How Does Your Pay Compare?
See where your rate lands among illustrative income estimates, from entry-level roles to elite earners.
Illustrative estimates for fun comparison only. See methodology.
A note on these numbers
Every figure below is a deliberately rounded, illustrative estimate for fun comparison purposes only — not official labor statistics and not a claim about any specific real person's income. We use generic role categories rather than named individuals for exactly this reason. Actual pay varies enormously by location, experience, employer, and negotiation.
The Full List
Fast Food Worker
Entry-Level
Often paid at or near local minimum wage, frequently part-time.
$25,000/yr
~$12/hr
Retail Sales Associate
Entry-Level
Hourly retail work, commonly with variable or part-time schedules.
$30,000/yr
~$14/hr
Home Health Aide
Entry-Level
Essential in-home care work, typically paid hourly.
$33,000/yr
~$16/hr
Warehouse Worker
Entry-Level
Fulfillment and logistics roles, often with overtime availability.
$38,000/yr
~$18/hr
Administrative Assistant
Skilled
Office support roles across most industries.
$42,000/yr
~$20/hr
Elementary School Teacher
Skilled
A bachelor's degree and certification, typically on a public salary schedule.
$58,000/yr
~$28/hr
Licensed Electrician
Skilled Trade
Skilled trade requiring an apprenticeship and licensing.
$62,000/yr
~$30/hr
Registered Nurse
Professional
In-demand licensed clinical role, often with shift differentials and overtime.
$85,000/yr
~$41/hr
Software Engineer
Professional
A broad, fast-growing field with wide pay variation by company and level.
$130,000/yr
~$63/hr
Airline Pilot
Professional
Requires extensive certification; pay rises steeply with seniority.
$170,000/yr
~$82/hr
Dentist
Professional
Requires a doctoral degree; many dentists also own their practice.
$180,000/yr
~$87/hr
Big Law Firm Associate
Professional
Early-career attorney at a large corporate law firm.
$225,000/yr
~$108/hr
General Surgeon
Specialist
Years of medical school and residency precede this specialty.
$350,000/yr
~$168/hr
Neurosurgeon
Specialist
One of the longest and most demanding medical training paths.
$750,000/yr
~$361/hr
VC-Backed Startup Executive
Executive
Cash plus equity compensation at a well-funded private company.
$1,200,000/yr
~$577/hr
Fortune 500 CEO
Executive
Total compensation for a large public company chief executive, mostly equity-based.
$18,000,000/yr
~$8,654/hr
Blockbuster Film Lead Actor
Elite Earner
Per-film payday for a top-billed lead in a major studio release.
$25,000,000/yr
~$12,019/hr
Star Professional Athlete
Elite Earner
Top-tier contract and endorsement earnings for an elite professional athlete.
$35,000,000/yr
~$16,827/hr
Top Hedge Fund Manager
Elite Earner
Among the highest-earning roles in finance, driven by fund performance fees.
$200,000,000/yr
~$96,154/hr
Want a more accurate picture of your own take-home pay? Try our state or country calculators for a location-specific tax estimate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are these real salary statistics?
No. These are deliberately rounded, illustrative estimates meant for fun order-of-magnitude comparison, not official labor statistics. Real pay varies enormously by location, experience, employer, and negotiation, and none of these figures represent a specific real person's actual income.
Why generic categories instead of real people?
We intentionally use generic role categories (like 'Fortune 500 CEO' rather than naming one) instead of specific named individuals, since real compensation for real people changes constantly and is often disputed or hard to verify precisely. Generic categories let us give a fair, roughly-representative comparison without claiming precision we don't have.
How is the hourly equivalent calculated?
We divide each annual figure by the standard 2,080-hour work year (40 hours per week × 52 weeks) — the same baseline used across every calculator on this site. Many higher-paying roles involve far more than 40 hours a week, which would lower their true hourly equivalent.
Can I see this comparison while tracking my real-time earnings?
Yes — when you run the live calculator on any of our state or country pages, it shows a quick comparison based on the hourly rate you entered.