If you make $45,000 a year, and you’re an average American worker, your average hourly wage is $25.35. This calculation uses 34.8 hours worked per week and 51 workweeks per year. That’s a total of 1774.8 hours per year of work.
- The OECD arrived at a similar total, 1767 hours per year per American worker. If you use this total, the average hourly wage increases to $25.47
- If you plan on working 40 hours per week and taking 2 weeks of vacation per year, then $60,000 a year is $22.50 dollars per hour.
The last calculation uses 2000 hours per year of work. That’s a really good rule of thumb for mental math. Just take any salary and divide it by 2000 to get an estimate of your hourly wage.
Is 45k a good salary?
The short answer is no, it’s not a good salary. It’s an average salary. The average salary median for an individual was $43k in 2020.
After taxes, a $45,000 salary is about $2950 per month in income. Your actual take-home pay will vary based on your state tax rate. If you’re young, single, live in a low cost of living area and have low discretionary spending, you can get by just fine on $45k. If you live in a high cost of living area, like NYC, you’re going to scrape by after paying for just rent and food. If you have kids and are paying for childcare, you may be better off not working.
Is $45K a year good?
What if we ask this question about a different type of income? What about passive income? $45,000 per year of passive income is solid! An investment portfolio of stocks and bonds will have a much lower tax burden than earned income. So if your investments are earning you $45,000 per year, you’re in a good spot. There’s more work to be done, but you’re on the right track!
Play around with different investment income scenarios with these tools:
You’ll see your taxes are near zero most of the time! In certain scenarios, you’ll get a tax refund! Let’s make it simple and say you’re tax bill is nill, zip, zero. Our favorite tax bill. That gives you a monthly budget of $2950. That’s close to my definition of Financial Security. The first level of financial freedom. At this level of passive income, you can most likely cover all your necessary expenses. Rent, utilities, food, insurance, etc. Imagine knowing you have enough money and passive income to pay the bills for the rest of your life. Image the relief and security that provides. What a huge weight to be lifted off your shoulders.
So to answer the question, is 45k per year good? It depends! It depends on the type of income.
You may be interested in this related article. 60000 a year is how much per hour.