A six-figure number has six digits, so it runs from 100,000 up to 999,999. People almost always use it about money: a six-figure salary, a six-figure deal, a six-figure bonus. It is a neat way to say “at least a hundred thousand” without naming the exact amount — useful when you want to sound impressed but not nosy. In the United States a six-figure job has long meant you are doing well; in very expensive cities it can feel more ordinary than it used to, and people still say it with a little whistle. You will hear it in news, business, and ordinary talk about pay. It is informal-to-neutral, not a maths-class word. Strictly, six figures means six digits, not seven: a million is a seven-figure number, which is why someone who wants to sound even richer will say seven-figure. British and American speakers both use it, nearly always as a hyphenated adjective before a noun (a six-figure sum), not as a verb.