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No. The MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD income is a little over 53,000 dollars per year in the U.S. in 2015. Per capita means each individual.
In Seattle median household income is around 73,000 dollars. Milwaukee? $43,385 after suffering a 10% decline from 2009.
I was thinking of the per capita (PPP) I saw on Wikipedia for the USA. So, after your post I went back and looked to see if I was remembering incorrectly. Naw, I was pretty much remembering correctly. But if the Wikipedia (as a source) is correct is another issue.
I think City-Data as a source, last time I checked anyways, gives Milwaukee's per capita income at something like $20,000 annually. So, the figure you give (or that of the source) for the household income for Milwaukee sounds about right.
You can easily get a luxury 1 bedroom apartment in Milwaukee for less than $2,000 a month. About $1,300 a month budget for rent alone should get you in the door for luxury 1 bedrooms in Milwaukee, at minimum lower end luxury 1 bedrooms.
If it costs over $4,000 a month in Seattle for 1 bedroom apartments that aren't even luxury units in luxury rental buildings then that is just wild.
I was thinking of the per capita (PPP) I saw on Wikipedia for the USA. So, after your post I went back and looked to see if I was remembering incorrectly. Naw, I was pretty much remembering correctly. But if the Wikipedia (as a source) is correct is another issue.
I think City-Data as a source, last time I checked anyways, gives Milwaukee's per capita income at something like $20,000 annually. So, the figure you give (or that of the source) for the household income for Milwaukee sounds about right.
You can easily get a luxury 1 bedroom apartment in Milwaukee for less than $2,000 a month. About $1,300 a month budget for rent alone should get you in the door for luxury 1 bedrooms in Milwaukee, at minimum lower end luxury 1 bedrooms.
If it costs over $4,000 a month in Seattle for 1 bedroom apartments that aren't even luxury units in luxury rental buildings then that is just wild.
And you also get the fabulous bonus of living in Milwaukee.
OP, I'm trying to feel for you. I have a daughter that's a millennial, so I understand some of the issues this younger generation is having, but your complaint seems unfounded. You have a well-paying job, you don't have the expense of children, and without the time issues of raising kids, you should be able to live outside the city and commute for work. There's no reason you need to pay over $4,000 a month in rent.
That said... I think it's a lot harder to live comfortably in America now than it was two decades ago, but we also have to reevaluate what 'comfortable' means. Too many people, my daughter included, have an unrealistic view of what they need to live. I'd love to have a housekeeper and part-time sitter for my kids, but we can't afford it. It would make my life MORE comfortable, but that doesn't mean I'm not doing okay without those things. I'd like to get pedicures every week, but really, having pretty toes is quite unimportant, overall. I'd like to drive a car that's not 12 years old, but I have a car. I'm not taking the bus to the grocery store, or walking. And look! I have internet.
That said... I think it's a lot harder to live comfortably in America now than it was two decades ago, but we also have to reevaluate what 'comfortable' means. Too many people, my daughter included, have an unrealistic view of what they need to live. I'd love to have a housekeeper and part-time sitter for my kids, but we can't afford it. It would make my life MORE comfortable, but that doesn't mean I'm not doing okay without those things. I'd like to get pedicures every week, but really, having pretty toes is quite unimportant, overall. I'd like to drive a car that's not 12 years old, but I have a car. I'm not taking the bus to the grocery store, or walking. And look! I have internet.
There you go, entitlement. They all want to live rich when they are not rich. You suggest ways to budget and they don't want to hear it. Tell them to move to another city that is livable and immediately someone chimes in on how uncool that city is.
The OP is exaggerating about rental prices and being unable to afford basics on 90k. I'm afraid many young people are brainwashed about expectations and reality.
I'm not sure where they get it because many parents like this live within their means and do not teach entitlement to their kids. My family has two of these, and we did not teach them to think this way, we all live well within our means but they think they deserve so much more than what we have - the same lifestyle as wealthy people.
Any gen-xers who were living five in a 2 bedroom apartment through the 90s recession expect a housekeeper? A new car? LOL...
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Is America becoming unlivable?
