So you just landed a job that pays $17 an hour. Or maybe you are just about to apply for one. This article will cover all the necessary calculations so that you learn how to determine how much you will make in a year.
Considering you are working in a full time position, $17 an hour will result in $35,360 annual salary if all your vacations and holidays are paid. If your contract is based only on effective hours you have worked, your yearly salary would be $30,617, based on 1,801 average yearly hours in the USA.
So, is $17 an hour a liveable wage? Keep reading to find out!
$17 an Hour is How Much a Year?
It depends on how many hours you work weekly. However, the average resident of the United States works from 1,768 to 2,106 hours yearly (over 20 years old), which is for full-time workers.
A part-time worker may put in between five and thirty-five hours weekly. Yearly, that would amount to 260 to 1,820 hours.
For a full-time worker, 17 dollars an hour, 40 hours a week amounts to $680 weekly. To get the total for the year, multiply $680 by 52 weeks. The answer will also be $35,360 if you multiply 17 by 2,080 hours.
Some people work 2,087 hours, give or take. So, the annual salary, in that case, would be $35,479.
On the other hand, the annual salary for a part-time worker would range between $4,420 to $30,940. I have arrived at this number by multiplying 17 dollars by 260 and 1,820 hours, respectively.
$17 Hour Annual Salary Breakdown
If you are working a $17 an hour job, knowing how much you earn weekly and monthly can help you better manage your finances. So, here is the breakdown:
17 Dollars an Hour is How Much a Week?
As a full-time worker, you will put in an average of forty hours weekly. This is assuming you work for eight hours a day and five days a week.
To determine how much you make weekly, multiply forty hours by 17.
$17 an hour, 40 hours a week amounts to a salary of $680 at the end of the week.
A part-time worker will earn between $85 to $595 weekly; I arrived at these numbers by multiplying 17 dollars, the average salary you make in an hour, by five hours and thirty-five hours weekly.
17 Dollars an Hour is How Much Biweekly?
Your biweekly salary is the amount you earn at the end of the month’s first half or second half. You will work eighty hours as a full-time worker in two weeks, while a part-time employee will put in between ten and seventy hours.
So, how much is $17 an hour biweekly? You will make $1,360 every two weeks if you are a full-time worker. In contrast, a part-time employee will earn less, between $170 to $1,190 biweekly.
I arrived at these numbers by multiplying eighty hours by $17 and ten hours and seventy hours by $17.
17 Dollars an Hour is How Much a Month?
There are several ways to calculate how much you earn weekly if you work at a rate of $17 an hour. First, you can divide the average annual salary by twelve months. Let’s do that – for a full-time worker, the monthly salary will be $35,360 divided by 13 (52 weeks divided by 4 monthly weeks), giving an average of $2,720 monthly.
Or, you can multiply your pay every week by four or your biweekly pay by two. A full-time worker earns $1360 biweekly, so the monthly salary will be $2,720.
Given that the days of the month vary, and some months may have an extra week, you will likely receive a heftier paycheck on some days.
Now, let us calculate how much a part-time worker will earn monthly. Since I have used the biweekly and annual salary aggregate to calculate how much a full-time worker earns every month, let us use the weekly pay this time.
Weekly, a part-time employee works five to thirty-five hours. Every month, you have an average of four to five weeks. Therefore, I am multiplying five hours and thirty-five hours by four and five weeks.
You will work between 20 and 140 hours every month on months that have four weeks, while those with five weeks will have you working for twenty-five to 175 hours.
$17 an hour will accumulate from $340 to $2,380 every month with four weeks and $425 to $2,975 in months with five weeks.
17 Dollars an Hour After Taxes
Taxes determine the total amount you would earn at the end of the day. Check out this table depicting taxes in some states in the US:
| State | Tax Percentage | Salary After Taxes |
| Texas | 0% | $35,360 |
| Georgia | 5.75% | $33,327 |
| Hawaii | 11% | $31,471 |
| Kentucky | 5% | $33,592 |
| Massachusetts | 5% | $33,592 |
| Indiana | 3.23% | $34,218 |
| Wyoming | 0% | $35,360 |
| Utah | 4.95% | $33,610 |
| Washington | 0% | $35,360 |
| New Jersey | 10.75% | $31,559 |
$17 an Hour is How Much a Year After Taxes?
Your gross pay is the total amount you have left after all your mandatory deductions. Taxes consume a significant portion of your salary, so the $35,360 is not how much enters your account.
Your income after taxes depends on the state you reside in, but state and federal taxes account for about one-quarter of your deductibles.
In the United States, the tax brackets range from 10% to 37%, with an average of 24.57%.
If you earn $17 an hour, you will pay the government a total of $8,687 yearly for taxes. Therefore, your gross income will amount to $26,673.
$17 an Hour is How Much Biweekly After Taxes?
I have already established that you will earn $1,360 biweekly as a full-time worker and between $170 to $1,190 as a part-time employee.
Biweekly, your salary will be $1,026 after your employer removes taxes. Note that your tax rate may not be that high, as some states remove as little as three to five percent.
You will earn between $129 to $898 biweekly as a part-time worker after taxes.
$17 an Hour is How Much a Month After Taxes?
So, how much would you make in a month after taxes? You need this information to manage your finances better, and you can calculate it with me.
Monthly, a full-time worker makes $2,946. After taxes, you will have $2,223 to spare each month. I arrived at this math by removing the tax rate in dollars from $2,946.
As a part-time worker, you will make an average of $340 to $2,380 every month with four weeks and $425 to $2,975 every month with five weeks before taxes.
Taxes are about one-fourth of your income, so let’s calculate how much you will have left after removing 24.57%.
You will walk home with a check of $257 to $1,976 in months with four weeks, while five weeks lands you between $321 to $2,245 after taxes.
Five Jobs Paying $17 an Hour
Earning $17 an hour is not that hard in US, as this is considered as under the hourly average in the country. Take note that this avarage is calculated for the whole country for all positions.
Let’s have a look at the best job opportunities to earn $17/hour:
1. Data Entry – $17 per hour
With a high school diploma, you can get a job as a data entry specialist. The best part is that you don’t need any experience, nor must you be tech-savvy.
You only need to be good at paying attention, especially to detail.
There are many companies nowadays, which offer this positions without the previous experience and additionally provide you enrollment including software training you need to jump in.
However, you must know how to type and navigate your way around computers. Both skills are easy to acquire, and you can do them from home. You can earn a minimum of $11 an hour to $17 an hour as a data entry specialist. And the average salary is $14.4 an hour.
Jobs and gigs as data entry specialist are easy to find, as this is a kind of essential position every business needs to fill.
Your job details include inputting, processing, and tracking data and information for companies and businesses.
2. Food Delivery – $17 per hour
Food is one thing everyone always needs. And technology is making it easier for people to eat out without stepping out, thanks to food deliveries.
Caviar, DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub are just some of the biggest companies looking for passionate driver’s to deliver tasty food to their hungry customers.
If you are above age eighteen and residing in the United States, you can earn a living from delivering food. You control your work hours, and your duties depend on who you work for.
In some cases, the requirements for being a good delivery driver include owning your own vehicle (car, bike, or scooter) but others will provide transportation for you. Overall, you don’t need special skills to become a food delivery person in the US.
Your employer will give you the required training experience, but your main aim should be customer satisfaction. You may also need to learn how to get around the area if you are unfamiliar with it.
Also, good communication skills are a huge plus as you often talk with dispatchers, other drivers and of course, customers.
The basic requirement for landing a job as a food delivery worker is a high school diploma. You will earn an average of $14 to $26 an hour.
You earn tips and a good commission too, and getting a job is as easy as signing up with an app in most cases.
3. Cashier – $17 per hour
You don’t need a lot of skills to work as a cashier. Your main roles are receiving and processing payments and helping with any difficulty at the checkout section.
People skills, basic knowledge about computers, friendliness, a positive attitude, and excellent communication skills are the important requirements that will get you hired even when you lack experience.
The salary range for this position in US range typically between $12 and $17.
The essence of your job is to improve customer experience and satisfaction, so you should focus on your ability to disarm or charm your interviewer to show you are capable of the job. Your workplace will train you for seven to twenty-eight days, and your training may include how to work with a computer.
In most cases, a high-school diploma is required.
Your duties often include wrapping packages, answering questions to satisfy customers, exchanging or returning items, redeeming stamps and coupons, and keeping track of transactions.
4. Shift Lead – $17 per hour
With a GED or high school diploma, you can work as a shift lead in a restaurant, factory, or any organization that deals with shifts.
Your duty would be overseeing the employees, assigning tasks, ensuring they do their duties, and seeing that everything runs smoothly. This leadership and management role can earn you $17 an hour.
You may also be in charge of cash drop-offs for your employers. People skills, management, leadership attributes, and basic computing skills are essential for a shift lead.
5. Security Officer – $17 per hour
Depending on where you work, you may need to carry a gun. Sounds interesting, right?
Well, a security officer position will earn you an average of $17 an hour, but you need to guard and protect the designated property from unwanted entities. You may also be in charge of allowing guests in and out of the area.
Protecting the company’s interests, i.e., preventing theft and vandalism, and the people on the property are your responsibilities as a security man.
Is $17 an Hour Good Pay?
It mostly depends on where you live, spending and saving habits, and overall lifestyle. It is possible to survive on a $17 an hour salary, even though it may not be easy.
Your yearly income after taxes is $26,673. This amount will be enough in some parts of the world, considering that 75 to 95 million people live on less than $1.90 daily. But it may be tricky to survive in some countries in the United States on this salary, specially in high-cost cities like New York or San Francisco.
Ultimately, you need to get better at budgeting. The rule is that your rent shouldn’t take up more than thirty percent of your gross pay. You can save up for that rent every month – keep ten percent monthly, and paying your rent won’t be a hassle when the time comes.
Honor the 50/30/20 rule – 50% needs + 30% wants + 20% financial goals, and $17 an hour may be great pay.
You can also consider living in a state where the taxes aren’t too high. Some regions are lucky enough that they don’t need to pay income tax.
You should also cut unnecessary spending – eating out all the time, outrageous shopping, and other things that waste money.
Four Tips to Improve Annual Salary from $17 per Hour
If you believe $17 an hour will not be enough to live on, you can always take on more jobs, look into passive income streams, or develop yourself to qualify for better opportunities.
Consider these four tips to improve your annual salary from $17 per hour to something more satisfactory:
1. Get More Skills
Employers are looking for people with unique, improved, or defined skills to help them make money. What can you offer an employer in your desired field?
People are entering technology from the most every angle, and you can too. It is as simple as taking courses, watching YouTube videos, and building a burning passion for learning. A tech employee’s average salary ranges between $55,260 to $86,034 yearly. What a scale-up!
If tech isn’t your thing, you can look into other offline or online areas. It is 2022, and your skills can either make you your employer or make you extremely valuable and indispensable to a boss who will pay you well. Remote work is the trend now, and it can make you a ton of money, especially through social media.
Other high-income skills you can master include copywriting, affiliate marketing, web design, public speaking, and cyber security. Entrepreneurship is also an excellent skill; it will make you your own boss.
2. Build Portfolio
The next important thing is a portfolio. How do you plan to show the hiring team what you are capable of?
By creating a portfolio, your potential employers can see what you have to offer at a glance. With the exceptional and captivating skills you list in your portfolio, it will be a shocker if they don’t single you out.
In addition, your portfolio should contain achievements or projects you have worked on previously. These can show potential employers what makes you a worthy choice.
3. Apply for Jobs
Don’t be scared to just do it! If you are confident that you have acquired the skills required and prepped yourself as good as possible, take that shot.
And you can start small like you are already doing by working or planning to work a job that pays $17 an hour. With time, you can expand your capabilities and, therefore, your employment opportunities and pay bracket.
4. Start Internship
Internships are indispensable if you want to grow in a chosen field. They will help you familiarize yourself with how things are done in your chosen field, find mentors, and boost your resume, among other things.
It is also an avenue for you to learn about your level of development and precisely what you need to work on.
Conclusion
Thinking of applying to a job that pays $17 an hour? It may be an excellent way to enter the employment market, and you should mostly focus on scaling up. I have given you fail proof tips, and I hope they work for you.
