What does semi-monthly mean?
Semi-monthly means twice a month. “Semi” means half, so a semi-monthly event happens every half month.
In payroll, semi-monthly pay means you are paid on two fixed dates every month. That adds up to 24 paychecks a year, and the IRS lists 24 semimonthly pay periods per year in its withholding tables.
Here is how semi-monthly compares with the terms people mix it up with:
| Term | Meaning | Paychecks per year |
|---|---|---|
| Semi-monthly | Twice a month, on set dates | 24 |
| Biweekly | Every two weeks, on the same weekday | 26 (27 in some years) |
| Bi-monthly | Ambiguous: twice a month or every two months | 24 or 6 |
| Semi-annual | Twice a year | 2 |
If an offer letter says bi-monthly, ask how many paychecks you will get per year. The answer tells you which schedule it is.
What is semi-monthly pay?
Semi-monthly pay splits each month into two pay periods:
- First period: the 1st through the 15th, which is always 15 days.
- Second period: the 16th through the last day of the month, which ranges from 13 days in February to 16 days in 31-day months.
Because the second half changes length, semi-monthly pay periods are not equal. Across a year they average about 15.2 days (365 days divided by 24).
If you are salaried, that unevenness does not matter. You get the same check every time: your annual salary divided by 24.
If you are hourly, it matters a lot, because you are paid for the hours inside each period. More on that below.
Common semi-monthly pay schedules
Employers pick two dates and stick with them. These are the setups you will see most often:
| Schedule | Paydays | What each check usually covers |
|---|---|---|
| 15th and last day | 15th and last day of the month | The half-month ending that day (paid current) |
| 1st and 15th | 1st and 15th of the month | Often the half-month that just ended (paid in arrears) |
| Lagged dates | For example, the 10th and 25th | The 10th pays for the 16th to month-end of the prior month; the 25th pays for the 1st to the 15th |
Lagged schedules give payroll a few days to collect timesheets and calculate overtime, which helps with hourly staff. Your offer letter or employee handbook should list your exact pay dates.
What happens when a semi-monthly payday falls on a weekend or holiday?
Since semi-monthly paydays are tied to dates, they land on every day of the week over time. Employers handle weekends and holidays in one of two ways:
- Pay early: move payday to the business day before.
- Pay late: move payday to the next business day.
Your employer’s policy and your state’s payday law decide which one applies. The U.S. Department of Labor keeps a table of state payday requirements if you want to check your state.
Here is how upcoming dates play out:
| Scheduled payday | Day of week | Pay-early policy | Pay-late policy |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 31, 2026 | Saturday | Friday, October 30 | Monday, November 2 |
| November 15, 2026 | Sunday | Friday, November 13 | Monday, November 16 |
| January 1, 2027 (New Year’s Day) | Friday | Thursday, December 31, 2026 | Monday, January 4 |
| May 15, 2027 | Saturday | Friday, May 14 | Monday, May 17 |
Notice the January example. With a 1st and 15th schedule and a pay-early policy, the January 1 paycheck is actually paid on December 31 of the previous year.
How does semi-monthly pay work for hourly workers?
Hourly workers on semi-monthly pay are paid for the hours worked during each half-month period. Because the number of weekdays in each period changes, the size of each check changes too.
A 1st-to-15th period always contains 10 or 11 weekdays. A 16th-to-month-end period contains anywhere from 9 to 12.
Example. Jordan Lee works 8 hours every weekday at Brightside Dental and earns $22 an hour.
| Pay period | Weekdays | Hours | Gross pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| February 16 to 28, 2027 | 9 | 72 | $1,584 |
| March 16 to 31, 2027 | 12 | 96 | $2,112 |
Same job, same schedule, and a $528 swing between two second-half checks. If you are hourly and paid semi-monthly, budget around your smallest likely check, not your largest. You can see what $22 an hour adds up to over a full year on our $22 an hour salary page.
How overtime works when a workweek splits across two pay periods
Federal overtime is based on the workweek, not the pay period. The Department of Labor defines a workweek as a fixed, regularly recurring period of 168 hours (seven consecutive 24-hour periods). Nonexempt workers earn at least time and one-half for hours over 40 in a workweek, and hours cannot be averaged across two weeks.
Semi-monthly periods split on dates, so a workweek often starts in one pay period and ends in the next. Under 29 CFR 778.106, overtime earned in a workweek generally must be paid on the regular payday for the pay period in which that workweek ends.
In October 2026, the 15th is a Thursday. Jordan’s workweek runs Sunday, October 11 through Saturday, October 17, and Jordan works 9 hours a day Monday through Friday, for 45 hours. That week ends in the October 16 to 31 pay period, so the 5 overtime hours at $33 an hour ($165) are generally due with the paycheck for October 16 to 31.
If the overtime amount cannot be calculated in time, the regulation allows payment as soon as practicable, but no later than the next regular payday after the calculation can be made. For a specific pay problem, contact your state labor department or an employment attorney.
Semi-monthly pay example for salaried workers
Salaried pay is simpler. Divide the annual salary by 24.
Taylor Brooks earns $60,000 a year as an office manager. Each semi-monthly paycheck is $60,000 / 24 = $2,500 gross, every time, no matter how many workdays fall in the period.
Compare that with biweekly pay on the same salary: $60,000 / 26 = $2,307.69 per check, with two months a year that bring three checks. For the hourly equivalent of a $60,000 salary, see $60,000 a year is how much an hour.
These are gross amounts. Your take-home pay will be lower after income tax withholding, Social Security, Medicare and benefit deductions.
How do you convert semi-monthly pay to annual or hourly pay?
Use these formulas for a salaried, full-time job:
- Semi-monthly to annual: paycheck x 24
- Annual to semi-monthly: salary / 24
- Annual to hourly: salary / 2,080 (40 hours x 52 weeks)
- Semi-monthly to biweekly: paycheck x 24 / 26
Taylor’s $2,500 semi-monthly check equals $60,000 a year ($2,500 x 24). At 2,080 hours a year, that is about $28.85 an hour. On a biweekly schedule, the same salary would pay $2,307.69 per check.
Do not convert semi-monthly pay to weekly pay by dividing by two. A semi-monthly period averages about 2.17 weeks (52 weeks divided by 24), so half a check overstates a week’s pay. Divide the annual figure by 52 instead: $60,000 / 52 = $1,153.85 a week.
Pros and cons of semi-monthly pay
For employees
- Pro: Paydays line up with monthly bills like rent and car payments.
- Pro: Salaried checks are larger than biweekly checks and identical every time.
- Con: No third-paycheck months, which some people use for savings.
- Con: Payday falls on a different weekday each month.
- Con: Hourly checks vary with the number of workdays in each period.
For employers
- Pro: 24 payroll runs a year instead of 26 for biweekly or 52 for weekly.
- Pro: Monthly costs, such as benefit premiums, split evenly across two checks.
- Con: Workweeks straddle pay periods, which makes overtime tracking more work for hourly staff.
Semi-monthly vs biweekly: which should you choose?
Most workers do not get to choose, but if you are comparing two job offers, look at the annual figure first. The pay schedule changes timing, not your total salary.
If you want a deeper side-by-side, including weekly and monthly schedules and a $52,000 salary broken down four ways, read our semi-monthly vs biweekly comparison. To count your paydays for the year, use the counter on our pay periods page, and for salary-to-hourly math, try the salary calculators.