"$28/hour" and "$55,000/year" don't compare at a glance, and gut-checking them side by side is where the comparison usually goes wrong — the conversion between the two depends on assumptions (hours per week, weeks worked per year) that rarely get stated explicitly in an offer.
The baseline conversion
A standard full-time year is 2,080 hours (40 hours × 52 weeks), so an hourly rate roughly converts to annual pay by multiplying by 2,080. $28/hour lands close to $58,240/year on that basis — already ahead of the $55,000 salary offer, before factoring in anything else.
What that baseline conversion misses
Salaried pay is typically fixed regardless of hours actually worked, while hourly pay stops when the hours stop — unpaid time off, slow weeks, or a shorter-than-40-hour schedule all reduce hourly earnings in a way salary doesn't. Overtime cuts the other way: hourly positions that pay 1.5× past 40 hours a week can significantly out-earn an equivalent salary if overtime is common, while salaried roles often pay the same regardless of hours worked past 40.
Running the actual numbers
- Open the Salary Calculator.
- Enter the hourly rate and expected weekly hours for one offer, and the annual salary for the other.
- Compare the converted annual figures side by side, adjusting for any expected overtime or unpaid time off.
Beyond the base number
Benefits — health insurance, retirement matching, paid time off — often differ meaningfully between hourly and salaried roles at the same company, and none of that shows up in a raw pay-rate comparison. The conversion above is the starting point for an apples-to-apples comparison, not the complete picture of which offer is actually better.