$30 an hour is $62,400 a year before tax, working 40 hours a week for 52 weeks (2,080 hours). That's $5,200.00 a month, $2,400 every two weeks and $1,200 a week.
Change the hours or weeks in the Salary Converter
$30 an hour, by pay period
| Pay period | 40 hours a week | 30 hours a week |
|---|---|---|
| Year | $62,400 | $46,800 |
| Month | $5,200.00 | $3,900.00 |
| Two weeks | $2,400 | $1,800 |
| Week | $1,200 | $900 |
| Day (8 hours) | $240 | $180 |
With two weeks of unpaid time off, a full-time year at $30 an hour comes to $60,000 (2,000 hours). Paid holidays keep you at $62,400.
How $30 an hour compares
- It's 4.1 times the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, or $47,320 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 $30 is 8% below that average.
- At the common 30% guideline, $30 an hour supports rent of about $1,560 a month.
Where $30 an hour ranks
$30 an hour is above the median of U.S. hourly pay ($24.51) and below the 75th percentile ($38.71), so roughly 60% 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 $30 an hour
The most common occupations whose national median pay rounds to $30 an hour (May 2025, the latest BLS survey):
- Computer User Support Specialists: $29.74 an hour, 717,000 jobs
- Insurance Sales Agents: $29.94 an hour, 479,000 jobs
- First-Line Supervisors of Transportation and Material Moving Workers, Except Aircraft Cargo Handling Supervisors: $30.23 an hour, 624,000 jobs
- Paralegals and Legal Assistants: $30.24 an hour, 393,000 jobs
- Electricians: $30.38 an hour, 757,000 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 $30 an hour matched in earlier years
To buy what $30 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 $30 an hour, before tax, using U.S. average prices for September 2026:
- 4.5 minutes for a dozen eggs ($2.27)
- 9.0 minutes for a gallon of regular gas ($4.48)
- 8.2 minutes for a gallon of whole milk ($4.11)
What $62,400 a year buys abroad
Local prices change what a salary is worth. Spent in each country, $62,400 buys what this much would buy in the U.S. (World Bank purchasing power parity):
- United States: $62,400
- Mexico: $106,080
- Spain: $91,104
- Japan: $90,480
- Canada: $69,264
- United Kingdom: $67,392
The dashed line marks $62,400 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).