Semi-Monthly Pay Calculator
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What does semi-monthly pay mean?The formula for semi-monthly pay calculationOther tools beyond this semi-monthly calculatorFAQsWith this semi-monthly pay calculator, you can know what is the semi-monthly pay equivalent to any other period. Input the wage you know (hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly), and the tool will provide the wage corresponding to the semi-monthly pay period. The calculator assumes a working schedule of 40 hours and five days a week, but you can change it.
Keep reading this article to know what semi-monthly pay means and how to calculate it.
What does semi-monthly pay mean?
Semi-monthly pay is a salary or wage paid twice a month, usually on the 15th and last day but also on the first and 15th day. If one payment date falls on a weekend or holiday, the payment occurs the previous or following business day. Usually, the businesses choose the previous day (Friday or, failing that, Thursday).
As a month contains two of these payments, there are 24 semi-monthly payments per year. Semi-monthly pay usually is confused with biweekly pay, which occurs every two weeks and, therefore, 26 times yearly (you can obtain it with the biweekly pay calculator)
The formula for semi-monthly pay calculation
To better understand what semi-monthly pay means, calculating it is essential. Depending on the available information, there'll be different ways to calculate the semi-monthly pay:
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Using the monthly wage: As there are two semi-monthly payments during the month, you can obtain their value by dividing the overall monthly salary by 2:
Semi-monthly wage = (Monthly wage)/2 -
Using yearly wage: There are 24 semi-monthly pay periods during a year. Therefore, we can calculate the semi-monthly pay by dividing the annual salary by 24:
Semi-monthly wage = (Yearly wage)/24 -
Using weekly wage: As a year has 52 weeks, we can replace the yearly wage with 52 times the weekly pay and calculate the semi-monthly salary as follows:
Semi-monthly wage = (52 × Weekly wage)/24 -
Using daily wage: Similarly, we can replace the weekly wage with the daily wage times the number of working days per week:
Semi-monthly wage = (52 × Daily wage × Days per week)/24 -
Using the hourly wage: We can also express the weekly wage as the hours per week times the hourly wage:
Semi-monthly wage = (52 × Hourly wage × Hours per week)/24
🙋 The calculator assumes five days and 40 hours per week (the most common schedule), but you can change this parameter.
Other tools beyond this semi-monthly calculator
How many semi-monthly pay periods are in a year?
There are 24 semi-monthly pay periods in a year, as each of the twelve months contains two semi-monthly payments. This is slightly different from biweekly payments, which occur 26 times yearly.
What is the semi-monthly pay schedule for 2023?
If we use the 15th and last days of the month, the 2023 semi-monthly pay schedule is as follows:
Pay number | Pay date |
|---|---|
1 | January 14 |
2 | January 31 |
3 | February 15 |
4 | February 28 |
5 | March 15 |
6 | March 31 |
7 | April 14 |
8 | April 28 |
9 | May 15 |
10 | May 31 |
11 | June 15 |
12 | June 30 |
13 | July 14 |
14 | July 31 |
15 | August 15 |
16 | August 31 |
17 | September 15 |
18 | September 29 |
19 | October 13 |
20 | October 31 |
21 | November 15 |
22 | November 30 |
23 | December 15 |
24 | December 29 |
The previous schedule chose Friday when the payment was originally on the weekend. If one of the days corresponds to a holiday celebrated in your target region, you can anticipate or delay the payment date to the previous or following weekday.