Whether you operate your own small business or sole proprietorship or you work in an hourly position for a company, understanding how many hours there are in a given year is crucial to understanding how much you’re going to be making. The problem? Trying to calculate all of these hours can seem impossible. This is why we’ve created a guide to help you better understand your earning potential. 

If you’re interested in how many work hours there are in a year, continue reading below to discover what your income will look like (and what you can do to inject more cash into your bank account).  

How Many Work Hours Are in a Year? An Estimate Works Best

Trying to figure out how many hours you’re going to be working can be a complicated process. Regardless of who you work for or how long you anticipate working, hours can vary from person to person. For example, an average employee working full-time can traditionally expect to work 40 hours a week. On the other hand, a small business owner may be investing 50 hours or more into their business. If you can measure output hourly or charge hourly for your small business or sole proprietorship, you can see how much you’re making for certain projects. 

For the sake of simplicity, we’re going to go with an example of a traditional 40-hour workweek. You can break down this type of workweek to figure out how many hours you will be working annually by doing the following. 

• Most 40-hour workweeks are spread across five days of the week. Given that there are 52 weeks in the year, you can expect to work around 260 days. This is only an estimate given that leap years will change this number, but it won’t be to such a degree that it has a massive impact on your income. 
• With a solid idea of how many days you can be working, you can estimate that you’ll be working for approximately 2,080 hours each year (260 days multiplied by eight hours). 
• With all of these hours accounted for, you can then figure out how much you’re making hourly based on your current rate. For example, if you’re being paid $20 an hour, all you have to do is multiply your rate by the hours you’re working. In this example, you can expect to earn $41,600. 

This example can be altered in order to fit your specific situation. If you’re working 10 hours a day, you can just multiple 10 by 260 and then multiply that by your hourly rate. Of course, this only gives us a basic overview of how much you can expect to earn. We still need to tackle a few more points that will play a role in your overall income. 

Make Sure That You’re Calculating Your Post-Tax Income

The amount that you get above is the amount that you’re making before taxes are taken out of your paycheck or you pay taxes to the government. If you stop your calculations at the amount above, you’re going to make it harder for you to budget for your expenses. Instead, you should turn to a helpful tool like the Free Paycheck Calculator at to calculate your hourly income and discover how much you’ll actually be making from your job. 

Don’t Forget to Include Things Like PTO and Federal Holidays

Not all of the time that you’re paid for is going to be for worked hours. In fact, there are actually some hours that will essentially be time off that you’re still paid for. For example, you might have seven days of sick leave, 10 paid holidays, and 80 hours of paid time off, this is all time you can deduct from your overall hours worked. Whether you have a medical emergency or simply need a mental health break, you can rely on these hours to get the support you need without having to engage in regular work activities. 

What You Do With Your Free Time Is Just As Important As What You Do at Work

A 40-hour workweek can be a lot to juggle with all of the other responsibilities you have to manage. That being said, making sure that you’re maximizing your time outside of work can go a long way in helping you achieve a greater quality of life and financial stability. 

Every hour counts. Here are a few ways to make sure you’re using them properly. 

1. Cut Down on Unnecessary Hours Spent: There are a lot of time wasters that can be eliminated from your daily life in order to save you more time for the things that matter most to you. Take, for example, your daily commute. If you’re spending two hours each way to get to work, that’s four hours of your day you spend sitting in your car. If you can transition to a remote position instead of having to make this trip each day, you can save your time and use it for something else!
2. Make Sure You’re Practicing Self-Care: You can’t maintain your work ethic or your quality of life if you’re not taking care of yourself. Make sure that you’re setting aside time in your schedule so that you can focus on getting plenty of sleep, exercising regularly, and engaging in activities that you enjoy so you don’t develop chronic stress. 
3. Look for Ways to Upskill: If you want to move up in your career or level up your business, you need to make sure that you’re working to improve your knowledge. Are you targeting a management position? Consider pursuing a degree or getting a certificate that can prove your worth as a manager. Are you looking to expand your services? Seek out online courses that will allow you to learn the necessary skills needed to build your business. The more you invest in yourself, the more you can potentially earn as you navigate your career. 
4. Consider Taking on a Side Hustle: Whether you’re looking to make more money to invest or boost your income to enhance your lifestyle, your income isn’t limited to your full-time job. There are numerous earning opportunities out there to take advantage of. We’ve discussed many of these opportunities in other guides. However, a few ideas to help you get started include using gig-based apps, using your professional skills to freelance, or even starting your own blog. 
5. Invest in Your Financial Education: Simple things like saving and investing are often overlooked, especially if your current job is only helping you cover basic expenses. Make sure that you’re regularly learning about investment opportunities and how to improve your income so that you can work towards financial freedom!

Fixed Hours and Hourly Rates Make It Easy to Calculate Your Income

If you work a traditional 9-to-5 hourly role or you get paid by the hour in your own business, it’s easy to see how much you’re going to make in a year before it even starts. If you want to know how much you’re going to be able to put towards your needs and wants in a given year, use the guide above to calculate your post-tax earnings and find a few ways to boost your income!