Half-Time Pay Calculator
| Current salary | Half-time (20 h/wk) | Per biweekly check | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| $40,000 | $20,000 | $769.23 | $1,666.67 |
| $60,000 | $30,000 | $1,153.85 | $2,500.00 |
| $80,000 | $40,000 | $1,538.46 | $3,333.33 |
| $100,000 | $50,000 | $1,923.08 | $4,166.67 |
Going half-time - 20 hours a week instead of 40 - is the most common reduced schedule there is, whether it is a phased retirement, a return to school, or a negotiation after a parental leave. The arithmetic is friendlier than it looks: your hourly rate never changes, so every dollar figure simply scales by the hours ratio, and this calculator lays out all three numbers people actually budget with - the year, the month, and the paycheck that hits your account.
Bottom line: a $62,000 salary moving to 20 hours pays $31,000 a year - $2,583.33 a month, $1,192.31 per biweekly paycheck - and 15 PTO days become 7.5. The hourly rate stays $29.81; only the hour count moves.
What most quick prorating tools skip: two thresholds travel with the schedule, not the pay. Drop under 30 hours a week and many workplace health plans stop treating you as full-time, and 401(k) matching dollars shrink with the paycheck even when the percentage match does not change. Both are flagged below so the decision is made with the real number, not just the salary line.
How to use
- Enter your current annual salary - or your hourly rate if you are paid by the hour (fill one, leave the other blank).
- Set your current hours per week (40 is standard) and the new hours you are moving to, then pick how often you are paid.
- Read the new annual, monthly and per-paycheck figures, plus your prorated PTO - and note the 30-hour flag if your new schedule crosses it.
Frequently asked questions
Does my hourly rate change when I go half-time?
No - the rate is a property of your role, not your schedule. A $62,000 salary converts to $29.81 an hour (salary / 2,080 hours, which is 40 hours times 52 weeks), and that rate applies at 20 hours exactly as it did at 40. What changes is volume: half the hours, half the annual dollars, same dollars per hour. If your employer tries to also cut the rate, that is a separate pay cut and should be negotiated as one.
What is the 30-hour rule with health insurance?
Under the Affordable Care Act, employees working 30 or more hours a week count as full-time for employers with 50 or more full-time-equivalent staff, which is what obliges those employers to offer affordable coverage. Fall under 30 and you can lose workplace health eligibility - a benefit often worth more than the wages it rides on. Before committing to a half-time schedule, ask HR what happens to your medical, dental and life coverage at 19 vs 20 vs 30 hours; some plans key on 24, and some employers let you keep coverage by averaging 30 over a measurement period.
How is PTO prorated for part-time?
Proportionally to the schedule: 15 days at 40 hours becomes 7.5 days at 20 hours, because accrual is usually computed per hour worked. Company holidays usually prorate the same way (a full-time 10 holidays becomes 5). The one place part-time staff sometimes come out ahead: accrual caps and waiting periods are legal to scale, but some employers keep vacation accrual flat as a retention gesture - it never hurts to ask.
Half-time vs a 4/10 compressed schedule - same thing?
No, and the difference is the whole paycheck: a 4/10 schedule is four 10-hour days - 40 hours, full pay, full benefits. Half-time is 20 hours - half the pay. People comparing 'three-day weekends' often mean compressed schedules, which this calculator does not price because nothing changes; if your hours per week stay at 40, your pay does too. Use the calculator when the hours genuinely drop, and check whether unemployment insurance or disability claims in your state look at hours worked, where a 20-hour schedule registers differently than 40.