Hourly Rate Calculator

Convert between annual salary and hourly rate. Adjust hours per week to see your true hourly earnings after tax.

Annual salary

Hours per week

Standard UK full-time is 37.5 hours

Annual salary

£30,000

Hourly rate (gross)

£15.38

Net annual

£25,119.6

Net hourly rate

£12.88

Your take-home pay

£25,120

per year

Income Tax£3,486

National Insurance£1,394

Take-Home£25,120

Gross salary£30,000

Income tax−£3,486

National Insurance−£1,394

Net take-home£25,120

Effective rate

16.3%

Marginal rate

28.0%

Converting a salary to an hourly rate depends entirely on the hours you count. The UK full-time norm is 37.5 hours a week, which is 1,950 hours a year, so a £35,000 salary is £17.95 an hour gross. Using 40 hours instead gives 2,080 hours and £16.83, a difference of more than a pound for identical pay. After income tax and National Insurance the same salary is closer to £14.60 an hour in the hand. For contract work, the employed hourly equivalent is only the starting point: a contractor funds holiday, sick pay, pension and gaps between contracts from the same rate. The usual rule of thumb is to add thirty to fifty per cent to the employed equivalent before quoting a day rate.

Written by Radif Partners

Publisher of calculators and practical guides · Finance Enthusiast

Updated for 2026/27 tax year

How to Convert Your Salary to an Hourly Rate

Knowing your hourly rate is essential for comparing job offers, evaluating overtime pay, deciding whether to go freelance, or simply understanding what your time is worth. The calculation is straightforward: divide your annual salary by the number of working hours in a year.

The standard assumption in the UK is 37.5 hours per week for 52 weeks, giving 1,950 working hours per year. A £30,000 salary works out to £15.38 per hour before tax. After tax and NI, the net hourly rate drops to around £12.87, significantly less than the headline figure.

Hourly Rate Formula

The calculator uses this formula:

Gross hourly rate = Annual salary ÷ (Weekly hours × 52)

For the net (take-home) hourly rate, we first calculate your annual take-home pay after all deductions, then divide by the same number of working hours. This gives you a realistic picture of what you actually earn per hour of work.

Hourly Rate Conversion Table 2026/27

Here's a quick reference table showing gross and net hourly rates at common UK salary levels, assuming 37.5 hours per week and the standard 1257L tax code (England, no student loan, no pension):

Annual Salary	Gross Hourly	Net Hourly	Daily (7.5hrs)
£20,000	£10.26	£9.19	£68.92
£25,000	£12.82	£11.04	£82.77
£30,000	£15.38	£12.87	£96.62
£35,000	£17.95	£14.73	£110.46
£40,000	£20.51	£16.57	£124.31
£50,000	£25.64	£20.27	£152.00
£60,000	£30.77	£23.24	£174.31
£75,000	£38.46	£27.72	£207.92
£100,000	£51.28	£35.16	£263.68

The gap between gross and net hourly rates widens as salary increases due to the progressive tax system. At £20,000, you keep about 90% of your gross hourly rate. At £100,000, you keep only about 69%.

Worked Examples

Example 1: £28,000 Salary, Standard 37.5-Hour Week

Annual salary	£28,000
Weekly hours	37.5
Annual hours (37.5 × 52)	1,950
Gross hourly rate	£14.36
Annual take-home pay	£24,320
Net hourly rate	£12.47

Example 2: £45,000 Salary, 40-Hour Week

Annual salary	£45,000
Weekly hours	40
Annual hours (40 × 52)	2,080
Gross hourly rate	£21.63
Annual take-home pay	£35,120
Net hourly rate	£16.88

Notice how working 40 hours instead of 37.5 reduces your hourly rate. The additional 2.5 hours per week (130 hours per year) means you're earning less per hour even though the annual salary is higher than many 37.5-hour jobs.

Example 3: Hourly to Annual: Contractor at £25/hr

Hourly rate	£25.00
Weekly hours	37.5
Annual equivalent	£48,750
Tax and NI on £48,750	−£10,230
Net annual	£38,520
Net hourly rate	£19.75

Working Hours in the UK

The standard full-time working week in the UK varies by industry:

Sector	Typical Hours/Week	Hours/Year
Office / Professional	37.5	1,950
Public Sector	37	1,924
Manufacturing	39–40	2,028–2,080
Retail	37.5–40	1,950–2,080
NHS	37.5	1,950
Finance	35–37.5	1,820–1,950

Use the calculator above to adjust the weekly hours to match your actual working pattern. The hourly rate changes significantly; on a £35,000 salary, working 35 hours/week gives £19.23/hour, while 40 hours/week gives £16.83/hour. That's a 14% difference for the same annual pay.

Hourly Rate and National Minimum Wage

The National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates for 2026/27 are:

Age Group	Hourly Rate	Annual Equivalent (37.5hrs/week)
21 and over (National Living Wage)	£12.71	£24,785
18 to 20	£10.85	£21,158
Under 18	£8.00	£15,600
Apprentice	£8.00	£15,600

If your hourly rate falls below these thresholds, your employer may be breaking the law. You can check your pay and report concerns through the GOV.UK minimum wage checker.

Comparing Job Offers: Why Hourly Rate Matters

When comparing job offers, the annual salary figure can be misleading. A £35,000 job requiring 40 hours/week pays £16.83/hour, while a £32,000 job at 35 hours/week pays £17.58/hour. The lower-paying job actually values your time more highly, and you get 5 extra hours of free time per week (260 hours per year).

Other factors to consider beyond the headline salary:

Commuting time: A job with a 1-hour commute each way adds 10 unpaid hours per week. If you factor commute time into your hourly rate, a £35,000 salary with a 1-hour commute (47.5 hours/week effective) drops to £14.18/hour.
Pension contributions: An employer matching up to 8% is worth more than one offering minimum 3%. On a £35,000 salary, the difference is £1,750/year in employer contributions.
Benefits in kind: Private medical insurance, company car, gym membership, and other perks have a monetary value that should be factored into total compensation.
Annual leave: More holiday days effectively increase your hourly rate, because you're earning the same salary for fewer working days.

Hourly Rate for Freelancers and Contractors

If you're considering going freelance, your hourly rate needs to be significantly higher than your employed equivalent to account for:

No paid holidays: 28 days of leave means ~5.4 weeks. You need to earn your annual target in ~46.6 weeks, not 52.
No employer pension contribution: 3% minimum employer contribution on a £40,000 salary is £1,200/year you'd need to self-fund.
No sick pay: Self-employed people have no access to Statutory Sick Pay.
Business costs: Equipment, software, accountancy fees, insurance, workspace, and marketing all reduce your effective hourly rate.
Unbillable time: Admin, invoicing, marketing, and business development time isn't billable. Most freelancers achieve 60–75% utilisation.

A common rule of thumb: your freelance rate should be roughly 1.5x–2x your employed hourly rate to maintain the same standard of living. On a £40,000 salary (£20.51/hr gross), you'd need to charge roughly £30–£41/hour as a freelancer.

Sources and Official References

For a complete overview of all tax rates this year, see our UK Tax Year 2026/27 guide.

Turning a salary into an hourly rate, properly

The arithmetic is simple and the assumption behind it is not. A £35,000 salary over a 37.5-hour week and 52 weeks gives 1,950 hours and £17.95 an hour. The same salary over a 40-hour week gives 2,080 hours and £16.83, a difference of £1.12 for identical pay. Before comparing two jobs on hourly terms, check the contracted hours of each rather than assuming they match.

After tax the picture changes again. On £35,000 in England, income tax and National Insurance take roughly £6,500, leaving about £28,500, which is £14.62 an hour over 1,950 hours. That net figure is the one to use when weighing up an extra shift, a commute or a side job, because it is what the hour is actually worth to you.

Unpaid overtime is the quiet distortion. A salaried employee on a 37.5-hour contract who routinely works 45 hours has an effective rate of £14.96 gross rather than £17.95, a cut of seventeen per cent that never appears on a payslip. Counting the hours actually worked for a month is the only way to see it.

Employed, self-employed and umbrella rates are not comparable

An employed hourly rate comes with paid holiday, sick pay, an employer pension contribution and notice. A self-employed rate comes with none of them, so the same headline figure is worth substantially less. The common rule of thumb is to add thirty to fifty per cent to the employed equivalent before quoting a day rate, which reflects 28 days of statutory leave, employer pension contributions and the time spent finding the next contract.

Umbrella company rates add a further trap. The assignment rate quoted by an agency often includes employer National Insurance and the apprenticeship levy, which the umbrella deducts before calculating your gross pay. A £300 day rate through an umbrella can produce a payslip closer to £250 of gross before your own tax, which is why the question to ask is always whether the rate is the assignment rate or the gross rate.

What the minimum wage means in annual terms

The National Living Wage applies to workers aged 21 and over and is set each April. At £12.71 an hour, a 37.5-hour week works out at roughly £24,800 a year, which sits above the personal allowance and therefore attracts both income tax and National Insurance. A 40-hour week at the same rate gives about £26,400. Younger workers and apprentices have separate, lower rates, and the jump on a birthday can be substantial.

Because the minimum wage is defined per hour, an employer cannot average it across a month: every pay reference period must clear the rate. That matters for salaried staff on low pay working long hours, for unpaid travel time between appointments in care work, and for deductions such as uniforms, all of which have produced enforcement cases where an apparently compliant salary fell below the legal floor once the hours were counted.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I convert annual salary to hourly rate?

Divide your annual salary by 52 weeks, then by your hours per week. For a standard 37.5-hour week: £30,000 ÷ 52 ÷ 37.5 = £15.38 per hour. Divide the annual figure by the hours you actually work in a year: 37.5 hours a week over 52 weeks gives 1,950 hours, while a 40-hour week gives 2,080 and a lower hourly rate on the same salary.

What hours per week should I use?

A standard UK full-time work week is 37.5 hours. Some contracts use 35, 37, 38, or 40 hours. Check your employment contract. Use the hours in your contract rather than the hours you work. The UK average full-time contract is 37.5 hours, and using 40 understates the hourly rate by about six per cent on the same salary.

Does this account for holidays?

This calculator uses 52 weeks. Statutory UK holiday entitlement (28 days including bank holidays) is already part of your salaried annual figure. It assumes paid leave, as a salaried contract provides: the annual figure already covers the 28 statutory days. For a day rate or zero-hours work, divide by the days actually paid instead.

Should I use 37.5 or 40 hours a week?

Use the hours in your contract. The UK full-time norm is 37.5 hours, and the difference matters: the same £35,000 salary is £17.95 an hour over 37.5 hours and £16.83 over 40, a gap of more than a pound for identical pay.

How does overtime change my hourly rate?

Paid overtime raises the average rate if it is paid at a premium, and lowers it if it is unpaid. Salaried staff working fifty hours on a 37.5-hour contract are effectively paid a quarter less per hour than their contract implies.

What hourly rate should a contractor charge?

A contractor covers holiday, sick pay, pension and gaps between contracts from the same rate, so the usual rule of thumb is to take the employed hourly equivalent and add thirty to fifty per cent before quoting a day rate.