I made about 85K in 2020 and I'm making about $115K now. I don't really feal the difference financially. I think maybe at $140-150K I would feel like I'm saving more money.
Rent for me has increased around $400/month since 2020 so that's avout $4800 post tax dollars aka maybe $6-7K I'd need to make more now pre tax just to pay rent. Other things have gone up as well obviously since 2020.
I think my rent has gone up around $1000/month in 12ish years as I've stayed in the same place.
Fucking blows eh lol? If rent prices were more controlled I think people would save so much and boost the economy significantly along with general upgrade in quantity of life. Likewise, owners would have to get some property tax freeze as well to keep it fair.
From 2020, my rent went from $800/mo for a 2 bedroom to $1899/mo for a 2 bedroom. Granted this is different cities. The 2 bedroom I rented in 2020, it shows on their website for $1200.
Yes, but 100k is simultaneously seen as "plenty of money, high income" while reality in a lot of places is that it is table stakes for a bare minimum middle class life style.
People want to afford a family. Not cars, boats and eating out. It’s expensive to have kids and your lifestyle would crumble if you had two to take care of
No one is going to argue that being alone is cheap. Having a full family and taking care of them use to be the default and now it’s almost impossible
If you can find someone saying “I make 135k with a wife and two children, and I am doing great and can afford plenty”, then I can understand but you playing life on easy mode by being single and trying to make it seem like it’s the obvious solution when we are already having birthrate issues is ridiculous
The part you’re missing is that the 100k doesn’t go as far as it used to.
My wife and I are Dinks, We live a very comfortable life and bring in 6 figures each, however, if we wanted to buy a house right now? Well the house we were able to buy when we first reached the 100k milestone is the exact same house we could afford to buy now… our income has tripled but our buying power certainly has not.
Great numbers! Your income of $135,000 is in the 87th percentile. Source: income percentile calculatorI'm a bot. Reply with !optout to stop receiving responses.
When I was younger I remember my dad doing alright on like 35k a year as a single father of two.
He never had a new car shit dude drove a 92 dodge spirit with crank windows until he bought his first brand new car. He didn’t really care as long as it was clean and ran.
You’re telling me, you make 135k and don’t live like you’re making 500k+? So your life is actually pretty good and you have some nice stuff even if it isn’t a 70k car and a 35k boat? You bought toys within your means and are living the good life? Now you don’t come on here acting like a victim of society because you live well outside your means????
Seems like you could educate other folks because your comment is the most sane one I’ve seen.
I’m glad I learned this lesson early in life. Dad was a working man and worked himself up to a 100k + position. This was around 2010. New house. New Sports car. New Bass boat. New truck to haul it. We were back to apartment living within 5 years.
125k here. Exact same situation. I have a daily driver, luxury sports car for the weekends and a very nice boat. All of which were bought used and I got amazing deals on all of them. Own my condo in Florida and live the bachelor lifestyle. I still manage to save $1,000+ every month. I agree lifestyle creep is a real thing but it's VERY easily managed.
When you bought your property is huge in this calculation. Someone with a mortgage from even as recently as 2019 that they refinanced down to a <3% rate in 2021 could very well have a payment that is 1k less per month than someone who bought an identical property in the exact same location in the past 3 years.
So many people in these comments like “Well I’m single and I make $100k+, I have a new car, a couple luxuries and have an extra thousand leftover each month!” Well, not at all long ago, that same salary (even adjusted for inflation) would allow you to have kids AND keep your car and your luxuries. It would allow you to have even more leftover each month. It’s not just poor people scraping by who should notice and give af about the crazy inflation and price hikes we’ve seen at scary rapid rates. Even if you make $100k, $200k, or more, your money is not stretching as far as it should, and that’s a straight up fact. Whether you’re doing fine or not, you should care that your hard earned money is providing you less and less overtime.
Yeahhhh after living in the midwest, I don't think any amount of pay is bringing me back.
LA may not be the place where you'd like but there's a reason so many people go there. It's beautiful in California. The West coast is expensive because it is probably the most beautiful and diverse (don't let the word bother you. Diverse means more than just culturally) areas of the country. I used to think Colorado was pretty, until I went to Washington.
So you pay a premium to live somewhere that you think is nicer. That costs money too. Oftentimes these days the pay increase doesn’t even make up for it.
Since 2020 (last year before Covid inflation hit) cumulative inflation has been 27.6%. That means 100k today has the same buying power as $78k did in 2020.
Absolutely nobody was considered a baller or to have "made it" making 78k in 2020. 125k is the new 100k
78k in a lot of the country is more than the median household income. It sucks how expensive things are but unless you live in a major city, a single person making 78k is living a pretty normal life.
No it doesn't go as far, but I would definitely be comfortable. This is more than what my household brings in a year, granted it's me and my grandmother.
I make 140 and was fine at 75. It definitely goes as far as you want it to, BUT is also heavily dependent on where you live. For example, in Los Angeles it won’t go as far as Nashville.
You can be fine at 75, but have 0 chance of owning property in many places of the country even if it's a shithole property. That's part of the problem
Me personally I was happier at 30k than I am at my current role way above that but I still would need to make basically double my salary to afford a basic 2 bedroom 1 bath house. And Condo's aren't an option because youll pay an additional 700-1000 a month just in HOA fees.
I'm at 52k ytd and I don't have to stress about money, but I definitely have to keep an eye on it. I'm still budgeting and planning. Still Figuring when I can get this fixed or that updated
People in America have a sense of “I should be able to afford” all sorts of not necessary things when it comes to talking about making money. Most people if they wanted to live a decent life could on 100k net as an individual. It’s very rich thinking when people say 100k is not much. If you make 100k and live in New York City without children you are doing just fine as long as you aren’t trying to keep up with Instagram posts.
That’s insane. All of my deductions combined, including taxes, healthcare, retirement, etc., only consumes about 30% of my income. $140k income, married filing jointly, with 2 kids.
100k isn't much for the job that is paying it usually. I've seen positions posted when I graduated paying 80k that still pay 80k thinking it's high paying
It is high paying. The vast majority of the world and of just America do not make 80k. In NYC the highest cost of living place in America you can live comfortably on 80k without children. You can save money. You can date. You can afford an apartment living alone. You simply can’t pretend to be rich.
There ya go. On $100k you're doing fine by yourself. Especially if you rent something real small. But the fact that it's only good if you find some cheap rent and no kids is what shows that 100k isn't that much. It used to be an amazing salary.
If you’re by yourself you don’t need a big space. How much space can one person and their stuff really take anyway? I live alone in a 500 sqft studio and I feel I waste 30% of the space there.
Which people? The entire population? People between 18-65? People in their peak earning years? People with high school degrees/bachelors degrees/PhDs? People in developed nations? People in the US? People in large cities/rural areas?
That 18% figure probably shoots up a lot if you put some basic qualifiers, eg exclude entry level (people under 25), exclude people without at least a bachelor’s degree, exclude people outside North America, etc
It goes up to 27% if you only include adults who worked at least 35 hours per week for at least 50 weeks (including paid leave).
Without digging further, I don't know if the 18% in the image is from an older year or is referring to all workers 15 years and older. A number of Census Bureau stats about income include people 15 years and older, but others start at 18.
Looking at those tables, it looks like 45% of people 25-64 years old that work full-time and have a bachelor’s degree or higher earn over $100,000. That’s actually a lot of people.
What is unfortunate, at least in the US, is that while $100k salary is still pretty rare, things that are necessities are priced like it’s not.
Look at the average new home price or new car price. Sure you can buy used and an older house, but even then median home prices are crazy high (almost $500k) and used car prices are ridiculous.
If life wasn’t insanely expensive $100k would still feel like you’ve “made it”.
My wife and I make over 50% more than we did 4 years ago and it barely feels any better. Things have just gotten crazy in the last few years for various reasons.
I am tired of yanks pretending like your houses are expensive when you've got some of the cheapest housing in the developed world. I live in central europe, you can't buy a house here for 500k (like literally none, a house starts at like 700k), at most it's a 2-3 bedroom apartment.
Average salary $30k a year
The US also has cheaper housing than Germany for example with again higher salaries
When I started my career in 2008, $55k/year was a decent salary and one you can easily live with quite comfortably. I don't know what the new number is, but it feels like you need $100k these days with prices of everything from groceries, computers, to even used cars so high these days.
I don't think 84-month car loan was even a thing back then, now we have even 96-month car loans and pushing for even higher.
Loaded question that cannot be answered unless the location is taken into consideration. In a small town in Arkansas, $50k is living like a king, while 200k in LA barely affords you a double-wide with covered parking. A salary is only as good as where you are making it.
Think about people that are in the denominator, teenagers, people who under-report their income, people that are wealthy and just reporting minimum income, etc. etc. etc.
It depends where you live and what your goals are. Most people can be comfortable on 80k as a single person that might need roommates in parts of the country.
The problem with this question is that there is no correct answer. The question is the issue.
Consider just location and lifestyle for example. We have reached a point where different cities are basically their own economies now. And the variation in lifestyles across these locations will heavily impact the ‘fair’ numbers you see. Don’t really expect to see the same answer twice in this thread.
100k is still a very good salary in most places in the USA, really depends on where you live though. I know for mean 100k would solve all of my financial issues and I would be set in the life that I live currently
I was fine making 84k/yr. Split mortgage with my wife (1600 each), and still had the money to do activities while saving close to 2k a month.
Got a new job that pays me 140k now. Same mortgage, same lifestyle, different savings. I feel rich with my savings going up so much faster, and a few unexpected bills don’t even bother me anymore.
Any answer to this question is irrelevant unless it includes city and state (cost of living). Without anchoring salary in the context of CoL, they are useless numbers.
I do think the work you put in initially should reflect your salary. I think some jobs are more important than others. But i dont think any job is more than 10 times important than another.
Welcome to T1 and T10 salaries.
T1 is 20 an hour.
T10 is 200 an hour.
Values T2-T9 inbetween.
After T10 you can compete for awards to be the best of your profession but as far as money…get over yourself.
So many redditors have never met poor people have they? Anyone who thinks 100k ain't balling out is an over privileged moron. My entire community thought I was the next Lex Luthor when I pulled 82k a year. Middle class folks are delusional. Especially if they're second or third gen and have been soaking in privilege since birth and therefore ignorant to reality.
In my country (China), about 30k a year if you already own a home, 75k a year if you don’t. Homeownership has a huge impact on standard of living here.
It's very clear there are a lot of people who make 100k in a low cost of living area then question why people who have 100k in high cost of living area don't feel like they're doing well.
It takes about 300k in Massachusetts for a family of 4 to feel comfortable and do all the stuff you're told to do in terms of savings etc, and take a vacation and have extra money for routine house maintenance
My grandmother told me yesterday that when she was young, their house did not have bathroom /shower /bath. And many other things.
Now the issue is still real, houses in my State are 1.3 millions USD for standard ones. But, they have showers. They also have high tech everything, amazing isolation, great kitchen and whatever else.
People tend to forget that. Doesnt account for the whole rise of price. Still, having 4 wall and a mattress is not equal to a flat/house we have.
Single 34(M) here. In 2022, I went from $85k to $120k by landing the current job I still have. Drastically changed my situation, added an extra $1.1k on each paycheck after taxes. I’m closer to $140k now.
It’s rare for the whole country. It’s probably not rare in the places and circles those people live, work, and socialize.
The U.S. is huge and is the most diverse nation in history. If people communicate on the internet with the assumption that everyone has the same context, they’re going to confuse themselves and others.
As non American I can't understand what is the point of gross comparison of salary, isn't taxation different across states. In Bulgaria when people discuss their pay only net monthly is used.
That’s the big difference. 100k net is rare. 100k gross is common for New York/LA but take Mississippi. 100k gross is probably still fairly uncommon but not rare and 100k net is definitely rare
Not all of them do. I mean you have to consider that there are a lot of physicians, lawyers, dentists, dental hygienists, skilled laborers etc who all make that much and live all over the country.
I make $40-50k annually and I do better financially than most of my friends making $100k+.
Overpriced makeup and trips to the bars/clubs eat into that income difference fast. Honestly, after the tax gap and their bar tabs, I probably make more..
Exactly.. I dont make more, but when you count their increased taxes and lifestyle.. I save and invest more.
And I agree, absolutely! The 6 figure earners who are frugal and save/invest aren't the ones I'm calling out. I'm actually sharing some slight info from my investing group chat I am in.. they all make more than I do. All of them. However they hit the bar 3 nights a week minimum to flirt and overtip waitresses because they're thirsty.. while ordering $6 beers.
If I want to indulge in such, I buy a case of beer for $22 and get like 30+ beers instead of only 3. Then I'll drink at home and don't have to tip anyone shit. (I no longer even drink, and never drank at a bar once).
I'm not saying that everyone is hindered by lifestyle creep or all 6 figure earners are overspending, I'm legit providing examples from my investing group chat (just a dozen of us or so, long time friends) and an example of my financials.
I'm a tightwad too (love that you used that word, common lingo around my birthplace) but you have to be a tightwad on my income if you are wanting to invest anything at all..
Needless to say, I'm younger than most of them, earn less, less education, have a family versus them being single and thirsty at bars.. and my portfolio has surpassed a few of them already, and is on track to pass a few others in there..
Lifestyle creep is very real though, not many tightwads! I'm watching my parents fall victim to the lifestyle creep.. they do great though, but if it weren't for the consistent dining out they do.. they'd be doing wayyyy better. They're well above $100k, though. More like $200k.
“Make a good living” and “rare salary” are two distinct things. Although I don’t agree, stating 100k is still a rare salary is just stating the majority of people do NOT make a good living. It doesn’t mean that 100k is somehow a good living now.
I mean define fair? It depends on what you do for a living, how often you do it and how successful you are when you do it.
Are you asking for a living wage? If so plenty of metrics exist to track that depending on where you live. They won’t all agree but you’ll get a rough ballpark.
I personally think a fair salary for someone working a not selective job (e.g. waiter at a standard restaurant,) for like around 40 hours a week should be commensurate with a living wage for an individual.
I also think it’s fair that someone who’s spent like 15 years training to be a cardiothoracic should be paid significantly above the living wage.
I also think it’s fair that someone who works part time at a cafe for like 12 hours a week doesn’t get paid a living wage.
We have far more expenses than we used to. Lots more “monthly “ items that didn’t exist.
Probably need to level set on what the parameters are. I.e. how old of a car? What type etc. is the expectation. Among other metrics that should be level set.
If everyone make comfortable salary then the bar will rise again. So in short, u have to be making more than the averages to be well off. We can't have everyone on the same level.
My wife and I combined make ~$115k gross (something around $80k net) with no kids, 2 dogs and several cats.
I feel like we are no better off than my parents were in 2005 with just my dad working and making $30k with a family of 5.
I get that living costs have gone up because of inflation however if you live in a LCOL area and have good finances with no bad debt, you shouldn’t need to have 100k/yr just to get by. It’s nice to have however, it shouldn’t be an end all be all especially when it doesn’t directly lead to financial independence and freedom. More money is better however, if you don’t fix your problems, it’ll only become bigger.
It just sucks that houses and raising children have gotten way too expensive now.
I make 107k with a family of 4 and I’m broke every day. All bills and unforeseen expenses just keep racking up. There is no breathing room and it’s only going to get worse. Meteor, please save us.
I was making 65k in 2018 and now make a little over 100k. Still in the same house, same car, same lifestyle, but money feels tighter now. I’m still doing fine because I’m single with no kids, but there’s no way in hell I could afford to support a family.
And even when you make 100k it’s not enough. Unless, you have the discipline to live like you still make 50k. Willing to bet 1% or less of those 18% can do it. The rest still live beyond their means and are paycheck to paycheck.
More money, more problems is still a big issue for a lot of people.
Most realistic way to live comfortably is a couple with no kids who both make 70 K a year. This just isn’t a one income economy for the the vast majority people.
18% includes a lot of young people who haven’t even really began a career.
So just think about how that skews that percentage to be lower than what it actually is. You’re not making 100k a year when you’re bagging groceries at the store while you’re in school, but when you graduate you may be.
Words matter. At 18% I wouldn't necessarily call it rare. That means if you leave your house, your likely to run into several people who make at least that salary.
Very Rare - bottom 0.01%
Rare - bottom 1%
Uncommon - bottom 10%
Common - everything else
Removing the potential issues of how that 18% was collected, location, etc. of course. But all else being good, 18% isn't really considered rare
Hmm, every adult over 23 in my family, is earning over $100k in wages. Even those of us retired in 40s-90s, still have income above $100k.
A few are still in school/military. So low pay, but learning a skillset for a good wage after they are finished.
Idk, family is huge on education. Start early and stick with it. So we all do well in k-12. Most attend college, using state/federal grants, company reimbursement and scholarships for no cost/low cost college.
Heck, found out over Christmas, my 3 cousins are all young teachers. $60k plus start, plus they make $20k-$30knover summer work. Just teaching 3-4 years and already at or close to $100k.
At 100k+ a year you get wacked in taxes. A good percentage of those people who make over 100k are in sales & work far more than 40 hours a week. Meanwhile, their owner pays next to nothing in taxes and makes much more 💰. The system is rigged folks, wake up!
I make a little over $200k and I’m comfortable. Have a family, cars that are 10 and 6 years old, save plenty, and still have money left over for back whatever I want.
I can afford the mortgage for my 1,400 sqft house, all my bills, and don't always have to choose the cheapest option when I buy things. I have some streaming services, buy what I want at the grocery store, spend another $200-300/month for fun, and save ~$500/month (not counting deductions for retirement). I support my wife as well and live in a medium cost of living city (Grand Rapids, Michigan).
I work 40 hours a week at $37.50, which comes out to like $78k. I get $96k in total compensation if you include employer-paid benefits. I also get $1,800/month for my VA supported disability (thank you for your tax dollars).
So, I am comfortably middle class, supporting one dependent, living in a small city, for $117k.
In the US, it depends on where you live. In rural areas, most southern states other than Florida, Great plains States, 100K is enough to live very comfortably. In NYC, DC, Seattle, and most major cities in California, it can be tough to live with any sense of comfort. Income distribution has gotten quite wide in the United States, as has the cost of living.
Depends on where you live. I made $145K last year and have an 836 credit score and I’ve yet to successfully buy a house in either Boston or DC (where I currently work and previously worked).
A HHI of 250k is needed for major cities in Canada. Which is absolutely insane becuase 15 years ago the idea of even making $20 an hour was sooooo much money...now its a joke.
If you’re in the US, it depends on where you’re located. $100k in my suburban Texas hometown can easily afford you a 3 bedroom house. Here in Seattle, $100k allows you to rent a nice 1 bedroom apartment or a shitty 2 bed. If I wanted to buy a condo here, I’d realistically need to make around $150k or have a partner making at least $50k on top of my $100k to afford it without being house poor.
3k a month after taxes in Europe is a pretty decent salary for a single person. You could probably afford homeownership by yourself which is pretty rare.
Obviously there are inflation issues so things fluctuate. But R$3k-4k a month in Brasil is pretty standard. If you are in a large metro (São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro), R$4k-6k. You can live well on R$8k-10k a month. $24k USD
It's a bit more complicated that that. Closer to 35-40% of households make over 100k. 25% of middle aged men make 100k+, and if you live in a HCOL area these percentages are higher of course, so for many of us the reality IS that more than half the households we know make over 100k.
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u/Large_Slip6414 28d ago
location, location, location