days are accounted for. Comparing job offers is usually more accurate using adjusted figures, since paid-time-off policies can differ significantly between employers.
How do I convert my salary to an hourly rate?
Select "Year" as the pay period, enter your annual salary, and set your hours per week and days per week to match your actual schedule — the Hourly row in the results table will show your equivalent hourly rate, both unadjusted and adjusted for any holidays or vacation days you enter.
How many working days are there in a year?
A standard 5-day work week gives 260 working days a year (52 weeks × 5 days), which this calculator uses as its unadjusted baseline. Subtracting roughly 10 federal holidays and any vacation days you take typically brings the real number of working days closer to 235–245, depending on your specific employer's policies.
Does this calculator estimate my take-home pay after taxes?
Yes — scroll to the Take-Home Pay section, choose your filing status, and optionally add pre-tax deductions and a state tax rate. It applies the official 2026 federal tax brackets and FICA (Social Security and Medicare) rates to estimate your net annual and monthly pay. State tax uses a simple percentage you enter yourself, since exact state brackets vary too much for one universal formula.
Can I use this to compare two job offers?
Yes — the Compare Two Job Offers section lets you enter base salary, bonus percentage, 401(k) match, employer-paid insurance value, and PTO days for two offers side by side. It calculates total effective compensation for each and also normalizes by working days, since an offer with more paid time off can be worth more per day even with a lower headline total.
This calculator shows gross pay estimates for general informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, or legal advice regarding employment compensation. Consult a payroll professional or tax advisor for figures specific to your situation.