Published 29 October 2026 · Salary
Say you have two offers. One pays $28 an hour. The other pays a $60,000 salary. The quick conversion says $28 an hour is $58,240 a year, so the salary wins. That might be true, but it leaves out three things that often matter more than the headline number.
Step 1: convert the hourly rate properly
The usual shortcut is hourly rate × 2,080, because 40 hours a week for 52 weeks is 2,080 hours. That assumes every week is paid, including vacation and public holidays.
Many hourly jobs don't pay for time off. If you'll take two unpaid weeks a year, you're paid for 50 weeks, not 52:
$28 × 40 hours × 50 weeks = $56,000
The hourly to salary calculator lets you change both the weekly hours and the paid weeks, so you can match the actual job.
Step 2: add realistic overtime
In the US, most hourly employees are paid at least time and a half for hours over 40 in a week. Salaried employees classed as exempt usually aren't paid overtime at all.
Ask what overtime actually looks like in the hourly role. If the honest answer is about 3 extra hours a week:
- Overtime rate: $28 × 1.5 = $42 an hour
- Per week: 3 × $42 = $126
- Per year, over 50 working weeks: $126 × 50 = $6,300
That brings the hourly offer to $62,300, now ahead of the salary. The overtime pay calculator works this out for any rate.
Only count overtime you're confident about. If it's occasional or depends on the season, run the numbers both with and without it.
Step 3: compare what each hour is worth
Salaried roles often come with longer weeks. If the $60,000 job usually means 45-hour weeks, with three weeks of paid vacation, you work 45 × 49 = 2,205 hours a year. The hourly job, at 43 hours a week (40 regular plus 3 overtime) for 50 weeks, is 2,150 hours.
| Hourly offer | Salaried offer | |
|---|---|---|
| Yearly pay | $62,300 | $60,000 |
| Hours worked per year | 2,150 | 2,205 |
| Pay per hour actually worked | $28.98 | $27.21 |
In this example the hourly job pays more in total and more for each hour you work. With different assumptions, the result could easily flip, which is why it's worth doing the sums for your situation.
Step 4: count the benefits
Pay is only part of the package. Before deciding, compare:
- Health insurance, and how much of the premium you pay yourself
- Retirement contributions or employer matching
- Paid vacation, sick days and public holidays
- Bonuses, and how reliably they're paid
- Commute time and costs
An employer match of a few percent of salary, or a cheaper health plan, can be worth more than a gap of a couple of thousand dollars in pay.
Questions to ask before you accept
- For the hourly role: how many hours a week are guaranteed, how often is overtime available, and is vacation paid?
- For the salaried role: what are typical weekly hours, is the role exempt from overtime, and how are raises decided?
Asking these isn't awkward. Employers expect them, and the answers change the math.