Originally Posted by Longhornmaniac8

Not trying to be negative here, as we're all still learning to one extent or another, but the answers to this question are so varied as to be virtually irrelevant.

As mentioned, what our net pay is depends on tax bracket, retirement contributions, other liquid savings, benefit elections, style/strategy for working, etc.

You can figure out a "worst-case scenario" of sorts, but even that has some assumptions.

As a "worst-case scenario" data point, I'm currently in the middle of the training delay, getting paid the minimum 75 hours. I'm filing taxes as single, head-of-household, with just one exemption (no state income tax), currently contributing 4% to my 401(k) (scheduled to increase by 1% annually), and am taking the pilot health plan at $54/paycheck with no additional contribution beyond the company's to my HSA (I have one rolled over from a previous employer).

My gross pay is $45/hour x 75 hours/month, which is $3375/month. Of that, including all my deductions, I'm seeing about $2700 into my checking account. It will remain to be seen how much (if any) I owe Uncle Sam come April.

To figure out on a per-paycheck basis, just divide by 2.

$2700/month x 12 months= $32.4K/year.

Add to that the $17,500 signing bonus, and first year "net" pay is right at $50K at the absolute worst case scenario.

On the line, minimum credit these days seems to be around 80-83 hours/month, which would bump that $32.4K up about $2K. Obviously, if you know how to work it, you can get substantially more credit than the bare minimum.