$46k a Year is How Much an Hour?

When you move from an hourly wage to a salaried position, annual wages can seem like a lot more than they really are. And because some full-time jobs have more wage deductions than hourly positions, you may be surprised to realize your salary is much higher than it is. Not only do you have to account for federal and state income taxes, but your paycheck may also look smaller after retirement contributions and insurance premiums.

So much an hour is $46k a year? How do you calculate your monthly, weekly, and even daily pay from your annual salary? Keep reading to learn how you can calculate your hourly pay from your annual salary, why your paycheck may look smaller than you expected, and whether $46,000 a year is actually a good salary for where you live.

$46k a year is how much an hour?

$46k a year salary comes out to about $22 an hour, far above the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. This, of course, is your pretax income and assumes you work 40 hours a week.

To be a bit more exact, if you work a 40-hour-a-week full-time job, you will work for a total of 2,080 hours annually. So to earn an annual salary of $46,000, you would need to make $22.12 per hour.

Generally, if you want to make a higher yearly salary, evaluating your hourly wage is a good place to start.

$46k a year is how much a month?

To calculate your gross monthly pay, simply divide your gross annual salary by 12 for each month in a year. For a $46,000 annual salary, your gross pay would be about $3,833 per month.

$46k a year is how much a week?

Fortunately, you can use a similar calculation to determine your weekly pay, except this time divide your annual salary by 52. With a $46k salary, you would earn about $885 per week, or $1,769 if you’re paid biweekly.

Keep in mind that these are all rough gross figures. Your actual take-home pay will be affected by income taxes. The rules for state income taxes will vary depending on where you work and live, but pretty much everyone is expected to pay federal income and social security taxes.

Paid-time off

One of the best parts about salaried positions is the potential for paid time off (PTO). With PTO, you’ll get the same pay for working fewer hours per week, though only for a limited time.

Depending on your position, you may receive a set number of hours or days you can take off without impacting your take-home pay. Other companies allow you to roll over whatever time you didn’t use into next year, giving you even more free time.

How does a $46k salary compare to other salaries?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that the median household income nationally was $58,260, which is considerably higher than a $46,000 salary. To get a better idea of how your salary compares to others, take a look at the table below.

What kinds of jobs make $46k a year?

If you’re looking for better pay or a new profession, you can use the table below to see jobs with an average salary between $40,000 and $59,999. Keep in mind that this isn’t a complete list and doesn’t account for any raises, bonuses, or promotions in these fields.

For more information on any of these occupations, visit the Bureau Labor of Statistics’ Occupation Finder.

How much of that $46k a year do you take home?

Unfortunately, you can’t take that entire $46k home every year. Between federal and state taxes, medical insurance premiums, and contributions to your retirement account, your take-home pay may look a lot different from your annual pay.

Insurance

Many large and small businesses offer health insurance as a benefit for salaried employees, which can be a huge plus. However, these insurance premiums are removed from your paycheck. Of course, this only matters if you receive your health insurance through your company; otherwise, you won’t have to account for this payment.

Retirement contributions

Another benefit to salaried positions is retirement contributions. Depending on where you work, your company may have a variety of retirement accounts available, though most will likely offer a 401(k) or IRA of some kind.

Fortunately, you can decide how much you contribute to your retirement. Some businesses offer to match contributions up to a certain dollar amount or percentage, so be sure to take advantage of that bonus. This match is often around 3% or 4% of your monthly income.

Federal income tax

In 2021 the IRS announced the annual inflation adjustments for the tax year 2022. Some of the changes include increases to the standard deductions, which is the amount of your earned income that is not subject to taxes. For single taxpayers, the standard deduction is $12,950, an increase of $400.

With marginal tax brackets, the more money you make, the more money you can expect to pay in taxes. However, once you change tax brackets, your tax burden will change, and the resulting take-home pay will likely be different. Individuals are only taxed at each bracket for the money they make relevant to the bracket.

FICA tax

Though it may be annoying to see more money leave your paycheck, the FICA tax funds Social Security and Medicare. Everyone working, even if they collect Social Security, is expected to pay a FICA tax. As of 2022, FICA has a fixed rate of 7.65% on all taxable income up to $147,000.

After you exceed $147,000 of taxable income, the FICA tax is no longer applicable, as this is the maximum income considered when calculating Social Security benefits. Though there have been discussions of raising the income cap for the FICA tax, this cap hasn’t increased as of 2022.

State income taxes

After you deduct federal and FICA taxes, there’s one more set of taxes to consider before determining your take-home pay: state taxes.

This is where your take-home pay can vary considerably. For instance, if you live in a state with no income tax — such as Alaska, Washington, and Florida — your take-home pay will be around $38,666 a year. However, other states have high state taxes, such as Oregon, California, and New York. Make sure to keep this in mind when planning your annual budget.

Is $46k a year enough to live on comfortably?

In 2022, the federal poverty line was about $13,590 per year, excluding Alaska and Hawaii. With that in mind, a $46,000 salary sounds pretty good.

However, that number merely describes the poverty line, not what it means to live comfortably. It’s also difficult to say whether this is a good salary for every U.S. city, as the cost of living varies significantly depending on the state and city you reside in. Use the chart below, which lists the average household income per state, to determine whether your $46k yearly salary is reasonable for your area.

Your yearly salary vs. the living wage

Fortunately, a yearly salary of $46,000 is above the living wage in all but Washington, D.C. Of course, a “living wage” is defined as the minimum wage a person must make to simply get by wherever they live. Ideally, you’ll make more than the living wage and have a little wiggle room in your budget for additional savings.

To see how your $46k salary compares to the living salaries and poverty guidelines throughout the U.S., take a look at the chart below.

Sample $46k a year budget

Even if you have a good salary, you can easily find yourself needing more money each month if you don’t plan an appropriate budget. Depending on your income and desired lifestyle, there will be some wiggle room as to what a healthy budget will look like.

For example, let’s say you live in Maine making $46,000 a year. After state and federal taxes, your take-home pay would equal about $36,582, so your budget for the year may look something like this.

Housing and the general cost of living will vary widely from state to state. In high-cost-of-living states such as California and New York, a larger portion of your income will likely be spent on your rent or mortgage.

What if $46k a year isn’t enough?

Even if their living expenses are covered, the average person making $46k a year would still likely benefit from an increase in their monthly income. This could just add more discretionary spending room to their budget, but extra money in the bank is always a comforting feeling.

Most people who want extra income without the total commitment of second jobs will want to turn to the gig-based economy. Fortunately, many of these jobs have a relatively low entry skill barrier and widespread availability through websites and mobile apps. Gig work also provides the freedom to have non-traditional work hours, unlike most hourly jobs.

Courier services

Many of the well-known courier services’ primary businesses involve food delivery. Grubhub, DoorDash, Ubereats, and similar services can be a great way to earn money. But it can be hard to calculate how much extra income these will add to your bank account each month because a non-negligible portion of your profits will be from customer tips.

Since tips are never guaranteed, coming up with an exact number can be difficult. If you have an older but reliable vehicle, doing deliveries on a couple of weekends each month will definitely put at least some extra money in your pocket.

Odd-job freelancing

If there isn’t a robot that can affordably perform the necessary task, then there is probably someone, somewhere, willing to pay money to make their life a little bit easier. Many of the more well-known gig-work marketplaces have significant demand for labor with relatively limited requirements.

Some of the most popular gig-work marketplaces cater to pet owners and are specifically meant to help find dog walkers and pet sitters. Other marketplaces such as TaskRabbit advertise services such as furniture assembly, housekeeping, and other minor home improvement tasks.

If your normal work is a skill that can be performed remotely, such as graphic design, or voiceover work, you can also look into freelancing in your current industry. There are a variety of platforms that cater to more professional freelancers. Getting your first few gigs on these platforms can be a bit challenging without any reviews on your profile, so if at all possible, consider leveraging your professional network for initial leads.

Ride-sharing services

Two of the most well-known side gigs are a bit of a hybrid between courier services and odd-job freelancing. Uber and Lyft call themselves ride-sharing services, but they are arguably a lot less like public transit and a lot more like app-based taxi services.

Wages between the two are fairly competitive, but the best service to work for will probably depend on where you live. Driving passengers for Uber or Lyft has stricter vehicle requirements than working for one of the previously mentioned delivery services.

Property rentals

Property rentals are the area of the gig economy that can potentially require the least amount of time dedicated to your side hustle. They will, however, usually require a significant initial financial investment if you don’t already own the property you plan to rent out. Two of the more popular choices for property rentals are motor vehicles and residential property.

The demand will depend on your location, but even if the property is only rented out once or twice a month, that’s still extra money in your pocket you wouldn’t otherwise have. The best platform for you will depend on what type of property you are hoping to rent out.

Extra income from a side hustle won’t be an exact number

Unlike above, where we could easily convert hourly rates into annual income, trying to calculate exactly how much your side hustles will impact your net worth is a bit trickier. The hourly pay for side hustles can vary widely, even when near identical work is performed, and especially when tips become a factor.

Courier services and ride-share drivers will receive money in tips regularly, but since the amount received in tips will vary, it can be hard to predict future income. Charging an hourly rate will allow you to calculate some additional income, but be prepared to pay all the relevant taxes on that income.