is $100,000 / year still a good salary?

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Jadow

Jadow

Diamond Member
Feb 12, 2003
5,962
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0
in most parts of America, that is plenty of money to have a home, raise a family, take vacations, live a nice middle class or even upper middle class lifestyle.

The median household income in the US is only 45k so you're number is more than double that.
 
TridenT

TridenT

Lifer
Sep 4, 2006
16,800
45
91
MichaelD said:
Agreed. Where you're living is everything, cost of living-wise. In south Texas $200K puts you in a 3000SF, two car house on a 1/2 acre in a nice neighborhood. In NYC $200K gets you a bus pass for 6 months.
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lol, so true.

I would say for a single person, definitely. It is all relative though. If you're the guy making $100k and all your friends are making $200k... then it doesn't seem so great, but if you're making $100k and all your friends sleep at homeless shelters... You're king of the world.

For a couple? It's not bad, depending on the area. Even if you have kids, it still isn't that bad. But again, it is ALL RELATIVE to your standard of living. $100k in a small city between a couple and three kids is actually pretty fine.

It really depends on your standard of living and how you spend your money.
 
M

Monster_Munch

Senior member
Oct 19, 2010
873
1
0
$100k is roughly what a doctor working for the NHS in the UK gets. But they can earn much more than that if they open their own GP practice.

It's about double what I get as a 28 year old java developer.
 
T

thegimp03

Diamond Member
Jul 5, 2004
7,420
2
81
$100K isn't much in my area where single family homes go for $650K+ (and that's after a price drop of 30%+).
 
jupiter57

jupiter57

Diamond Member
Nov 18, 2001
4,600
3
71
SandEagle said:
i can see it being good for a single person, maybe for a couple with no kids. what about couple +1 kid? +2 kids? +3 kids? is this still enough to make a good living? read an article earlier where the author thinks 100k just isn't what it used to be.
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OILFIELDTRASH said:
Aren't you the guy that drives a Honda minivan and always talks about walking away from the insurmountable amount of credit card debt you've racked up? Now you can't be bothered for a 100k a year. Lol
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But, But, But, OMG! He gets 2% cash back by using his credit card for everything!
It's the ATOT way!:rolleyes:
 
Svnla

Svnla

Lifer
Nov 10, 2003
17,986
1,388
126
Location, location, location.

100K/year for Southern US or Midwest cities = not bad.

100K/year for cities with high cost of living (ie. high housing cost) such as NY, SF = not poverty but not that great.

/thread.
 
Capt Caveman

Capt Caveman

Lifer
Jan 30, 2005
34,543
651
126
SandEagle said:
reported for trolling.

back on topic:

yes yes, location... i get it.....lets say Detroit.
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Since the answers to your silly question have been obvious and universal, you're either not very bright or trolling. You know what the median income for the average US family. You work, married with kids, right? You can't answer the question yourself?
 
rudder

rudder

Lifer
Nov 9, 2000
19,441
86
91
Depends where you live. In Tennessee you are well above the average income. The wealthiest county in Tennessee has a median family income of $88,000. You can be very comfortable with that.

I would imagine somewhere with property tax bill of $14,000/year... that would be a little low.
 
G

Gigantopithecus

Diamond Member
Dec 14, 2004
7,664
0
71
dpodblood said:
Nobody making 100k would choose to live in Detroit...
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I would in a heartbeat. It's a great sports town, a great music town, and a good restaurant town. The architecture is beautiful. DTW is one of the best airports in the country. People who have never actually been there don't realize that there are large swathes of Detroit that are, in reality, really nice. The triangle from Comerica Park/Ford Field over to Belle Isle and back to the Joe is as safe as any downtown area in the country, and there's a lot to do there.

I'm not going to make the argument that Detroit is the best city in the country, but it's not that bad. More that there are parts that are that bad, but a lot of parts that are not. And $100K/year goes pretty far in Michigan, especially considering how terrible the economy is now.
 
R

Rudee

Lifer
Apr 23, 2000
11,218
2
76
It's all relative to the amount of your expenses. My neighbor is a retired 60 year old man who lives by himself in a nice 1600 sq ft home, is mortgage free, has no debt whatsoever, and lives quite comfortably on a pension of $25k/year.
 
K

Kntx

Platinum Member
Dec 11, 2000
2,270
0
71
vshah said:
That is nothing in NYC
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Please. 100K in NYC is plenty. More than plenty. Very nice. With 100K you can rent a very respectable appartment, save for retirement, have toys, eat and drink to your heart's content.
 
T

TheNinja

Lifer
Jan 22, 2003
12,207
1
0
It's still a "good salary" to answer you question. Now the lifestyle you live on that salary depending entirely on where you live and if you have a family, single income, kids etc.

$100k in Bay Area California wouldn't get you a whole lot when a home in a decent area is still $400k-500k. Taxes are incredibly high. Private school is $8k per year per kid (many public schools are horrible in the areas you'd be able to buy a house in).

$100k in the midwest would be awesome. You can get a nice home in a nice area for $275k - Taxes aren't as high, school is less (you could use public school too), etc.
 
T

TheNinja

Lifer
Jan 22, 2003
12,207
1
0
Kntx said:
Please. 100K in NYC is plenty. More than plenty. Very nice. With 100K you can rent a very respectable appartment, save for retirement, have toys, eat and drink to your heart's content.
Click to expand...

IF you are single. If you have a wife and kids and your wife stays home, then 100K in NYC isn't going to give you much extra.
 
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