Salary to hourly rate calculator

Worked examples

£30,000 a year, 37.5 hours a week. £30,000 ÷ 52 = £576.92 a week. £576.92 ÷ 37.5 = £15.38 an hour. That's £2,500 a month and £115.38 a day on a 5-day week.

The same job, per hour actually worked. Take off 28 days of paid holiday (5.6 weeks) and you work 46.4 weeks, or 1,740 hours. £30,000 ÷ 1,740 = £17.24 per hour worked.

£2,000 a month, 30 hours a week. £2,000 × 12 = £24,000 a year, £461.54 a week and £15.38 an hour.

Freelance day rate. You want £50,000 a year. On a 5-day week there are 260 working days. Take off 25 days' holiday, 8 bank holidays, 5 sick days and 20 admin days and you have 202 billable days. £50,000 ÷ 202 = £247.52 a day, or £33.00 an hour over a 7.5-hour day.

Minimum wage rates from 1 April 2026

Source: GOV.UK National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates, checked 22 October 2026. The rates change every April. The apprentice rate is for apprentices under 19 or in the first year of their apprenticeship.

How to turn a salary into an hourly rate

Job adverts quote pay in different ways: £30,000 a year, £2,500 a month, £15 an hour or £200 a day. To compare them, put them all on the same footing. The usual way is to take a year as 52 weeks, so a yearly salary divided by 52 gives your weekly pay, and weekly pay divided by your hours gives your hourly rate. Monthly pay is a twelfth of the year, and a day's pay is your weekly pay divided by the days you work each week.

Paid hours or hours actually worked?

A salary pays you all year, including your holidays and bank holidays. Dividing it across all 52 weeks gives your pay for every paid hour, and that's the figure to compare with an hourly-paid job that also gives paid holiday. If you want to know what you earn for each hour you're actually at work, take your paid holiday out first. Almost all workers get at least 5.6 weeks' paid holiday a year, which is 28 days on a 5-day week, and your employer can include bank holidays in that. Statutory holiday is capped at 28 days, so someone working 6 days a week still gets 28. Tick "exclude paid holiday" above and leave the days blank to use the statutory minimum, or enter what your contract gives you.

Setting a freelance or contractor day rate

If you work for yourself, nobody pays you for holidays, bank holidays, sick days or the time you spend on admin, marketing and finding the next client. So a day rate can't just be a salary divided by 260 working days. Work out the days you can actually bill, then divide the income you want, plus your business costs, by those days. England and Wales have 8 bank holidays a year (Scotland has 9 and Northern Ireland 10 in 2027). Remember that a freelance rate is gross: you pay your own Income Tax and National Insurance, and there's no employer pension.

Gross pay, not take-home

Every figure on this page is before tax. To see what lands in your bank account after Income Tax, National Insurance, student loan and pension, use the take-home pay calculator, or look up a salary in the salary after tax tables. For holiday in days or hours, including part-time and irregular hours, use the holiday entitlement calculator and read the holiday entitlement guide.

Frequently asked questions

How do I work out my hourly rate from my salary?
Divide your yearly salary by 52 to get your weekly pay, then divide that by the hours you work each week. On £30,000 a year and 37.5 hours a week, that's £30,000 ÷ 52 = £576.92 a week, and £576.92 ÷ 37.5 = £15.38 an hour. These are gross figures, before tax and National Insurance.

Why does the calculator use 52 weeks?
52 weeks is the usual way to convert a salary into weekly or hourly pay. A calendar year is actually 52 weeks and 1 day (2 days in a leap year), so some employers divide by 52.14 weeks or work in days instead. That can change the hourly figure by a few pence.

Does my hourly rate include paid holiday?
If you're on a salary, it already pays you for your holidays and bank holidays, so dividing it across all 52 weeks gives what you earn for every paid hour. Tick 'exclude paid holiday' to see what you earn for each hour you actually work. With 28 days off on a 5-day week, you work 46.4 weeks, so the rate per hour worked is higher.

How much paid holiday am I entitled to?
Almost all workers get at least 5.6 weeks' paid holiday a year. On a 5-day week that's 28 days, and your employer can count bank holidays as part of it. Statutory holiday is capped at 28 days even if you work 6 days a week. The holiday entitlement calculator works it out for part-time, compressed and irregular hours.

Are these figures before or after tax?
Before tax. Everything on this page is gross pay. To see what you take home after Income Tax, National Insurance, student loan and pension, use the take-home pay calculator.

How do I work out a freelance day rate?
Start with the income you want for the year, add any business costs, and divide by the days you can actually bill. Take off holidays, bank holidays, sick days and time spent on admin, marketing and finding work. On £50,000 with 58 non-billable days, you have 202 billable days, so you need about £247.52 a day, or £33.00 an hour over a 7.5-hour day.

What is the National Living Wage in 2026?
From 1 April 2026, the National Living Wage is £12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over. The National Minimum Wage is £10.85 for 18 to 20-year-olds, and £8 for under-18s and apprentices in their first year or under 19. The rates change every April (GOV.UK, checked 22 October 2026).

More pay tools

See how much you repay on your student loan, work out Statutory Sick Pay, or browse every pay and tax calculator on the Tax & Pay page.

Sources

GOV.UK: National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates, Holiday entitlement, UK bank holidays. All checked on 22 October 2026. General guidance and estimates only, not financial or legal advice. Your contract and payslip show how your own employer works out your pay.