How much money does an average trader make?
Mia Phillips
Updated on March 17, 2026
Day Trader Salary
| Annual Salary | Monthly Pay | |
|---|---|---|
| Top Earners | $150,000 | $12,500 |
| 75th Percentile | $100,000 | $8,333 |
| Average | $80,081 | $6,673 |
| 25th Percentile | $37,500 | $3,125 |
What is the average return for a day trader?
A frequently quoted day trader average return rate is 10 percent, but recall that the failure rate is about 95 percent. Moreover, as NYU’s 93 years of stock market return data illustrates, the average rate of return for the stock market historically has been 9.8 percent.
Do traders make a lot of money?
How much capital you have: If you start with $3,000, your earnings potential is far less than someone who starts with $30,000. Time: Few day traders achieve success in just a few days or weeks. Profitable trading strategies, systems and approaches can take years to develop.
Can you actually make a living day trading?
Is Day Trading For A Living Possible? The first thing to note is yes, making a living on day trading is a perfectly viable career, but it’s not necessarily easier or less work than a regular daytime job. The benefits are rather that you are your own boss, and can plan your work hours any way you want.
Can I day trade with 50k?
$50,000 is a lot of money to start with and with someone with excellent trading skills, making $2000 every trading day is easily achieved. But if you don’t have the required skill to trade properly, then it would not matter how much capital you have,as this can disappear very quickly.
Can you make$ 200 a day day trading?
A common approach for new day traders is to start with a goal of $200 per day and work up to $800-$1000 over time. Small winners are better than home runs because it forces you to stay on your plan and use discipline. Sure, you’ll hit a big winner every now and then, but consistency is the real key to day trading.
How often can you be a profitable trader?
You can expect to be profitable in most of the months, or even everyday like Virtu Financial. Day trader – Trading an average of 3 – 5 times a day, you can expect to be profitable in most of the quarters. Swing/ position trading – Trading an average of 5 – 15 times a month, you can expect to be profitable in most years.
Why do you want to be a trader?
You’re into trading because you want financial freedom, to make lots of money, and to fire your boss. You learn everything you can get your hands on. Trading books, courses, forums etc. 1 year has passed… 2 years have passed… 3 years have passed… And you’re still not profitable.
How much money can you make as a day trader?
And by 9:45, the trade is done, profitable, and you’re done for the day: $5,800 richer and happy about it. Even better are those stories of people who took $3,000 off of their credit card and “18 months later I had $25,351,011.45 in the bank!!!”
When did I decide to become a day trader?
The first day I decided I was going to be a full-time daytrader, on May 18, 2001, I was so excited I couldn’t sleep at night. It was unbelievable to me how much money I was going to make. But its all a lie to yourself. I still occasionally daytrade. And I’ve daytraded for other people.
