Is making $36.000-$37,000 a year a middle class earning or is it poor? (employment, real estate)
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.
I only make $36.000-$37,000 a year. It has health benefits also. I kind of feel sad because I do not make a lot of money. I have a college degree, bachelors but could not find a job with it so I went to trade school for a year in a half to learn a trade.
What do you think? I have a roomate so rent does not cost that much and every month I am saving some money, not a lot but it is some. I watch how I spend my money carefully.
You don't know how good you have it right now. I have a college degree and make $13,000 a year, live paycheck to paycheck, can't save a dime, and have to pay for rather crappy health insurance. I should mention I am stuck living with parents and they have talked about kicking me out so I may end up living out of my car.
I would kill for a job that pays $36,000-$37,000 per year and offered health benefits. I would just die to be in your shoes right now. Wanna trade places?
That is about what I made last year in take home pay. I usually take home roughly $3,000 a month on average, after taxes, but I am still considered a member of the working poor living in Vancouver, BC. (Vancouver BC costs more to live than the USA, please bear in mind). I want to say, how does one only earn $13,000 a year unless one does not work full time? $13,000 even if that was take home pay, and you had no living expenses, I still find that it would be rediculously difficult, if not impossible to put anything away, unless you stayed in your room and played on your computer or something all day.
When I was in college I did consider 30-35k a bit on the low scale for one coming out with a degree, that does not mean I will not work for 30k but I was hoping to hit the high 30s -mid 40s with a degree ( A degree in English no less haha...). Time, expereince, graduation has humbled me a lot. At this stage I consider 30K plus a winner, I would be more than happy to hit 30k. Heh since right now I am going back to school and volunteer my income is a big fat 0... but if I had to get a job tommrow (assuming I cannot find a "real job") but instead used my EMT-B id still be looking at about 12$ an hour or 20-25k a year. If my only choice was minimum wage the 7-10 range it would be even lower per year.
Hence in my opinon with the way the economy is now 30-37k a year is a blessing, - I am guessing many feel the same
I only make $36.000-$37,000 a year. It has health benefits also. I kind of feel sad because I do not make a lot of money. I have a college degree, bachelors but could not find a job with it so I went to trade school for a year in a half to learn a trade.
What do you think? I have a roomate so rent does not cost that much and every month I am saving some money, not a lot but it is some. I watch how I spend my money carefully.
I hate it when people post these threads asking for opinions when they don't straight blurt the facts of their exact college degree major or exact trade school study. There are a lot of useless colleges degrees and trade school degrees out there too.
I don't want to waste my opinion on ambiguous threads like these, you should tell us more info and then maybe we can better help you with a better opinion.
Depends on where you live. Here, you're not "poor", but I'd saw you're lower middle class. Especially if you're the only person earning in the household.
Ok, this thread is a bit old, but here's my take... We are obviously going through a "middle class" recession. I think 36K is pretty middle class right now. It doesn't buy everything you want, but it affords you everything you need. And really, on that salary, I think it's up to the individual to find things that make them happy outside of material pleasures.
When I left my parent's home, I was earning right around 32K, and this was in Michigan. Being debt free was a huge benefit, and I already had everything I needed, because I purchased them when living at home. Car was basically new, and I was able to hit garage sales and such in advance for household items I knew I would need. So, on 32K, I did pretty good, and was even able to sock away 10K in the bank that year. Doing the math, I was about 19 at the time, so bar hopping wasn't a money pit that I could indulge in...
Basically, if you are pretty well set, and just need to cover the bills, you can live a relatively decent middle class lifestyle. Now, if you can sock away some OT like I've always done, you can do even better. My hourly wage is only $18.50, but I make up for it in OT
And take my word for it... Higher paying jobs come with the territory... Wanna feel the thumbscrews clamping in on your skull... Chase the money Not worth it. Learn to live on less and spend your free time looking at good looking women (or men) in the park or something
Beater used car: $4,000 Payment $75, Insurance $125
I Bedroom Apartment: $1,000 if you can find one that cheap here
Income Tax, SocSec: $800 (Plus state in many areas)
A single person with no mortgage interest to deduct would have about a thousand left for everything else like utilities, food, clothes, gas, entertainment, insurance, medical plan contribution, repairs on the old car. Certainly possible, but really hard in the Seattle area or California.
Many people in China earning 37k a year with health benefits and a car would consider themselves rich.
If they moved to the U.S. and earned that, they'd be very happy too.
Minimum wage earns about 15,000 a year... so that's poverty in the U.S. but there are still have government assistance programs to look into.
Last edited by raymond2; 06-15-2012 at 09:34 PM..
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.
Not worth it. Learn to live on less and spend your free time looking at good looking women (or men) in the park or something 
