Prorated Salary Calculator

Starting or leaving a job mid-month? See exactly what the partial paycheck should be, by calendar days or working days.

Prorated pay for that month
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Full monthly salary—
Days counted—
Daily rate used—

Gross estimate. Company holidays aren't excluded from working days.

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The proration formula

monthly salary = annual ÷ 12
prorated pay = monthly × (days worked ÷ days in month)

"Days" is where the two methods split. The calendar method counts every day of the month (28–31); the working-day method counts only weekdays (20–23, varying by month). Both divide your month into different-sized slices, so the same start date produces slightly different pay under each — usually within a few percent, but on a $6,000 monthly salary that can be a $150+ difference.

A worked example

$72,000/year is $6,000/month. You start Monday, July 20, 2026. July 2026 has 23 working days, and July 20–31 contains 10 of them, so the working-day method pays $6,000 × 10/23 = $2,608.70. The calendar method pays $6,000 × 12/31 = $2,322.58. Same job, same start date, $286 apart — which is why it's worth knowing your employer's method before your first paycheck arrives.

Check your first paycheck

Payroll systems handle proration automatically, but mid-period starts are the single most common source of first-paycheck errors — especially when a start date was moved after the offer letter went out. Two minutes with this calculator against your pay stub catches it early, while it's still an easy fix.

Frequently asked questions

How is prorated salary calculated?

Take the pay for the full period, divide by the number of days in that period, and multiply by the days you actually worked. Employers use either calendar days or working days as the denominator — the working-day method is most common in the US.

If I start on the 15th, how much of my monthly salary do I get?

Roughly half, but the exact amount depends on the method. In a 30-day month with 22 working days, starting the 15th gives you 16/30 of monthly pay by calendar days, or about 12/22 by working days — those can differ by a few percent.

Do employers prorate by calendar days or working days?

Both are used and both are legal. Working days (typically Monday–Friday) is the most common US payroll practice. Your offer letter or HR can confirm which your employer uses — worth asking, since the methods produce slightly different amounts.

Is prorated pay taxed differently?

No — it's regular wages. But because a partial paycheck is smaller, automatic withholding tables may take out proportionally less tax that period, which can feel like a pleasant surprise that later evens out.

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