• Four Americans shared how a six-figure salary affected their lives.
• Higher salaries have helped them travel, pay off student debt, and improve their relationships.
• However, landing a higher salary came with long hours and more responsibilities.

Landing a higher salary can be life-changing, said four Americans who've reached this pay threshold over the past decade.

Due to rising prices in the past few years, a six-figure income doesn't go as far as it used to, but for many people, it's allowed them to splurge on travel or establish financial security.

Most Americans aren't six-figure earners: The average annual salary for full-time workers was about $82,000 as of November, the latest data available, per a New York Fed survey.

Business Insider asked four people who've made more than $100,000 annually about the biggest benefits of having a six-figure income. BI has verified their six-figure earnings.

The perks include enhanced relationships

David Houde first earned a six-figure income in 2015. This year, he's earning roughly $144,000 annually as a software engineer. The 48-year-old, who's based in Michigan, said boosting his earnings made him less hesitant to spend money.

"Even when grocery shopping, I used to try to keep a running tab of what I was spending," he said. "When I felt like it was getting too high, I'd start making decisions on what I could put off until the next time."

House said he occasionally relied on credit cards to purchase items, which accrued debt when he couldn't pay off the balance. Now he has enough money to not only pay off his credit card but have plenty left over.

Christopher Stroup, who first made $100,000 in 2014, said the pay bump helped him pay off his student debt.

The 33-year-old, who's based in California, said his income also enhanced his relationships with friends and family. He can afford to regularly travel with them or dine out at restaurants with them.

"I even have an annual goal to make it to Europe at least once," he added. "None of that would be possible if I weren't earning at this level."

Additionally, Stroup started his own financial planning business: He launched it in September after leaving his job in August. He said he's had to put a lot of money into his startup, but that he'd saved enough in recent years to both invest in his business and meet everyday expenses. He said he expects to earn over $100,000 in combined income this year from his prior job as a financial advisor and his business.

The perks can come with more responsibilities

Corritta Lewis first earned a six-figure income in 2018 and said her salary has doubled over the past few years. In 2023, she earned roughly $280,000 across her consulting job and a travel blog she runs on the side.

The 35-year-old, who's based in Orlando, told BI the extra income has allowed her and her wife to travel the world, plan for early retirement, and save for their son's future.

"We both graduated with crushing student loan debt that delayed our lives, so we want to ensure he is not in that situation," she said.

However, there is a significant downside to her higher income: "lack of time," Lewis said. Rising up the pay ladder has required her to sometimes put in long hours. The end of the year tends to be a particularly busy time — she said she's recently been working between 50 and 60 hours a week.

"I do not have as much free time to spend with my family," she said, adding, "I am trading my time today to reach a specific retirement goal."

She said she hopes to be able to pivot to part-time work in a few years after growing her savings further.

Similarly, for John, a millennial based in California, making more money has come with additional responsibilities.

He first earned a six-figure income in 2018 working in the IT sector and is on track to earn roughly $250,000 this year across a full-time and part-time job, both of which are remote.

John said one of the biggest impacts of his six-figure income is that he's been able to help out his family financially.

"I pay for my mom's rent and for the majority of my sister's medical expenses," said John. His identity is known to BI, but he asked to use a pseudonym due to fears of professional repercussions.

Even with these additional expenses, John said he has enough money for himself and worries less about his finances than he did earlier in his life.

"I could afford a decent quality of life without having to look at the prices of things, he said. "Given that I don't have a college degree, this was very freeing for me."

Are you making over $100,000 a year? Are you willing to share your story and the impact this income has had on your life? If so, contact this reporter at [email protected].

An appearance by Pete Buttigieg on Friday morning on New Hampshire talk radio is fueling ongoing speculation that the U.S. Secretary of Transportation in President Biden's administration may be mulling another White House run in 2028.

Buttigieg, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate who is considered a potential contender for the next nomination race, has made numerous radio appearances across the country during his four years steering the Department of Transportation, including a bunch in New Hampshire, which prides itself on being the first-in-the-nation presidential primary state.

But with President-elect Trump a month away from returning to the White House, and Democrats scrambling in the wake of November's election setbacks to find a path out of the political wilderness, Buttigieg's latest radio appearance in New Hampshire is grabbing increased attention as the extremely early preseason moves in the party's 2028 presidential primary race will soon start.

And the guest segment by Buttigieg on the statewide morning news-talk radio program "New Hampshire Today" is bound to spark more 2028 speculation.

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"The only thing I'm sure is next is a little vacation," Buttigieg said when asked by host Chris Ryan about his plans once his tenure as transportation secretary sunsets on Jan. 20.

Buttigieg said he and his spouse, Chasten, "are ready to spend a little time together. I'm ready to be around our three-year-old twins a little more, and I'm determined not to make any life decisions too quickly in the new year."

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"But I will find ways to make myself useful, and maybe that's running for office, and maybe that's not. I'll take the next few weeks and months to work through that," Buttigieg shared.

And he emphasized that "I know what I care about. I care about how communities, like the place where I grew up, find a better future. I care about how to make sure technology makes us all better off and not worse off. I care about how the infrastructure issues and opportunities I've worked on can develop. I care about public service. I care about our democracy, and I will find ways to work on that, whatever shape that might take."

Buttigieg, a former naval intelligence officer who deployed to the war in Afghanistan and who served eight years as mayor of South Bend, Indiana, was a longshot when he launched his 2020 presidential campaign. 

But his campaign caught fire, and he narrowly edged Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont to win the Iowa caucuses before coming in close second to Sanders in the New Hampshire presidential primary. But Buttigieg, along with the rest of the Democratic field, dropped out of the race and endorsed Biden as the former vice president won the South Carolina primary in a landslide, swept the Super Tuesday contests and eventually clinched the nomination before winning the White House.

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During his tenure as Secretary of Transportation, Buttigieg has made a handful of official visits to New Hampshire, most recently earlier this year. And two years ago, in a political trip, he headlined the New Hampshire Democratic Party's major autumn fundraising gala.

Asked in the interview whether he'll be returning to the Granite State in the near future, he quipped, "I'm sure I'll turn up before too long."

Buttigieg, in recent years, has also made regular appearances on the Fox News Channel to highlight the Biden administration's efforts. This year, he served as a high-profile surrogate on Fox News and elsewhere across the media landscape for Biden, and later for Vice President Kamala Harris, on the campaign trail.

After his 2020 presidential campaign, Buttiegieg moved from red-state Indiana to neighboring Michigan, which is a key battleground, and now calls Traverse City, Michigan, home.

In recent weeks, Buttigieg has fielded calls by some Michigan Democrats urging him to consider a 2026 run for governor, to succeed Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who is term-limited.

"I haven’t made any decisions about, big decisions about my future," Buttigieg told reporters earlier this month in Detroit, in a line that he would repeat in this week's New Hampshire radio interview.

As Democrats hope to retain the governor’s seat in the swing state of Michigan with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer term-limited, a top Democratic figure has launched an independent bid, leading to a search on the left for an alternative standard-bearer.

Three-term Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, viewed for some time as very likely to seek the governor’s office, reportedly surprised the state’s body politic by announcing he will do so as an independent.

"I went to Lansing and built relationships with Democrats and Republicans. We took our neighborhoods out of the darkness of burned-out streetlights and we lit the entire city to the national standard… and reduced Detroit's unemployment rate to its lowest rate in more than 30 years," Duggan said in his campaign launch video.

"The current system forces people to choose sides that find solutions. I want to see if I can change that."

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He struck a similar tone in recent remarks to reporters:

Duggan said in his final year as mayor he wants to "establish a working relationship with the Trump administration," and noted he had done so with fellow Motor City native HUD Secretary Ben Carson one term prior.

He also told The Associated Press he views many Americans as being "tired of both parties and tired of the system – and so I want to offer people a choice."

That choice led Democrats to reportedly pivot to a prominent Indiana native who recently moved north to his husband’s home state.

At an event with Detroit autoworkers, one man shouted a question about the Lions – rather than Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s home-state Colts – which the AP illustrated as a potential challenge for the Traverse City newcomer to connect with Michiganders if he decides to run.

Another man at the event praised Buttigieg’s willingness to be "one of the few" politicians to speak to both liberal and conservative media audiences.

Buttigieg has said he won’t make any official political decisions on "how to make myself useful" until after his current boss, President Biden, leaves office, but has been contacted by several Michigan Democrats about entering the race.

Duggan’s announcement, however, was met with derision from Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, another potential Democratic contender.

"In moments like this, we don't flee from the party, but we stay and fix it," Benson told FOX-2, which reported she is considering tossing her hat in the ring.

Andrew Feldman, a Democratic strategist in the Great Lakes State, told the AP that people are "shocked and angry" at Duggan for eschewing the Democratic Party label.

"Many view this as a serious situation where Mike Duggan could put the governor’s mansion in the hands of Republicans and roll back years of progress," he said.

While the left wing is divided between Duggan’s independent run and jockeying to fill the Democratic row on the ballot, the Republican race appears wide open.

"You know what, [20]26 is always in the back of my mind, but right now, we’re focused on [20]24," conservative media host Tudor Dixon – the 2022 Republican nominee – said just before the presidential election when asked about running again.

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Other names floated in the Michigan press include businessman Perry Johnson – who briefly ran for president on the GOP line in 2024 – businessman Kevin Rinke, and several sitting GOP lawmakers.

Adding to the electoral uncertainty were Michigan’s 2024 split results, as voters there chose both Republican President-elect Trump and Democratic Sen.-elect Elissa Slotkin from the top-tier races. 

As for Whitmer, reports have viewed her as a top contender in the 2028 Democratic presidential contest, along with several other governors, like Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro, California’s Gavin Newsom, North Carolina’s Roy Cooper, Maryland’s Wes Moore, Illinois’ JB Pritzker and Minnesota’s Tim Walz.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Michigan GOP, Michigan Democrats and Buttigieg’s office for comment.

EXCLUSIVE: The House Small Business Committee is releasing its year-end interim report on what it found to be the "weaponizing [of] federal resources" for political purposes within the Small Business Administration.

Earlier this year, Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas, committee chair, issued a rare subpoena to Small Business Administration officials over their work in connection with an official Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) forged with the Michigan Department of State.

The MOU was in accordance with President Biden’s 2021 executive order "14019: Promoting Access to Voting." However, the committee alleged the SBA had been involved in partisan voter registration outreach in a key swing state – rather than simply aiding voters across the board.

The committee report, obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital, found Biden's executive order to be an "improper use of executive authority" and that SBA actions in accordance with it thereby "pose unnecessary risks to the integrity of U.S. elections."

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"The SBA’s MOU with the State of Michigan and travel patterns of senior SBA officials indicate the conflation of official duty and partisan political activities," the committee found.

"Either intentionally or negligently, the SBA has failed to refute concerns of this MOU’s partisan nature."

The committee’s report also found the SBA "strayed from its core mission" in working with Michigan under the voter registration MOU, and that it "engaged in a protracted campaign to obscure the makeup of its im­plementation of E.O. 14019 and obfuscate the truth of alleged political activities at the SBA to the committee."

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., praised the work of the committee and its interim report, saying it rightly exposed "not only the improper use of executive authority but also significant concerns about actions taken by an agency that may jeopardize the integrity of U.S. elections."

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"The stark contrast between the SBA’s core mission and its involvement in voter registration activities highlights the urgent need for greater transparency and accountability," Johnson said.

Johnson added he and the GOP caucus are looking forward to working with President-elect Trump to end such "abuses."

The 47-page report further alleged the SBA exceeded the requirements of state and federal laws, including the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, the Anti-Deficiency Act, and the Hatch Act, which prohibits government officials from politicking in their official capacity.

In May, Williams and his committee, along with Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, demanded travel schedules, official calendars and other documents from the SBA. In addition, at least one Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) suit was separately launched by the right-leaning Oversight Project for some of the same documents as Congress was being purportedly "stonewalled."

Williams initially accused the SBA and Administrator Isabel Casillas-Guzman of shirking her responsibility to help "Main Street" and instead focusing on registering voters in heavily Democratic parts of Michigan like Detroit and Saginaw – while ignoring committee oversight demands.

Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., chair of the House Administration Committee – whose panel has oversight over legislative matters relating to elections – said that while elections are partisan affairs, election administration should not be.

"The Biden-Harris administration partnering with the Michigan Department of State to use your taxpayer dollars for a partisan purpose should never be allowed," he said. 

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Digging into the executive order that the SBA’s actions aimed to align with, Williams’ report found it changed the way the executive branch enforces the National Voter Registration Act, and uniquely requires agency officials to work with the White House to find ways to support federal employees who wish to volunteer as election workers or watchers.

The report added that the choice of Michigan as the petri dish for the SBA’s work under the executive order caught the committee’s attention early, due to its routine status as a swing state and the fact its top officials were "sympath[etic]" to the Biden-Harris campaign.

"This interim report illustrates how the MOU blurs the line between personal political beliefs and the official duties of SBA and Michigan state employees," the document reads.

The report also included copies of email chains between the White House, SBA and/or outside advocacy organizations.

"The committee discovered that many senior SBA employees have relationships with these left-leaning organizations," it read.

"Notably, the Biden-Harris Administration ‘warmly welcomed’ these relationships between nonpartisan agencies and left-leaning organizations."

In summing up and reacting to the report, Williams said the SBA was created to "aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business concerns."

In previous remarks to Fox News Digital, the top Democrat on Williams' committee expressed dismay at the subpoenas and investigatory practices by Williams in probing the MOU.

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In a statement, Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., said the committee had long prided itself on "bipartisan cooperation to help American entrepreneurs."

"Unfortunately, with [these] subpoenas, Republicans have rejected these principles to pursue a partisan inquiry," Velazquez said.

Representatives for the SBA have repeatedly denied the allegations made by Congress’ investigation.

In October, a spokesperson for Guzman said the explicit allegations of "stonewalling" the committee’s work were "demonstrably false."

A spokesperson for the SBA told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that any allegations of "stonewalling" are "demonstrably false."

"For nearly two years, the SBA has cooperated with the committee’s inquiry, testifying at multiple hearings, providing the committee staff with briefings, making agency officials available for transcribed interviews, and producing thousands of pages of documents responsive to their inquiry," the spokesperson said, calling the allegations "baseless."

Sen.-elect Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., said Democrats need to ditch identity politics if they want to win over voters in future elections, telling reporters the ideology needed to "go the way of the dodo."

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Democrats who won Senate races in the 2024 elections held a briefing for reporters at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) on Tuesday, during which they explained how they managed to get elected despite President-elect Trump winning in their state. 

According to Slotkin, who represents a swing district in the House of Representatives that she initially flipped from red to blue, identity politics is not a winning strategy in a state like Michigan. 

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She defeated Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers in what was considered a "toss-up" race in the presidential battleground state. 

Slotkin further attributed her win to focusing on the economy, or "kitchen table" issues. However, she said it isn't enough just to focus on those issues, but to talk about them plainly. 

Sens. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., DSCC Chair Gary Peters, D-Mich., and Sen.-elect Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., were also at the briefing.  

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For Schumer, the victories Democrats saw could be boiled down to three things: good candidate quality, economic accomplishments in the Senate that affected each of their states, and early strategic television ad investments. 

He also pointed to high digital ad spending in the rapidly changing media landscape that he believes helped push them over the edge. 

As for the Senate race in Pennsylvania, Schumer noted that DSCC staff will still be on the ground working in the state, where Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., allowed an automatic recount to be triggered by refusing to concede, despite Sen.-elect Dave McCormick's lead. 

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When asked what went wrong in Pennsylvania, where Casey did not run significantly ahead of Democrat presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Schumer just said that a recount was still going on in the state. 

Other Democrats in swing states and Republican states managed to run ahead of Harris by substantial margins, leading to some of the wins they saw in Trump-won states. 

One of those successful Democrats, Gallego, gave some insight to reporters about why he defeated Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake. He pointed to the voting group of male and Latino voters, who he saw early progress with in polls. He pointed to specific cultural messaging to this demographic through boxing match watch parties and rodeos. 

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Additionally, he hit Lake for discussing the border crisis in the way that someone outside of Arizona and unfamiliar with the dynamic might talk about it. Gallego said Lake's talk of shutting down the border sounded like someone from the East Coast. 

According to him, Arizona can't fully shut down its border because its economy relies on travel and transportation of goods between the state and Mexico.