What are hourly rates?

An hourly rate is how much money someone gets paid for each hour they work.

Imagine you have a favorite ice cream shop nearby. Every time you go there, you pay $2 for one scoop of ice cream. Now imagine if the person who makes your ice cream gets paid based on how many scoops they make, that’s like a piece rate. But an hourly rate is different: it's like saying, "If I work for 1 hour, I get $8," no matter how many scoops I make.

Let’s say your ice cream maker works for 3 hours. If they get paid $8 per hour, then at the end of the day, they would have earned:

• 1 hour = $8
• 2 hours = $16
• 3 hours = $24

So that’s $24 total, easy math!

Some jobs are easier to count by time than by work done. Like cleaning a room or teaching a class. You can say, "I worked for 2 hours," and know exactly how much you should be paid, no need to count the number of rooms cleaned or students taught!