Depends on the position. Most people are hourly, but the annual is still used as a shorthand. Salaried workers aren’t paid by the hour, but to get a job done.

You generally don’t want to be salaried, because while it sounds like you can come and go as you please, most salaried positions have mandatory office hours. So you still work at least 40 hours a week, but don’t get paid for overtime.

There are laws regarding who can be salaried. The technical term is being FLSA Exempt, and the employee has to make a certain amount of money ($684/week), and have a role that classifies. Examples include executive, managerial (need a certain number of reports to classify), administrative, and highly-compensated employees ($107,432/yr).