That is the full-time figure: 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, 2080 hours — the same basis the Bureau of Labor Statistics uses when it converts hourly rates to annual ones. Gross, before tax and deductions.
| Period | Gross pay |
|---|---|
| Hourly (40 hrs/week) | $42.00 |
| Daily (8 hrs) | $336.00 |
| Weekly | $1,680 |
| Biweekly (every 2 weeks) | $3,360 |
| Semi-monthly (twice a month) | $3,640 |
| Monthly | $7,280 |
| Annual | $87,360 |
Part-time and shift work rarely lands on exactly forty. At $42 an hour:
| Hours per week | Annual | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| 40 hrs | $87,360 | $7,280 |
| 35 hrs | $76,440 | $6,370 |
| 30 hrs | $65,520 | $5,460 |
| 25 hrs | $54,600 | $4,550 |
| 20 hrs | $43,680 | $3,640 |
These are the occupations whose national median sits within a dollar of $42 an hour. Median means half the people in that occupation earn more, half less — so this is the middle of the profession, not its entry rate or its ceiling.
| Occupation | Median hourly | Median annual | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|
| First-Line Supervisors of Non-Retail Sales Workers | $42.08 | $87,520 | 214,390 |
| Operations Research Analysts | $42.76 | $88,940 | 108,510 |
$42 an hour is higher than the median wage in about 78% of the occupations the federal wage survey tracks. The median American worker earns $24.51 an hour ($50,980 a year), so $42 is 71% above that. This is comfortably in the upper part of the distribution.
Overtime, shift differentials, bonuses and employer benefits are excluded, and so is tax. Location matters more than most people expect: the same occupation can pay two or three times more in one metro than another, which is why every salary guide here breaks the figure down by metropolitan area rather than quoting one national number.