Calculate Your Salary & Hourly Rate Converter.
💷 UK Salary & Hourly Rate Converter
Convert between annual, monthly, weekly and hourly pay — plus take-home pay and minimum wage checks.
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⚙ Advanced: paid weeks & holiday entitlement
UK Salary to Hourly Rate Converter: Work Out What You Really Earn Per Hour
If you've ever looked at a job advert and thought "£32,000 a year... but what does that actually work out to per hour?" — you're not alone. Most of us think in annual salary terms because that's how job offers are written, but the moment you're comparing a salaried role against freelance work, checking whether you're being paid fairly, or just curious what your time is genuinely worth, you need the hourly figure. That's exactly what the calculator above does, and in this guide we'll walk through how to use it properly, the formulas behind it, and a few things about UK pay that most people get wrong.
Why Bother Converting Salary to Hourly Rate?
There are a handful of very practical reasons people search for this:
- Comparing job offers — one company offers £34,000 with a 35-hour week, another offers £36,500 on 40 hours. Which is actually better per hour? The maths isn't obvious until you break it down.
- Switching from employment to freelancing — if you're leaving a salaried job to freelance or contract, you need to know what day rate or hourly rate replaces your old salary, factoring in the holiday pay and benefits you'll lose.
- Checking you're not underpaid — the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage are set per hour, not per year, so if you're on a salary you need to convert it down to check you're legally covered.
- Negotiating a pay rise or overtime rate — knowing your true hourly rate makes it much easier to argue your case with real numbers.
How to Use This Calculator
The tool above is split into three tabs, and each one answers a slightly different question.
1. Rate Converter Tab
This is the main converter. Here's the process:
- Choose which figure you already know — Year, Month, Week, Day, or Hour — by tapping the relevant chip.
- Type in the amount. If you picked "Day", the calculator swaps the "hours per week" field for an "hours per day" field automatically, since that's the number that actually matters when you're working from a daily rate.
- Set your working days per week (most full-time UK jobs are 5).
- Open "Advanced" if you want to tweak the paid weeks per year or your actual holiday entitlement — more on why this matters below.
- Press Calculate. The page will jump straight down to your results — no scrolling around trying to find them.
You'll get nine figures back: Annual, Monthly, Four-Weekly, Fortnightly, Weekly, Daily, Hourly, Per Minute, and even Per Second — plus a breakdown of your actual working pattern (working weeks, working days, and working hours per year once your holiday is accounted for). Hit Reset at any point and everything jumps back to the default view.
2. Take-Home Pay Tab
Once you've converted your rate, this tab estimates what you'll actually keep after Income Tax, National Insurance, Student Loan repayments, and pension contributions — split by England/Wales/Northern Ireland or Scotland, since the tax bands genuinely differ between them.
3. Minimum Wage Checker Tab
Pop in your hourly rate and select your age band, and it'll tell you instantly whether you're being paid legally or not.
The Formula Behind It (No Maths Degree Required)
The core formula everyone eventually needs is this:
Hourly Rate = Annual Salary ÷ (Hours Per Week × Weeks Per Year)
So if you earn £30,000 and work 37.5 hours a week for 52 weeks a year:
£30,000 ÷ (37.5 × 52) = £30,000 ÷ 1,950 = £15.38 per hour
Why 52 weeks and not 46 or 48? Because your annual salary already includes your paid holiday — UK employers pay you all year round, including the weeks you're on the beach. If you're a contractor with genuinely unpaid gaps between contracts, that's when you'd lower the "weeks per year" figure to reflect the weeks you're actually being paid for.
Common Salary to Hourly Conversions (37.5-Hour Week, 52 Weeks)
| Annual Salary | Monthly | Weekly | Daily | Hourly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £20,000 | £1,666.67 | £384.62 | £76.92 | £10.26 |
| £25,000 | £2,083.33 | £480.77 | £96.15 | £12.82 |
| £30,000 | £2,500.00 | £576.92 | £115.38 | £15.38 |
| £35,000 | £2,916.67 | £673.08 | £134.62 | £17.95 |
| £40,000 | £3,333.33 | £769.23 | £153.85 | £20.51 |
| £45,000 | £3,750.00 | £865.38 | £173.08 | £23.08 |
| £50,000 | £4,166.67 | £961.54 | £192.31 | £25.64 |
| £60,000 | £5,000.00 | £1,153.85 | £230.77 | £30.77 |
| £75,000 | £6,250.00 | £1,442.31 | £288.46 | £38.46 |
| £100,000 | £8,333.33 | £1,923.08 | £384.62 | £51.28 |
These figures are gross (before tax) and assume a standard 37.5-hour, 5-day week. Working a 40-hour week instead? Your hourly rate for the same salary drops slightly, since the same pay is spread across more hours — use the calculator above with your exact hours for a precise number.
Don't Forget Holiday Pay When You Do the Sums
Here's something a lot of online calculators skip entirely. Every full-time UK worker is legally entitled to at least 28 days of paid holiday a year (that's 5.6 weeks, and it includes bank holidays). That paid time off is baked into your salary — you're not working every single one of the 52 weeks, but you are being paid for all of them.
This matters most if you're figuring out what a freelance or contract rate should replace your salary with. If you're actually working roughly 46.4 weeks a year once holiday is taken out, a contract rate needs to cover that gap. Our calculator's "Working Pattern" section does this automatically — enter your holiday entitlement (28 days by default) and it'll show you your real working weeks, days, and hours for the year.
What Actually Comes Off Your Pay: Tax, NI and More (2026/27)
Your gross hourly or annual rate is one thing — what lands in your bank account is another. Here's a quick reference for the current tax year.
Income Tax — England, Wales & Northern Ireland
| Band | Taxable Income | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Personal Allowance | Up to £12,570 | 0% |
| Basic Rate | £12,571 – £50,270 | 20% |
| Higher Rate | £50,271 – £125,140 | 40% |
| Additional Rate | Over £125,140 | 45% |
Income Tax — Scotland
| Band | Taxable Income | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Personal Allowance | Up to £12,570 | 0% |
| Starter Rate | £12,571 – £16,537 | 19% |
| Basic Rate | £16,538 – £29,526 | 20% |
| Intermediate Rate | £29,527 – £43,662 | 21% |
| Higher Rate | £43,663 – £62,430 | 42% |
| Advanced Rate | £62,431 – £125,140 | 45% |
| Top Rate | Over £125,140 | 48% |
Yes — Scotland genuinely has six income tax bands compared to four in the rest of the UK, and the rates diverge quite a bit once you're past the basic rate. This is exactly why our Take-Home Pay tab lets you pick your region separately.
National Insurance
On top of tax, employees pay Class 1 National Insurance at 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270, and 2% on anything above that.
Student Loan Repayment Thresholds (2026/27)
| Plan | Threshold | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Plan 1 | £26,900 | 9% |
| Plan 2 | £29,385 | 9% |
| Plan 4 (Scotland) | £33,795 | 9% |
| Plan 5 | £25,000 | 9% |
| Postgraduate Loan | £21,000 | 6% |
All of this is factored into the Take-Home Pay tab, so you don't have to work any of it out by hand.
National Minimum Wage & National Living Wage (From April 2026)
| Age Group | Hourly Rate |
|---|---|
| 21 and over (National Living Wage) | £12.71 |
| 18 to 20 | £10.85 |
| 16 to 17 | £8.00 |
| Apprentice | £8.00 |
If your salary works out below these figures once converted to an hourly rate, it's worth raising with your employer — and this is exactly what our Minimum Wage Checker tab flags for you automatically.
Fun Fact: What's Your Salary Per Minute? Per Second?
This one's more for curiosity than anything practical, but it's oddly satisfying to see. On a £30,000 salary, you're earning roughly 26 pence a minute — or about 0.4 pence every second. Doesn't sound like much until you remember it adds up to £30,000 a year without you lifting a finger between typing this sentence and the next one. Try plugging your own numbers into the calculator above and see what pops out — it's a genuinely fun way to look at your pay differently.
Who Should Use This Calculator?
- Job seekers comparing two offers with different working hours
- Employees checking their pay is at or above minimum wage
- Freelancers and contractors working out what day rate replaces a salaried role
- Part-time workers figuring out their pro-rata pay
- Employers and HR teams double-checking pay calculations across different working patterns
- Anyone negotiating a pay rise who wants a clear, hour-by-hour comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I work out my hourly rate from my annual salary?
Divide your annual salary by your total working hours for the year (hours per week × 52). A £30,000 salary on a 37.5-hour week works out to roughly £15.38 an hour. Use the calculator above to skip the maths entirely.
Should I use 52 weeks or fewer when converting my salary?
Use 52 for a standard salaried job, since your holiday pay is already included in your annual figure. Only reduce it if you genuinely have unpaid weeks off during the year, such as certain freelance or zero-hours arrangements.
Is the hourly rate shown before or after tax?
The Rate Converter tab shows your gross hourly rate (before any deductions). For your net, after-tax hourly figure, switch to the Take-Home Pay tab and divide the monthly net figure by your monthly hours.
Why does Scotland have a different take-home pay result?
Scotland sets its own income tax rates and bands under devolved powers, which is why the same salary can produce a different take-home figure depending on whether you're taxed under the Scottish system or the rest of the UK.
What if I work irregular hours?
Use your average hours per week over a typical month. If your hours vary a lot, it's worth running the calculator a couple of times with your lowest and highest typical week to see the range your hourly rate falls into.
Does this calculator account for overtime?
Enter your actual average hours worked (including regular overtime) into the "hours per week" field rather than just your contracted hours, and the calculator will reflect your true hourly rate — which is often lower than you'd expect once unpaid overtime is factored in.
Final Thoughts
Salaries are written the way they are because it's convenient for payroll — not because it's the most useful way for you to understand your own pay. Breaking it down into hourly, daily, and even per-minute terms gives you a much clearer picture of what your time is actually worth, whether you're comparing job offers, checking you're paid fairly, or just satisfying your own curiosity. Bookmark this page and come back to it every time your salary changes, your hours shift, or the tax year rolls over.
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