Turn your annual salary into a clear hourly rate — plus daily, weekly and monthly equivalents. Adjust your hours per week and weeks per year to match exactly how you work.
Gross figures · 2026/27
Converting an annual salary into an hourly rate is simple arithmetic, but the answer depends entirely on the assumptions you make about your working time. The formula is: hourly rate = annual salary ÷ (hours per week × weeks per year). A £30,000 salary at 37.5 hours over 52 weeks is 1,950 hours, giving roughly £15.38 an hour.
The two variables that change the result most are your weekly hours and how many weeks you count. Use 52 weeks to spread pay evenly across the whole year, including paid annual leave. Use a lower figure — around 46 or 47 weeks — if you want the rate for time you actually spend working, which produces a higher per-hour number.
Take a £35,000 salary at 40 hours a week across the full 52 weeks:
If that person actually worked only 47 weeks (after 5 weeks of holiday), the effective hourly rate for time worked rises to about £18.62. Both are correct — they just answer slightly different questions.
Comparing a salaried role against hourly or contract work, checking you are above the National Minimum Wage, costing freelance projects, or working out overtime value all start with a reliable hourly figure. Pair this with the income tax calculator to see the after-tax picture.
Divide your salary by the hours you work in a year. At 37.5 hours over 52 weeks that is 1,950 hours, so £30,000 is about £15.38 an hour before tax.
A 37.5-hour week over 52 weeks is 1,950 hours; a 40-hour week is 2,080 hours. Exclude holiday and you would use around 46 to 47 weeks instead.
It is the gross hourly rate before Income Tax and National Insurance. For take-home figures use the salary calculator.
Use 52 to spread pay across the whole year. Use roughly 46–47 weeks for the rate of time actually worked, which gives a higher hourly figure.