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Old 12-07-2012, 07:25 AM
 
Location: Lawrenceville, Pittsburgh
2,109 posts, read 2,144,199 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by UKyank View Post
I agree, it just irks me when I see some firms really slash what they pay their pittsburgh employees compared to other cities because we have 'such a low cost of living'. (Not saying its not lower, though nowhere near the extent most of these places dock the pay)
My company is headquartered in the DC suburbs and pays us the same that they pay the people working at the headquarters. Similarly the people working in Kansas City are paid like we are. There are many different philosophies to pay. The one demonstrated here is the premium a company needs to pay above cost of living increases as perceived desirability of a location decreases.

Pharmacy is actually a perfect example of this. Pharmacists starting salaries are very locally driven. Take a peek at salaries in a very cheap area such as rural South Carolina, they're likely higher than what you would see in Connecticut, for example.

Note: I am not a pharmacist.
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Old 12-07-2012, 07:31 AM
 
43,011 posts, read 107,636,560 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WhoIsStanwix? View Post
Pharmacy is actually a perfect example of this. Pharmacists starting salaries are very locally driven. Take a peek at salaries in a very cheap area such as rural South Carolina, they're likely higher than what you would see in Connecticut, for example.
That's absolutely true. Even doctors are paid less in highly desirable places. Go to the NYC forum and you'll find discussions about it. Many leave for other cities, such as Pittsburgh, for a better salary. Of course, many stay because, well, it's NYC! Same applies to nurse anesthetists, nurse practitioners, etc.
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Old 12-07-2012, 08:16 AM
 
Location: Pennsylvania
1,723 posts, read 2,215,308 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by UKyank View Post
I agree there are many paths to making a good salary, though I think the question that popped up here was more towards the salary + the relatively young age, not merely jobs that wil pay <100k at some point in one's career.

Not sure whether its a good thing (signal of affordable living) that people see 100K as a really high salary here bad (signal depressed wages).
Regional variations within some of the previously discussed professions (medicine, law, finance, etc.) plus the unmentioned ways that people become really rich notwithstanding, $100,000 is a lot of money for most of the population.

Unless employed in a relatively uncommon high skilled job, holding a top position in a large organization, or occupation requiring an advanced degree, the large majority of Americans can never hope to earn $100,000 a year by doing their job well.

Although, of course if this is just a conversation among peers or about the relative pay within certain lucrative fields I wouldn't want to interrupt.
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Old 12-07-2012, 08:33 AM
 
5,894 posts, read 6,840,863 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Clint. View Post
Regional variations within some of the previously discussed professions (medicine, law, finance, etc.) plus the unmentioned ways that people become really rich notwithstanding, $100,000 is a lot of money for most of the population.

Unless employed in a relatively uncommon high skilled job, holding a top position in a large organization, or occupation requiring an advanced degree
I disagree with this to an extent, I know many people outside of uncommon or top positions on large orgs. requiring an advanced degree that surpass the 6 figure threshold from law enforcement to nursing to mining to more recently gas drilling & many other. The commonality with all these people is that they've been at the same job (or industry) for many years, that fact is becoming admittedly less feasible now then it was in the past.
I agree that many people of course do not reach such salary but I think you would be surprised how many normal jobs do pay above that if you're there long enough.
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Old 12-07-2012, 08:59 AM
 
Location: Lawrenceville, Pittsburgh
2,109 posts, read 2,144,199 times
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As an aside, there are quite a few good websites out there to calculate what your actual paycheck might look like. Paycheckcity.com is what I used to use, though haven't in a while.

Edit: I called this an "aside", but in reality this is addressing the OP's actual original issue. Oh how C-D loves to get sidetracked
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Old 12-07-2012, 10:05 AM
 
Location: Mt. Lebanon
2,001 posts, read 2,498,888 times
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OK, for the OP, the local tax for Mt Lebanon is 1.2%

Welcome to the city. You'll do fine here on your salary. Having friends already helps feeling at home and getting established. After all. all of us, outsiders, lived either in Sq. Hill or Shadyside when we first came to the city.

Just FYI a friend of mine has a 25 year old son who graduated from a local college here with a degree in graphic design. He works with a company in the city and his salary is 45k and he is ok with this. There are degrees and degrees. You'll do just fine.

Oh, for Hopes: database admins don;t make over 100k in Pgh area. At least I don;t know any and I know quite a bunch of them. Not even those in financial cmpanies where security is very important.
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Old 12-07-2012, 10:20 AM
 
Location: The Flagship City and Vacation in the Paris of Appalachia
2,773 posts, read 3,833,268 times
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OP

It really depends on a variety of factors how much you will pay in taxes. Some cities in PA also have a local services tax and a variety of other taxes that are in addition to your basic income taxes. I currently live in Erie, but I have lived in Pittsburgh and Philly in the past. I can't remember what my local services tax was when I lived in Pittsburgh, but I think I pay something like $3 per paycheck or $6 per month in Erie so as you can see it is relatively small, but it is also one of those taxes that you don't really know about until you move to the area. My local tax in Erie is a little above the statewide 1%, but much less than the 3% you will be paying in Pittsburgh. The other taxes that are kind of surprising in Pittsburgh are the higher sales tax (7%) vs. the 6% of surrounding counties.
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Old 12-07-2012, 10:25 AM
 
Location: The Flagship City and Vacation in the Paris of Appalachia
2,773 posts, read 3,833,268 times
Reputation: 2066
For the salary discussion:

100,000 for medical professionals is not really that high and I am not surprised by the salary. One of my neighbors is a medical doctor, fresh out of medical school, who works at the UPMC hospital in Erie. He is 32 years old and was telling me his highest offer (nationwide) was actually in Erie and the salary was close to 200,000. Normally I don't talk to people about salaries, but he is from the west coast and I asked why he moved to Erie and that is what he said, it was all about the best starting salary and sign on bonus.
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Old 12-07-2012, 10:37 AM
 
5,722 posts, read 5,772,356 times
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A lot of fields are situational and depend on the company and your experience. DBA's definitely don't make 100k in Pittsburgh...you might know one that makes that much but that doesn't mean a 25 year old with no work experience is going to make that. Pharmacy is like all the medical careers if you're willing to move you can get a job somewhere. All the stores like Target and so on have a pharmacist. Congrats to the op for choosing a career wisely and not listening to a lot of the bs for-profit schools pump out. I won't name names....a lot of them end in Institute though.
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Old 12-07-2012, 11:11 AM
 
43,011 posts, read 107,636,560 times
Reputation: 30710
Quote:
Originally Posted by XRiteMA98
Oh, for Hopes: database admins don;t make over 100k in Pgh area. At least I don;t know any and I know quite a bunch of them. Not even those in financial companies where security is very important.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wanderlust76 View Post
A lot of fields are situational and depend on the company and your experience. DBA's definitely don't make 100k in Pittsburgh...you might know one that makes that much but....
Was my post confusing? I posted lists and links to surprising high paying jobs and shared a few others not on the list.

I never claimed all applied to the Pittsburgh area, and I never said I knew a database administrator personally.
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