How Many Work Hours Are in a Year?

2,080 hours, and what holidays + PTO really do to that number.

By Colson, Founder, ColsonSuperApps LLC · 4 min read

The standard answer is 2,080 work hours a year — and it's the number behind almost every salary-to-hourly conversion. Here's where it comes from and when it changes.

The basic math: 2,080 hours

Full-time is 40 hours/week × 52 weeks = 2,080 hours a year. That's the default most calculators (including ours) use to convert a salary to an hourly rate: divide the salary by 2,080. So a $60,000 salary ≈ $28.85/hour.

Holidays and PTO reduce paid-working hours

2,080 counts every week as worked. In reality, paid time off and holidays mean you work fewer hours for the same salary. A typical year with ~10 holidays and ~10 PTO days is closer to ~1,920 actual worked hours — but because that time is usually paid, the 2,080 figure is still what's used to set your hourly-equivalent rate.

Part-time and overtime

  • Part-time: at 20 hours/week it's ~1,040 hours/year.
  • Overtime: hours beyond 40/week are usually paid at 1.5× — see how overtime works.

Convert it yourself

Use the salary-to-hourly calculator (or the hourly-to-salary direction) to plug in any hours/week and weeks/year. For take-home after tax, the paycheck calculator does the rest.

Try it with your numbers: the free paycheck calculator shows your exact take-home after federal, state, and FICA taxes — instantly, in your browser.

Educational only — not tax, legal, or financial advice.