How much do you want to earn for you to feel successful?

Turns out success can be measured in dollars.

A recent survey by CareerBuilder, the largest online employment website in the U.S., conducted within the U.S. by Harris Poll shows that 55 percent of respondents said they need a salary of about US$70,000 a year to feel successful.

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The average American salary is US$46,000.

CareerBuilder said 47 percent of men and 63 percent of women who took part in the survey said they could earn $69,999 a year or less and still see themselves as successful.

Only four percent of all respondents, or five percent of men and two percent of women, said it would take an annual salary of more than US$200,000 to make them feel successful.

From the US$75,000 to US$100,000 income range upwards, most workers said they're earning their desired salary. 

CareerBuilder noted that on average, employee notions of what they need to earn to feel successful is either aligned with what they currently make or is just one step above what they currently make.

"This means career success isn't necessarily associated with a particular dollar amount. It's relative to where we are at in our careers and how we progress along our career paths," said Rosemary Haefner, CareerBuilder vice president of human resources.

She said that people who go to work every day out of love of the job are far less likely to associate success with salary.

She also noted that feelings of success spring from a variety of factors such as the belief that what you do does make a difference; achieving personal goals and being praised by customers or management or customers.   

Of the respondents, 78 percent don't think they need to earn US$100,000 or more to be successful. Men are nearly two times as likely as women to need US$100,000 or more (29 percent versus 15 percent). 

Asking for a raise is successful most of the time, the study found out.

Of the employees interviewed, 56 percent said they've never asked for a raise. On the other hand, success rates are very high among those who did ask for a raise. 

Two-thirds or 66 percent of employees who asked for a raise received it. 

The survey involved 3,372 employees and 2,188 hiring and human resource managers.

CareerBuilder operates sites in 23 countries outside the U.S. and has a presence in over 60 markets.

What salary do you need to earn to feel successful?

	All	Men	Women
Under $50,000	25%	18%	32%
$50,000-69,999	30%	29%	31%
$70,000-99,999	23%	24%	22%
$100,000-149,999	15%	18%	11%
$150,000-199,999	4%	5%	2%
$200,000 or more	4%	5%	2%