Should I use 52 weeks or fewer?

Use 52 when converting an employee salary, because paid holiday is part of the package. Use 46 to 48 for a contractor comparison, since unpaid holiday and gaps between contracts are real unbilled time.

Is this gross or net?

Gross. Income tax and social contributions come off afterwards and vary widely by country and by employment status.

How do I convert an hourly rate to an annual salary?

Multiply the hourly rate by hours per week and by weeks per year. At $30 an hour, 40 hours, 52 weeks, that is $62,400 before tax.

Salary to Hourly Calculator

Quick answer

Hourly rate equals annual salary ÷ (hours per week × weeks worked per year). A $60,000 salary at 40 hours over 52 weeks is $28.85 an hour.

Salary ↔ hourly

Annual salary (gross)

Hours per week

Weeks worked per year

52 for an employee · 46–48 for a contractor comparison.

Hourly rate

28.85

Per working day

230.77

Contractor equivalent (×1.75)

50.48

Gross figures. The contractor equivalent is a rule-of-thumb uplift for employer contributions, paid leave and unbilled time — not a quote.

The conversion looks trivial and then immediately runs into a question: how many weeks do you count? Using 52 treats paid holiday as worked time, which is right for an employee comparison and wrong for a contractor one.

That single choice moves the answer by roughly ten per cent, which is more than most salary negotiations are about. Decide which comparison you are making before you read the number.

Why a contractor rate must be much higher

An employee's salary is only part of what the employer spends. Employer social contributions, paid holiday, sick pay, pension contributions, equipment and the cost of idle time between projects all sit on top, commonly adding 25 to 50 per cent.

A contractor carries all of that plus the risk of unbilled weeks. A common rule of thumb is to take the employee hourly equivalent and multiply by 1.5 to 2 just to stand still — and that is before accounting for the months in a year that are not billable.

Billable hours are not working hours

Independent workers rarely bill more than 60 to 70 per cent of the hours they work. Admin, sales, invoicing, accounting and unpaid proposals consume the rest, and none of it appears on an invoice.

Calculate a target rate from the income you need divided by realistic billable hours, not total hours. Forty billable hours a week, 46 weeks a year, is an aggressive target for a solo operator rather than a baseline.

Frequently asked questions

Should I use 52 weeks or fewer?: Use 52 when converting an employee salary, because paid holiday is part of the package. Use 46 to 48 for a contractor comparison, since unpaid holiday and gaps between contracts are real unbilled time.
Is this gross or net?: Gross. Income tax and social contributions come off afterwards and vary widely by country and by employment status.
How do I convert an hourly rate to an annual salary?: Multiply the hourly rate by hours per week and by weeks per year. At $30 an hour, 40 hours, 52 weeks, that is $62,400 before tax.

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Updated 2026-09-20 · all calculators. Results are estimates for guidance, not professional advice.