The Average Woman Spends This Many Weeks Of Pay On Shoes

Ever wonder how much your shoe collection is truly worth? Women spend over three weeks of pay annually for their kicks, according to Psychology Today. The co-ed average is slightly lower, since women tend to own more pairs of shoes than guys do (shocker): It takes the average person two and a half weeks, or 80 hours, to pay for a year's worth of shoes. That equates to approximately six hours of labor for each pair (although if you're buying, say, Louboutins, that number would be substantially higher). The toil you'll put in for those teetering heels or need-to-have sneakers is based on owning an average of 14 pairs of shoes; that takes into account the average number owned by men (11) and women (17). Psychology Today used $75 as the average price per pair, based on mens' shoes costing roughly $65 a pop and women's running $85 on average (not fair, considering those women are likely making less than their more cheaply-shod male counterparts). The publication also took into account the impact of income tax, since you’re forking over for those shoes with after-tax earnings, but salaries are usually pre-tax figures. Credit card interest rates were also factored in, since "a vast majority of Americans buy their shoes with a credit card," according to Psychology Today. These footwear calculations are based on earning an hourly average of $24.57 and an annual average salary of $46,481. Sales tax was considered in the calculations as well, based on the current 2015 national average of 5.45%. So if you live in a state where sales taxes tack on a larger chunk of change, perhaps in the 8% ballpark, you're probably paying even more for your fancy footwear. Of course, these are merely based on income averages — if you really want to know what your shoes are doing to your bank account, you could crunch the numbers based on your own stats. And for many of us, an estimate of 14 pairs of shoes is sort of lowballing it, unless you've Marie Kondo-ed your life lately. Either way, this should make you look at your slew of shoes a little differently. The ones that have barely left your closet probably weren't worth all those hours clocked at work, huh? Still, we're sure there are a few pairs that have earned their worth in wear — maybe even a few times over.