$27 an hour is $56,160 a year before tax, working 40 hours a week for 52 weeks (2,080 hours). That's $4,680.00 a month, $2,160 every two weeks and $1,080 a week.
Change the hours or weeks in the Salary Converter
$27 an hour, by pay period
| Pay period | 40 hours a week | 30 hours a week |
|---|---|---|
| Year | $56,160 | $42,120 |
| Month | $4,680.00 | $3,510.00 |
| Two weeks | $2,160 | $1,620 |
| Week | $1,080 | $810 |
| Day (8 hours) | $216 | $162 |
With two weeks of unpaid time off, a full-time year at $27 an hour comes to $54,000 (2,000 hours). Paid holidays keep you at $56,160.
How $27 an hour compares
- It's 3.7 times the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, or $41,080 more a year at full time. Many states and cities set a higher minimum.
- Production and nonsupervisory workers averaged $32.54 an hour in September 2026 (BLS), so $27 is 17% below that average.
- At the common 30% guideline, $27 an hour supports rent of about $1,404 a month.
Where $27 an hour ranks
$27 an hour is above the median of U.S. hourly pay ($24.51) and below the 75th percentile ($38.71), so roughly 55% of workers earn less.
All occupations, May 2025 (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics). BLS publishes set percentiles; the share in between is our estimate.
Jobs that pay about $27 an hour
The most common occupations whose national median pay rounds to $27 an hour (May 2025, the latest BLS survey):
- Roofers: $26.65 an hour, 135,000 jobs
- Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants: $26.72 an hour, 156,000 jobs
- First-Line Supervisors of Security Workers: $26.90 an hour, 81,000 jobs
- Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers: $27.41 an hour, 206,000 jobs
- Glaziers: $27.44 an hour, 58,000 jobs
A median is the middle: half the people in that job earn more, half earn less. Pay also varies with state, experience and employer.
What $27 an hour matched in earlier years
To buy what $27 an hour buys in September 2026, you'd have needed:
Adjusted with the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Minutes of work for everyday prices
At $27 an hour, before tax, using U.S. average prices for September 2026:
- 5.0 minutes for a dozen eggs ($2.27)
- 10.0 minutes for a gallon of regular gas ($4.48)
- 9.1 minutes for a gallon of whole milk ($4.11)
What $56,160 a year buys abroad
Local prices change what a salary is worth. Spent in each country, $56,160 buys what this much would buy in the U.S. (World Bank purchasing power parity):
- United States: $56,160
- Mexico: $95,472
- Spain: $81,994
- Japan: $81,432
- Canada: $62,338
- United Kingdom: $60,653
The dashed line marks $56,160 spent in the U.S.
Compare every country in The Dollar Around the World
Sources
- BLS average prices and average hourly earnings (2026-11-03)
- U.S. Department of Labor: federal minimum wage history
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025 national estimates)
- BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) and World Bank International Comparison Program, as used on our methodology page
General information, not financial advice. Pay before tax; your take-home pay depends on taxes and deductions (try the Paycheck Calculator).