What is considered a "high income" for a family in Northern VA? (Great Falls: mortgage)

[JaxMover]

Umm......i thought most people in NoVa worked for the government and I KNOW it doesnt pay that well. So where are this $300k+ (a year) households getting all their money? What kind of profession do they work in?

[claremarie]

Not sure whether "most" people in northern Virginia work for the government, but high-level positions at Justice, the State Department, CIA, NIH, etc. pay pretty well, and many such employees are married to other high-level government employees. Two people earning six-figure salaries can get to $300K without much difficulty.

As to where everyone else in the $300K club gets their money...LOTS of attorneys in private practice, plus lobbyists, surgeons, academics, journalists, top realtors, techies, CPAs, small business owners, real estate developers, World Bank/IMF/IADB types, defense contractors, and consultants.

[mtneeratheart]

claremarie is correct, while the government is a very large employer in the DC area it is by no means where "most" people work. Northern Virginia has one of the most diverse economies in the nation which is why even during recession it tends to hold up fairly well when compared to other major metropolitan areas.

A "Government employee" is a rather loosely defined classification as well, there are many jobs in the private sector here affiliated with the government that pay some very high salaries. It's always great to have a rich uncle, and in NoVa's case his name is Uncle Sam.

[Teebyrd86]

HOLY COW!! Such a sad statement!! My parents were able to raise my sister and I on wayyy less than that (mom was a cashier, dad surveyed land).. yes this was back in the 80's but come on!! If you cant raise a family on $150k a year I think its time to sell that $500k house, & your BMW pack your bags and move over here to Southwest va.!!

Originally Posted by SlimmyT

With state taxes and the cost of living up here....easy. My husband and I are also young professionals who earn around $150k a year (living in Reston)...and I sometimes wonder how we will raise a family someday.

[RRBC]

Originally Posted by Teebyrd86

HOLY COW!! Such a sad statement!! My parents were able to raise my sister and I on wayyy less than that (mom was a cashier, dad surveyed land).. yes this was back in the 80's but come on!! If you cant raise a family on $150k a year I think its time to sell that $500k house, & your BMW pack your bags and move over here to Southwest va.!!

I think you might have the wrong perception of what someone living on $150k a year up here lives like. We don't make quite as much as they do but taxes take a huge portion out of that, plus there's the regular costs of rent (there's no way we could afford a $500k house nor would we do a subprime or arm loan to get one), higher gas prices than SWVA because of the extra taxes, various insurances, 401k contributions, etc. $150k won't get you nearly as far in NOVA as it will elsewhere in the state and definately isn't a BMW and $500k house lifestyle.

[Fairfax Mom]

A six figure salary (with kids) will give you a "comfortable" lifestyle here - average home, average car, cheap vacation, public school, maybe a $5 latte but forget the $500 Coach purse.

Six figures in other parts of the country will get you much more - too bad the salaries are lower - you just cant win these days!

[mojo_1979]

Originally Posted by claremarie

Not sure whether "most" people in northern Virginia work for the government, but high-level positions at Justice, the State Department, CIA, NIH, etc. pay pretty well, and many such employees are married to other high-level government employees. Two people earning six-figure salaries can get to $300K without much difficulty.

As to where everyone else in the $300K club gets their money...LOTS of attorneys in private practice, plus lobbyists, surgeons, academics, journalists, top realtors, techies, CPAs, small business owners, real estate developers, World Bank/IMF/IADB types, defense contractors, and consultants.

I truly find most of these answers insane because Forbes recenty named Fairfax County VA the wealthiest county in the USA and the median household income was exactly 100k per year. I also remembe seeing various data that showed that the top 15% in the county earn greater than 150k and anything over 200k was less than 5%.

So to say that a couple in this area can "get to $300k without much difficulty" really doesn't add up when you look at the real data. The data would show that less than 1% of households get to $300k.

Originally Posted by SlimmyT

300-400k+...is on the money.

With state taxes and the cost of living up here....easy. My husband and I are also young professionals who earn around $150k a year (living in Reston)...and I sometimes wonder how we will raise a family someday.

A couple WITHOUT kids makes 150k and has a hard to making it in Reston? This is absurd! Again, that salary puts you in the top 15%... If you are barely making it, how do you think the other 85% of the people are doing? Seriously look at what you're spending. You should be able to easily save $2000 per month on that salary, probably more because you don't have any children. What the heck are you guys buying?

[Tone509]

Originally Posted by JaxMover

Umm......i thought most people in NoVa worked for the government and I KNOW it doesnt pay that well. So where are this $300k+ (a year) households getting all their money? What kind of profession do they work in?

There are also a lot of people who work for government contractors, particularly related to the defense industry. I also believe the number of tech workers is starting to rival that of Silicon Valley. So those are two reasons why salaries (and subsequently housing prices) are high in this area.

[claremarie]

So to say that a couple in this area can "get to $300k without much difficulty" really doesn't add up when you look at the real data. The data would show that less than 1% of households get to $300k.

The median household income in McLean and Great Falls is $141K and $186K. Many people here are retired, and living on relatively small incomes (in the $1 million houses they bought for $100K some 30 years ago), which means that there are just as many people on the high side of the median. It's really not that hard for two high-earning professionals to get to $300K, and many of these people would describe themselves as "comfortable" rather than "rich." Taxes take a huge chunk out of these incomes -- the highest marginal rates plus the AMT -- and if you add a few private school tuitions, plus the full sticker price for college, the money doesn't go nearly as far as you might think it does.

[mojo_1979]

Originally Posted by claremarie

So to say that a couple in this area can "get to $300k without much difficulty" really doesn't add up when you look at the real data. The data would show that less than 1% of households get to $300k.

The median household income in McLean and Great Falls is $141K and $186K. Many people here are retired, and living on relatively small incomes (in the $1 million houses they bought for $100K some 30 years ago), which means that there are just as many people on the high side of the median. It's really not that hard for two high-earning professionals to get to $300K, and many of these people would describe themselves as "comfortable" rather than "rich." Taxes take a huge chunk out of these incomes -- the highest marginal rates plus the AMT -- and if you add a few private school tuitions, plus the full sticker price for college, the money doesn't go nearly as far as you might think it does.

I think its fair to say that Great Falls is the exception and not the rule. To say that Great Falls represents Northern VA as a whole is a little far-fetched. I was simply pointing out that less than 1% of households in all of Northern VA make more than 300k. So again, to say "its not that hard" for a household to reach that income is not supported by facts. Certainly if you take a CEO of a small company and he/she marries a lawyer... then yes 300k is certainly feasible. But I think you fail to realize that for 99% of the population in this area, that is not the case.

I'm not arguing about the number, I can agree with your assessment that 300k puts a family in the upper class. I just can't agree with all of the statements about how "common" or "easy" it is to have that much household income across the Northern VA area.