From hourly rate to annual salary
Job adverts are maddeningly inconsistent: one quotes £15 an hour, the next £29,000 a year, and you are left doing mental arithmetic in the interview waiting room. The conversion itself is simple. Because UK employees get paid holiday, you are paid for all 52 weeks of the year, so:
Monthly pay is the annual figure divided by 12, and weekly pay is simply rate times hours. Going the other way, divide the salary by 52 and then by your weekly hours:
The tool defaults to 37.5 hours a week, the most common UK full-time pattern (7.5 hours a day with an unpaid lunch), but change it to match your contract: at 40 hours a week the same hourly rate buys a noticeably bigger salary.
Worked examples
For a quick sense of scale, at 37.5 hours a week each pound on the hourly rate is worth £1,950 a year, so common rates convert like this:
- £10 an hour ≈ £19,500 a year
- £12 an hour ≈ £23,400 a year
- £12.50 an hour ≈ £24,375 a year
- £15 an hour ≈ £29,250 a year
- £18 an hour ≈ £35,100 a year
- £20 an hour ≈ £39,000 a year
- £25 an hour ≈ £48,750 a year
- £30 an hour ≈ £58,500 a year
The traps to watch for
The 52-week assumption only holds if your holiday is paid. On casual or zero-hours contracts where you are only paid for hours worked, multiply by the weeks you genuinely expect to be paid, or make sure the quoted rate includes rolled-up holiday pay. Overtime is another wrinkle: a 37.5-hour contract with regular paid overtime can be worth far more than the headline salary suggests, while unpaid overtime quietly shrinks your true hourly rate. And if you are comparing a job offer against the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage, check the current rates on gov.uk first, as they change most Aprils.
Gross pay is not take-home pay
Everything on this page is gross: the number in the contract, not the number in your bank account. Income tax, employee National Insurance, pension contributions and any student loan repayments all come off before payday. As a rough guide, a basic-rate taxpayer keeps a little over 70p of each extra pound earned above the personal allowance once tax and NI are deducted, so a £2,000 pay rise is closer to £1,400 in the account. Run your figure through the take-home pay calculator and the National Insurance calculator to see the full picture. This is guidance, not financial advice: for minimum wage rates and your tax position, see gov.uk.
Frequently asked questions
How do I convert an hourly wage to an annual salary?
Multiply your hourly rate by the hours you work each week, then by 52 weeks. For example £15 an hour at 37.5 hours a week is 15 x 37.5 x 52, which comes to £29,250 a year.
Why multiply by 52 weeks when I get holiday?
Because UK employees get paid holiday, so you are paid for all 52 weeks of the year even though you only work around 46 or 47 of them. If your holiday is unpaid, for example on some casual contracts, multiply by the weeks you actually get paid instead.
What counts as full-time hours in the UK?
There is no single legal definition, but 37.5 hours a week (7.5 hours a day excluding lunch) is the most common full-time pattern, with 40 hours also widespread. Your contract states your hours, and the Working Time Regulations cap the average week at 48 hours unless you opt out.
How do I work out my hourly rate from my salary?
Divide your annual salary by 52 to get weekly pay, then divide by your weekly hours. On £30,000 at 37.5 hours a week that is 30,000 divided by 52 divided by 37.5, which is about £15.38 an hour.
Are these figures before or after tax?
Before tax. Everything here is gross pay, so income tax, National Insurance, pension contributions and student loan repayments would still come off. Use a take-home pay calculator to see what actually lands in your account.