The average salary in the U.S. is $66,622, according to the latest data from the Social Security Administration. How your salary compares will depend on your industry and skilI set, as you'd expect.
Income distribution in the United States
Data source: U.S. Census Bureau (2025). Forty-five percent of American households earn less than $75,000 per year. Forty-three percent earn $100,000 or more.
How much do you need to be considered middle class in California? A California household needed to earn an annual income of $63,674 to $190,644 to be considered middle class in 2023, the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the SmartAsset found.
The rule advises spending no more than 28 percent of your income on housing expenses, and no more than 36 percent of your income on total debt payments, including housing.
Middle-income households – those with an income that is two-thirds to double the U.S. median household income – had incomes ranging from about $56,600 to $169,800 in 2022. Lower-income households had incomes less than $56,600, and upper-income households had incomes greater than $169,800.
What is considered middle class income in Canada? Middle-class income in Canada is anything between $52,875 to $141,000 for individuals, according to the most recent data from Statistics Canada. You have a middle-class income if you earn between 75% and 200% of the median household income after tax.
According to 2024 data from YouGov Profiles, nearly 18% of American adults earn more than $100,000 a year. Among those aged 35 to 44, the figure rises to 25% — one in four. Across all age groups, members of this high-income bracket overwhelmingly point to one key factor behind their success: education.
If you're earning $75,000 annually, your hourly wage is approximately $36.06 . To calculate this, divide your yearly salary by the average number of working hours per year — typically 2080 hours (52 weeks x 40 hours). So, $75,000 divided by 2080 equals an hourly income of $36.06.
Currently, the average income in Canada is $59,300 after tax deductions. A recent government report revealed that the average national salary is expected to increase by 4.2% in 2023. Alberta, Nunavut and Yukon offer the highest annual salary average. In Alberta, the average salary in 2022 was $60,000.
Five common income classes, often based on income distribution like quintiles (fifths) of the population, are Lower Class, Lower-Middle Class, Middle Class, Upper-Middle Class, and Upper Class, with specific income thresholds varying by source but generally defining the middle class as earning around two-thirds to double the national median income, adjusted for household size and cost of living.
A "good" household income varies, but generally, $100,000+ is considered comfortable for many individuals/small families, while the U.S. median household income is around $78,000 (with family incomes higher). A strong income is often defined by fitting into the upper-middle class (around $117k-$150k nationally) or achieving financial stability by following rules like 50/30/20 (50% needs, 30% wants, 20% savings) after taxes. Your location and family size are crucial, as living in a high-cost area like San Francisco requires significantly more income to be middle-class than in a low-cost area.
This belief is supported by a widely publicized 2010 study led by Daniel Kahneman and his Princeton colleague, Angus Deaton — both winners of the Nobel Prize in Economics — which concluded that happiness only increases with income up to $75,000.
The "7 streams of income" generally refer to diversifying earnings beyond a single job, popularizing categories like earned income (salary), profit income (business), interest, dividends, rental income, capital gains, and royalty income, as seen in millionaire studies, though the exact number varies and often combines active (job) and passive (investments, royalties) sources for financial security, notes Qonto, SoFi, Yahoo Finance, YouTube, Medium.
Example: 37.5 hours/week → 37.5 × 52 = 1,950 hours → $80,000 ÷ 1,950 ≈ $41.03/hour. If your role includes unpaid time off or sabbaticals, subtract those hours from the annual total before dividing.