Pay periods
Biweekly pay calculator: what is each paycheck?
Type a salary or an hourly rate and pick the frequency: the calculator gives the gross amount of one paycheck and the same pay on the other schedules.
Gross pay per paycheck, biweekly
$2,307.69
| Weekly, 52 a year | $1,153.85 |
| Semi-monthly, 24 a year | $2,500.00 |
| Monthly, 12 a year | $5,000.00 |
| Yearly gross | $60,000.00 |
Gross pay before taxes and deductions. Semi-monthly and monthly hourly figures use 52 weeks a year (29 CFR 778.113). Everything you enter stays in this browser: nothing is sent or stored.
Biweekly gross pay is the annual salary divided by 26, the number of paydays in a standard year, or the hourly rate times the hours of two weeks. A $60,000 salary gives $2,307.69 every other week, against $2,500 semi-monthly, $1,153.85 weekly and $5,000 monthly: the same year cut into different slices. Paid $25 an hour for 40 hours a week, you earn $2,000 per biweekly paycheck, and $52,000 over 52 weeks. Those figures are gross pay, before federal and state income tax, Social Security and Medicare, benefits and retirement contributions, which this calculator leaves out on purpose, because they depend on your W-4 and your state. Two cases change the biweekly figure. In a year with 27 paydays, a salaried employee is paid either one check more, if the employer divides by 26, or slightly less on each check, if it divides by 27. Federal employees follow a rule of their own: annual rate divided by 2,087 hours, times 80.
How many biweekly paydays in a year?
Every other Friday in 2027
26 or 27 paydays
| Series starting Friday, January 1 | 27 paydays, last Friday, December 31 |
| Series starting Friday, January 8 | 26 paydays, last Friday, December 24 |
Dates as scheduled, before any holiday move. Weekly pay gives 53 Fridays in 2027.
Holiday rules and pay calendars read by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
Salary per paycheck at a glance
The table divides three round salaries by the standard number of paydays of each frequency. The calculator at the top does the same for any figure, and the yearly line in its result lets you check the conversion both ways.
| Frequency | Paydays | $50,000 | $75,000 | $100,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly | 52 | $961.54 | $1,442.31 | $1,923.08 |
| Biweekly (every 2 weeks) | 26 | $1,923.08 | $2,884.62 | $3,846.15 |
| Semi-monthly (twice a month) | 24 | $2,083.33 | $3,125 | $4,166.67 |
| Monthly | 12 | $4,166.67 | $6,250 | $8,333.33 |
From an hourly rate
For hourly pay, the paycheck follows the hours. A biweekly check pays two workweeks, so it is the rate times the hours of both weeks. Overtime is the one trap: under 29 CFR 778.104, each workweek stands alone, and hours over 40 in a week are paid at time and a half for that week. Working 45 hours one week and 35 the next gives 80 hours, but 5 of them are overtime; averaging the two weeks to 40 would be wrong.
Semi-monthly and monthly checks do not hold a whole number of weeks. The calculator uses the yearly equivalent, 52 weeks of your usual hours, divided by 24 or 12. That is the same arithmetic the federal regulations use in 29 CFR 778.113 to turn a monthly or semi-monthly salary into a weekly one: multiply by 12 or 24 and divide by 52. A worker paid by the hour on a semi-monthly schedule is in practice paid for the hours of each period, which vary a little from one period to the next.
Salaried pay in a 27-payday year
Choose “27 (a 27-payday year)” in the calculator to see both employer methods. Dividing by 26 keeps your check identical and adds one more to the year. Dividing by 27 lowers each check so the year’s total stays at your salary. Neither method changes what you earn for the work done; it changes how the money is spread over calendar years. The finder below shows which years bring 27 paydays to a given Friday series.
How many biweekly paydays in a year?
Every other Friday in 2027
26 or 27 paydays
| Series starting Friday, January 1 | 27 paydays, last Friday, December 31 |
| Series starting Friday, January 8 | 26 paydays, last Friday, December 24 |
Dates as scheduled, before any holiday move. Weekly pay gives 53 Fridays in 2027.
Federal employees are covered by 5 U.S.C. 5504: the hourly rate is the annual rate divided by 2,087 hours, rounded to the nearest cent, and a biweekly check pays 80 hours at that rate, whatever the number of paydays. The federal pay calendar has a converter for that rule.
Biweekly or semi-monthly?
For the employee the difference is rhythm, not money. Biweekly pay comes on the same weekday every other week, and two months a year bring three paychecks. Semi-monthly pay comes on two fixed dates, so each check is larger and lines up with bills due on fixed days. The semi-monthly schedule and the biweekly schedule date every payday of 2027 if you want to compare them month by month. A change of frequency during the year, for example from semi-monthly to biweekly, usually means one short or one long period at the switch, which the payroll office announces in advance.