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That's exactly what I am saying, why should engineers be compared to H2A migrant workers?
Quote:
Originally Posted by brodie734
So... you are saying that figures that incorporate low income earners are "intellectually dishonest" and that the way to make them less so is to remove them?
Uh huh.
Anyway, your logic is flawed. When you break it down by age, you'll still find more Americans making $0 annually than $100,000.
To be frank, most people here who claim to make six figure salaries are taking advantage of the anonymity afforded them by the forum. To read this page, one would imagine all Americans are either baristas with a liberal arts degree or engineers barely making it on $200,000 salaries in NYC/San Francisco. Surely you don't believe that this is an accurate reflection of the demographics of City Data users.
Me too..... this is probably a regional thing, but six figures is seen as pretty middle class in cities like LA, SF, NYC, Boston (among college graduates). Just visit those forums to see people complaining about how $200k HHI can barely buy them a SFH. But my friends in STEM in those cities? Easily make much more money than me so I'd still bet on STEM as a safe bet for my kids - but not all of those acronyms are equal. In this day and age, TEM is a lot more valuable than S.
So... you are saying that figures that incorporate low income earners are "intellectually dishonest" and that the way to make them less so is to remove them?
Uh huh.
Anyway, your logic is flawed. When you break it down by age, you'll still find more Americans making $0 annually than $100,000.
To be frank, most people here who claim to make six figure salaries are taking advantage of the anonymity afforded them by the forum. To read this page, one would imagine all Americans are either baristas with a liberal arts degree or engineers barely making it on $200,000 salaries in NYC/San Francisco. Surely you don't believe that this is an accurate reflection of the demographics of City Data users.
Perhaps they are including benefits and employment taxes. Employers have to pay FICA, workers comp, unemployment as well as salary. Some pay part of medical, some pay life and disability insurance. It's possible at some firms for those to add up to 50% of pay.
That's exactly what I am saying, why should engineers be compared to H2A migrant workers?
uhhh, because we were talking about the labor market in the US? And engineers make up a small fraction of that market and are therefore unrepresentative of wages and salaries across the country? Also, considering that average income statistics are compiled using census data, it seems preposterous that you would see a huge number of migrant workers represented in those figures.
Your entire argument seems to boil down to solipsism.
Me too..... this is probably a regional thing, but six figures is seen as pretty middle class in cities like LA, SF, NYC, Boston (among college graduates). Just visit those forums to see people complaining about how $200k HHI can barely buy them a SFH. But my friends in STEM in those cities? Easily make much more money than me so I'd still bet on STEM as a safe bet for my kids - but not all of those acronyms are equal. In this day and age, TEM is a lot more valuable than S.
People choose to remain in those high COL cities, no matter what the COL is. There are jobs in other parts of the country that pay decently and have a much better COL/pay ratio.
Come to think of it, since programmers have had to suffer, lets share the pain. In spite of all of the bad information to the contrary, the people I know who make the most $$ are medical specialists: cardiologists, surgeons and anesthesiologists. They can start at about 300K USD per year out of residency. Some surgeons make more than 600K per year as well.
If they brought in some more foreign doctors to compete with them, I'd bet wages would go way down. And no mortality rates would probably not decrease. I've yet to do research, but I'm betting the medical lobby is preventing this somehow by trying to prove the foreign doctors are not qualified etc. Lucky for them that they have professional associations that look out for their members' high salaries.
If you are a foreign doctor now, and they let you into the US, you have to pass some tests. One of them is mastery of English and they have people pose as patients to assess you. Why don't they have regulations like that before bringing in foreign workers for other fields?
Come to think of it, since programmers have had to suffer, lets share the pain. In spite of all of the bad information to the contrary, the people I know who make the most $$ are medical specialists: cardiologists, surgeons and anesthesiologists. They can start at about 300K USD per year out of residency. Some surgeons make more than 600K per year as well.
If they brought in some more foreign doctors to compete with them, I'd bet wages would go way down. And no mortality rates would probably not decrease. I've yet to do research, but I'm betting the medical lobby is preventing this somehow by trying to prove the foreign doctors are not qualified etc. Lucky for them that they have professional associations that look out for their members' high salaries.
If you are a foreign doctor now, and they let you into the US, you have to pass some tests. One of them is mastery of English and they have people pose as patients to assess you. Why don't they have regulations like that before bringing in foreign workers for other fields?
It's bad enough that we allow foreign medical students to compete for US residency positions.
People choose to remain in those high COL cities, no matter what the COL is. There are jobs in other parts of the country that pay decently and have a much better COL/pay ratio.
The secret is to live in the cheapest part of a high COL area so you can get the high salary and the low costs. This is hard to do in places like SF but a good option in other major cities. But some people may be tethered to a location because of their industry. Like if you're a top performing finance geek, you're not going to live in Alabama because the houses are cheap. You're going to live in NYC where you can make $500k+ before you even turn 30. Same if you're a whip smart IT person... you're going to want to be in SF or NYC for that big payday at Google, Apple, etc.
The secret is to live in the cheapest part of a high COL area so you can get the high salary and the low costs.
There are some great deals here in Chicago in Englewood and West Lawndale. The homes there are cheap and have great ventilation from all the bullet holes.
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