What Does 6 Figures Mean? Salary Figures Explained
A “figure” is one digit in a salary, so the phrase counts the digits before the decimal point. Six figures means an annual salary between $100,000 and $999,999. Five figures is $10,000 to $99,999, four figures is $1,000 to $9,999, and seven figures is $1,000,000 or more. Three figures — $100 to $999 — is almost never an annual salary; people using it usually mean a daily rate, a weekly paycheck, or a one-off payment.
Salary figures at a glance
| Figures | Annual range | Example | Hourly at 40 hrs/week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 figures | $100 – $999 | $500 | Not a full-time salary |
| 4 figures | $1,000 – $9,999 | $5,000 | $2.40 |
| 5 figures | $10,000 – $99,999 | $50,000 | $24.04 |
| 6 figures | $100,000 – $999,999 | $100,000 | $48.08 |
| 7 figures | $1,000,000 – $9,999,999 | $1,000,000 | $480.77 |
Hourly figures assume 40 hours a week for 52 weeks — 2,080 paid hours a year — and are gross, before any deductions.
How much is 3 figures?
Three figures is any amount from $100 to $999. As an annual salary it is effectively unheard of in the United States, which is why the phrase almost always refers to something else: a day rate, a single paycheck, a bonus, or a freelance invoice. If someone says they “made three figures” from a piece of work, they mean somewhere between $100 and $999 for that job, not for the year.
How much is 4 figures?
Four figures is $1,000 to $9,999. Like three figures, this is usually a payment rather than a salary — a monthly paycheck, a commission, or a contract. As an annual full-time wage it would work out to less than $5 an hour, well below any US minimum wage.
How much is 5 figures?
Five figures is $10,000 to $99,999, and this is where most full-time salaries actually sit. It is a wide band: $12,000 and $95,000 are both five figures but describe very different jobs. Because of that range, “five figures” tells you far less about a salary than the number itself does.
How much is 6 figures?
Six figures is $100,000 to $999,999 a year. It is the figure count people most often mean when they use the phrase at all, because $100,000 has become the informal marker of a high salary. At 40 hours a week that is $48.08 an hour or about $8,333 a month gross. The band is enormous — $100,000 and $900,000 are both six figures — so “low six figures” and “mid six figures” are common qualifiers.
How much is 7 figures?
Seven figures is $1,000,000 or more, up to $9,999,999. As a salary this is rare outside senior executive pay, and the phrase is more often used about a business’s revenue, an exit, or total career earnings than about a paycheck.
Does the figure count include cents?
No. The count is of digits before the decimal point, so $99,999.99 is still five figures and $100,000.00 is six. It also ignores commas — they are formatting, not digits.
Is the figure count gross or take-home?
Almost always gross — pay before income tax, insurance and retirement contributions come out. A six-figure gross salary can easily be a five-figure amount by the time it reaches your bank account, which is one reason the phrase can be misleading. What actually lands depends on your filing status, location and benefit elections.
Working out your own number
- Convert a salary to an hourly rate to see what any figure count works out to per hour
- $100,000 a year is how much an hour? — the entry point to six figures
- $150,000 a year is how much an hour?
- $50,000 a year is how much an hour? — a typical five-figure salary
- Work out what a raise would move you to
- What is the average raise percentage right now?