What’s the average income in Florida? How does your paycheck compare to the rest of the country?

Average income has been creeping up over the past few years, although maybe not enough to catch up to grocery prices. So how does your paycheck match up to the rest of the state, or the rest of the U.S.?

The median average salary in the U.S. was $59,384 as of the last quarter of 2023, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor. The average American made $1,142 a month and $4,949 a month in Q4 of 2023. That's up 5.4% from the same period in 2022.

That's a very general figure, which changes quite a bit if you start looking at the demographics. Men, for example, average a $64,012 salary while the women's average is $53,612. The average median salary for a white person is $60,164 and an Asian person $79,456, while Black workers average $50,284 and Hispanic or Laino workers average $45,968.

The highest average earners are ages 35 to 44, earning 13.8% more than the national average. The highest earners in the U.S. in 2022 were cardiologists ($421,330). The lowest earners, on average? Shampooers ($27,870).

Here's how Florida compares.

What is the average salary in Florida?

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, the average median salary in Florida in 2023 was $64,168, nearly $5,000 a year more than the national average. That works out to about $30.85 an hour.

That's up 4.3% over 2022. But that marks a continuing slowdown in wage gains since there was a 7.8% increase from 2020 to 2021 and a 6.2% increase from 2021 to 2022. Salaries nationwide saw a surge in 2020, possibly due to businesses trying to retain employees dropping out during the COVID-19 pandemic.

What's the average hourly rate in Florida?

That's all for salary and hourly combined, however. As of Nov. 15, 2023, ZipRecruiter found the average hourly pay in Florida was $15.68 per hour, although the company said it "varies greatly" as much as $7.60 depending on skill level, location and years of experience.

What is the minimum wage in Florida?

Florida's minimum wage is $12 an hour for non-tipped employees and $8.98 for tipped employees. And it's going up another dollar each this year.

On Sept. 30, 2024, Florida's minimum wage will become $13 an hour for non-tipped employees and $9.98 for tipped employees.

An amendment Floridians approved in 2020 is raising the wage incrementally, first from $8.65 to $10 in 2021 and then another dollar every year until it reaches $15 an hour for non-tipped employees and $10.98 for tipped employees.

What is the living wage in Florida?

Depends on where you hang your hat. A small town in Northwest Florida won't cost you as much as Palm Beach, Miami or Tampa. A living wage tries to calculate how much a person needs to earn per hour to afford the necessities — housing, childcare, health care, food, etc. — where they live.

According to MIT's Living Wage Calculator, a living wage for a single adult with no children in Florida to pay for necessities where they live was, on average, $22.43 an hour according to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Poverty Guidelines for 2024. or about $46,654.40 per year.

Having a child increases the cost of living to a staggering $77,522 ($37.27 an hour), which is $13,353 more than the average salary we mentioned earlier. For two children you'd need $45.36, and for three you need to be making $58.76 an hour.

For two working adults with no children, things get a little easier. A living wage would be $15.28 an hour each. Add a child and it goes up to $20.81, add two and you'll want $25.13. Two working adults with three children will need to make $29.13 each, or a combined household income of $121,180.

A poverty wage for a single adult with no children in Florida, according to MIT, is $7.24 or $15,059, a buck under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's Poverty guidelines for 2024 of $15,060 for the contiguous United States. A single person with one child is making a poverty wage at $9.83, with two it's $12.41, and for three children a person on their own would need to make $15.00 an hour.

Which state has the highest average income?

The highest-earning state in the U.S., on average, was Massachusetts, with its annual average income at $86,840. (It's also one of the most expensive places to live.)

Second was Washington ($85,748), followed by California ($84,448), New York ($84,292) and Connecticut ($78,572).

What are we making? Average salary in the U.S. in 2024

Which state has the lowest average income?

The lowest would be Mississippi, which averages out to $48,048. After that it's Arkansas ($53,716), South Dakota ($53,820) and Idaho ($53,976).

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Average Florida paycheck is higher than the national median average