Hitting a 6-figure salary is a common money goal, but before you start fantasizing about beachfront homes and vacations in exotic locales, it’s important to understand just how wide the 6-figure range is. Here’s how much you need to make to reach 6-figure territory and some ways to get there if you aren’t already.
How much is 6 figures?
“6 figures” is any salary between $100,000 and $999,999, or a dollar amount with 6 digits. Similarly, a 7-figure salary means you make $1 million to $9,999,999, because there are 7 digits in those numbers; $10 million to $99,999,999 is an 8-figure salary.
Making 6 figures is hardly the norm in the US—even on the lower end of the range. According to the US Census, about 16.7% of American households make between $100,000 and $149,999, 10.1% of households make between $150,000 and $199,999, and another 16% earn $200,000 or more.2 But those percentages represent total household incomes where 2 or more people in the home might be working. The percentages of 6-figure earners would be different for individual, rather than household, incomes. In fact, the median earnings of a year-round, full-time worker in the US ($63,360) remain well below 6 figures.3
Another caveat: All those earnings numbers represent gross income, not net. That means that just because you’ve got a 6-figure salary, you won’t necessarily collect all 6 figures in your take-home pay.
For instance, a salary of $100,000 for a single tax payer claiming the standard deduction would result in a federal tax bill of $13,170 in 2026. What you actually take home each paycheck would be further dictated by your deductions, deferrals to accounts like health savings accounts (HSAs) and workplace savings plans including 401(k)s, and state and local taxes. Where you live could also alter your take-home pay; 9 states don’t charge income tax on earned income, like a salary.
Jobs that pay 6 figures
There are many different types of jobs that can offer 6 figures. Certain fields, however, are more likely to offer high-paying jobs, including the following ones with median annual wages of at least $100,000 per year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS):
- Medical and health services manager: $117,960
- Data scientist: $112,590
- Nurse practitioners: $129,210
- Information security analyst: $124,910
- Air traffic controllers: $144,5804
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook includes various occupations, their median income, and tips on how to get into that field. You can browse jobs by projected growth, and the degrees held by workers in that industry. Spoiler alert: As of August 2025, all but one of the top 20 highest-earning jobs are all in the healthcare industry, including surgeons, radiologists, psychiatrists, and orthodontists. Those roles can all require years of education and training.
Job listing sites, networking sites, and salary reporting sites can also be useful resources for finding 6-figure jobs. But even if a job doesn’t pay 6 figures, it might offer benefits, including some monetary ones, that could be meaningful to you, like equity in the company, ample paid time off, schedule flexibility, employer matches to retirement accounts, or bonuses. Be sure to consider the whole package before deciding whether to accept a role.
How to make 6 figures
Here’s the thing about negotiating for a 6-figure salary (either when you’re offered a job or when asking for a raise): If you don’t ask, you’re less likely to get what you want. When Fidelity last surveyed young professionals on the topic, in 2022, 58% of them said they'd accepted their current job offer without negotiating. But 87% of those who said they'd negotiated got at least some of what they'd requested.5
Before you ask for more money, research what other people with comparable experience and positions make on salary and employment sites and consider other job offers as a negotiating tactic to enhance an offer or your current salary. And when you do ask, focus on your skills and the value you bring to the company.
Another way to boost your income to 6 figures is to think beyond a single job. In other words, you might not need a job that offers a 6-figure salary on its own to bring in 6 figures in total.
- Depending on your schedule and energy, you could take on a side hustle alongside your full-time job to make more money overall. Just check with your main employer about rules for picking up side gigs, so you don’t compromise your primary income source. Note that side-gig income is generally taxable, and estimated tax payments, additional withholding from paycheck, or self-employment tax may apply.
- Or you could build a passive income stream, which involves doing some upfront work to collect cash later without much day-to-day effort. Renting out property is a common example of a passive income source.
- If you make certain investments, your money might be able to grow, especially because of compounding (or making gains on your gains).
Of course, whatever salary you make, it’s what you keep that can have the biggest impact, so do your best to save some of what you earn. Fidelity suggests the 60/30/10+15 budgeting approach, allocating 60% or less of your take-home pay to essential expenses, 30% to "nice-to-have" extras or nonessentials, and 10% to near-term goals and emergency savings. Before your paycheck is even cut, have your employer deduct a portion of your pre-tax income—up to 15%, including any matched contributions from your employer—for retirement.
How to make the most from your money, no matter how much you earn
Whether you need a 6-figure salary depends on numerous factors including the size of your household (the more people you have to support, the more expenses you’ll generally have), lifestyle, goals, and the cost of living in your area. The last element relates to the prices of essentials like housing, food, utilities, and health care, not to mention state and local taxes. Some places in the country are more affordable than others and could stretch a smaller salary further.
If homeownership is a goal, know that the typical homebuyer had an annual household income of $109,000,6 per the National Association of Realtors, and the annual household income needed to afford a median priced home is $122,775, which factors in average interest rate, property tax, and insurance costs, according to Bankrate.7 Major coastal metro areas require a larger household income. Still, more than a dozen metro areas—including Pittsburgh, Detroit, Cleveland, Indianapolis, and New Orleans—require less than a $100,000 income to purchase a median-priced home.
If you’re fortunate to land a position that pays handsomely (or even if you don’t), consider the following strategies that could potentially help your money grow.
- Contributing to an employer-sponsored retirement account, especially if your organization matches some of what you chip in. These accounts can come with tax benefits, like pre-tax contributions, which reduce your taxable income; tax-deferred growth, meaning you don’t pay taxes on any gains until you withdraw the money; or tax-free growth, where you don’t pay taxes on withdrawals if certain conditions are met.
- Contributing to a Roth IRA, HSA, or FSA account can also come with tax advantages like tax-free growth and withdrawals on certain conditions.
- Going even further with investing through a brokerage account. There are no tax breaks, but there are no contribution limits either.