Hourly wage in Austria: from gross per hour to monthly net
How an hourly rate becomes a monthly salary on an Austrian payslip, what you keep after deductions, and what one working hour is really worth.
To turn an hourly wage into Austrian monthly gross pay, multiply it by your weekly hours and by 4.33, the average number of weeks in a month. At €20 gross and 40 hours a week that makes €3,464.00 a month and €2,440.19 net, or €14.09 per hour. Most collective agreements also give hourly-paid staff holiday pay and Christmas pay; counting those, each hour is worth €16.71 net over the year. Lower rates keep a larger share: 81 % of gross at €12, only 60 % at €40, because wage tax and unemployment insurance rise with income. Austria has no general statutory minimum wage; minimum rates are set by sector collective agreements (Kollektivverträge). If you earn no more than €551.10 a month, you are a marginal employee and keep the full hourly wage without deductions. Overtime is paid at the normal hourly rate plus a 50 % premium.
From hourly wage to monthly net
Net per month
€2,043
| Monthly gross (× 4.33 weeks) | €2,771 |
| Net per hour | €11.79 |
| Annual net (14 payments) | €28,872 |
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Calculation method
The conversion: times weekly hours times 4.33
A year has 52 weeks; spread over twelve months that is 4.33 weeks a month on average. Austrian payroll uses this factor both ways: it turns an hourly wage into monthly gross, and a monthly salary into an hourly rate, for example to pay overtime. The formula:
Monthly gross = hourly wage × weekly hours × 4.33
At €20 and 40 hours that gives €3,464.00. If you are paid by the hour, short months may pay slightly less and long ones slightly more, depending on how your collective agreement handles it, but it evens out over the year. Wage tax is worked out each month as if that month’s pay continued all year, so strongly fluctuating months can mean overpaid tax, which you recover through the annual tax assessment.
Table: hourly wage, monthly net and net per hour
| Hourly wage | Gross 38.5 h | Net 38.5 h | Gross 40 h | Net 40 h | Net per hour (40 h) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| €12.00 | €2,000.46 | €1,627.58 | €2,078.40 | €1,680.50 | €9.70 |
| €14.00 | €2,333.87 | €1,823.90 | €2,424.80 | €1,877.29 | €10.84 |
| €16.00 | €2,667.28 | €1,983.26 | €2,771.20 | €2,042.86 | €11.79 |
| €18.00 | €3,000.69 | €2,174.48 | €3,117.60 | €2,241.52 | €12.94 |
| €20.00 | €3,334.10 | €2,365.69 | €3,464.00 | €2,440.19 | €14.09 |
| €22.00 | €3,667.51 | €2,556.90 | €3,810.40 | €2,631.58 | €15.19 |
| €25.00 | €4,167.63 | €2,807.19 | €4,330.00 | €2,887.01 | €16.67 |
| €30.00 | €5,001.15 | €3,216.93 | €5,196.00 | €3,312.71 | €19.13 |
| €35.00 | €5,834.68 | €3,626.68 | €6,062.00 | €3,738.43 | €21.58 |
| €40.00 | €6,668.20 | €4,036.42 | €6,928.00 | €4,164.13 | €24.04 |
The table uses 38.5 and 40 hours, two normal working weeks common in Austrian collective agreements. The gap between them is smaller than the extra hour and a half suggests, because each additional euro is taxed at your marginal rate. If you receive a monthly salary and want your hourly equivalent, reverse the formula: monthly salary divided by weekly hours and by 4.33. That is useful when comparing an Austrian offer with an hourly rate quoted in the UK or the US, where annual hours and holiday entitlements differ.
From hourly wage to monthly net
Net per month
€2,043
| Monthly gross (× 4.33 weeks) | €2,771 |
| Net per hour | €11.79 |
| Annual net (14 payments) | €28,872 |
Why higher hourly rates keep a smaller share
At €12 an hour and 40 hours you keep 80.9 % of gross, at €40 only 60.1 %. Three things drive this. Wage tax follows a stepped scale (section 33 of the Income Tax Act): small monthly salaries sit mostly in the tax-free band, large ones reach 40.0 % and more. Unemployment insurance is reduced for low incomes and only charged in full above €2,630 gross a month; at €14 and 38.5 hours you are still below that. At the very top the effect eases slightly, because social insurance stops growing at €6,930 a month, a level €40 an hour almost reaches.
Net per hour including special payments
Hourly-paid employees usually receive holiday pay and Christmas pay under their collective agreement too. Since both are taxed at only 6.0 %, an hour is worth more over the year than in a single month: at €20 and 40 hours, €14.09 in a regular month but €16.71 when annual net is divided by all paid hours. When you compare an hourly offer without special payments with a fourteen-payment salary, factor this in; the annual salary page shows the effect in euros.
No statutory minimum wage, but collective agreements
Unlike Germany or the UK, Austria has no general minimum wage set by law. Minimum pay comes from collective agreements negotiated for each sector and occupation, and they cover almost all jobs. They distinguish by activity, qualification and years of experience and are usually raised once a year. Your minimum hourly rate is in the pay table of your agreement; this calculator simply takes what you are actually paid.
Hourly pay in small jobs and overtime
If monthly pay stays at or below €551.10, the job counts as marginal employment (geringfügige Beschäftigung): no social insurance deducted, net equals gross (ÖGK variable values 2026). How many hours that allows depends on the rate:
| Hourly wage | max. hours per week | max. hours per month |
|---|---|---|
| €12.00 | 10.6 | 45.9 |
| €14.00 | 9.1 | 39.4 |
| €16.00 | 8.0 | 34.4 |
| €20.00 | 6.4 | 27.6 |
What happens above the limit and alongside a main job is explained under marginal employment. For overtime, the normal hourly wage is the base for the 50.0 % premium (section 10(3) of the Working Time Act). At €20 an hour, ten overtime hours in a month add €300.00 gross, of which €100.00 of premium is free of wage tax (section 68); net you gain €202.06. The overtime calculator handles your own case.