$30 per hour is way more than a $30,000 salary. Technically $30/hr is double that - roughly $60,000 per year. If you are a full-time employee in the U.S. then

$30 per hour is way more than a $30,000 salary. Technically $30/hr is double that - roughly $60,000 per year. If you are a full-time employee in the U.S. then typically other benefits such as health insurance, 401k, vacation time, etc will be factored in, so typically if you were interviewing a U.S. citizen for the job, then whatever “hourly rate” the salaried employee would be at ($60k salary ~ $30/hr) should be multiplied by something like 1.3 or 1.5 for a contractor rate to account for the employee benefits they are not receiving from you. So $30 would become $40+ instead for a contract rate.