To turn an hourly rate into yearly pay, multiply by 2,080 or 2,000

A job pays fifteen dollars an hour, and the number does not mean much until you can picture it as a year. Many people suggest a quick sum for this: double the hourly rate and add three zeros. Fifteen doubled is thirty, so thirty thousand. The sum is fast, and it is slightly low, for a reason worth knowing.

To turn an hourly rate for a 40-hour week into yearly pay before tax, multiply it by 2,080 if you are paid for every week of the year, or by 2,000 if about two weeks a year are unpaid; doubling the rate and adding three zeros gives the 2,000 version.

The two sums

A full-time week is 40 hours and a year has 52 weeks, so a year of full-time work is 40 x 52 = 2,080 hours. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics says its yearly wage estimates assume a full-time, year-round schedule of 2,080 hours. At $15 an hour that is 15 x 2,080 = $31,200.

Doubling the rate and adding three zeros multiplies by 2,000, which is 40 hours for 50 weeks. At $15 an hour that is $30,000. The gap is 80 hours of pay, two weeks, about four percent. In dollars the gap grows with the rate: $1,200 at $15 an hour, and $1,600 at $20 an hour, where the sums are $41,600 and $40,000.

Many people who discuss this point out that the doubling trick quietly assumes two weeks without pay. Some people say that is why it comes out low for a job that pays for holidays and leave. Many people say the other way: a rough sum is good enough for a quick ballpark, and 2,000 is easier to do in your head than 2,080. Both views hold. What decides between them is whether you want speed or a closer figure, and whether your time off is paid.

If you need a figure for a loan, a rental or a benefit application, ask the lender, landlord or benefit office what figure and proof it wants instead of using either sum.

Which one fits your job

It depends on whether your time off is paid. If holidays, leave and sick days are paid, the 2,080 sum fits. If you are not paid for about two weeks of the year, the 2,000 sum is closer to what you receive. One person in the US says that where they worked, hourly staff were not paid when the company was closed, unlike some salaried staff. In the UK, GOV.UK says that if your employer lays you off because there is not enough work, “You should get your full pay unless your contract allows unpaid or reduced pay lay-offs”, and that if you are unpaid you are entitled to guarantee pay, which its guarantee pay page says is at most £41 a day for 5 days in any 3-month period, for someone employed continuously for a month, among other conditions. Another person says paid leave varies a lot in the US: some jobs start with none, and others give two or three weeks, rising with years of service.

Your own terms settle it, and the law sets a floor that differs by country.

• In the US, the Department of Labor says the Fair Labor Standards Act does not require payment for time not worked, such as vacations, sick leave or holidays, and that these benefits are matters of agreement between an employer and an employee. So the offer letter, contract or handbook decides, and you can ask the person who does the pay. State law can add rules, so your state labor department can say what applies in your state. The Department’s Wage and Hour Division (1-866-487-9243) answers questions about federal pay rules; it says it generally cannot help you recover vacation pay.
• In the UK, GOV.UK says almost all people classed as workers are legally entitled to 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday a year, which is 28 days for someone who works five days a week. It says bank and public holidays do not have to be given as paid leave, and that an employer can count them towards the 5.6 weeks. It says part-time workers get the same entitlement pro rata, so fewer days. For Northern Ireland, nidirect gives the same 5.6 weeks. If your holiday is paid, the 52-week sum fits. Whether you count as a worker, and how holiday pay is worked out if your hours vary, are questions for the Acas helpline (0300 123 1100) or Citizens Advice in England, Scotland and Wales, and in Northern Ireland for the Labour Relations Agency’s Workplace Information Service (03300 555 300) or Advice NI (0800 915 4604).

If your hours are not 40 a week

Multiply the rate by your usual weekly hours, then by 52, then take off any weeks you would not be paid. At $15 an hour for 25 hours a week, that is 25 x 15 x 52 = $19,500. One person says that on a 37.5-hour week with paid time off the number of hours to use is 1,950, which is 37.5 x 52.

None of these sums include overtime, shift pay, bonuses or tips. If you work overtime, take its pay from your payslips, not from a rule of thumb.

Going the other way

To turn a yearly figure into an hourly one, divide by 2,080 if you are paid for every week, or by 2,000 if you are not. $52,000 a year works out to $25 an hour when divided by 2,080, and $26 when divided by 2,000. One person’s shortcut for the 2,000 version is to halve the yearly figure and drop the three zeros. If you are salaried, the hourly figure only means something if you know the hours you really work; there is a page here called Ask whether your salary is exempt from overtime about what a salary does and does not cover.

Why your pay arrives lower

Every figure above is before tax. What reaches your bank is smaller, and the sums here cannot say by how much.

In the US, the IRS says the employee share of Social Security tax is 6.2 percent and of Medicare tax 1.45 percent (read October 2026), and your employer also takes federal income tax from each paycheck. Your state or city may add its own tax. The IRS Tax Withholding Estimator, which the IRS says is for estimating the correct amount of tax your employer should withhold each year, asks for your recent paystubs. For help with tax in the US, the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program is listed below.

In the UK, the deductions are Income Tax and National Insurance. GOV.UK says the standard Personal Allowance, the part of your income you do not pay Income Tax on, is £12,570 for the 2026 to 2027 tax year, and that Income Tax bands are different if you live in Scotland. It says you pay National Insurance contributions to qualify for certain benefits and the State Pension. For guidance on your pay and tax, MoneyHelper (0800 011 3797) and Citizens Advice are listed below.

In both countries, a pension, insurance or other deduction on your payslip can take more. One person’s overall tax came to about a quarter of their income, which made a flat ten percent guess too optimistic. That is one person’s case; yours comes from your own payslip and the tools above.

Who this page is not for

If you are salaried and work long hours, or your hours change every week, or you are paid mostly in tips, commission or overtime, the sums here will mislead you, and your last few payslips are a better guide. If you live outside the US and the UK, the leave and tax figures here do not apply to you. If you are comparing job offers, there is a page here called Put both jobs on one yearly sheet about comparing them by the year.