IYO,what amount of $$$ = a high paying job?

[Dancing Fire]

> $75K ? > $100K ? > $125K?

 

[mogster]

I live in the Bay Area and would consider >$100k to be a high-paying job.

 

[yssie]

I find it surprisingly easy to put numbers to this question -

"High paying job" = 200+
"High earning" combined income (w/ expenses for kids) = 400+
"Very comfortable, no-worries" combined income (w/ kids) = 300+

DH says my sense of finances is not based in reality. That may be true.

 

[sonnyjane]

In my mind, the figure would probably be $100K. That said, I make about $20 an hour which works out to be about $40,000 before taxes. That doesn't sound like much, but for what I actually do, that's good pay compared to people that do it in other cities/states who make about half that.

 

[ame]

Generally for me anything above 75k was considered high paying. My field does not pay anywhere near that (lol) even with a ton of experience and education. So a high paying job in my field is like 35K.

 

[Dreamer_D]

I think its important to base your own personal expectations about money on reality. Its too easy to fall into the trap of thinking that earning a tonne of money is normal or necessary to live a good life. So I remind myself often than the annual *combined* household income in Canada averages $50k. Given that, I believe a high paying job for an individual person is $60k+.

I find it surprisingly easy to put numbers to this question -

"High paying job" = 200+
"High earning" combined income (w/ expenses for kids) = 400+
"Very comfortable, no-worries" combined income (w/ kids) = 300+

DH says my sense of finances is not based in reality. That may be true.

Yes, Yssie, that is not based in reality!

 

[Skippy123]

I think $150k -200k is high paying.

I do have to say when you make money, somehow you always find a way to use it up

I read somewhere that Silicon Valley has a lot of wealthy people and jobs Pay $100k or more out there.


eta: I do think where I live that $175k-200k would allow a family of 4 to live comfortably.

 

[aljdewey]

I think "high-paying" definitions would differ regionally, too, because how high one's pay is definitely depends on how high one's expenses are. A $50K salary may be high paying in the heartland, but wouldn't even scratch the surface in NYC or Silicon Valley, for example.

 

[qtiekiki]

For me, high paying job = >100K.

 

[Gypsy]

For individual incomes:
In the Bay Area I think 150K or more is high paying.
Comfortable is 85k-120k.
Under 75k things get tight fast out here. It's really expensive to live here.

 

[isaku5]

I think that probably anything above 100k is a high paying job, but as a teacher many years ago the top was closer to 60k

Our daughter made 200k as the comptroller for a large logistics company and she received bonuses and profit sharing as well. After 20+ years, not even the money could make her stay and she and her husband are working in their own business (not yet profitable).

Our son probably makes about the same, but since he married, his wife doesn't think talking about money is 'proper'. So we'll ask him sometime when she's not around.

 

[princesss]

For me, the numbers change based on age and location. But >$75k seems like a lot of money to me right now for people in/around my age group. (Of course that number could go lower with less debt - my friend and I make about the same amount of money, but my school loans mean I live much less extravagantly.)

 

[rosetta]

To me a high paying job is whatever lets you live your life comfortably.

But i'm the kind of person who thinks that if you have 3 square meals a day, a roof over your head and warm clothing, then you are already well off, and anything extra is just icing on the cake.

I don't earn a 6 figure salary but i think i'm very rich because i even have diamonds!

What more can a girl want?

 

[natascha]

You have to factor in where you are living.

I am in Sweden where salary differences are much smaller and thus high paying jobs pay a lot less than those in the US. '

However that does not mean that living standards are lower. Apart from purchase power parity (things are a lot more expensive over here ), you have to factor in that we don't have to pay for medical insurance, childcare has a cap of $180 for the first child, less for the next, you are expected and paid to take at least one year off with each child, collage tuition is free (in most cases), etc. Student debt only amounts to the state provided loans for living expenses which have incredible cheap interest rates (it is set as the average of the last 3 years of what the state pays in interest rate).

A high salary over here is above $70 000 per year, but to have the same living standards in the US you would probably need to add another $40 000.

Since education is a lot less biased towards those from higher levels of society this system also has a great effect on social mobility. (Trying to find info on what a high wage is, since I don't always live in reality, I found this type of info ).

 

[ieatbugs]

You have to factor in where you are living.

I am in Sweden where salary differences are much smaller and thus high paying jobs pay a lot less than those in the US. '

However that does not mean that living standards are lower. Apart from purchase power parity (things are a lot more expensive over here ), you have to factor in that we don't have to pay for medical insurance, childcare has a cap of $180 for the first child, less for the next, you are expected and paid to take at least one year off with each child, collage tuition is free (in most cases), etc. Student debt only amounts to the state provided loans for living expenses which have incredible cheap interest rates (it is set as the average of the last 3 years of what the state pays in interest rate).

A high salary over here is above $70 000 per year, but to have the same living standards in the US you would probably need to add another $40 000.

Since education is a lot less biased towards those from higher levels of society this system also has a great effect on social mobility. (Trying to find info on what a high wage is, since I don't always live in reality, I found this type of info ).

I agree. Making over 70k in Maryland (which is under the average for the state I think - some places have average income of 95k, like Chevy Chase MD) but have medical bills or school bills? Now my budget is tighter than when I was a college student, ugh!

 

[madelise]

Depends on how much the bills are in that area, + how many dependents you have.

If I can pocket 1k for savings/ month
3k for bills/ month
+ pay 1k towards student loans per month
And still have 1k/month for spending money?
I'd feel stable.

So that's 6k/month, post taxes. Which will probably never happen to me.. Sooooo


But RICH? I'd say enough to buy whatever you want, whenever you want, without worrying about the tab. Work whenever you want and vacation whenever you want. Net worth in the high 100 millions. Otherwise, even if I win the lottery, I'm still keeping my job FT! ;P

 

[chemgirl]

I think high paying job is 200k or more.

Like you wouldn't really have to think twice about booking a vacation or upgrading your car if you made that much.

Many would consider my parents or my husband's job high paying (heck mine maybe), but we all still have to be careful with money so I feel it doesn't count.

 

[wildcat03]

I think this is SO variable depending on where you live. I am somewhat anchored to the Northeast, and living expenses here are high! I just poked around in a cost-of-living comparison tool and it claims that if I moved from my current location to Chicago, IL (a MUCH better city!) I would have an increase in disposable income by about 4,500. If I moved to Cincinnati - a bigger city in some respects, but less culture than where I am - I would have an increase in disposable income by 12,000!!!! All of these account for the drop in salary I would see if I lived there.

I also think that the definition of "high paying job" varies according to where you are in life. If you are 22, no kids, and minimal debt - 50,000 is a TON of money. If you are 35, with kids, a car loan, a mortgage, etc., things can be pretty tight on 50,000.

So, living where I live I would say that a high paying job is anything starting around 125,000.

 

[rosetta]

I think this is SO variable depending on where you live. I am somewhat anchored to the Northeast, and living expenses here are high! I just poked around in a cost-of-living comparison tool and it claims that if I moved from my current location to Chicago, IL (a MUCH better city!) I would have an increase in disposable income by about 4,500. If I moved to Cincinnati - a bigger city in some respects, but less culture than where I am - I would have an increase in disposable income by 12,000!!!! All of these account for the drop in salary I would see if I lived there.

I also think that the definition of "high paying job" varies according to where you are in life. If you are 22, no kids, and minimal debt - 50,000 is a TON of money. If you are 35, with kids, a car loan, a mortgage, etc., things can be pretty tight on 50,000.

So, living where I live I would say that a high paying job is anything starting around 125,000.

It's all relative. With both myself and husband working, no kids, no debt, no mortgage our salaries go a long way to fund luxuries.

I think once you have dependants, a lot more is rapidly needed.

 

[Haven]

I also think that the definition of "high paying job" varies according to where you are in life. If you are 22, no kids, and minimal debt - 50,000 is a TON of money. If you are 35, with kids, a car loan, a mortgage, etc., things can be pretty tight on 50,000.

I agree! I thought I was making SO MUCH MONEY in my first job out of college, and my salary was 29K/year. I don't think I could (comfortably) live on that salary now.

Now I'm a 31-year-old with a husband, a baby on the way, five pets, a small mortgage, no other debt. We live just north of Chicago. I guess I think a high-paying job is one where you earn enough to live comfortably but don't have to work so many hours that you miss out on doing any actual living. It's hard to put a number on that, because so much depends on where you live and your definition of comfortable.

I feel my husband has a very high-paying job because he earns more than enough to comfortably support our household without having to work a full 40-hours a week. That's always kind of been our goal--to spend more time OUT of work than IN. It took a lot of work and education on both of our parts to make that happen, but now that we're there it was all worth it.

 

[justginger]

It's so dependent on where you live. Here? 200k. Where I grew up? 100k.

 

[Rhea]

I live in London, a very very expensive city. A 2 bedroom/1 bathroom/no yard leasehold* flat in my area (the less expensive South of London) costs about £260,000 ($415,000 USD), and a 3 bedroom/1 bathroom freehold** house with a small yard costs £499,950 ($782,000). The average salary is £36,000 ($56,250). I make less than average by a substantial amount and still have a good quality of life, though I don't own a flat or house. Housing prices skyrocketed about 10 years ago and most single people under the age of 40 don't seem to be able to afford even a one-bedroom leasehold flat.

As housing and property ownership is a huge concern here my answer about salary revolves entirely around the ability to be afford to housing, ideally at least a 2-bedroom flat though larger and with a yard would be nice in case I have children.

To me, a good salary is the average yearly salary of approx £36,000. At that amount you can afford to spend your 20s and first part of your 30s in shared housing, as most young Londoners do, before partnering up and affording a house together with two salaries. If children come along, it's not necessary for them to have their own room at this point and I know several couples with a young child in a one-bedroom flat.

A high paying salary is £65,000+, and a ridiculously high salary is £100,000+.


*you own it for a set number of years and then renew it for a further set amount of time for a price. If you don't renew it goes back to the landowner who can then resell at the current market rate.

**you flat out own it, it's not leased to you for a set number of years

 

[yssie]

Edited* Rosetta, so frighteningly true!


Dreamer - snort.

 

[Dancing Fire]

13.2% of PSer are in the $100K + bracket..

 

[missy]

I think "high-paying" definitions would differ regionally, too, because how high one's pay is definitely depends on how high one's expenses are. A $50K salary may be high paying in the heartland, but wouldn't even scratch the surface in NYC or Silicon Valley, for example.

My thoughts exactly. The "high paying" definition depends on where you live and on your expenses.

 

[MissGotRocks]

13.2% of PSer are in the $100K + bracket..

How did you come up with this?

 

[chemgirl]

I also think that the definition of "high paying job" varies according to where you are in life. If you are 22, no kids, and minimal debt - 50,000 is a TON of money. If you are 35, with kids, a car loan, a mortgage, etc., things can be pretty tight on 50,000.

I agree! I thought I was making SO MUCH MONEY in my first job out of college, and my salary was 29K/year. I don't think I could (comfortably) live on that salary now.

Now I'm a 31-year-old with a husband, a baby on the way, five pets, a small mortgage, no other debt. We live just north of Chicago. I guess I think a high-paying job is one where you earn enough to live comfortably but don't have to work so many hours that you miss out on doing any actual living. It's hard to put a number on that, because so much depends on where you live and your definition of comfortable.

I feel my husband has a very high-paying job because he earns more than enough to comfortably support our household without having to work a full 40-hours a week. That's always kind of been our goal--to spend more time OUT of work than IN. It took a lot of work and education on both of our parts to make that happen, but now that we're there it was all worth it.

Exactly, my grandmother recently asked me if DH was working "every" day now because he didn't when we were in the UK. She sees working every day as being successful. Meanwhile I would much rather he not work every day!

 

[imitcan]

I think a high salary is one over 100 000.00 I saved my first pay cheque stubs from 25 years ago and I made 24 000.00 before taxes in one year. I have 2 degrees. I thought it was pretty great but I couldn't imagine how some of my work mates managed supporting young families and paying mortgages and college debts on that salary. I think your lifestyle, your attitude towards money, your overhead, and your age determine what you would consider a high paying job. Ultimately, you need to live within the means that your job salary provides. At least that is what we are trying to teach our kids. And we try to practise what we preach. And that is really hard!

 

[Gypsy]

13.2% of PSer are in the $100K + bracket..

How did you come up with this?

Where he usually comes up with it.

 

[zoebartlett]

13.2% of PSer are in the $100K + bracket..

How did you come up with this?

He makes it up. All of his "statistics" are made up.

ETA: Hahaha, I didn't see Gypsy's post above. I agree with everyone else that it's hard to say because it depends on so many things. What some consider as average, others probably think of as really high or even really low.