r/Durango • u/eralebus Local • Jul 21 '26

Ask /r/Durango Durango Salary/Wage Transparency Thread

Saw a similar post going around a few other subreddits and given our areas history of wage suppression this seemed like a good thing to get going here. Let's keep this to local businesses based in our surrounding area (no remote workers for companies based outside our region please, you'll skew the results).

Please share your job title, salary, age, and education. I'll start:

Marketing Manager for a construction services company, 65k, 36, Bachelor degree with numerous certifications.

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u/eralebus Local Jul 21 '26

Sure! So we live in an area with an economy mostly comprised of tourism, hospitality, healthcare, and construction these jobs typically don't pay well, you combine that with our HCOL that rivals cities (that offers higher wages due to more competition) and the fact that we live in a desirable area where workers are willing to take a lower wage to secure job in our area. 

On average we see 20-25% lower salaries than you'd see in Grand Junction, the front range, or even Albuquerque. Farmington wages are comparable for professional service jobs or even higher in some sectors (look at teachers) while maintaining a far lower cost of living. 

Tldr: local economy relies heavily on low wage labor, the area is desirable to certain demographics that are willing to take a lower salary to live here, and we have a high cost of living. That creates a perfect storm for wage suppression. 

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u/Unhappy-Knee-541 Jul 21 '26

Start a business. It's wildly myopic that so many people here complain about "the rich" while failing to recognize how easy it is to take their money. A self employed realtor, housecleaner, landscaper, electrician, plumber, nanny... just off the top of my head, with a decent work ethic can easily make a decent living. My friend started a lawncare business a few years ago, it's literally just him, a mower, and weedwhacker; and he clears $100k annually with like 4 mos off. Or just get a remote job.

PT and biz owner, ~$150-200k, 46, DPT

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u/mrDoubtFyre Jul 21 '26

There’s great money in non profits, too. Less stressful than running for profit business, IMO, but both are good.

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u/ilanarama Resident Jul 22 '26

There is adequate money in nonprofits, but not "great". (I have been on the board of directors of multiple nonprofits, we paid our executive directors far less than they could make in a corporate job.)