Hourly Rate to Annual FIFO Salary Calculator
An hourly rate tells you little about your yearly pay until you factor in your actual roster. FIFO cycles like 8/6, 2/1 or 14/14 with 12-hour shifts look nothing like a standard 38-hour week, so this calculator annualises your hourly rate across your real swing pattern to estimate gross salary, hours and days worked per year, and an average weekly figure.
Enter Values
Before you rely on this: First-pass guide only. Verify safety-critical or regulated work against the relevant standards, your project requirements and a qualified professional.
How to use this calculator
- Enter your base hourly rate and the hours in each shift (12 is a common FIFO default).
- Enter the days on and days off in one swing — for example 8 and 6, or 14 and 14.
- Read the estimated annual gross salary, total hours and days worked per year, and the average gross per week.
How it works
Your swing cycle is days on plus days off. Over a 365-day year you complete 365 / cycle swings, so you work days on × that many swings each year. Multiply those worked days by hours per shift to get hours worked per year, then by your hourly rate for annual gross. The average weekly figure is the annual gross divided by 52 — a smoothed number that spreads your on-and-off pay evenly across the year.
Worked example
Worked example. At $45/hour, 12-hour shifts, on an 8-days-on / 6-days-off roster: the cycle is 14 days, giving 365 / 14 = 26.07 swings a year. That is 8 × 26.07 = 208.57 days worked, or 2,502.86 hours. At $45/hour that is a gross salary of $112,628.57, which smooths to about $2,165.93 per week.
Common mistakes
- Reading the figure as take-home — it is gross, before tax, super, penalties and allowances.
- Assuming every rostered shift is worked; sick days, weather, travel days and roster changes all reduce real hours.
- Ignoring overtime and penalty rates, which for many FIFO roles lift actual earnings well above this base-rate estimate.
Frequently asked questions
Why use 365 days instead of a 38-hour week?
FIFO rosters do not follow a standard working week — a 14/14 or 8/6 pattern runs continuously across the calendar. Dividing 365 by your cycle length captures how many full swings actually fit in a year.
Is the annual figure my real income?
No. It is a base-rate gross estimate that assumes every rostered shift is worked at the flat hourly rate. Real pay includes overtime, penalty rates and allowances, and is reduced by tax, super and other deductions.
Related tools
- Site Allowance Calculator
- Salary vs Day Rate Comparison Calculator
- FIFO Roster Calculator
- Site Allowance Tax Impact Calculator
- Swings Until Savings Goal Calculator
- Shift Length Calculator
Explore more in Time, Date, Roster & FIFO.
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