Salary Calculator

Gross salary is your total earnings before any deductions, while net salary, often called take-home pay, is what actually reaches your bank account after taxes, social contributions, and other withholdings are removed. Gross is the figure quoted in most job offers and contracts, but net is the amount you can actually budget with. The gap between the two depends on your tax bracket, pension or retirement contributions, health insurance, and any voluntary deductions. This calculator helps you translate a headline gross figure into a realistic net amount so you can compare offers and plan your monthly spending accurately.

To estimate annual pay from an hourly rate, multiply the hourly wage by the number of hours worked per week and then by the number of weeks worked per year. A common full-time assumption is 40 hours per week across 52 weeks, which gives 2,080 paid hours annually. For example, $25 per hour equals roughly $52,000 per year before deductions. If you take unpaid leave or work part-time, reduce the weeks or hours accordingly. The calculator lets you switch between hourly, weekly, monthly, and annual views so you can see your earnings on whichever timescale is most useful.

The core calculation focuses on your standard pay, but you can model overtime by adding the extra hours at the appropriate premium rate, which is commonly 1.5 times the normal rate. Overtime rules vary widely by country and employment contract, so always check your local labour regulations and your own agreement. Because overtime can significantly change your effective hourly earnings, it is worth calculating separately rather than assuming a flat annual figure, especially in roles where additional hours are frequent.

Several deductions reduce gross pay before it reaches you: income tax, social security or national insurance contributions, pension or retirement savings, and sometimes health insurance or union dues. Tax is often applied progressively, meaning higher portions of income are taxed at higher rates. Pre-tax deductions such as retirement contributions lower your taxable income but still reduce the cash you receive now. Reviewing each line on your payslip alongside this calculator helps you understand exactly where the difference between gross and net comes from.

Both matter, but net pay gives the most honest comparison of what you can actually spend. Two offers with identical gross figures can deliver very different take-home amounts depending on benefits, pension matching, and tax treatment. It is also worth valuing non-cash benefits such as employer retirement contributions, health coverage, and bonuses. Use the calculator to convert each offer to a net monthly figure, then add the value of benefits separately to make a fair like-for-like decision.