50000 a Year Is How Much an Hour? Is It Really a Good Salary?

Sharing is caring!

Last Updated on June 9, 2022 by Rebecca Lake

50000 a Year Is How Much an Hour

Earning a $50,000 a year annual salary may sound good on paper.

But 50000 a year is how much an hour exactly? And can you live reasonably well on a $50K yearly salary in the United States?

Some quick math will tell you that $50,000 a year works out to $20-$25 in hourly salary, depending on the number of hours worked. If you make that much money a year, it’s important to understand just how far it can go in helping you reach your financial goals.

Related post: $40,000 a Year Is How Much an Hour? (And Is It a Good Salary?)

LIKE FREE MONEY?

Here are some of my go-to apps for earning extra cash!

Survey Junkie. Earn up to $50 per survey just for sharing your opinions.

Swagbucks. Make money by playing games and watching videos. Join for free and get a $10 bonus when you sign up!

InboxDollars. Take surveys and get paid, no special skills or experience required!

Rakuten. Earn up to 40% cash back at hundreds of retailers, online or in stores. And get $30 for each person you refer, along with a $10 sign up bonus!

CashApp. Need a simple app for sending and receiving money? Get $5 free when you use code ‘VZXRXZN’ to join CashApp.

50000 a Year Is How Much an Hour?

If you assume a standard 40 hour work week at a full-time job, $50,000 a year works out to $24.40 per hour.

Here’s a more detailed explanation of the math:

40 hours per week x 52 weeks per year = 2,080 hours

$50,000 per year salary/2,080 hours = $24.04 in hourly income

This is take-home pay based on a 2,080 hour work year and doesn’t include deductions for:

• Federal income tax
• FICA taxes (including Social Security tax and Medicare tax)
• State income tax
• Health insurance

This figure also doesn’t include any additional per hour rate you might earn for overtime, time and a half pay, sick pay or vacation time.

Related post: $20 an Hour Is How Much a Year? Is $20 an Hour Really Good?

$50,000 a year is how much a month?

When you divide $50,000 a year by 12 months, you’ll end up with a monthly income of $4,166.67.

Most employers don’t use the monthly payment method for handling employee paychecks, though there are some that do pay a monthly salary.

If you get a monthly paycheck versus a biweekly or weekly one, the funds may hit your bank account on the 1st or 15th of the month.

$50,000 a year is how much biweekly?

When paychecks are made on a biweekly basis, $50,000 a year works out to $1,923.08.

This assumes that you receive 26 paychecks, with one paycheck hitting your bank account every other week.

Biweekly paychecks could make budgeting easier if you use the budget by paycheck method. This can be the easiest way to budget if you prefer to assign specific expenses to each pay period.

$50,000 a year is how much a week?

Assuming you work 52 weeks of the year, then a $50,000 a year salary works out to $961.54 in weekly pay.

The amount of hours worked here doesn’t necessarily matter, since you’re more concerned with the number of weeks in the year.

The exact number someone who makes $50,000 a year might earn in weekly income can depend on whether they work more weeks or fewer. Someone who cashes in three weeks of unpaid vacation time, for example, wouldn’t draw a check for those weeks.

The $961.54 you’d earn weekly is take home salary. So again, no deductions for federal taxes, state income taxes, additional state taxes, local taxes or insurance.

Related post: $15 an Hour Is How Much a Year? (And Is It a Living Wage?)

$25 an hour is how much a year?

Someone who earns $25 an hour and works 40 hours a week or a 2,080 hour work year earns $52,000 in annual income.

This is gross pay, not net income. So it doesn’t include tax deductions or other deductions.

Earning $25 an hour can work out to a different yearly salary, depending on the number of hours worked.

• 20 hours per week x $25 an hour = $26,000 a year
• 30 hours per week x $25 an hour = $39,000 a year

So 50000 a year is how much an hour? In a nutshell, it’s $2,000 less than what you’d earn if you were making $25 an hour instead.

50000 a Year Is How Much an Hour After Taxes?

So far we’ve calculated the hourly payment you’d received on a base salary of $50,000 a year. But how much you actually make in net income depends on how much tax you pay and other deductions that are taken out by your employer.

Here’s a simple baseline calculation of how much $50,000 in yearly salary works out to in net income weekly, assuming you belong to the 12% tax bracket:

• $50,000 (annual income pre-tax)
• -$113 for federal taxes
• -$38 for state income taxes
• -$74 for FICA taxes
• Net income = $737

This is just a quick breakdown. You can use an hourly calculator or salary calculator to figure out what your actual paycheck might look like, based on your hours of work and hourly rate.

Remember, this is net pay without taxes factored in. It doesn’t include any other amount of money you might deduct for health insurance or retirement plan contributions.

Related post: Do Teachers Get Paid in the Summer?

Is $50,000 a Year a Decent Salary?

If you assume that $50,000 a year is $24.04 per hour, then that’s nearly four times the federal minimum wage. So you might automatically assume this is a good hourly rate.

But it’s important to consider how $50K in yearly salary compares to the average salary and median salary the typical American earns.

Pinning down the average household income is challenging since most organizations that track this information look at median income instead. Median simply means the middle figure in a range, while average income refers to the mean.

So, here’s how the median household income in the United States adds up according:

• $67,521 yearly as of 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau
• $1,003 in median weekly earnings as of the third quarter of 2021, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics

So based on these numbers, you could assume the average person is making anywhere from $52,000 to $67,000 a year.

But is that a great salary? According to data from Pew Research, around half–52%–of Americans earn a middle class income.

Whether you qualify as middle class can depend on:

• Your state
• Which metropolitan area you live in
• The exact amount of annual income you earn before taxes
• Total number of people in your household

For example, a single person living in South Dakota and earning $50000 a year would be firmly in the middle class or middle group of income earners. But someone who lives in San Francisco, has a spouse and one child and makes $50,000 a year would be in the lower tier of income, according to this calculator.

Again, whether $50K a year is a good salary can depend on your cost of living.

$50,000 a year is certainly not going to pay for a lavish lifestyle in New York City or San Francisco, where rent prices can easily top $3,000 a month. But you could enjoy a modestly comfortable lifestyle at that income level if you live somewhere that doesn’t have a high cost of living.

Tax deductions can also play a part in how well you’re able to live on a $50,000 yearly salary.

A $50,000 annual income likely wouldn’t put you near the top tax rate but you still have to factor in the tax contributions you make, based on your filing status and state income tax rates.

Related post: How to Get Rich From Nothing (10 Proven Secrets to Become a Millionaire)

50000 a Year Is How Much an Hour Budget Example

50000 a year is how much an hour when budgeting? And what kind of lifestyle can you afford?

Figuring out just how far a $50K a year salary will go can be easier when you have a monthly budget example to follow. The following table breaks down what your budget could look like based on average monthly earnings of $4,166.

To keep things simple, we’ll look at two different budgeting methods: Dave Ramsey’s budget percentages and the 50/30/20 budget rule.

Housing is typically one of the biggest budgeting categories, regardless of which budget method you use. So how much house you pay for can impact how much you have left after working out your $50,000 a year budget.

Remember, owning a home can add other costs beyond your mortgage payment. You also have to account for homeowners insurance, property taxes and maintenance, all of which can make housing more expensive.

Related post: Old Money vs New Money (What’s the Difference and Does It Matter?)

What Jobs Pay $50000 a Year?

There are plenty of jobs that pay a $50000 yearly income, some of which require a college degree and others that don’t.

When the question is 50000 a year is how much an hour? it’s important to consider the amount of work, effort, education and training that goes into earning that amount.

If you’re looking for a new job or just curious about which jobs land in the $50,000 to $60,000 a year salary ranges, here are some of the top options according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

How to Make a $50,000 Yearly Salary

You have the answer to 50000 a year is how much an hour. Your next question might be how to make $50,000 a year?

There are two main options: One involves working for an employer; the other involves working for yourself.

Here’s a quick breakdown of different ways to make a $50000 yearly salary.

Option 1: Make more money at your current job

If you have a full-time job already, there are a few ways you could get your income into the $50000 annual salary range if it’s not there already.

The list includes:

• Negotiating a pay raise to increase your yearly salary
• Working more hours if you’re paid an hourly rate
• Angling for a promotion to a higher-paying role

If those aren’t options, you could also consider taking on a second job or part-time job to reach the $50k yearly salary mark.

Or you might think about changing jobs altogether to find an employer that offers a higher pay rate.

Related post: How to Make More Money in 2022: 21 Genius Ways to Grow Your Income

Option 2: Make $50000 a year with a side hustle

Side hustles can help you grow your income to the $50,000 a year range (or beyond). And many of them don’t require you to work the typical 40 hour work week or be stuck at a desk a certain number of days each week.

For example, I get paid to write full-time but I don’t work full-time hours. The number of hours I work in a typical week ranges from 20 to 25 and I earn a pre tax salary of $5,000 a week which works out to $250,000 a year in gross pay.

Can you make that kind of money overnight with a side hustle?

No. But you could make enough to replace your full-time income from your day job faster than you might think if you’re willing to put in the work.

Here are some of the best side hustle ideas for making $50,000 a year or more:

• Freelance writing (learn how to get started with freelance writing in this free email course)
• Proofreading (this free webinar covers the basics of getting paid to proofread)
• Transcription jobs (here’s a free course that can help you get started with online transcription)
• Teaching online (Outschool is a great platform for stay at home moms, college students or anyone else who wants to teach kids K-12)
• Selling printables (all you need to get started is Canva and some creative ideas)
• Bookkeeping (this freebie explains how to start your own virtual bookkeeping business from home)
• Virtual assistant (Gina Horkey offers this amazing class that can help you earn five figures a month as a VA!)

Those are just a few possibilities for making $50,000 a year with a side hustle. If you need more options, here are 140+ legit side hustles you can start right now!

Looking for a remote gig or work-from-home job? Virtual Vocations features remote jobs and at-home jobs in over 50 categories so you can find a role that fits your skills. Create a Virtual Vocations account and start browsing listings to find your next remote job!

Bonus idea: Invest for passive income

Investing can help you make money while you sleep.

You can invest in stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), mutual funds, bonds or even cryptocurrency through an online broker. And those investments can earn interest or dividend income or grow in value so that you realize capital gains when you sell them.

You don’t need a lot of money to start investing either. If you have just $100 you can start investing passively with M1 Finance.

This can be one of the simplest ways to build wealth without much effort.

Final thoughts on 50000 a year is how much an hour

Good money management starts with understanding how much your time is worth and what your opportunity cost is when taking on a job. An equivalent hourly wage in the $20 to $25 range can look good on paper, but it may not go as far as you think once you start accounting for things like taxes or a high cost of living.

If you’re interested in making more than $50,000 a year, then starting a side hustle can be one of the best ways to do it. A profitable side hustle could even turn into a six-figure or seven-figure income!

Need some ideas on how to increase your income with side jobs? Here are 15 top money making skills to learn now that can help you be your own boss!

And don’t forget to check out my favorite Smart Money Tools for making and saving money!

50000 a Year Is How Much an Hour in Money

Sharing is caring!