USA People Question - How Much Do We Make
Last Update: April 16, 2012

I'm coming back to the US soon, and have been abroad so long that I don't actually know how much a decent wage is in the US.  How much would you say an average person makes in The US before/after taxes?  What about upper-middle class? What about pretty rich? I guess I just want to double check that I'll be able to live off my IM $.

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kyle Premium
I think this all depends on where you live as well. In many cases, housing is very cheap in many parts of the US, driving your cost of living down drastically. $41,000 in Arizona may be a decent wage but won't get you very far in New York.
Labman_1 Premium
NYCity, Rochester has a pretty good COL index.
rocktivity Premium
Before taxes, $250,000 is considered rich--so rich you can pay less in taxes. The national average wage 41,673.83, the median wage is $26,364 -- half make more, half less. The national minimum wage is $7.25, which isn't taxable.
nathaniell Premium
41 grand - is that before or after taxes? Is that per year?
Labman_1 Premium
Before taxes, per year.
nathaniell Premium
Wow. That's a lot less that I imagined. I wonder how that compares to the rest of the world. I thought The US was up there with the best for standard of living. Still, I guess it beats a 3K per year average in China.

I guess I'll just have to make 250 grand then. Taxes suck.
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