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Tax & Salary · National Living Wage 2025

Hourly to Salary Converter

Convert an hourly rate into a yearly salary — or work backwards from your salary to your true hourly rate. Quick check whether a job offer beats your current pay.

£
hrs
wks

Use 52 if you're salaried (holiday is paid).

Annual gross salary

£29,250

Salary breakdown

  • Per week
    £563
  • Per month
    £2,438
  • Per year
    £29,250

Gross figures only. National Living Wage from April 2025 is £12.21/hr (21+).

How we calculated your result

The conversion is straightforward arithmetic:

Annual = Hourly rate × Hours per week × Weeks per year

We default to 52 weeks/year because salaried workers are paid for their holiday — your annual figure already includes it. Use a smaller number (e.g. 47–48) only if you’re self-employed or genuinely don’t get paid holiday and want to model your effective take-home.

The standard UK office full-time week is 37.5 hours (8.30am–5pm with 1h unpaid lunch). Finance and law often use 40. Junior healthcare contracts use 37.5 plus on-call/banding additions.

Official UK rules in simple English

The two UK floors you can’t legally fall under:

  • National Living Wage (21+): £12.21/hr from April 2025.
  • National Minimum Wage: £10.00/hr for ages 18–20; £7.55/hr for under-18s and apprentices in year 1.
  • Working Time Regulations 1998: most workers can’t be required to work more than 48 hours/week on average, unless they’ve voluntarily opted out in writing.
  • Statutory holiday: 5.6 weeks/year for a full-time worker (28 days, can include bank holidays).

Common pitfalls to watch out for

  • ⚠ Unpaid breaks make hourly look better than it is

    If your “8 hour day” includes an unpaid hour for lunch, you’re only paid for 7 hours. A £15/hr role at 7 paid hours/day × 5 days = £27,300/year, not £31,200.

  • ⚠ Self-employed should target a much higher hourly

    An employee on £30/hr might be a freelancer on £45–60/hr equivalent, because freelancers fund their own holiday, sick pay, pension, training, equipment, and the gaps between contracts. Don’t compare like-for-like.

  • ⚠ Salaried jobs hide unpaid overtime

    If you’re paid £35,000 but routinely work 50 hours/week, your effective rate is closer to £13.50/hr, not the £18/hr it would be at 37.5h. Always check your real working hours before celebrating a pay rise.

  • ⚠ Annualised hours can flatten high seasons

    Some contracts (especially term-time) annualise a higher weekly figure into 12 equal monthly payments. The monthly figure understates what you’re really being paid per hour worked.

Frequently asked questions

Should I use 52 weeks or 47?
For salaried roles use 52 — paid holiday means you receive 52 weekly “chunks” of pay. For a freelancer or zero-hours worker who only invoices when working, 46–48 is more realistic (4–5 weeks unpaid holiday + bank holidays + a buffer for sickness).
What about overtime rates?
There’s no UK law requiring time-and-a-half for overtime — it’s contractual. Many manual/shift roles pay 1.25× after 37 hours and 1.5× on weekends; salaried office roles often pay nothing extra at all.
Is the National Living Wage age-based?
Yes — it applies from age 21 from April 2024 onwards (previously 23+). Younger workers fall under the lower National Minimum Wage bands.

Gross figures only. Take-home after tax and NI is roughly 70–80% of gross at typical UK salaries — use the salary calculator for an exact figure.

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