$100,000 a Year is How Much Per Hour? What Will I be able to afford?

Many of you likely dream of hitting that six-figure salary mark, or at least earning six figures in a year. However, it can be hard to look up exactly how many hours it would take to reach a six-figure annual salary, and what kind of lifestyle that would give you. 

So, would $100,000 a year be enough for you to live and how many hours would you have to work to earn that in a year? 

$100,000 a Year is How Much an Hour?

To make $100,000 a year, you may need to earn at least $35 an hour, assuming that you work 8 hours a day.

If you were to work for 8 hours a day making $35 an hour, it would total to $280. If there are 30 days a month and you work every day for 30 days, you would make every month. If you earn that amount every month for a whole year, it would total to about $100,800.

Of course, that is assuming that you have to work every day for 8 hours.

If you earn more than $35 an hour, you could probably take the weekends off and work fewer hours.

Some people may work freelance gigs, so if you are a freelancer you may have a lot of “off weeks”, but you could still earn a six figure salary a year. 

How Much is $100,000 a Year per Week or Month? 

It will mostly depend on your salary per hour. If you earn more than $50 per hour, you can reach the six figure annual salary mark. So, it will vary based on your contract. 

Assume that you work 40 hours a week for 50 weeks in a year, which means you work 8 hours a day, and you take the weekends off. If you earn $55 an hour, you would make $440 a day, making a total of $8,800 a month. If you work for five days a week every month, you would earn $105600. 

Another example is if you work 35 hours a week for 52 weeks, meaning you work 7 hours a day.

If you were to earn $60 an hour and work five days a week, you would get $2,100 a week.

For a whole month, you would earn $8,400, which means that you would earn $100,800 per year.

What Taxes Do You Have to Pay if You Earn $100,000

Even if you earn $100,000 a year, that does not mean you get to take it all to the bank.

You will still have to pay for taxes, so some of your money will go to the government, and you ought to never skip out on paying your taxes.

Even freelancers need to pay for taxes, so do not forget to look into your taxes.

However, a few states like Washington do not have state income tax. 

The exact amount of taxes you have to pay for will mostly depend on where you live and your tax bracket.

Typically, $30,000-40,000 can go to taxes annually. So, if you get a monthly check, around $2,000-4,000 would go to taxes.

However, this number may be lower if you already pay for vision, dental, or medical insurance through an employer. 

Jobs to Make $100,000 a Year

So, what kind of job do you need to earn that kind of money? Well, it depends.

Typically, higher positions in more traditional workplaces can land within that salary range, paying $45 or more an hour. For instance, people who are like senior consultants, sales directors, account executives, etc., can earn $100,000 a year. 

However, even a high position at work will not guarantee a six-figure salary.

Some higher positions at work may only offer $30-40 per hour, which will make you fall just under $100,000 a year. However, anyone who earns about $55-65 an hour can earn $100,000 a year with a regular work schedule. 

Of course, there are less traditional jobs that can also help you earn $100,000 a year, but it would be a bit trickier.

With more traditional jobs, there is a more linear way to achieve them, through college degrees and promotions.

A non-traditional job, like artists, can earn $100,000 a year, but it could take longer since they usually have to make a name for themselves. 

Other ways you can earn a six figure salary through other means is by owning a business.

You can earn that amount of money through profit.

However, this may take much longer than a traditional job.

Business owners often earn their “pay” through the profits of their business, so they do not have a set salary.

Therefore, it may take years to earn a big salary as a business owner, and it will still depend on the business’s success.

How Much Can You Afford with $100,000?

It would really depend on your lifestyle. For instance, a single person would easily live a fairly comfortable life with $100,000.

Earning this amount of money would mean that you earn more than 70% of American households. So, $100,000 can definitely be more than enough for a single person with no children or major debt. 

Let’s assume that your rent is $3,000 a month, meaning you pay $36,000 a year in rent.

After tax, let’s say that your annual income is $76,000, so after rent you would have $46,000.

Now, let’s assume that you spend at least $1,500 a month for other necessities, like bills and food, meaning you would spend another $18,000 a year. 

That would leave you with a whole total of $28,000, that you can put into savings, investments, etc.

It is a good amount to make installment payments for bigger purchases as well, like car payments or gadgets.

However, this is given that you do not have debt, otherwise most of your money would likely go to paying off your debt. 

The average American earned about $40,000 a year, which may also be liveable for a single person.

However, their lifestyle would be very different from a person earning $100,000 a year.

At this salary, you would likely not afford to pay $3,000 a month for rent. So, you would need to size down or find a roommate to make this salary range work for you.

However, these numbers may not be enough for a family, especially if that is the sole source of income.

For example, $61,937 was the average salary for households in 2018, but that may not be enough for most families.

Some families would need more than that, reaching the range of $100,000-200,000 a year.

Families will have to consider more expenses, like college savings and more insurance (if their job does not already cover it), so they need to earn more.

All in All

A six figure salary is the goal for many people, but how much will $100,000 actually get you and how hard do you have to work to get that? A $100,000 annual salary is usually more than enough for the average, single American to live a comfortable life. However, it may be just enough for a family, especially if they have multiple children.