How much unemployment will I get if I make $16 an hour?
If you make $16 per hour and find yourself unemployed, you may qualify for unemployment benefits that pay you each week for a limited time. Each state has its own rules and payments vary, depending on the state where you reside.
If you make $16 an hour, you can expect an unemployment payment close to $300 per week. Some states pay a little more, while others pay a little less.
Here are some examples:
Florida Unemployment CalculatorSelect your state to calculate your weekly unemployment payment:
$16.00 an hour is… |
|
| $16.00 an hour | Income |
| Daily (8 hours) | $128.00 |
| Weekly (40 hours) | $640.00 |
| Biweekly (80 hours) | $1,280.00 |
| Monthly (173 hours) | $2,768.00 |
| Quarterly (3 months) | $8,304.00 |
| Yearly (52 weeks) | $33,280.00 |
How much is $16 per hour?
$16 per hour seems like a decent working wage. After all, it’s well over twice the Federal Minimum Wage at $7.25. But what does $16 per hour come out to on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis? And why is that important to know? The answer is quite simple: You need to know how much you’re making during these time periods so you can budget.
While budgeting seems limiting to most people, it’s necessary for living within your means and avoiding credit to cover your basic expenses. Once you know how much you make per month, for instance, you can budget your housing costs (rent or mortgage and utilities) accordingly. Let’s take a look.
$16 per hour is how much per month?
How many hours long is your average work week? If you’re like most working Americans, that number is somewhere right around 40. We’ll use that number for our formula to keep things simple. But if your number is different, you can plug that into your own math.
The first step is to count how many hours you’re working annually, so that we can get an average monthly number. Multiplying your average workweek by four would not accomplish this, because a month is actually longer than four weeks.
40 hours per week x 52 weeks in a year = 2080 hours annually
Now divide this number by 12 months to get a monthly average:
2080 hours annually / 12 months = 173 hours per month
Bring in that hourly wage:
$16 x 173 hours = $2,768
$16 per hour is $2,768 per month.
Now we can return to what we mentioned in our intro. One of your biggest monthly costs is going to be your housing. Whether you rent or own, your housing costs should eat up no more than 33% of your income. In this case (assuming that $2,768 is after taxes) that would look like an upper limit of $913 per month. If you’re wondering what that translates to, you could easily rent a two-bed bedroom apartment in Texas, Pennsylvania, or Utah. But your budget would become very tight if you were renting the same in California or Massachusetts. You could, however, rent the same in New York State or Oregon.
$16 an hour is how much per week?
How much is $16 per week? This math is simple enough. Just multiply your work week by your hourly wage. The typical work week is 40 hours.
40 x $16 = $640
$16 per hour is $640 per week.
Here’s how that holds up against some common weekly expenses: The average cost for a week of groceries per person is $93 in Washington State, and $70 in Arizona (the most and least expensive states in the country in terms of food costs). If you’re making $16 per hour, you can easily cover those costs in either place. But what if you have a dependent like a spouse? What if you have two or more dependents, like children? Suddenly your grocery costs are up, making your budget tighter if you’re not in the right place.
$16 an hour is how much per year?
Take your weekly income and multiply it by 52 weeks, which is the length of a year.
$640 x 52 = $33,280
$16 per hour is $33,280 per year.
Returning to our conversation about food, income, and household size, this income may (depending on your household size) qualify you for some help. That’s because in most states, federal aid programs like food stamps allow you to be within 150% (or more) of the federal poverty guidelines, and not just at the threshold. For instance, if you have a family size of four people (poverty line at $27,750), your household income can be up to $41,625 before you no longer qualify for food assistance.
$16 an hour is how much per day?
To calculate your daily take-home pay, find your average work day. Are you working five days a week? Divide your weekly number (40) by that number.
40 hours weekly / 5 days a week = 8 hour work days
Factor in your hourly wage.
$16 x 8 = $128
$16 per hour is $128 per day.
In most states, your daily work could pay for two people’s weekly groceries, an average monthly utility bill, or a month’s worth of gas for one car (though that number may fluctuate depending on how much you drive).
$16 an hour is how much per quarter?
A quarter is three months. Just multiply your monthly income by three:
$2,768 x 3 months = $8,304
$16 per hour is $8,304 per quarter.
This will tell you how much extra you have (after meeting your regular expenses) every three months for things like holiday shopping, spring remodeling, summer vacation, and back to school in the fall.
$16 an hour is how much biweekly?
A biweekly paycheck or direct deposit will just be your weekly income times two.
$640 each week x 2 = $1,280
$16 per hour is $1,280 bi-weekly.
Remember to save at least 10% of that for the future. In your case, that would be allocating $128 each paycheck to your retirement account.
If You Are Denied Unemployment
What happens if you get fired from your job? Well, one part of the answer has to do with you: you need to look for another job or figure out how to make it on your own through self-employment. In the meantime, you can collect unemployment. But what happens if your unemployment claim is denied?
There are some reasons this can happen. If you were fired for misconduct or gross negligence (e.g. serious negligence that causes harm), you can be denied. If you voluntarily left for a labor strike, to get married, or to attend school full time, you can also be denied. If you quit because you’re not happy with $16 per hour, we applaud your desire for self-improvement, but that’s also not a valid reason to collect unemployment.
But keep a few other things in mind. If you have to quit because you were injured, you should look into disability benefits by consulting with a lawyer. Consultations are usually free and they can point you in the right direction. You may also feel there was an employer-instigated reason for your voluntary exit, such as sexual harassment or imposition of duties outside your job description. In cases like these, make sure you contest the denial by following through on your state’s labor website or the instructions in your denial letter.