15 Dollars an Hour Is How Much a Year?

What can you get for 15 bucks? Well, these days — not much (especially if we’re talking about gas). But what if you had a $15/hour salary? How much could you make a year?

In this article, we’ll try to answer the most obvious question: 15 dollars an hour is how much a year? We will also discuss what this wage looks like on a weekly, monthly, and yearly level.

Stay tuned!

15 Dollars an Hour is How Much a Year?

If using an online salary calculator is too much of a hassle, we’ll break it down for you.

Total annual income for $15 an hour before taxes

Let’s say you work a typical 40-hour week. Here is how you’d calculate your total income:

• Multiply these 40 hours by 52 weeks in a year, which amounts to 2,800 working hours.
• Multiply these 2,080 hours by $15, which amounts to a total annual income of $31,200.

$15 an hour annually after taxes

As we all know, you don’t get to keep all the money you make. Some of it goes toward paying taxes. Let’s see how much of it is actually yours to splurge after paying taxes.

Before calculating how much money you’ll be left with after taxes, we must mention that:

• You get your taxable income when factoring in the standard tax deduction ($12,950 in 2022 for single filers)
• After that, you must determine in which tax bracket you belong

So, to determine your taxable income, we will first perform the necessary deductions:

$31,200 – $12,950 = $18,250

This means your taxable income is $18,250 which would put you in the 12% tax bracket. However, you won’t give 12% of your income on taxes — you just have to pay 10% on the first $10,275, and 12% on the rest.

$10,275 x 10% = $1,027.5
$7,975 (the amount over $10,275) x 12% = $957

Based on this calculation, your federal income tax would be $1,984, which would leave your total earnings at $29,216. Of course, this does not include other state taxes and/or securities and medicare packages, which vary from state to state.

We would recommend that you get a clear image of what exactly you’re expected to pay in taxes to avoid tax evasion charges.

How Much Is $15 an Hour Monthly/Weekly?

So, let’s keep assuming that you’re working a regular 40-hour week. In that case, you’ll be getting exactly $600 per week. Keep in mind that this is just the calculation for the basic salary without overtime or taxes.

On a monthly level, you can earn $2,600 per month before taxes. However, if you work part-time 20 hours a week, your monthly income will come down to $1,300. Again, this is all before taxes.

The good news, with a $15/hour wage, there is always a possibility for a pay raise. If that should happen, you can always apply this same formula to calculate your annual income according to your new hourly wage.

So, Is a $15/h Salary Enough?

At the end of the day, the only person who knows the answer to this question is yourself. For some people, getting $15 per hour is a dream come true, while others barely make ends meet with the same income.

To figure out if $15 an hour annually is enough for you, you can take a look at your spending/saving habits, debt, and location. Doing so, you’ll have a clear idea of whether you can live comfortably on this wage. However, make sure to include additional factors in your calculation, such as prices and inflation.