Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,703 posts, read 81,547,262 times
Reputation: 58003
Advertisements
Due to the huge disparity in cost of living, it's really not practical to define middle class by an annual salary. Like others have said, that $36-37k is middle class in some areas, but places like here it would not be much above poverty level. I would consider middle class to be anyone who can afford to buy a home, at least one car, has health insurance, has a plan for putting children in college (if any), can take an occasional modest vacation trip, and has at least some money left over every month for savings.
$36k to $37k per year can be tough, even in places with a lower cost of living. A decade ago I had my first job right out of college in Jackson,MS, a small city that would be considered as having a low cost of living. My salary was right at 34k per year and my take-home pay was right around $1,950 per month. That doesn't sound bad until you consider my expenses:
Category -Amount
Rent - $620.00
Utilities - $110.00
Cable/Int - $45.00
Car Pay - $230.00
Gas - $150.00
Car Ins - $90.00
Food - $300.00
Misc - $150.00 Total - $1,695.00
As you can see by the budget above, I was lucky to have $250.00 per month left over to put in my checking account. I was cutting it very close and, to make matters worse, I also had student loans that I don't list in my budget above because I deferred them for a year immediately after college to give myself some breathing room. It was tough to make it with such a tight budget and I would have been in real trouble if some unexpected expenses had come up (car issues or something along those lines).
By chance on afternoon I was driving back to Jackson after visiting my parents and I was flipping through the radio stations and I stopped on a radio talk show. The talk show host was Dave Ramsey and I spent the rest of the car ride listening to Dave and thinking about my predicament and what I could do to make things better. Within a couple of days of listening to his show, I went out and bought his book "The Total Money Makeover" and read it cover to cover.
I ended up getting a 2nd job working nights & weekends in a restaurant to supplement my income, as I just couldn't live in fear anymore. It helped me tremendously and gave me financial breathing room. I used the extra money to quickly pay off my car and then I worked on paying off my student loans over the next 3 to 4 years. Likewise, at my primary job I was promoted 3 times in 6 years which significantly boosted my salary at my primary job and allowed me to quit my 2nd job.
I am in a much better place financially now but I won't ever forget living so close to the flame financially in my first year after college. I was very lucky to not get caught in a bind that I couldn't get out of.
True, and a lot of costs are fairly static. Other than taxation and the cost of housing, most other things do not scale linearly (or worse) with the increase in income in higher COL areas.
Consumer goods do cost the same in high cost of living areas.
A $20k car cost the same in a high cost of living areas.
Groceries prices are typically the same in high cost of living areas.
Plane tickets are the same price.
The housing costs and gas prices are significantly higher in high cost of living areas.
When a 1-2 bedroom apartment costs $600-900 a month in a low cost of living area or a modest house cost $150-200k versus $2500-3000 a month in a high cost of living area or a modest house will put you back $600-700k you aren't really getting ahead in a high cost of living area unless your household income is $250-300k there are plenty of industries that pay much in high cost of living areas but my industry generally pays the same across the nation.
You do come out ahead in high cost of living areas when it is time to retire because more of your higher salary is pushed into 401k and IRA accounts.
Consumer goods do cost the same in high cost of living areas.
A $20k car cost the same in a high cost of living areas.
Groceries prices are typically the same in high cost of living areas.
Plane tickets are the same price.
The housing costs and gas prices are significantly higher in high cost of living areas.
When a 1-2 bedroom apartment costs $600-900 a month in a low cost of living area or a modest house cost $150-200k versus $2500-3000 a month in a high cost of living area or a modest house will put you back $600-700k you aren't really getting ahead in a high cost of living area unless your household income is $250-300k there are plenty of industries that pay much in high cost of living areas but my industry generally pays the same across the nation.
You do come out ahead in high cost of living areas when it is time to retire because more of your higher salary is pushed into 401k and IRA accounts.
One thing I think you're forgetting is "can you even find a job in a cheap area?" Many jobs don't even exist in cheaper small towns and rural areas
One thing I think you're forgetting is "can you even find a job in a cheap area?" Many jobs don't even exist in cheaper small towns and rural areas
True. Here in West Virginia pretty much the whole state is living in borderline poverty because all the good paying coal mining jobs have been cut.
The only towns that have jobs is Morgantown, Charleston, Huntington, or Wheeling. The rest of the state are stuck working low end service jobs. These are the areas of the state where houses can be bought for $50-60k but there are no job opportunities besides Walmart and Kroger.
In my area houses range from $130-300k which is actually exspensive for this state but this is the town were all the jobs are located since there is the university, two hospitals, an energy plant, and the pharmacetuicals company.
I tried really hard to secure full time employment in my industry back in Atlanta but all I was offered was permatemp garbage with no benefits. Every full time position that paid north of $50k a year wanted a purple squirrel candidate asking for someone with 5-10 years of experience synthesizing polyethylene resins. Something the average chemist/scientists hasn't done before. I applied to a position with the CDC with a pay scale of $51-80k but got rejected after the second round and was told there were 750 applicants for the position. Once I graduated in 2014 I had to settle for a $17 per hour temp job that I worked for almost a year before I came to my current company here in West Virginia.
I refused to continue working my dead end temp job so I had to find a company that was willing to hire me without ridiculous demands or several years of experience so I moved to this town with a low/medium cost of living were $50k can afford a decent lifestyle and even $35-37k is decent money if you don't mismanage your money.
I would like to move back to Atlanta someday but only if I obtain a job with a substantial salary increase from what I am making currently.
True. Here in West Virginia pretty much the whole state is living in borderline poverty because all the good paying coal mining jobs have been cut.
The only towns that have jobs is Morgantown, Charleston, Huntington, or Wheeling. The rest of the state are stuck working low end service jobs. These are the areas of the state where houses can be bought for $50-60k but there are no job opportunities besides Walmart and Kroger.
In my area houses range from $130-300k which is actually exspensive for this state but this is the town were all the jobs are located since there is the university, two hospitals, an energy plant, and the pharmacetuicals company.
I tried really hard to secure full time employment in my industry back in Atlanta but all I was offered was permatemp garbage with no benefits. Every full time position that paid north of $50k a year wanted a purple squirrel candidate asking for someone with 5-10 years of experience synthesizing polyethylene resins. Something the average chemist/scientists hasn't done before. I applied to a position with the CDC with a pay scale of $51-80k but got rejected after the second round and was told there were 750 applicants for the position. Once I graduated in 2014 I had to settle for a $17 per hour temp job that I worked for almost a year before I came to my current company here in West Virginia.
I refused to continue working my dead end temp job so I had to find a company that was willing to hire me without ridiculous demands or several years of experience so I moved to this town with a low/medium cost of living were $50k can afford a decent lifestyle and even $35-37k is decent money if you don't mismanage your money.
I would like to move back to Atlanta someday but only if I obtain a job with a substantial salary increase from what I am making currently.
You were lucky that there were only 750 applicants for your job in Atlanta.
I happened to be one of 60,000. Though, it was for less than $17/hr. I'm sure you know the company.
I'm barely surviving on $55k in the midwest. I don't know how normal people do it. Costs of everything have risen dramatically. It is nearly $7 for a hamburger, fry and coke at Mcdonald's!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
