How Much Is 6 Figures? (Plus meaning of 7,8,9 figures)
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Wondering how much is 6 figures? Chances are if you’re earning 6 figures a year, you are doing pretty good for yourself…depending on where you live.
Once you know how much 6 figures is, it’s easy to know how much 7 figures, 8 figures, and 9 figures is. Although, it’s not so easy to earn that much money!
What is a figure?
Put simply, a figure is any number. Pick a number…any number from 0-9. When you put those numbers together with other numbers, you get higher figures.
Here are some examples:
- $15 is a 2-figure number. It has two digits (1 and 5).
- $235 is a 3-figure number. It has three digits (2, 3, and 5).
- $1057 is a 4-figure number. It has four digits (1, 0, 5, and 7). Remember, zero counts as a figure!
- $27,980 is a 5-figure number. It has five digits (2, 7, 9, 8, and 0).
- $107,604 is a 6-figure number. It has six digits (1, 0, 7, 6, 0, and 4).
Here’s a handy graphic to help you remember:
How much is 6 figures in dollars?
In terms of money, 6 figures is any amount between $100,000 and $999,999 which a person earns per year. This number is usually calculated before taxes.
By the way, cents don’t count. So, if you make $8,678.85 per year, you don’t earn 6-figures.
How much is 6 figures an hour?
If you earn $100,000 (before taxes) per year and work 40 hours a week for 52 weeks (which is an average of 173 hours per month), your average hourly wage is $48.00.
If you earn $150,000 (before taxes) per year and work an average of 173 hours per month (40 hours a week), your average hourly pay is $72.00.
A salary of $200,000 per year will net you $96.00 an hour (before taxes).
How much is 6 figures monthly?
Remember, 6-figures is anywhere between $100,000-$999,999, so of course, monthly salaries will vary.
Using the examples above:
- $100,000 is roughly $8,300 per month
- $150,000 is about $12,500 per month
- $200,000 averages to $16,700 a month before taxes
Is 6 figures a good salary?
Well, that depends. If you live in California, $100,000 won’t get you as much as it will if you live in Nebraska and make $100,000 per year.
In fact, due to the high cost of housing, transportation, and state income taxes, many families who make $100,000 a year in California are barely getting by.
According to Bankrate’s Cost of Living Index,
You’d need to earn about $141,000 in Boston to have the equivalent of $100,000 in Houston. And if you were living on $100,000 per year in Memphis, Tennessee, you’d have to earn roughly a whopping $245,000 to maintain the same standard of living in parts of New York City. While salaries are often higher in cities with higher costs of living, they don’t always match up to provide the same quality of life.
Full disclosure: My husband and I (combined) typically earn far less than $100,000 per year and we live quite comfortably with our family of 5 in a small town in the midwest.
This year was the first year I’ve been able to say I’m a member of the 6-figure bloggers club. With the money I earned from blogging this year, we were able to pay off all of our debt, take a modest vacation, and set aside an emergency fund. Whohoo!
If you are buried in debt and live in a high cost of living area, you’ll likely struggle to make ends meet on $100,000 per year. Your best bet if you find yourself in this situation is to increase your income with side hustles, pay off your debt, and consider either relocating somewhere with lower costs or increasing your income so you can comfortably stay where you are.
Related: Can you live off of $18 an hour?
What percentage of Americans make over $100,000K?
According to the US Census Bureau, just 14.5% of Americans earned more than $100,000 per year in 2019. A whopping 85.5% earned less than $100,000.
6 figure salary jobs
By now you’re probably saying, “Sign me up! How can I make 6 figures? Do I need a degree?”
It’s important to note that you don’t need to slave away at one particular job in order to earn a 6-figure salary.
In fact, many people earn a good living through a combination of ‘side hustles’. For example, if you are tech-savvy (or willing to learn), you can combine blogging with freelance writing, VA (virtual assistant) work, and digital products in order to put you over the 6-figure mark.
Top 6-Figure jobs that require a degree:
| Career | Degree Required | Average Annual Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Financial Manager | Bachelor’s degree | $129,890 |
| General and Operations Manager | Bachelor’s degree | $104,690 |
| Medical and Health Services Manager | Bachelor’s degree | $100,980 |
| Nurse Practioner | Bachelor’s or Master’s degree | $115,800 |
| Software Developer | Bachelor’s degree | $107,510 |
| Information System Manager | Bachelor’s degree | $146,360 |
| Human Resources Manager | Bachelor’s degree | $116,720 |
| Marketing Manager | Bachelor’s degree | $135,900 |
| Computer Research Scientist | Master’s degree | $122,840 |
| Physicist/Astronomer | Doctoral or Professional | $122,220 |
| Lawyer | Doctoral or Professional | $141,890 |
Top 6-Figure jobs that don’t require a degree:
| Career | Income Potential |
|---|---|
| Blogger | Varies: $12,000-Unlimited |
| YouTuber | Varies: $0-$26 million |
| Nuclear Power Reactor Operator | $128,000 |
| Air Traffic Controller | $122,990 |
| Flea Market Flipping | Varies: up to $100,000 |
| Drop-Shipping | Varies: up to $100,000 |
| Small Business Owner | Varies: $30,000-$160,000 |
| Fire Chief | $121,000 |
| Construction Manager | $130,000 |
| Commercial Airline Pilot | $121,430 |
| Real Estate Broker | Varies: $30,000-$100,000 |
Related: How much is $40,000 per year an hour?
How much is 7 figures?
If you earn more than $999,999 but less than $9,999,999 per year, congratulations! You have made it into the 7 figures and you’re officially a millionaire!
A millionaire is anyone whose annual income and investable assets (cash, stocks, bonds, and funds) total $1,000,000 or more.
Did you know many ordinary people who earn a modest salary (less than $100,000) have made it to millionaire status simply by living on less than they make and investing wisely?
Here are a few:
- Ronald Read (janitor)-Died in 2014 with a portfolio of $8 million
- Margaret Southern (teacher)-Died in 2012 with $8.4 million
- Sylvia Bloom (secretary)-Died in 2016 with a fortune worth over $9 million
The three people above have several things in common, notably, they all lived below their means, they avoided increasing their standard of living as their net worth increased, and they all invested in the stock market in modest amounts whenever possible.
How much is 8 figures?
Someone who earns between $10,000,000 (10-million dollars) and $99,999,999 (ninety-nine million, nine hundred ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred ninety-nine dollars) makes 8-figures.
9 figures meaning
A 9-figure income means a person earns between $100,000,000 and $999,999,999 a year.
Anything more than $999,999,999 is considered a billionaire. According to Forbes, as of March 18, 2020, there were 614 billionaires in the United States.
As you can see, 9 figures is a lot of money!
Richest People in America earning 7,8,9 and 10-figures
Millionaires (7-figures)
According to Phoenix Marketing International, 6.71% of U.S. households claimed millionaire status in 2019. This means that over 8 million households (out of over 125 million nationwide) have investable assets worth more than $1,000,000.
States with the highest number of millionaires (per capita):
- New Jersey-323,443 out of 3,312,916 households
- Maryland-221,189 out of 2,274,491 households
- Connecticut-130,291 out of 1,380,296 households
Multi-millionaires (8 & 9-figures)
- Roger Federer/Tennis player (highest-paid athlete)-$106.3 million in salary and endorsements
- Dwayne Johnson (highest-paid actor)-$86.5 million
- Sofia Vergara (highest-paid actress)-$43 million
- U2/Band (highest-paid musicians)-$195 million
- Ryan Kaji (highest-paid YouTuber)-$26 million (UM…he’s 9!)
Billionaires (10-figures and up)
- Jeff Bezos (Amazon CEO)-Net worth $179 billion
- Bill Gates (Microsoft CEO)-Net worth $111 billion
- Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook CEO)-Net worth $85 billion
- Warren Buffet (Berkshire Hathaway CEO)-Net worth $73.5 billion
- Larry Ellison (Software Developer)-Net worth $72 billion
It’s not how much you make, it’s how you manage it
Now that you know how much is 6 figures, I’ll leave you with some final thoughts.
First and foremost is that money doesn’t buy happiness.
In fact, for many people, the more money they make, the more stress they experience. According to a recent study by Purdue University, the sweet-spot for having ‘enough’ money seems to be between $60,000-$75,000 for one’s emotional well-being and $95,000 for overall life ‘satisfaction’.
Once you have enough to cover life’s basic necessities (food, clothing, shelter, transportation, and health care), your happiness levels likely won’t increase simply by increasing your income.
According to the US Census Bureau, the median household income for 2019 was $65,712. Which was the highest ever recorded.
Does that mean Americans were the happiest they’ve ever been in 2019?
Regardless of how much money you make, budgeting it properly is critical. The importance of having a budget cannot be overstated. Living on a budget helps you prioritize spending so you can achieve long-term money goals.
The key to increasing your overall happiness lies in getting out of debt, building an emergency fund, and investing/saving for the future.
Finally, if you’ve been spending more than you earn. Stop! Learn to embrace a frugal lifestyle ASAP. The best place to start cutting expenses is your food budget. Once you’ve mastered the art of saving money on groceries, you can move on to housing and transportation costs.
