Everything runs through the annual figure
To move between any two pay periods you convert to a yearly total first, then divide it back out by how many of the target periods fall in a year. The counts are fixed: 12 months, 26 biweekly periods, 52 weeks, and about 260 working days.
Quick reference — a $60,000 salary across periods
| Period | Divide by | $60,000/yr |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly | 12 | $5,000.00 |
| Semi-monthly | 24 | $2,500.00 |
| Biweekly | 26 | $2,307.69 |
| Weekly | 52 | $1,153.85 |
| Daily (5-day week) | 260 | $230.77 |
| Hourly (40 hr week) | 2,080 | $28.85 |
Scale any of these to your own salary: a $90,000 salary is exactly 1.5× each figure, so $43.27 an hour and $7,500 a month.
The two things that trip people up
- Hourly depends on your hours. The 2,080-hour year assumes 40 hours across 52 weeks. Drop to 37.5 hours and the same salary buys a higher hourly rate, because you are dividing by fewer hours (1,950).
- Biweekly is not semi-monthly. 26 biweekly checks are smaller than 24 semi-monthly ones for the same pay, and twice a year a biweekly schedule delivers a third check in a month.
- These are gross figures. The conversion is done before tax. What lands in your account is smaller after income tax, Social Security (6.2%), Medicare (1.45%) and any benefits.
Common questions
How do I convert my annual salary to an hourly rate?
Divide the annual figure by the hours you work in a year. At a standard 40 hours a week for 52 weeks that is 2,080 hours, so a $60,000 salary is 60,000 divided by 2,080, or about $28.85 an hour.
Is biweekly the same as twice a month?
No. Biweekly means every two weeks, which is 26 pay periods a year. Semi-monthly means twice a month, which is 24. Biweekly gives you two extra paychecks a year, so each biweekly check is a little smaller than a semi-monthly one for the same salary.
Are all the pay periods worth the same amount of money?
Yes. Every period converts back to the same annual total, so weekly, biweekly and monthly pay are financially identical. Getting paid more often only changes your cash flow, not your earnings.
