--- title: 'Time Is Money: Americans Say Their Time Is Worth $240 an Hour, on Average' description: Americans say their time is worth $240 an hour, on average, in a new study. Millennials and and Gen Z value their time the highest. authors: - name: Pete Grieve role: Lead News Reporter url: https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/ bio: Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter. In his time at Money, Pete has covered everything from car buying to credit cards to the housing market. education: University of Chicago, BA Political Science at_money_since: 2022 articles: 600 covers: - Career Advice - Banking - Business - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://twitter.com/pete_grieve - https://linkedin.com/in/pete-grieve-b5aa02138 - https://www.facebook.com/petegrieve4 editors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Career Advice - Banking - Business - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2024-05-06T18:10:13.000Z' modified: '2024-05-06T18:10:13.000Z' section: Career Advice tags: - News word_count: 323 canonical: https://money.com/how-much-americans-time-is-worth/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Man holding huge stack of money with a clock in the background.](https://img.money.com/2024/05/News-Time-is-Money.jpg) Americans consider their time to be extremely valuable: On average, they think it’s worth $240 per hour. [Survey data from Empower](https://www.empower.com/the-currency/money/time-is-money-study), a financial planning company, shows that there’s a huge gap between what workers actually earn and what they feel they deserve. “Based on this study’s findings of how Americans value their time, two hours of meetings at work cost close to $500 per person,” Empower said in a report. Based on their valuations of an hour of time, Americans think they should make $499,200 per year — assuming a 40-hour work week. (For comparison, the average salary is $59,384.) If people earned what they say they are worth, many would elect to work fewer hours per week. The survey found that 44% of respondents want to work part-time but cannot to afford to do so. ## If you owe over $10,000 in debt, a Debt Relief Program may be able to help get you back on your feet more quickly. ### Select your state to begin applying for Accredited's debt relief program. [Get Started](https://money.com/pr/u3792545ce33?ap_referrer=%2Fhow-much-americans-time-is-worth%2F) ## How much each generation thinks their time is worth On the high end of the spectrum, a surprisingly large number of people think their time is worth over $500 per hour. That’s especially true for millennials (people born between 1981 and 1996) — 1 in 4 of whom put the value of their time above $500. Only 6% of baby boomers (people born between 1946 and 1964) say they’re worth that much per hour, according to the Empower survey, which was conducted by Morning Consult. In general, younger Americans place the highest value on their time. Here’s how much people think an hour of their time is worth, by generation: - Gen Z: $266.92 per hour - Millennials: $328.84 per hour - Gen X: $215.90 per hour - Boomers: $137.19 per hour For the record, the federal minimum wage remains stuck at $7.25 per hour, and the average hourly wage for all workers is about $27, according to [ZipRecruiter](https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/Hourly-Salary). ## Reduce payments and make debt manageable with a Debt Relief program ![VISIT SITE](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/25289/medium_2e7b27ce-b30d-40a3-beef-0139ecba6b47.png) Our Partner [VISIT SITE](https://money.com/go/ef73cfc9334d?bidid=4077818235&pmeta=p129-c628-u31158&ptid=667120251&ptoken=604c0246a872360dedf5aa4d507f4c36) ![VISIT SITE](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/23879/medium_3847e650-29eb-411b-9b8c-05deb0d02cbc.png) Our Partner [VISIT SITE](https://money.com/go/bf3386966175?bidid=4077818238&pmeta=p129-c628-u31158&ptid=667120251&ptoken=34690c9d884403b2e75b800f4d88ea3c) ![VISIT SITE](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/15565/medium_832cc4b7-74f8-4735-8fe1-6917816cbe8d.png) Our Partner [VISIT SITE](https://money.com/go/f28a21ab5fe7?bidid=4077818234&pmeta=p129-c628-u31158&ptid=667120251&ptoken=22bb43c3f4d608d1a9a9f6c7bc0c71bc) ![VISIT SITE](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/22445/medium_ba73f26a-1e1e-4e49-9739-df1298783de6.png) Our Partner [VISIT SITE](https://money.com/go/8de7b94e7a11?bidid=4077818247&pmeta=p129-c628-u31158&ptid=667120251&ptoken=8e2fc83056ec49e9170bfb7108f3a508) ![VISIT SITE](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/9246/medium_94931930-28cf-46b5-b09d-683979caec81.png) Our Partner [VISIT SITE](https://money.com/go/e39dc395535f?bidid=4077818241&pmeta=p129-c628-u31158&ptid=667120251&ptoken=b419e407667622a85bf36bbbf7825462) ![](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/25289/medium_2e7b27ce-b30d-40a3-beef-0139ecba6b47.png) If you owe over $20,000 or more, Freedom Debt Relief can help you get back on your feet! [Get Started](https://money.com/pr/u5c2defb44d4?ap_referrer=%2Fhow-much-americans-time-is-worth%2F) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/how-much-americans-time-is-worth/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Career Advice", "item": "https://money.com/career-advice/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Jobs", "item": "https://money.com/jobs/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Time Is Money: Americans Say Their Time Is Worth $240 an Hour, on Average" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/how-much-americans-time-is-worth/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/how-much-americans-time-is-worth/", "name": "Time Is Money: Americans Say Their Time Is Worth $240 an Hour, on Average", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2024-05-06T18:10:13.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/how-much-americans-time-is-worth/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/how-much-americans-time-is-worth/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-05-06T18:10:13.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Time Is Money: Americans Say Their Time Is Worth $240 an Hour, on Average", "articleSection": "Career Advice", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2024/05/News-Time-is-Money.jpg", "width": 2880, "height": 1920, "caption": "News-Time-is-Money" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pete Grieve", "url": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/#author", "description": "Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter. 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