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$15 an Hour is How Much a Year? Is $15 an Hour Salary Good?

Find out how much tax you owe, and what lifestyle you can afford on a $15-an-hour salary.
Deepti Nickam
Author: 
Deepti Nickam
Derek Sall
Editor: 
Derek Sall
Lauren Bedford
Fact Checker: 
Lauren Bedford
15 mins
April 18th, 2024
Advertiser Disclosure
$15 an Hour is How Much a Year? Is $15 an Hour Salary Good?

For a while now, policymakers have been loud about increasing the federal minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $15 an hour. This move would raise the minimum wage yearly salary to $31,200. Over 62% of Americans also back this idea. If this change could affect you directly, you may wonder if a $15-an-hour salary is good enough.

We’re here to break it all down for you. $15 an hour is how much a year? What will you make after taxes? Is this enough money to live on?

Read on to find out—

Check out our budgeting tools and articles:

How Much is 15 Dollars an Hour Annually?

If you earn $15 an hour, your annual salary is $31,200.

You can figure out your annual salary by multiplying your hourly wage by the number of hours you work per year. If you’re a full-time employee, you probably have a standard 40-hour workweek.

The federal government measures hourly wages on a labor year of 2,087 hours (40 hours a week x 52 weeks a year) for full-time workers like yourself.

We’ll do the same—so a $15 per hour salary adds up to $31,200 a year ($15 x 2,080 hours).

$15 an Hour is How Much a Month

If you make $15 per hour, your monthly salary would add up to $2,600.

We’ve arrived at this figure by multiplying your base salary by the number of hours and weeks you work in a month, assuming you work 40 hours a week ($15 x 40 hours x 4 weeks).

15 Dollars an Hour is How Much a Week

If you make $15 per hour, your weekly salary would be $600.

We’re assuming you work 40 hours a week, and we’re multiplying your base salary by this number ($15 x 40 hours).

If you work part-time—let’s say 20 hours—your weekly pay will reduce by half, adding up to $300 a week ($15 x 20 hours).

$15 an hour is how much biweekly?

You can simply double your weekly pay to arrive at this figure. In this case, it would be $1,200 biweekly, presuming you're working 40 hours a week.

This amount will come down to $600 biweekly if you’re working part-time (20 hours a week).

How Much Do I Make a Year: Annual Income for Wages Similar to 15 an hour

So you make around $15 per hour. It's easy to speculate what your annual income would look like if you made an extra dollar or two every hour.

What if your paycheck was less—or more—than $15? Would your annual salary look a lot different?

Let's find out—

HOURLY WAGES

ANNUAL SALARY

10 dollars an hour

$20,800

11 dollars an hour

$22,880

13 dollars an hour

$27,040

14 dollars an hour

$29,120

16 dollars an hour

$33,280

17 dollars an hour

$35,360

17.25 dollars an hour

$35,880

19 dollars an hour

$39,520

20 dollars an hour

$41,600

21 dollars an hour

$43,680

23 dollars an hour

$47,840

27 dollars an hour

$56,160

35 dollars an hour

$72,800

55 dollars an hour

$114,400

100 dollars an hour

$208,000

Read more:

How Much a Year is $15 an Hour: Annual Salary to Hourly Conversions

Think you can get your head round annual salaries better when they’re hourly figures? We’ve got you covered.

Here’s a detailed table with wages similar to a $15 per hour annual salary:

ANNUAL SALARY

HOURLY WAGES

$30,000 a year

$14.42

$40,000 a year

$19.23

$51,000 a year

$24.52

$57,000 a year

$27.40

$60,000 a year

$28.85

$70,000 a year

$33.65

$80,000 a year

$38.46

$90,000 a year

$43.27

$100,000 a year

$48.08

Top Jobs Paying 15 an Hour

We sure hope the minimum wage salary per year increases soon. But until then, let’s break down what jobs pay 15 an hour.

The best part? You can bag these jobs without a degree or work experience—

15 DOLLARS AN HOUR JOBS (FULL-TIME)

ANNUAL SALARY

Air traffic controller

$89,000–$200,000

Dental hygienist

$63,000–$100,000

Radiation therapist

$62,000–$100,000

MRI technician

$59,000–$100,000

Commercial pilot

$53,000–$100,000

Railroad conductor

$51,000–$100,000

Petroleum pump operator

$51,000–$79,000

Hearing aid specialist

$48,000–$100,000

Boilermaker

$48,000–$80,000

Criminal investigator

$47,000–$200,000

Subway operator

$42,000–$200,000

Instrument technician

$42,000–$100,000

Police officer

$42,000–$95,000

Casino manager

$41,000–$100,000

Patternmaker

$41,000–$100,000

Electrician

$41,000–$99,000

Model maker

$41,000–$94,000

Interior designer

$41,000–$86,000

Claims adjuster

$41,000–$77,000

Real estate broker

$40,000–$200,000

Plumber

$40,000–$100,000

Aircraft mechanic

$40,000–$89,000

Welding supervisor

$40,000–$88,000

Wind turbine technician

$40,000–$75,000

Truck driver

$39,000–$96,000

Computer support specialist

$39,000–$85,000

Massage therapist

$38,000–$200,000

Website developer

$38,000–$100,000

Ranch manager

$38,000–$100,000

Career coach

$38,000–$72,000

Ironworker

$36,000–$89,000

Fire inspector

$36,000–$86,000

Farm labor contractor

$36,000–$71,000

Elevator technician

$35,000–$100,000

Avionics technician

$35,000–$85,000

Funeral service manager

$35,000–$75,000

Medical sales representative

$34,000–$98,000

Gas plant operator

$34,000–$98,000

Insurance sales agent

$33,000–$100,000

Food service manager

$33,000–$73,000

Firefighter

$32,000–$91,000

Court reporter

$32,000–$91,000

Yoga instructor

$32,000–$82,000

Rigger

$32,000–$65,000

Social services assistant

$32,000–$60,000

Check out these articles for more job ideas:

Top Part-time Jobs Paying 15 an Hour

Looking for a side hustle that only requires a couple of hours of work every day? Here’s a compilation of part-time side gigs that pay at least $15 an hour:

15 DOLLARS AN HOUR JOBS (PART-TIME)

HOURLY PAY

Rent out baby supplies

$172–$227

Rent your pool

$30–$60

Write an ebook

$30–$40

Advertise on your car

$25–$28

Proofread

$21–$35

Flip websites

$20–$29

Rent on Airbnb

$20–$228

Own a vending machine

$20–$28

Babysit

$20–$25

Start a YouTube channel

$19–$29

Deliver packages on Amazon Flex

$18–$25

Start a food truck

$17–$25

Become a bookkeeper

$16–$25

Write resumes

$16–$24

Start freelancing

$15–$66

Tutor online

$15–$38

Become an Instagram influencer

$15–$20

Work for DoorDash

$15–$20

Rent out your car

$15–$19

For more part-time job and side hustle ideas, check out:

15 Dollars an Hour (40 hours a Week) After Taxes

You might be already dreading this part, but discussing taxes is key to knowing exactly how much of your salary you’re pocketing.

So, $15 an hour is how much a year after taxes? Well, you’ll need to consider both federal and state taxes to get an accurate estimate.

Let’s dive in—

Federal taxes on 15 dollars an hour jobs

Individual taxpayers currently have seven federal income tax brackets: 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37%.

Remember this is a progressive tax system, which means the amount of tax you pay depends on the income bracket in which your wages fall.

For example, when earning $31,200 per year as a single filer, you pay 10% tax on the first $9,950, and 12% tax on the next $30,575.

This adds up to $5,968 in federal taxes, so your salary after paying federal income tax would be $29,338.

But that’s not all. You still have to pay state taxes—

State taxes on 15 dollars an hour jobs

How much state tax do you owe? That depends on the state you live in and how you’re filling.

What do we mean by that?

Here’s a comparison of two states at opposite ends of the tax spectrum—Florida with the lowest average tax rate of 17.6% and Connecticut with the highest average tax rate of 25.1%.

For an annual income of $31,200, you’ll pay $0 state taxes in Florida and approximately $2,181 in Connecticut.

Here’s a breakdown of how state taxes vary in the US:

STATE

AVERAGE TAX RATE

STATE TAX

NET TAKE-HOME SALARY

Florida

17.6%

$0

$26,829

California

22.8%

$573

$25,913

Oklahoma

21.5%

$992

$25,837

New York

22.9%

$1,179

$25,459

South Carolina

23.8%

$1,683

$25,145

Connecticut

25.1%

$2,181

$24,492

Folks in Florida aren’t the only lucky ones. If you’re working in one of these eight states, you won’t pay state income tax:

  • Alaska

  • Nevada

  • New Hampshire

  • South Dakota

  • Tennessee

  • Texas

  • Washington

  • Wyoming

Note

Although New Hampshire won’t tax wages, the state does tax income from dividends and interest. Washington applies a flat income tax to high-earners’ capital gains.

Key Takeaways

SUMMARY
  • If you earn $15 an hour, your annual salary is $31,200 (assuming you’re working 40 hours per week or eight hours a day). That means you’re making $600 weekly, $1,200 biweekly, and around $5,000 monthly.

  • If you work part-time for 20 hours a week or 1,040 hours a year, your annual pay would reduce by half and come to $15,600 yearly ($15 multiplied by 1,040 hours).

  • You want to account for two key types of taxes (federal and state ones) to see how much of the $31,200 you’ll pocket annually.

  • Federal taxes have a progressive tax code, so the amount of taxes you pay depends on the income bracket where your wages fall. Currently, there are seven income tax brackets for individuals: 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37%.

  • The amount of state tax you pay will depend on where you work. You’ll pay nothing if you work in Florida, Alaska, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, or Wyoming.

FAQ

15 dollars an hour full time is how much a year?
$15 an hour part-time is how much a year?
How to figure out how much you make a year?
Is 15 dollars an hour good?
What is time and a half of 15?
Is $15 an hour enough to live on?
What is the average part-time salary in the US?

Sources

See all

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Contributors

Deepti Nickam
Deepti is a content writing and marketing professional with 5+ years of experience in the B2B and B2C sectors. She has written about several subjects, including finance, project management, human resources, and more.
Derek Sall
Derek has a Bachelor's degree in Finance and a Master's in Business. As a finance manager in the corporate world, he regularly identified and solved problems at the C-suite level. Today, Derek isn't interested in helping big companies. Instead, he's helping individuals win financially — one email, one article, one person at a time.
Lauren Bedford
Fact Checker
Lauren Bedford
Lauren is a published content writer and journalist. In the last five years, she has written about a range of subjects, including business, technology, and finance. She was born in June 1994 in the UK, but relocated to Barcelona five years ago. Initially covering topics like business and technology, Lauren is now dedicated to her position as a personal finance journalist and is always keen to keep learning and evolve as a finance writer.
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