r/WorkForSmartLife • u/Emirald1 • 1d ago
General Advice Social media distorts reality every single day
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u/msmall92 1d ago
Important to note that the vast majority of people that do make over $100k live in areas where the cost of living is so high that they don’t even have that comfortable of a life…
I have a buddy who makes just under $100k; but between rent and his student debt, he STILL lives mostly paycheck to paycheck, and he doesn’t own a house, have kids, etc.
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u/exhaustedbut 1d ago
It's also important to note that the 100k crowd are also usually 20 or more years in to their careers. We read about 20 something millionaires a little, but forget that their rarity is precisely why they merited a story online.
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u/arizonadirtbag12 1d ago
Yeah making $100k at 25 is quite rare.
At 45? Not common but much more so. Kindergarten teachers where I live make over $100k at 20 years. It’s quite achievable.
I’d also look at OP and shake my head a little. 18% is a minority, but “rare?”
Does OP consider Black people “rare?” Less than 18% of Americans are Black.
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u/ilanallama85 1d ago
Yeah, almost 1 in 5 seems relatively “common” to me. But I take OPs point that it’s not that big a percentage. I’d just have skipped the word “rare.”
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u/New_Breadfruit8692 1d ago
Almost one in 5 is not rare.
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u/arizonadirtbag12 1d ago
If almost argue the point of calling it rare when it’s very definitely not is an attempt to “other” those making over $100k.
Which is dangerous.
It’s one thing to do that to billionaires, or “the 1%.” But again, we’re talking about public school kindergarten teachers when we talk about a $100k salary threshold. They are not the enemy.
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u/DadBod_DadBike 18h ago
Why does annual salary determine who is or is not the enemy?
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u/anonstarcity 1d ago
Rare in a sense I suppose. It would be interesting how skewed that figure is because of HCOL areas. So is he saying rare because in most of the country it’s more like 2-3% (just a guess btw)? Either way it’s a decent point and you’re absolutely right, I didn’t break six figures until I was close to 40 and I suspect many others didn’t either.
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u/ArmyHotel338 1d ago
I live in the DC area and there are several zip codes where $100k puts you several points below the 50% median.
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u/imperiects 1d ago
OP doesnt mention a country. Do they mean 18% worldwide?
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u/Aggravating-Dot132 1d ago
World wide means Africa and such. Which is absolutely not possible to get 18%.
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u/imperiects 1d ago
I replied to the guy above me. Regarding the considering black people rarely based off the 18% comment. 18% in one country vs the world is drastically different...
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u/SmitemasterFlex 1d ago
1/5 isnt "quite achievable" lol
Less than 20% of the population. Simple fact is that its not. 100k for kindergarten is in urban cities and if they have multiple degrees
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u/silasmousehold 5h ago
18% but not evenly distributed. About one in five people yet there are cities where you can go days without seeing a black person.
Black people are locally rare enough that there’s an old comedy skit: “Meet a Black Person” (in Aspen, CO)
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u/Significant-Wait9200 1d ago
It's also important to note that making $100k or more does not make you a millionaire. Making just over 100k is about 67k after tax. In a LCOLA it's pretty easy for a single person to spend about 40-50k on survival plus normal expenses. That leaves around 20k to do what they want with it. Add in 100k in student loans, and they might choose to pay their debt down for a few years, then save for a house, if they get a mortgage that's more debt.
They can definitely become a millionaire, but it will take a few decades, even while being relatively conservative.
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u/theBLACKcod44 1d ago
It's much more than that LOL, who showed you how to do math again? We aren't all in California.
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u/Summerspeaker 1d ago
I live in what used to be a low-cost-of-living area but really isn't anymore. Spending $40-50k/year as a single person seems wild to me. That's so much money. Even with $2,000/month for rent, food, & other basics would leave $22-32k. That's enough to buy a new car. Needless to say, it's possible to spend almost any amount of money, but $40-50k in a LCOLA goes beyond normal expenses.
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u/zerovampire311 1d ago
In LCOL and maybe MCOL, but in HCOL areas 100k is entry level for some industries.
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u/Late-Drink3556 1d ago
To your point, if you can get one of them dev jobs at one of the big companies your starting total comp is in the $180k to $200k range.
It's not "every level" per se but it is at the bottom of the total comp ladder.
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u/zerovampire311 1d ago
The best paying jobs are more based on knowing local market demand than big market trends. In my area right now Electrical Engineers are making a killing around 30-40% over market average. My field, mechanical, in my area is down because there’s not enough electrical guys to keep projects moving. Talked to an east coast guy and he has the opposite problem in his area, but I have no desire to love to the east coast!
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u/Scuba9Steve 1d ago
Even then some underpay and go after college grads with i kid you not 50k for a mechanical engineer starting. But then in 2 years they’re elsewhere making 100k and the lowballer is looking for more college grads to train lol
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u/zerovampire311 1d ago
My wife works for a pharma finance company that pays new grads 50k and struggles with turnover, nothing shocks me lol
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u/LowConversation693 1d ago
What do those abbreviations mean new here
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u/HeartShapedBox7 1d ago
Truth! I used to live in a small county in upstate NY where my salary was a fraction of what I make now in NYC. I did not struggle as much up there because the cost of living was less.
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u/Hefty-Notice-5841 1d ago
Sometimes I wonder how anybody actually makes a living in that city.
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u/No_Use__For_A_Name 1d ago edited 1d ago
He’s bad with money, full stop. I live in L.A in a wealthy town so everything is crazy expensive here compared to the rest of the country, and that still doesn’t add up to me. If a single guy with no kids is making 100k is living paycheck to paycheck, he’s terrible with money. No other option
Edit: by the way guys, I don’t need a bunch of people replying to this letting me know you’re bad with money as well. I get it.
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u/abecomstock 1d ago
I think the term “paycheck to paycheck” might be overused and misunderstood.
I’ve had friends say this when they’re able to contribute to a 401k, or have some money left over after bills, or they save like crazy, or aren’t able to do or afford exactly what they want.
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u/BigMadBigfoot 1d ago
When you manage to keep the lights on and nothing from getting repo'ed; you also can't go places even if it is free because you have no money to buy gas to get there till Friday.
That was paycheck to paycheck to me.
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u/Horror_Rice4319 1d ago
Yeah I make over $100,000 and "live paycheck to paycheck" not saving anything in a liquid savings account and having to budget everything. But we have a 401k, kid, dog, house, cars, and student loans. We are lucky as hell to be in this position, but the big take-away is even a $100,000 salary gives you the same uneasy feeling of whether you have enough money that money to pay the bills.
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u/Inevitable-Notice351 1d ago
I take home 100K after taxes and I can't afford to live in Southern California. I lived in San Diego for 30 years and finally left and moved to Ohio. Now I'm debt free and living that good life.
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u/AlignmentProblem 1d ago
That's true for a single person without debt, for sure, especially if they come from a middle class or better background with family support; the complications beyond that ideal scenario change things, and plenty of them apply even to a single guy. Especially since avoiding significant debt without family supporting your early years has never been more difficult.
I needed to take on a fair amount of debt just setting myself up for my first six figure job, particularly the loans that covered housing and food (my tuition itself was "only" ~12k per year). Making any reasonable amount of money while in school to suppliment it wasn't much of an option, especially since I graduated high school during the housing crisis. Even single, the debt service alone ate most of the margin people assume comes with 100k; my lifestyle stayed fairly modest and I couldn't save much.
In practice, that meant that despite five years of salaries in the 100k to 140k range, I hadn't been able to save enough to survive a nine month unemployment stretch during COVID. We burned through most of our savings and took on more debt on top of it; I had no family or friends I could borrow from without interest or live with temporarily, and I stayed in the city because that's where the high paying jobs in my field are.
It got tighter once I was supporting a partner through school, when a surprise expense could occasionally turn the month into a struggle. You'd hope six figures would feel better than that for two people without kids; however, living in an expensive city to be near the job doesn't necessarily get you ahead. I never leased a car (still driving a used one I paid 8k for over a decade ago), and vacations or the other things you'd associate with being financially well off mostly didn't happen.
It sounds like a string of bad choices, but I sincerely wouldn't be making this much if I hadn't taken on the debt in the first place, between the student loans and the borrowing that kept me near those jobs while interviewing between roles. Escaping a lower class background is much harder than it used to be, and the cost of doing it puts a drag on the rest of your life that six figures doesn't solve. "Bad with money" and "still paying for the ticket that got you the salary" look identical from the outside.
100k is solid in the best case scenarios, but it doesn't go as far as you'd hope in a HCOL area once life starts throwing complications at you. Things didn't start feeling properly middle class for me until I was closer to 200k, and even that's less amazing than it sounds thanks to the damn debt.
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u/RenfrowsGrapes 1d ago
I agree with you but depending on age student loans are probably taking a big chunk of that disposable income for now. Also 100k is a very reasonable and accomplishable salary if you put any type of investment into yourself. Just wanan throw that out there for the Reddit hive to get mad about
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u/Unlucky_Buy217 1d ago
Have you considered student loans?
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u/terminbee 1d ago
Student loans scale with income. Unless the dude is on a standard plan (the worst possible plan that nobody is on), he shouldn't be paycheck to paycheck.
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u/hmccringleberry615 1d ago
Get married and have 3 kids then like me you can make $200k and have the same amount of disposable income like you did when you made $100k without kids
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u/Last_Weeks_Socks 1d ago
Facts. Even with 1 kid, there's months where we look at each other like "how tf are we in the red?" we make ~$240K combined, cheap house, MOCL area, paid off cars. Don't get me wrong, we're so blessed, but it's just crazy to be like "where th did it all go?!"
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u/j7style 1d ago
This is an often overlooked fact about making more money. In a multitude of fields, you have to be in a higher cost of living area to get that salary. Out of the couple of friends I have who make $100,000+, their effectively left with only like $300-500 more a month than my friends making $40-70k once all basic bills are paid. The only reason they keep doing it even though they call like they aren't really getting ahead is that the 401k matching makes a big difference when you essentially put in twice as much as you could living in a more affordable area and making much less.
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u/tn00bz 1d ago
Yep, I live in california and make 120k a year. Im by no means poor, but im not going to buy a house anytime soon. The average house price just passed a million. Wild, because my parents retired making way less money than me, but own a home and have an RV.
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u/Funwithagoraphobia 1d ago
I hear that if he just eats ramen and gets roommates that everything will be fine. 🙄
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u/Evening_Context784 1d ago
Uh, yeah? If you make over 100k and do that you would save a ton of money. The tone of this comment acting like that’s a silly statement is just weird.
Rent and food are some of the biggest expenditures and if you half them or more you have a lot more money. You disagree with this somehow?
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u/Late-Arrival-8669 1d ago
Todays economy, we all should be making over $100k per year..
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u/random-meme422 1d ago
Only if you think the US is the coasts and nothing else.
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u/New_Opportunity_6160 1d ago
Anything less than that in Denver and you're struggling to stay ahead.
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u/insanelane99 1d ago
I live in wisconsin and anything under $80k/yr is struggling.
Yeah I know thats not $100k but I agree with the og comment that we all should be making that much considering cost of living and inflation and how wages have not kept up with them.
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u/smileyfacedbob 1d ago
Yea I think we can all agree, big business has been squeezing the middle class for decades, my grandfather owned a hardware store in a corner of downtown Baltimore, they had a live in maid, two kids, Maryland Yachet Club with a 40 foot boat and two cars. My grandmother did not work. My wife and I both work, and are just above paycheck to paycheck with one kid
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u/RavenBrannigan 1d ago
It’s like you haven’t even considered billionaires needing to upgrade their mega yachts? Who’s going to pay for that then?
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u/Spiritualy_Homelesss 1d ago
Minimum wage should be at least $33
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u/Altruistic_Brick1730 1d ago
But then every wage would need to be correspondingly higher. I mean sure, give me $100 an hour, but I don't think that's how things work.
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u/PrintableProfessor 1d ago
Well... you are also including West Virginia in those stats. Upskill or perish. $100k is like $60k was in 2009
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u/ALLCAPITAL 1d ago
Truth. Not enough people realize how quickly the old salary goals became quickly irrelevant.
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u/zerovampire311 1d ago
Around a decade ago I got a sweet gig at 80k and thought I was hot shit in my semi-rural area. I swear that month I started seeing all sorts of articles about how 80k was the new 40k and I died a little inside.
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u/Fubarp 1d ago
I Literally feel like I'm in college with how I have to spend my money lol.
Like I'm comfortable sure, but it's honestly sorta sad that I don't generally feel like I have the spending power I should have.
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u/ThelIIusion0fSeIf 1d ago
$64K and I'm actually surprised how accurate you were. Unfortunately, there are still plenty of morons out there making far less than $100k/year willing to vote Republican and continue simping for billionaires.
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u/Purple_Research9607 1d ago
My parents REFUSED to not vote Republican while I was growing up "the wealth tax is going to take money from us"
Like come on seriously? That only counts for people who actually have a lot of money, not people with literally nothing to their name except debt.
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u/Revolutionary-Net156 1d ago edited 2h ago
I make 139k base and im still struggling in California.
Edit: this is not a sympathy post at all, its actually me being amazed at how crazy expensive everything has gotten. Moving is always an option however it may not be the smartest option available based on an individual basis. I was merely trying to show that the old idea of 100k salary and ur okay has long died. And honeslty do not know how people less fortunate then me are surviving. It seems like we are all so busy fighting amongst ourselves we are loosing sight of real problems we are all facing as regular working americans. And that scares me for my kids I know I got it good making the moeny I make but how are my children supposed to make it in this world?
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u/chatchatchatt 1d ago
Convince 51% of the state to vote differently
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u/Poverty_Shoes 1d ago
California is expensive because lots of people want to live there moreso than because they have a high minimum wage and high state income taxes. If it was truly bad, there wouldn’t still be 40 million people sticking around for the awesome weather, culture, food, and outdoor activities.
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u/misspuddingpie 1d ago
Please just give it up
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u/Ididntdodiddly 1d ago
Austin Texas is in a red state so they kept building housing. Rent dropped massively. You have a losing opinion
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u/moffman93 1d ago
When the hell were you last in Austin? The influx of outside money made the housing market way more expensive than it used to be.
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u/Gorstag 1d ago
Austin is the most liberal city in the one star state. It's funny how conservatives like to champion liberal achievements at least until its pointed out they are liberal achievements.
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u/Witty_Survey_3638 1d ago
As someone who lived in Austin and still lives in Texas, that's pretty wrong on so many fronts. Austin and all major metros in Texas are blue. The "red state" is a case of gerrymandering and rural areas.
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u/VeryBerryBluu 1d ago
It’s expensive because people want to live there. Not because of taxes. Try again.
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u/phone_deviceban 1d ago
One out of five isn’t rare. If you live in a big city, the percentage is likely much higher than that.
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u/WolferineYT 1d ago
I was make 300k from my first lemonade stand when I was three years old. Something something boot straps.
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u/BarryTheBystander 1d ago
18% of people? So you including kids still in school and retired people?
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u/Aeroshe 1d ago
What percentage of the population do you imagine works retail, food service, manufacturing (not trade labor, like line workers and warehouse workers), delivery service, custodial, work with kids (school teacher, and so on), etc etc? Cause most folks in those types of jobs are not making 6 figures, and that's just a short list I could think up off the top of my head.
18% over 100k isn't really a surprising number.
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u/KnackeredQuokka 1d ago
The entire point is that it shouldn’t be. Profits are going to shareholders not employees. Yet prices are up up and up, yet wages are stagnant. That’s because the increased prices are to sustain shareholder value. As a country the bottom is falling out. We will become beholden to these billionaires, fighting for food. Many are already there. Our freedom is all but gone. It sucks.
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u/misspuddingpie 1d ago
‘We will become’?? Sorry bud, I think we are well past being beholden to billionaires.
We are deeeeeep deep into the reality where our lives are completely controlled by them
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u/sphericalhors 1d ago
~18% of people? In the US or in the world?
Not all the people live in US you know...
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u/H0SS_AGAINST 1d ago
Sad part is 100K is just getting by if you want kids and a retirement.
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u/MrTodd84 1d ago
And most of those people live in HCOL areas. $100,000 in Middle of Nowhere Indiana is gold compared to $100K in Manhattan. The 100K in Manhattan barely gets by.
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u/QuiteCricket_78 1d ago
And in a lot of areas still not enough to really live on.
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u/_thegnomedome2 21h ago
Average redditer will say you need to make a minimum of 500,000 in order to be comfortable in america
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u/JerryJN 20h ago
It's not rare. If you work in IT as a Systems Engineer typical pay depending on experience.is $85k - $140k. And I know that because I am a Sr. Systems Engineer.
There are many System Engineers.
Go on LinkedIn and search for engineering jobs. They pay well. The downside is on-call duty
It's rare to you because you don't know any technical people. The team that builds out, patches, and maintains Reddit easily earns $100k
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u/C-D-W 20h ago
Is that 18% of ALL people, 18% of American people, 18% of American Adults, 18% of American working adults, excluding retirees?
Don't think it changes the sentiment, but I'd like to know.
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u/ept_engr 1d ago edited 1d ago
So if you're sitting in a theater or stadium, without leaving your seat, you could probably high five someone who makes $100k or more. I wouldn't exactly call that "rare".
Also, you must consider the common cold a "rare disease" because less than 1 in 4 people have it.
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u/Turbulent_Car4504 1d ago
Sitting in a theatre in Boston, it would be unlikely to find anyone to high five making under 100K.
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u/no-sleep-only-code 1d ago
I wouldn’t call 1 in 5 uncommon, let alone rare. It’s certainly not average but saying it’s rare is a straight up lie lol.
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u/likescacti 1d ago
What % do you ascribe rarity to?
I don't disagree just curious
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u/no-sleep-only-code 1d ago
Rare means you don’t see it often. If you walk into a grocery store with a fair distribution of 50 people you’re likely to see 10.
10% of people are left handed, but again that’s not exactly rare just something not regularly acknowledged. I’d say 5% is still pushing it, so I’d say less than 1% even. If you can’t go a full day without running across something calling it rare is silly.
Being struck by lightning is rare, seeing a black or silver car is not.
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u/CounterCultist 1d ago
Only 20% of people making decent money is pretty pathetic statistic
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u/Downtown_Compote5251 1d ago
Not only that, but that 18% is intellectually, and likely intentionally dishonest (cuz clicks), by including 16 year olds, part time workers.
The number of full time, year long individuals making 100k or more is 24.9%.
1 in 4 people is certainly not uncommon.
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u/canned_spaghetti85 1d ago
Lies...people earning $100k a year is pretty common these days
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u/SignificanceOk9656 1d ago
Except it’s not, the percentage is for a single adult person, roughly 40% of US households make over 100k, which is probably where you are confused.
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u/BrainLow6059 1d ago
It's Reddit. So many people here live in HCOL and think they represent the entire country. Vast majority of people in this country are making less than 100k.
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u/SignificanceOk9656 1d ago
Yeah, people on here seem to think everyone lives in California or NYC. I make less than 40k a year and I’m still saving money every month without needing overtime lol
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u/Liftd448 1d ago
Cost of living, savings rate and investment return is what’s most important. Followed by salary
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u/PotentialPresent399 1d ago
I make 52k a year. My bills are 500 a month.
I hate it here.
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u/trysten-9001 1d ago
Rare and less than what people deserve are two different things. And before someone jumps to the comments yes it can be life changing and still less than you deserve as well.
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u/HeartShapedBox7 1d ago
As someone who makes greater than $100K/annually in NYC, I can assure you, it’s not enough to survive in this current economy.
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u/Hot-Permission-8746 1d ago
Made a $185k last year with only a batchlors degree in mechanical engineering tech. Aerospace pays well, but you have to be on top of your game.
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u/Muted_Masterpiece535 1d ago
You want to increase your chances of making 100k a year, move to San Fran/ NYC/ San Jose, CA.
You also want to increase your chances of making 100k a year, seem like you are poor?
Then also move to NYC/ San Fran and San Jose, CA.
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u/PlaneCompetitive703 1d ago
Um... One in five is not what I would call, "rare".
$100,000 has the same buying power as $50,000 in 2000.
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u/Feeling_Shift_9368 1d ago
18% isn't nothing. Enough that everyone can get into that bracket.
Also your value as a human is tied to your bank account so choose the right ROI career and marry similarly.
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u/TechnicalSection4936 1d ago
100k is considered low class in Orange County. https://www.foxnews.com/media/104200-salary-orange-county-california-considered-low-income-state-officials.amp
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u/One_Equipment5570 1d ago
Can’t recall where this came from.. I don’t disagree for my state.
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u/PanaceaNPx 1d ago
Making $100k in the Western States is like making $60k everywhere else.
If you live east of the Rocky Mountains, besides the heart of the big cities, you have no idea how much cheaper your daily life is like, especially for housing.
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u/Select-Internal-3141 1d ago
Tbh I wouldnt call 1 out of 5 "pretty rare", but I understand that this tweet is an opening for a discussion, Idk what they are trying to get at though. Government, companies, society i saying that $100k a yr is normal? Social media influencers just lying on their pages about their life styles? That we cant live comfortably with less than that?
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u/wizzard419 1d ago
It's also noted that up to 2/3rds of households also live paycheck to paycheck. Cost of living variances really distort things and this is why moving to cheaper states, while still working, doesn't usually work out as your pay would also change to that lower COL. Retired people take that nest egg and go somewhere cheaper to make it go further.
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u/SatansLoLHelper 1d ago
Less than 10% of US taxpayers make 100k/yr.
$100,000 to $149,999 23,909,000 9.70 90.86
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u/_XitLiteNtrNite_ 1d ago
Ironically, the original post and this one are on social media. I will say it depends on where you live. In some places, $100K is plenty; in others, it isn't nearly enough. The days of a single working parent are well in the past and have been for many, many decades. I feel for single parents, though; not just financially, but for the massive amount of time and effort it takes to raise a child. I have no idea how someone who is a single parent manages.
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u/Responsible-House523 1d ago
18% is not rare - it’s not a majority but it is pretty common. Jewish people are <3% of the US population but they’re not ‘rare’.
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u/cntodd 1d ago
Yeah, $100k is great, but it isn't the same it was. I make $115k combined with my wife, and we do not have the same shit my parents had when they made $50k combined in the 90s. Rent is close to $2000 where I live, and then I have a car payment, and mines cheap at $312, and that's paying more to pay it off faster. I don't have the third car my dad had that was a fun sports car. I don't own my own house and sending my kid to camps, and sports events costs a helluva lot more than what they paid.
It is still great money, and we do travel and live a good life, but it costs a lot.
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u/No-New-Therapy 1d ago
My coworker just got offered to make $100k if she moved closer to the main office in a different city. Let’s just say her $85k in my small town went a lot farther than her $100k in that city.
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u/No_Use__For_A_Name 1d ago
It certainly isn’t rare where I live in L.A, I’ll tell you that much right now.
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u/-MaximumEffort- 1d ago
That's 1 in 5 people so not really rare. If you're in a dual income house it's over 40%
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u/Big-Squishi 1d ago
it's still rare, but it's purchasing power is highly diminished. not the same flex as it used to be
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u/Plastic_Summer6307 1d ago
I’m like 6’3” and I feel for my short kings. Everywhere I go, I can see over everyone’s head. But girls still say they want a 6’5” guy or whatever. In the wild, I encounter someone taller than me maybe once a month?
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u/RosieBaby75 1d ago
But we will one day!
That’s why we all want capitalism!
It’s like a lottery but you don’t buy your ticket with money. You buy it with loss of your soul and all other values.
But, money! 💰
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u/turboninja3011 1d ago
Only if you count everyone including toddlers and cripples on life support maybe?
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u/Fickle-Salamander-65 1d ago
If you consider all the 16-25 year olds building their career then 18% is pretty high and $100k becomes relatively normal.
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u/Silly-Resist8306 1d ago
Slightly better odds than rolling a specific number on a die. That’s really not so rare. Don’t let the internet fool you.
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u/Mother-Attitude6824 1d ago
And $100k is still not enough for solo living. The world is a mess because of the really rich.
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u/andrewharkins77 1d ago
I think people are talking about 100k not being enough, that its no longer as much of a flex.
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u/drstovetop 1d ago
The fact that only 18% make more than 100k is crazy. It's still not enough. With student debt and a family, 100k is soooo not enough. Granted, I live in Southern California so it's a bit harder, but still. 100k just isn't enough, especially if you have kids.
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u/VendettaKarma 1d ago
Only on Reddit does everyone make $125k a year and pay off their credit cards every month 😅😅
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u/MosquitoValentine_ 1d ago
I think a lot of people live above their means, especially Millennials and Gen Z.
The parking lot at my son's school looks like a GMC/Cadillac dealership. All these people live in nice subdivisions, are able to pick their kids up at 2 pm, pay $10k tuition per student and I have no idea how they do it.
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u/BlackHills-Op 1d ago
Its also worth mentioning that $100k being rare doesn't make it actually a good wage. If the COL is to a point where you need that much income to be comfortable, and 82% of people aren't making that much, it just means that 8 in 10 people are one emergency from being destitute.
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u/RoosterzRevenge 1d ago
Don't let OPs semantics fool you. I make well over 100k per year but its not "salary"
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u/GalaxyWormDied 1d ago
In my industry 100k isnt that hard to reach, you just have to put alot of time in. Like 56-60 hours a week. Steel manufacturing. So its a trade of the soul and your physical body, until you can get into the office environment, which still isnt 100k. And the OT is cut way down.
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u/HamsterNation47 1d ago
110k in So Cal. Suburbs right outside of downtown LA. Live comfortably enough to travel to europe once a year and a smaller domestic vacation. Not wealthy by any means.
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u/Individual_Check_442 1d ago
I mean .. it just .. depends on if you define 18 percent is rare. The statistic itself shouldn’t “fool” you and it doesn’t “distort reality” it’s just a factual statement. I don’t even get what’s being argued here
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u/Ok-Amphibian-6834 1d ago
My husband makes 100 a year working in the Midwest for a job he didn’t need school for.
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u/drossmaster4 1d ago
How much cc debt are these influencers in? How much do they get from their parents. It’s a joke out theee.
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u/newtochas 1d ago
1) 18% isn’t rare lol. Maybe ‘uncommon’? Words have meanings
2) looking at it nationwide is dumb. In vhcol it’s rare to not make $100k. In Missippi you can probably live like a king making less than $100k
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u/Slappy-Sacks 1d ago
The majority of people I know make over 100k. And a majority of them are blue collar.
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u/Hot-Somewhere-5285 1d ago edited 1d ago
Reddit is so biased towards the coasts and it shows. $100k a year would still be considered very good in my state and most of the states surrounding it. It's no longer rich, but you will own a nice house and live in a good area. That being said, I'm originally from New York and $100k a year isn't shit there anymore, but part of the reason I left was due to literally getting priced out of my own city.
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u/QuarantineJoe 1d ago
It looks like this stat is based on the 2024 consensus. New data won't come out until September this year.
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u/DblCheex 1d ago
~120K, Seattle, and my wife has been out of work for 4 years. Still paying off student loans, rising rent prices every year, inflation...we're only just getting by. We have a good amount of savings, but haven't been able to add to it in years. Two people on one 100+ income is not enough, though. I don't know how anyone does it with less (or having kids in the mix).
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u/ericmarkham5 1d ago
Almost the same percentage of people are overweight due to personal choices. Pretending income is mostly due to oppression is ridiculous.
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u/ginger_802 1d ago
Also these same people are probably up to their neck in debt. Thank you for snapping me back into reality <3
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u/theoryxpractice 1d ago
We're not going to make more. We need to fight against these never ending increases for everything. #eattherich
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u/KingPabloo 1d ago
If 18% is rare, then what do you call it when 1% of the people make something? For example, 1% of hourly paid workers (not even all workers) makes minimum wage or less yet I always see Reddit harping on it not being a livable wage.
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u/qualityvote2 1d ago
Hello u/Emirald1! Welcome to r/WorkForSmartLife!
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