What $$$ would considered as a good annual income in your area?

[Dancing Fire]

$75K? $100K? $125K? over $150K?

 

[kenny]

... around double what I make.

 

[jordyonbass]

Not what I make, that's for sure!

 

[acebruin]

It all relates to the person's life style imo...

 

[missy]

DancingFire, What does "good" mean? Middle class? Upper Middle Class? What is your definition of good?

In our area a decent middle class income is (purely a guess) $250k
Upper middle class over $450K

But just a guess. I haven't googled any numbers so I could be totally wrong.

Your definition of what you mean by good could help us share more accurate numbers.

 

[tyty333]

Are you saying for a single person or a typical family of 4?

Kind of just a guess but I think $100k in my area would be considered "good" for a family of 4. Not great, but good as in
adequate for decent living. Really good would be $125-$175. Great would probably be in the $175k+ range. All my opinion
based on cost of living in my area and are just opinions.

Edit...I just looked up the median house cost in my county and its $185k if that means anything.

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

At least 200K if you want to own a home and have 1-2 kids in public school in a "good" school district.

 

[missy]

Are you saying for a single person or a typical family of 4?

Kind of just a guess but I think $100k in my area would be considered "good" for a family of 4. Not great, but good as in
adequate for decent living. Really good would be $125-$175. Great would probably be in the $175k+ range. All my opinion
based on cost of living in my area and are just opinions.

Edit...I just looked up the median house cost in my county and its $185k if that means anything.

OK that is a good point. What is the cost of your average home in the area you live? Just googled it for our neighborhood and it is 1.297 Million. Crazy- right?

I will add that 94.74% of the people in my neighborhood voted for HRC in the 2016 presidential election...IDK but just wanted to add that statistic to somehow make up for the crazy median home prices where we live. Oy Vey.

 

[t-c]

DancingFire, What does "good" mean? Middle class? Upper Middle Class? What is your definition of good?

In our area a decent middle class income is (purely a guess) $250k
Upper middle class over $450K

But just a guess. I haven't googled any numbers so I could be totally wrong.

Your definition of what you mean by good could help us share more accurate numbers.

I would agree with this: $500K/year, no kids in private school, will provide a comfortable lifestyle with ability to put money away for retirement, etc... $1M will allow a standard of living with some splurges, private schools for the kids, college fund, etc.

 

[missy]

Oh yes @t-c you are right. I forgot to even calculate kids into the equation. If one has kids the amount of money one needs to have the "good" (according to one's personal definition of that) lifestyle is completely different. The numbers I shared probably need to be increased significantly if one has children...depending on the need for private schooling and college and graduate school. I am sure by now it is way over a million dollars per child.

 

[OoohShiny]

Please don't take this as judgemental in any way because it's not intended as such but half a million to a million dollars are year to just be 'comfortable'??

Personal expectations of comfortable are, of course, key considerations and relate to surrounding social norms... but really??

What on earth sort of jobs pay that sort of money?


Over here in the UK, the average wage is currently about £26500 a year, so assuming GBP1 to USD1.30, that's around USD34500 per year.

Obviously that's an average of the Mrs Miggins of this world working in pie shops and the Jerry Maguires manipulating numbers on a screen in the financial sectors in the City, but a 'professional' in an office-based role is likely to earn anywhere between £18k as a new starter and perhaps £100k in a senior management role (excluding bonuses).

To earn what is the equivalent of £385k-£770k, you would likely have to be a senior partner in a law firm or a trader bringing in a considerable amount of profit to a bank, for example.

To illustrate this point, I reference the income percentiles collected by the government themselves:
https://www.gov.uk/government/stati...1-to-99-for-total-income-before-and-after-tax

As you can see from the excel file downloadable from that page, the 99th percentile income for 2014-15 is £162000 before tax, so around USD211000. I would say that anyone earning £400k-800k a year is therefore likely to be in the 99.9th percentile!


I know PS is perhaps a special example, where those lucky enough to be at the top of the earning tree (or with partners who are) can congregate in a safe place to drool over the shiny things that such disposable income can buy (and we all love to look at them, regardless of our own income ), but sometimes I am not surprised that the placard-waving socialists are out in the streets, banging on about the '1%ers'. After all, given some families in London (one of the most expensive cities in the world to live) are living off one persons income, perhaps as little as £20000/USD26000 a year or less (or benefits to an equivalent level) the suggestion that one would need twenty times that amount just to be 'comfortable' might grate a little on them... lol


To be clear, I'm all for socially responsible capitalism and being rewarded for one's efforts, but this world does seem somewhat (completely?!) out-of-kilter if to live a comfortable life in a nice area seemingly costs fourteen-and-a-half times the national average wage (assuming $500k needed and $35k average).


Anyway, meandering rant/puzzled thoughts over lol

 

[missy]

OoohShiny, yes, the question posed by DF was all about personal expectations of what a "good" income in our area is. If I interpreted the question correctly- and clarification was asked for in any case to see exactly what DF meant.

We worked very hard to get where we are in life and super grateful for everything and realize that not everyone had the same advantages we did starting out. We never take anything for granted and truly appreciate all the good fortune we had and worked as hard as we could to have a "good" life. And always appreciative of the advantages we had as well.

In the area we live (and the amount of money you need varies wildly depending on the area in which you live) the numbers I shared are not crazy or out of bounds by any means. If you are earning the national "average" you cannot live here comfortably. Comparing one state and city to another is like comparing apples to bicycles.

In any case, no matter what, it is critically important (to us) for us to keep giving back which we do generously with time and money and effort. In many different ways.

And believe it or not these numbers posed here don't qualify those who are earning them the top 1% status...just saying.

 

[Bluegemz]

I looked up the middle class median income and across America, it is in the 70 thousand mark , ranging up to around 120 for two kids and and 2 adults. I know many in urban areas need more to live comfortably. The point is that what people perceive as middle class, i.e. Never having to want for things, and what it really is are two different things. Upper middle class starts at above the 160 and up according to what I just read in Wiki
and a census. I think this info is based on minimum wage as a starting point. Makes me wonder how young people and families make ends meet. I think 200 with 4kids would be comfortable but not extravagant . Good school district but not private, college funds though. Maybe a once a year vacation for a month. Just a guess.

 

[Bluegemz]

I must add that with 200 and 4 kids, obviously this would not be enough to pay for college and graduate school, but to contribute to it.

 

[stracci2000]

Reading this thread is making my head explode.
500? 250? Even 100,000?
What kind of jobs are these? Who is lucky enough to have them? Where did I go wrong in my life?
In my neck of the woods, folks do not make this kind of money.
I must be super poor compared to PS standards.

 

[Queenie60]

there are so many variables to determine this. You can make $500,000 annually however if you don't have the tax shelters, etc. you're going to pay in excess of 40% to the government. It's difficult to say. In my area, the SF Bay Area and the specific area I live in, Silicon Valley - many in our social circle make in excess of $500,000. It's crazy!!! I don't ask, I can look around me and see their lifestyles which is a great indicator of their income.

 

[redwood66]

Lifestyles and cost of living in particular areas make it so diverse. We have millionaires (some billionaires) and paupers because this is a resort area. Our local paper owner/land developer's yacht was on the Lifestyles show. But you can still sort of make it on a small income, it depends on what makes you happy, it might be enough for some but not enough for others. Pay is lower here than other metropolitan areas in other states but we have very low crime in comparison. Median income is $49K. Median sold housing price last year was $222K.

 

[madelise]

Entry level interns make 70-90k, average employee around 150k.

A local city has tried to get low income housing for combined household incomes of 250k and less.

I'm not kidding.

So I guess "good income" would be 300k+?
I'm considered low income.

 

[arkieb1]

Most of those figures would be good to high incomes in Australia which is odd because our cost of living is much higher, food, clothing and houses generally are more expensive here too.

 

[Karl_K]

hard to say where to draw the line, most people expand their lifestyle depending on how much they make and very often exceed it.
I know people who make 40k who have money in the bank own a home and I would not call their kids deprived. I know others who make 150k+ with the same size family and they are in dept over their head and live paycheck to paycheck with little savings. They have more stuff than the other family but are they really better off?

 

[Dancing Fire]

DancingFire, What does "good" mean? Middle class? Upper Middle Class? What is your definition of good?

Retired with no kids. How much with it cost to live comfortably in your area?

 

[Matata]

Where I live the median household income in 2016 was $46,808; median home price was $209,800; cost of living was 4.3% below national average. The biggest industry here is healthcare. The estimated monthly take home on that $46,808 is approx $1502. The estimated mortgage on $209,800 is $1062 with 20% ($44,000) down.

A living wage here for 2 adults and 3 children is considered to be $19.16/hr.

 

[lyra]

I would guess $300K combined or single. Houses are going for $1.2 Million where I live for nothing special and not big lots. Everything is expensive. Cars cost more here, food costs more here, taxes are high, people have to accept jobs with no benefits.

 

[OoohShiny]

Entry level interns make 70-90k, average employee around 150k.

A local city has tried to get low income housing for combined household incomes of 250k and less.

I'm not kidding.

So I guess "good income" would be 300k+?
I'm considered low income.

I need to move to wherever you live if being 'average' would earn me over £100k a year...

 

[PintoBean]

It depends on age group too. 30 years ago if you graduated college tuition was more manageable and so were the prices of homes. No way can I afford what my parents did in the same neighborhood nowadays.

 

[nkarma]

Please don't take this as judgemental in any way because it's not intended as such but half a million to a million dollars are year to just be 'comfortable'??

Personal expectations of comfortable are, of course, key considerations and relate to surrounding social norms... but really??

What on earth sort of jobs pay that sort of money?


Over here in the UK, the average wage is currently about £26500 a year, so assuming GBP1 to USD1.30, that's around USD34500 per year.

Obviously that's an average of the Mrs Miggins of this world working in pie shops and the Jerry Maguires manipulating numbers on a screen in the financial sectors in the City, but a 'professional' in an office-based role is likely to earn anywhere between £18k as a new starter and perhaps £100k in a senior management role (excluding bonuses).

To earn what is the equivalent of £385k-£770k, you would likely have to be a senior partner in a law firm or a trader bringing in a considerable amount of profit to a bank, for example.

To illustrate this point, I reference the income percentiles collected by the government themselves:
https://www.gov.uk/government/stati...1-to-99-for-total-income-before-and-after-tax

As you can see from the excel file downloadable from that page, the 99th percentile income for 2014-15 is £162000 before tax, so around USD211000. I would say that anyone earning £400k-800k a year is therefore likely to be in the 99.9th percentile!


I know PS is perhaps a special example, where those lucky enough to be at the top of the earning tree (or with partners who are) can congregate in a safe place to drool over the shiny things that such disposable income can buy (and we all love to look at them, regardless of our own income ), but sometimes I am not surprised that the placard-waving socialists are out in the streets, banging on about the '1%ers'. After all, given some families in London (one of the most expensive cities in the world to live) are living off one persons income, perhaps as little as £20000/USD26000 a year or less (or benefits to an equivalent level) the suggestion that one would need twenty times that amount just to be 'comfortable' might grate a little on them... lol


To be clear, I'm all for socially responsible capitalism and being rewarded for one's efforts, but this world does seem somewhat (completely?!) out-of-kilter if to live a comfortable life in a nice area seemingly costs fourteen-and-a-half times the national average wage (assuming $500k needed and $35k average).


Anyway, meandering rant/puzzled thoughts over lol

OoooHshiny,

I too was balking at the response and I've only lived in major global cities. 'Comfortable' is not comparable between the UK or US. I'm an American living in the UK, making much less than I did a decade ago as a graduate and am now a mid-level employee.

I've been constantly confounded by how Brits earn what an American would think is quite low but have a great standard of living and extra money to spare to go on many annual abroad holidays, nice restaurants, etc... I think the answer is mainly two-fold: 1) There are no social support system(s) such as single-payer healthcare system (NHS), paid parental leave, paid sick leave, etc in the US so you are going to need a massive emergency fund/savings to account for any issues life throws your way. A lot of the labour laws are also pro-worker. In US you can get laid off for any reason that day whereas in the UK, you get a minimum 90 days notice in which you can at least start your new employment search and save during those 3 months should you get let go. Also same for schools, they are funded by property taxes so you have to buy a home in a rich area to send your kids to a good school. The lower income areas typically have less funding, resources, and associated worse performance. 2) The American economy is built on consumerism so the 'quality of living' for a middle class family includes the latest everything so you can keep up with the Joneses and feel fulfilled.

 

[nkarma]

Question to All: What is middle class??

Is it what you are saying is comfortable? Is it a range up to half of that?

I was just wondering because someone said in a Trump thread about how the Middle Class will be most affected by Trump's policies. I thought that unless middle class extends quite low (just above the poverty line), it has to be the working poor that would be affected most as Middle Class will hopefully have some savings and connections for employment, education, etc that will keep a roof over their head and basic food in their bellies.

 

[Begonia]

I make 50k a year and the hubbie 75k = 125k Canadian.

That keeps us in an average house, 2 fifteen year old cars and kids in the closest public school.

We are saving in case one of us loses our jobs and we can take a big (2 week vacation away) every 3 to 5 years. We've been on 2 as a family.

I spend my time looking at jewellery on PS. When's the last time you saw me post a purchase? It's because we can't afford it.

It is hard sometimes to see the incredible wealth here but then I remember I have a warm bed, and can feed my kids 3 square meals a day in a safe community. I don't have to come on and see what some can afford. The thing is: I love jewellery and always will.

 

[Calliecake]

I need to move to wherever you live if being 'average' would earn me over £100k a year...

Ooohshiny, I believe you are missing the point. Housing in New York and San Francisco, many parts of California, Chicago are extremely high, Making $200,000 is not going to get you very far in these areas of the US? My husband works for a British company and his peers located there are making over £100k a year.

 

[smitcompton]

Hi,

DF asked what would be the income necessary for YOU to live comfortably in your area. I know in England there are many areas were you need a high income by any standards, but the average guy has much less income, as is true in the US. It is where we live.

In my area I would think $100,000 would do very well, but I doubt we have many people who are retired living on that. Depending on whether or not your home was paid off, I think you can live pretty well on $60,000 if your house is paid for. I live in the Midwest which is very different from NY or San Francisco.
Annette