Hours Calculator
Calculate elapsed hours and minutes between two times, minus breaks.
Hours Calculator — Calculate Hours Worked and Estimated Pay
The Hours Calculator is a simple yet powerful online tool designed to calculate the exact hours and minutes elapsed between two times. Whether you are tracking work hours, preparing weekly timesheets, monitoring study sessions, or calculating travel durations, this calculator handles all the math. It features an optional break deduction in minutes and allows you to enter your hourly wage to estimate your gross earnings.
How to Calculate Hours Worked
Calculating elapsed work hours manually can be tricky, especially when hours cross from AM to PM or cross midnight.
Step-by-Step Calculation:
1. Convert to a 24-hour clock: This makes calculations easier by removing the AM/PM distinction. For example, 9:00 AM becomes `09:00`, and 5:00 PM becomes `17:00`.
2. Subtract the start time from the end time:
- Hours: `17 − 9 = 8` hours.
- Minutes: If the end minutes are less than the start minutes, borrow 1 hour (60 minutes) from the hours column.
3. Deduct breaks: Convert your break time into hours and subtract it from the total. If you worked from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM (8 hours) and took a 30-minute break, your net hours worked is `7 hours and 30 minutes` (or `7.5 hours`).
4. Multiply by pay rate: Multiply your decimal hours by your hourly rate to find your gross earnings. For example, `7.5 hours × $20.00/hour = $150.00`.
Our Hours Calculator automates this entire process, accepting standard clock times, performing the subtraction, deducting breaks, and estimating your earnings in seconds.
Shifts Crossing Midnight
One of the most common issues with manual timecards is calculating shifts that cross midnight. For example, if a shift starts at 10:00 PM (22:00) and ends at 6:00 AM (06:00) the next morning, a simple subtraction like `6 − 22` results in a negative number.
To resolve this:
- If the end time is earlier than the start time, we add 24 hours (1,440 minutes) to the end time before subtracting.
- In our example: 6:00 AM is 6 hours since midnight. We add 24 hours to get `30:00`.
- We then subtract the start time: `30:00 − 22:00 = 8 hours`.
Our Hours Calculator detects this automatically. If you input a start time that is later than your end time, the calculator assumes your shift crosses midnight and calculates your hours correctly.
Converting Time to Decimal Hours for Payroll
To compute payroll, you must convert minutes into decimal form. The chart below shows common minute-to-decimal conversions:
| Minutes Worked | Decimal Hours |
|---|---|
| 15 minutes | 0.25 hours |
| 20 minutes | 0.33 hours |
| 30 minutes | 0.50 hours |
| 40 minutes | 0.67 hours |
| 45 minutes | 0.75 hours |
| 50 minutes | 0.83 hours |
For other minute values, divide the number of minutes by 60. For example, 42 minutes is `42 / 60 = 0.7` hours.
Related Calculators
If you are tracking time for work or projects, check out these related tools:
- Time Card Calculator: Calculate daily shift hours, break deductions, and overtime earnings.
- Time Calculator: Add or subtract multiple time blocks together.
- Time Zone Converter: Convert hours between different UTC offsets.
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This calculator runs entirely in your web browser. No timesheet, wage, or schedule data is ever uploaded or stored, ensuring complete privacy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Enter your start time and end time. The calculator will determine the total time difference. If you specify a break duration (in minutes), that time will be deducted from the total.
Yes. If the end time is earlier than the start time, the calculator automatically assumes the shift crosses midnight into the next day and calculates the correct elapsed hours.