In summary, $60,000 a year is an especially good hourly wage when you really think about it. This is especially true when you think about the first job that you ever had – and in this job you might find yourself making just above minimum wage, and this would be a huge achievement.
So, in this case it is pretty clear that making $60,000 a year is a salary that can provide you with some pretty great opportunities and benefits.
Let’s Talk Household Income Averages
The median household income in the year 2019 was $68,703 and this is a figure that had actually increased from the previous curve. The best way to think of this is as more of a bell curve, and on this bell curve $68,000 is right at the top.
What does this mean? Well, this means that half of the population will make less than this per year, and then the other half of the population will make more than this per year.
Talking about averages, let’s have a look at average income. The average income for a household is $48,672 for those who work for a 40-hour working week. This figure has also increased from the previous year too.
This also means that if you are to take everyone’s income and then divide it up between everyone this is the amount of income that everyone would have.
You might still have that one burning question though: can you live off $60,000 a year in today’s society? Is this really a good salary?
Can You Make A Living On This Salary?
Here’s the thing, we know that with any kind of paycheck, it can just feel like money will disappear out of your account so that all of your bills and all of your expenses can be covered.
Once you have dealt with all of this then it can definitely feel like you don’t have all that much money left over. This can be pretty disappointing because you might feel far away from reaching your financial goals.
This is ultimately when you will end up wondering whether or not you can end up making a living on this salary. Well, let’s break this down further.
How Much Is $60,000 Per Hour?
Jumping over from a job where you get paid hourly, to a job where you have a fixed salary means that you can lose sight of how much money you will actually get paid per hour.
But, this is something that you can lose sight of because it will be easy to forget how much you are actually earning on an hourly basis.
Breaking this down can really help you to work out whether or not a job is really worthwhile for you or whether a job really fits you the best.
Just to be absolutely clear, in order to calculate a figure for how much a $60,000 salary would earn you on an hourly basis we are going to use the average five working days timeframe to do this. This timeframe is 40 hours per week.
When it comes to working out how much the $60,000 salary to an hourly figure is, here are all of the calculations. The average working week as we said before is about 40 hours, and you will most likely work for 52 weeks of the whole year.
In order to work this out, you can take 40 hours and multiply this by 52 weeks which will get you 2,080 working hours. To work out the hourly rate you can then divide the yearly salary of $60,000 by 2,080 working hours and you will find that per hour you make $28.85.
Important To Remember
The figure of $28.85 is actually the gross hourly income. What does this mean? This is the figure before taxes, insurance or anything else is taken out of your pay.
It is also important to note that net income is the amount of money that you deposit into your bank account.
It is also really important that you check with your employer as to the way in which they plan on paying you. For instance, if you are on a salary then companies will typically pay you on a monthly, or on a semi-monthly, or a biweekly or even on a weekly basis.
How Much Will $60,000 Make You Per Day?
This figure is a challenge to work out, and this all due to the fact that it totally depends on the number of hours that you work in a day. So, naturally we are going to assume that you are working an eight hour day as this tends to be a pretty average figure.
To get this figure you will need to take 8 (hours) and then multiply this by 52 (weeks) which will give you 260 working days.
In order to get the annual salary figure then you need to take the figure of $60,000 and then you divide this amount by the 260 working days. This will give you the figure of $231 per working day which all in all is not too bad!
How Much Will $60,000 Make You Per Week?
So, progressing onto how much you earn a week can be really helpful to know. It is always nice to know how much you are earning on a weekly basis, so again we are working with the estimated figure of 40 hours a week as this is a pretty average working week.
To work this out you just need to take your annual salary of $60,000 and then you need to divide this by 52 (as this is the amount of weeks in a year) and this will give you a figure of $1,154 per week.
How Much Will $60,000 Make You On A Biweekly Basis?
This is a pretty easy calculation to work out when you have worked out how much you earn per week. All you really need to do is double the weekly wage. So, take the figure that we have just worked out of $1,154 and then double this and this will give you $2,308.
Or, you could also work this figure out by taking your annual salary of $60,000 and dividing it by 26 (as this is half of the weeks in the year) and this will give you the figure that you will earn on a biweekly basis.
How Much Will $60,000 Make You Per Month?
If we are still working in averages, then you will find that $60,000 will make you a monthly amount of $5,000. To work this out you simply divide your annual salary of $60,000 by 12 (as there are 12 months in the year) and this will give you the amount of $5,000.
This is the figure that you will make on a monthly basis on a salary of $60,000.
A Breakdown Of Your Income
We realise that this might be a lot of words to digest – so here we have a full breakdown of the exact amount of money that you will be earning when you are on a $60,000 salary.
It is important to note that the following figures are based on the weekly and hourly scenarios that we have presented to you above.
Your earnings might differ from these figures depending on how many hours you are working per week.
Time frame
Total Income
Hourly wage
$28.85
Daily wage (8 hours)
$231
Daily wage (10 hours)
$288
Weekly wage (40 hour week)
$1,154
Bi-weekly wage (80 hour fortnight)
$2,308
Monthly wage
$5,000
Yearly wage (52 weeks)
$60,000
Net estimated hourly income
$22.02
Net estimated monthly income
$3,817.50
How Much Will Taxes Affect Your $60,000 A Year Earnings?
You may or may not know this, but income tax is actually one of the biggest culprits of reducing the amount of pay that you take home – and this is without even thinking about FICA and social security too.
This is something that everyone who is earning a salary will understand, you will not be taking home the full amount because there are a whole host of deductions that come into your pay.
It is also important to note that when you start getting into a higher salary range, and ultimately the more that you make then the more money that will get deducted from your pay. This is because you will have to pay more money in taxes.
It is important to note that everyone’s tax situations will be pretty different. Here’s the thing, on a basic level we can really assume that there is a 12% federal tax rate and also a 4% state rate.
It is again important to remember that a percentage of this will also be deducted for Social Security and also for FICA, or Medicare. This will usually be around 7.65%.
You might now be really left wondering how much you can earn on a $60,000 salary when all of the taxes and other variables have been deducted from your pay.
Let’s Break Down The Deductions
So, you have your gross annual salary of $60,000.
You then have to deduct the following: your federal taxes of 12% which is $7,200, your state taxes of 4% which is $2,400, and lastly your social security and medicare which is 7.65% so you have a figure of $4,590.
When you have deducted all of these amounts you should find that your salary of $60,000 per year after all of your tax deductions should come to $45,810. This figure is your net annual salary after the taxes.
Turning This Figure Back Into An Hourly Wage
So, to turn this figure back into an hourly wage we will work alongside the assumption that you are working 2,080 hours in total.
You then just need to divide $45,810 by 2,080 hours and this will give you a figure of $22.02 per hour. After the estimated taxes along with the FICA you should find that you will be netting $45,810 per year and this will be $14,190 per year LESS than what you expect.
This can seem pretty deflating but it is important to remember that this is a pretty high-level example. And, this is a figure that can ultimately vary depending on multiple factors such as your personal situation and also any potential deductions.
It is also really important to bear in mind the sort of state that you are living in. For example, if you are someone who is living in a heavily taxed state such as California or even New York, you will find that you have to pay a lot more money in comparison to someone who lives in a state that is a no tax state – such as Texas or even Florida.
In summary, you should find that your yearly gross $60,000 income can actually range from $41,010 right up to $48,210 and this is something that completely depends upon your state income taxes. This section is just meant to educate you on and remind you about the impact that income taxes can end up having on your take home pay figure. This is actually one of those things that you really should acknowledge – and naturally you will need to pay taxes. However, this is something which can also put a pretty huge dent in the ability that you will have to just live the life that you are wanting to.
Will A $60,000 A Year Income Limit Your Lifestyle?
This is a pretty difficult question to answer, because every single person who is reading this will have had a different upbringing and therefore a totally different way of viewing the value of money.
Having a lavish lifestyle might be what one person has always dreamed of, but then again to another person this might be pointless. It is important to stress that there is no wrong answer or no right answer to this. It is all about establishing what works best for you.
Something that is really important to take into account is your general cost of living. Again, this is hard for us to be super specific on because everyone has such different lifestyles and also the cost of living will massively depend on where you are living.
For example, if you are living in a big city then you might find it much more difficult to try and maintain your lifestyle of $60,000 per year.
This is all to do with your basic expenses when living in a city, for instance you will have higher cost of housing, travel, food and even clothing. In a lower-cost area this would not be the case.
To be able to stretch your money and make every cent go a bit further, then you will more than likely have to enjoy a more frugal lifestyle.
You will need to focus on prioritizing where you are wanting to spend money and also where you do not want to be spending a huge amount of money.
However, if you are living in a relatively low cost area then you will be able to live a much more lavish lifestyle sure to the fact that the cost of living is a lot less.
This will work especially well for you if you are someone who enjoys a good ol’ shopping spree. You will have a lot more spending money to play with on a monthly basis.
We mentioned this before, but this is a slight reminder that $60,000 per year is right below the median income that you would find people to be earning in the United States. This will enable you to live a relatively modest lifestyle in America.
So, What Can A $60,000 Lifestyle Buy You?
If you happen to be an individual who is debt free and who can work really well with managing their money, then you will definitely be able to enjoy a lifestyle that suits you. Not only that, but you will be able to attain that lifestyle that you really want.
With this salary, you will be able to afford a home in a nice neighborhood and you will find that you can meet your expenses each and every month.
Also, you will be able to prioritise saving money and increase the amount of money that you are saving each and every year.
You should also find that you will be able to afford modest vacations on a pretty regular basis, and this will naturally happen through saving up for various excursions too.
Will A $60,000 Salary Really Hold You Back?
So, if you are someone who has a lot of debt to work through or if you are really struggling to go through life without just waiting for that next paycheck – then you might find that living off $60,000 per year is pretty difficult.
In case you hadn’t worked this out, there are two factors that are really coming into play here – when it comes to working out what is holding you back.
You need to work hard to try and pay off any debts that you have and until you have done this you need to stop that fun and frivolous spending. It is especially difficult to do this, but this is something that is super important.
Here’s the thing, it is actually possible to get ahead with your money – but to do this you will just be needing proper management skills and you will also need a desire to break the stressful money cycle that you are in at the moment.
This is a pretty big game changer, and will leave you feeling like you are on to a winner regardless of what your income is.
How Do You Budget Your $60,000 Per Year Salary?
If you are liking the sound of saving more money and avoiding all of the classic money stresses that we could all do without, then you have come to the right place.
Here we are going to go into a whole host of budgeting info to help you to work your way through any debts you have, and then the rest of your money that you have left over will be for fun and for spending.
Are you keen to work out how to manage your $60,000 salary in the best way? Well, keep reading to find out how to compare your spending to our average budgeting for each month.
It is especially important to note that the sections of your life where you should be putting most of your money is to your savings!
However, it is important to mention that unfortunately most of your monthly wages will go towards all things government tax related. How you budget your money can ultimately be up to you – it all depends on the areas in your life which take the most priority.
Some of you might find that you need to budget more for transport, whereas others might find that you might have to budget more for educational purposes.
We are all different and we all have pretty different priorities so it is important that you bear in mind what your priorities are and how to budget in a way that suits these the best.
Is $60,000 A Year Really A Good Salary?
You might find that you are doubting how great a $60,000 per year salary is. Let us be absolutely clear: this is a very good salary.
You will be making more money than the average American if you are on this salary, so you really should not find yourself questioning whether you are making enough money if you are on a $60,000 salary.
If you are at a point in your life where you are debating whether this is actually a good salary, then this could be due to the fact that you are in a lifestyle trap. You might find that you are trying to keep up with trends and social media lifestyles, and this is an unhealthy way to live.
If you are fixated on wanting more, and more, and more, then you will lose the value of the money that you earn. Do not forget that you work hard to earn your money and this is something that should be celebrated.
This salary is something which you could definitely find yourself living on pretty comfortably – and this is by no means a salary that you should struggle to live on.
If you are working at this salary and you are wanting more then there are simple things that you can do to better yourself.
You need to look at your career and work out whether you are at the top of your career game, so are there any other roles that you could progress on to? If there are ways that you can ‘climb the ladder’ within your current job then this is definitely something that you can do.
On the whole, whether you are happy or not with the salary that you earn – know that there is always something that you can do to make sure that you feel completely content with where you are at in your life.
Hi, my name is Deborah White, and I love to save money where possible. I will be the first person to admit that I am frugal, but when you have three children and two low income salaries, saving money makes all the difference. This is why I decided to set up this site, to help others save money too.
