Are there any Americans with more "modest" earnings?
Posted by BaldursGate2Best@reddit | AskAnAmerican | View on Reddit | 216 comments
Whenever I read comments and posts by Americans, I honestly feel kind of embarassed. Making 100 thousand dollars anually is the standard for them and nothing too noteworthy. Where I come from, 100 thousand dollars a year would allow you a VERY comfortable life. I would voluntarily give up most of my hobbies if that meant making SIXTY FIVE thousand dollars a year (I am not working yet, as I am in university). For Americans, 100 thousand is basically the standard.
Are there any Americans with more "modest" earnings? Say, a teacher mom with 3 children who makes 36K a year. Are there any people like this?
SnooPineapples280@reddit
There are plenty of people like this, I have no clue where you get the idea that 100k annually is the standard
grayjey@reddit
People who make $100k/year are a lot more likely to post their salary on Reddit than people who make $30k/year I think
stuck_behind_a_truck@reddit
Not if they’re smart.
FunJackfruit9128@reddit
alot of nurses, teachers, psychologists, medical technicians, ect, all often make under 100k, but require a good brain and years of education. you can be very smart and still not make 100k
Will_White@reddit
Also you might be making 100k a year but when half that is going to student loans the reality is the same as someone making 50-60k without student loans.
stuck_behind_a_truck@reddit
That…wasn’t my point. My point was that it would not be a smart choice for people who make $100k or more to post their salaries online.
mistiklest@reddit
Why?
stuck_behind_a_truck@reddit
Because it’s personal data that scrapers and bots are collecting, because Redditors will pile on them, because it puts you a step closer to being doxxed. It’s a privacy matter.
Current_Poster@reddit
To be fair, I'd brag about it if I made that much. But I don't.
myfourmoons@reddit
Bragging about it is pretty desperate.
LiquidityCrisis69@reddit
I do feel like 100K is sort of in a weird “I should feel good about making at least this, but I shouldn’t feel bad or invite the guillotine” middle ground
elphaba00@reddit
And some people who post their salary as 100K are lying about it. They're trying to look "rich" on the internet.
a_duck_in_past_life@reddit
That's incredibly cringe
ENovi@reddit
Yeah it’s especially embarrassing to someone like me who makes $600 billion a year. It’s simply uncouth and unbecoming.
Sabertooth767@reddit
He got it from Reddit, where most people act like you need to make 500k to afford a 1BR.
ComesInAnOldBox@reddit
Depending on where they live, they might be. In San Francisco that's considered low income.
Initial_Fill_2655@reddit
I am responding because I have a Chicago Tribune newspaper, Saturday, May 9, 2026 next to me as I rad thus post. It quotes a Valparaiso Indiana developer, Bill Oeding of Paradise Homes saying "no homes are being built for less than $425,000.00. He wants zoning to approve building of affordable homes and doesn't want potential conflicts of interest brought up on social media.
Working_Elephant5344@reddit
It’s partially due to the sampling bias on Reddit. People on here are more likely to be professionals in their 20s or 30s working in STEM fields, where starting salaries are often over 100k. However, Redditors are unlikely to be representative of the US as a whole.
CinemaSideBySides@reddit
Probably from all the people on Reddit (hell, the Internet at large) who constantly post that 100k is a meager salary.
I'm guessing this is due to the Reddit demographics, how this site skews heavily towards high-earning tech workers in high cost-of-living areas.
Mav12222@reddit
In my experiance a huge part of reddit can be divided into two primary groups:
High earning six figure tech workers who have bad money management and social skills.
Homless, and former homeless who now work gig economy and other minimum wage jobs who have phones and internet plans plus the free time to constantly browse reddit thanks to an old government program that guarantees phones and internet to the homless
WittyCombination6@reddit
Reddit skews wealthy.
The average income nationally is $87,000
notsnot1@reddit
Remember, if they have a full time job with insurance, 10-15% of their salary is going to that (on top of whatever the company is paying), and then federal income tax, state income tax, and sometimes local income tax, and sales tax. Similar to how price tags aren't "incl. VAT".
notthegoatseguy@reddit
The average household income in NYC is like 85k, and that's one of the highest cost of living in the country. Its much lower in many other places.
CharlesAvlnchGreen@reddit
Lowest avg hh income in the US is Mississippi at $44,966-$56,447.
In Seattle, where I live, median income is \~$118,745 – $123,860. NYC/Manhattan is the highest cost of living city in the US. Brooklyn is also up there. Seattle is #9.
WARitter@reddit
Mind you aren’t all of these household incomes? So couples with two working partners will often have an income of say, $150k even though each makes 75.
CharlesAvlnchGreen@reddit
Yes, but $75K seems really low. Gene Balk (a number crunching columnist for the Seattle Times) claims the median for married couples is $250K which seems more accurate.
Amazon is our largest employer, and they tend to pay low (but not $75K low) and make up the difference in stock.
However, in our K shaped economy, it may be the residents making very low pay even things out. Or those who are living on investments rather than salaried income.
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/data/median-income-for-seattle-married-couples-with-kids-passes-250k/
urquhartloch@reddit
Yes. $30 K /year is minimum wage.
Teachers and the trades make ~$50k a year.
More than that and you star getting into knowledge workers and specialized skills.
ImagineFreedom@reddit
Federal minimum wage for full time is about $15k. That's with 52, 40-hour weeks. Some states have higher minimum wage though.
WARitter@reddit
Right but also actual minimum wage jobs are increasingly uncommon. The pay is so low the market rate minimum wage is higher than the legal minimum.
CaptainAwesome06@reddit
$15K if you are going by the federal minimum wage. Could be more, depending on your state.
urquhartloch@reddit
Its $13.50 in Colorado last i checked.
CaptainAwesome06@reddit
Right but not all Americans live in CO. That's why I clarified. The federal minimum wage is $7.25/hr.
urquhartloch@reddit
But all states other than Georgia, Mississippi, and Montana have higher minimum wages. And even in those states there are cities with higher minimum wage. Atlanta for example has $17.50/hr.
dangleicious13@reddit
That's not true at all. 20 states have a minimum wage set at $7.25.
CaptainAwesome06@reddit
Right, so not all state. Like I said.
Also, where are you getting your info? 20 states have a state minimum wage that equals the federal one or they don't have a state minimum wage at all.
You can move the goal posts or make up statistics all you want. That doesn't change the fact that all I said was the minimum salary is going to be $15K if you go by the federal minimum wage, which is certainly true.
Zombie_Bait_56@reddit
"The average public school teacher salary rose from $71,985 in 2023–24 to $74,495 in 2024–25—a nominal gain of 3.5%"
https://www.nea.org/resource-library/educator-pay-and-student-spending-how-does-your-state-rank
ToughFriendly9763@reddit
the federal minimum wage is $7.25, which works it to be about $15k for full time work (40 hours per week, 52 weeks a year). Some states have a higher minimum wage, but not all.
Shandrith@reddit
I'm disabled, I get approximately 14K a year
LunarVolcano@reddit
100k isn’t standard that’s a high paying job. 100k combined income in a 2-adult household is more common
Johnnys-In-America@reddit
Sure! Plenty of us are dirt poor, too, lol. Absolutely love being one of them, lol
Cameront9@reddit
I m 42 and make 46k a year. The vast majority of Americans do not make 100k a year.
And yes, 46k is a struggle.
aprillikesthings@reddit
I'm 46 and 44k. I don't have kids, a car, or a house. I live in a rented townhouse with other adults and walk/bicycle everywhere.
On the upside because I've been careful and lucky, I'm able to travel a little. On a buses-and-hostels budget, but still.
sics2014@reddit
47k here. I concur.
CaptainAwesome06@reddit
To put a number on it, only about 20% of Americans make $100K or more.
aprillikesthings@reddit
I make $44k.
The median per-capita income in my city is around $57k.
Median per-capita income for the whole country is supposedly around $45k.
ImamofKandahar@reddit
Another thing to keep in mind is cost of living. I’m an American living abroad and live very comfortably on what would be poverty wages I. America.
os2mac@reddit
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ocwage.pdf
All occupations 154,187,380 $32.66 $67,920 $23.80” Meaning: 154.2 million employed workers, mean hourly wage $32.66, mean annual wage $67,920, and median hourly wage $23.80.
In Fact, To make at least $100,000/year, you’re roughly in the 77th–79th percentile of U.S. individual workers, depending on the dataset/framing.
The cleanest practical estimate:
$100K puts you around the 77th percentile, meaning you earn more than about 76–77% of U.S. workers and are in the top ~23% of wage earners in the US.
so no $100K USD a year is not the standard. The average is $67K USD and 50% of the population earns less than that.
Meilingcrusader@reddit
100k is a lot. Not super rich, but comfortably upper middle class. I've routinely made somewhere in the ballpark of 30-40k a year and it has been fine (though I am unmarried without kids)
devilscabinet@reddit
When you take the whole country into consideration, $100,000 is not the standard for an individual income. A single person could easily be pretty comfortable on half that in my area. Things are even less expensive in some other regions.
nvkylebrown@reddit
Retired, but did pretty well for not being urban. Make 100k+ 2, maybe 3 years in my career. Its a lot of money for most places/jobs.
On the other hand, 36k/yr is ~18/hr. Teacher, no, but a fair number of other unskilled laborers might be in that range or lower.
Emo-coin4@reddit
Ppl lying on the internet? Impossible!
Phoenix_Court@reddit
The median (not average, median) household income (household, not individual) in the United States is $83,000.
I've never in my life, as an individual, made more than around 27k per year. Hubby just got a promotion to where he now makes 48k (I'm unemployed so it's our only income) and it feels like we have inherited generational wealth. I wouldn't even know what to do with 100k annually.
I could count on one hand the number of people I know that make anywhere close to 100k. As couples, let alone as individuals.
petitecrivain@reddit
100k is an impressive salary unless you live in San Francisco or NYC. I think the norm is more like 40-70k depending on where you are.
Dazzling-Climate-318@reddit
Most Americans don’t make $100,000.00 a year, most families don’t even have that kind of family income unless both husband and wife are in a profession or are top management where they work.
Those with over a $100,000.00 tend to be Doctors, Nurses, Lawyers and high bosses. Some Engineers earn that as well, but not all. Most wealthy high wage earners own Capital or are part of a family that has significant Capital and the family practices nepotism.
Where I worked before retirement one person earned over $100,000.00 per year, our director. She is in charge of an organization with hundreds of employees that manage about 500 million dollars of contracted goods and services contracts plus is responsible for many other tasks ranging from quasi law enforcement to planning and Emergency Services.
Zaidswith@reddit
Average total household income is 83,000.
You're engaging in conversation with people who are purposely flexing.
Arleare13@reddit
Here is a map of average income by state.
As you can see, with the exception of Washington, D.C., in no case is the average higher than around $80,000.
Frondelet@reddit
https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/median-household-income-by-state shows the median income. No place in the U.S. besides DC has half the population making more than $60,000. In Mississippi and West Virginia, half the population gets by on less than $30K.
OkTechnologyb@reddit
And please note that this is HOUSEHOLD income, not individual income. (All caps not directed at you, but this distinction seems to escape people in general). Average individual income is lower than this.
OkTechnologyb@reddit
100K is by no means the "standard."
EducationalPie4039@reddit
The median American salary is about $64,000 a year. A single mom with three kids earning 36k a year would be just above the federal poverty line. That line is way too low to reflect reality, so that family would be struggling a lot. Someone making $100,000 a year could be struggling, depending on where they live and what kind of debt load they carry.
ExternalTelevision75@reddit
I’m a banker, I make about $48K a year, single mom with two kids still at home
Trick-Celebration983@reddit
You have to understand that it costs so much to live comfortably in the US. Rent for a 1 bedroom can be between $1500-2000 in a HCOL city. Groceries, coffee, going out all cost much more compared to most places in Europe. So while $100k is a lot to some, in some areas that's what it takes to afford everything.
FlyingMitten@reddit
Try again.....$1500-$2000 for a 1 bedroom is a normal cost of living area. You can't find a 1 bedroom for that cost in NYC, Chicago, etc, without some sort of compromise (or living far outside the city center).
But as others elude to, all depends on where you are. A
Trick-Celebration983@reddit
I mean that's the cost in DC which is considered a HCOL area but not a VHCOL like NYC
5uper5kunk@reddit
Where the hell are you finding a one bedroom at those prices in DC? I haven’t looked in decades but most of my coworkers who still live in the city seem to be paying far more than that.
Trick-Celebration983@reddit
A quick search on Zillow shows 400+ 1 bedrooms for 2k or less. Mostly in SE but that includes Capitol Hill and Navy Yard. Also plenty in neighborhoods like NOMA, Bloomingdale, Columbia Heights, etc sure nothing downtown or in Dupont but other than there there's plenty!
Penguins_in_Sweaters@reddit
Making a $100k in a high cost of living city in 2026 is not nearly the same as it was 10-15 years ago with how expensive everything is. I make close to $100k but live near one of the most expensive cities in the country. My apartment is modest, but I'm paying almost as much as the combined mortgages of two of my friends that live in a lower cost city a few hours away. I'm by no means struggling, but I likely had more buying power 10 years ago when I was living in the middle of nowhere making $45k but paying less than $600 a month in rent.
GSilky@reddit
Half of working Americans earn less than $40,000 a year.
MetalEnthusiast83@reddit
How is that even possible. While working full time?
grayjey@reddit
I believe it. Millions and millions of people live in states where the minimum wage is $7.25/hr. Even more in states where it’s below $10/hr, which is only $20k/year assuming a 40 hour work week.
MetalEnthusiast83@reddit
Yeah but if you're an adult and can read, you should be making well above minimum wage. I don't think I have ever made minimum wage!
grayjey@reddit
What an entitled and ignorant thing to say
MetalEnthusiast83@reddit
I have never met an adult who makes minimum wage. If you are pushing 40 and making minimum wage, you have done something horribly wrong in life.
GSilky@reddit
Half of the population earns less than $40,000. Your classist comment is proven wrong simply by the fact that you are trying to make light of. Even someone earning nearly 3 times the federal minimum wage is under the median.
MetalEnthusiast83@reddit
This must be regional, because I don't think that's the case in the Northeast unless you are counting the literal population which includes children, students, retired folks, etc. when you should be counting the workforce.
GSilky@reddit
It's the USA median income. It only includes income earners. You live in the wealthiest section of the USA and think everything is like that.
grayjey@reddit
Minimum wage is supposed to be the minimum pay an adult working full time can live independently off of… that’s like, the whole point. That’s what it used to be, for decades and decades.
I hope you never use the services of anyone making minimum wage if this is how you feel
MetalEnthusiast83@reddit
I am not against raising minimum wage. But I also think if you are making minimum you should....try to aim a little higher? Learn a skill that demands more money? You know, so you can have a better life and stuff.
GSilky@reddit
You are very out of touch. I suspect you don't really talk to anyone if this is what you think.
GSilky@reddit
It's around $18-20 an hour. Some states this is close to the minimum wage, in Nebraska, that only has the federal, the 2080 hour full-time job is only paid about $8 an hour. However, in states with higher minimum wages, like California, that median income is around $37,000, due to piecework in the agricultural sector. There is a reason people vote for who they do, where they do, and why so few people are willing to see things the other way. It's been an economic disaster for half the population, going on three decades straight.
Danibear285@reddit
Everyone is modest here
Lovebeingadad54321@reddit
My wife just broke 100K this year, with a doctorate degree and 15 years in her job. I just inched up to 50K and it is the most I have ever made in my life. We are both in our 50’s and have been in the workforce for decades.
And yes, this allows us a comfortable life. We have a housekeeper that comes every other week. We have savings for retirement, emergencies, and household repairs. We take a summer vacation and a Christmas vacation every year. We have 2 well maintained reliable cars. We have a 3 bedroom, 2.5 half bathroom house, in a safe neighborhood.
Few-Wrongdoer-5296@reddit
Social media is not a reliable source of information on a country. We do not make 100k on average, in fact we have massive poverty compared to the country's wealth. Which is interesting because that is something people from Europe and the Commonwealth like to make fun of... but I guess that shows how easy it is to get trapped in one echo chamber.
No_Importance_750@reddit
Definitely. The media portrays Americans as being rich and wealthy but in reality only a minority actually are. There are many Americans who make less than 100k a year.
LetterheadClassic306@reddit
i feel you on that. the internet really warps what normal looks like. honestly the median personal income in the us is around $40-45k, not $100k. teachers often start around that $36k range you mentioned especially in lower cost areas. a lot of families live on modest incomes but the cost of living is way higher here too so it balances out differently than other countries. just remember people bragging online are usually the exception not the rule.
Felis_igneus726@reddit
YonderPricyCallipers@reddit
If you make $100k in a place like NYC, San Francisco, or Boston, you would not be "very well off". You'd barely be somewhat "comfortable".
Felis_igneus726@reddit
Sure, it of course depends on where you live and maybe "very well-off" is a bit of an exaggeration. But I would argue that part of managing your money responsibly is choosing to live somewhere you can comfortably afford, which is absolutely doable at 100k. You can enjoy the pros of the big city without the cost of living there by living somewhere cheaper within commuting/day-tripping distance. There's a reason so many people work in NYC but live in NJ/CT/not NYC.
KikiCorwin@reddit
Yeah. I make like 41k a year as a grocery employee with 20+ years experience.
The median income is less than 100k.
PeaksOfTheTwin@reddit
Yes, the vast majority of Americans make less than 100K a year. You also have to factor in cost of living in the U.S. I don't know how expensive it is to live in Poland but I assume 100K generally goes much further there than it does in most of the U.S.
Low_Attention9891@reddit
There are plenty of people making less than that.
I don’t know what country you’re from, but purchasing power and cost of living are very important factors in determining someone’s real wage.
There are places where $100k would be plenty to live a very comfortable life and places like downtown NYC where $100k won’t get you very far.
Pitiful_Lion7082@reddit
You're grossly underestimating the cost of living here. That 36k is below or near the poverty line for a single person, much less one with children to support.
Eatthatdangburg@reddit
Bait used to be believable. A single Google would have told you different if you weren't being a troll.
Quicherbichen1@reddit
My son works in a management position, makes about 68,000/year, is married, has 2 kids, one in college, a 4 BR house, 2 cars, and 2 dogs. They were "comfortable" when my daughter in law was working full time. She can no longer work, so now they are hurting, thinking of selling their house and moving to a smaller home.
Constant_Tomorrow_69@reddit
Take a closer look...current estimates are that roughly 60% of the US lives paycheck to paycheck. We ain't doing as well as you think.
5uper5kunk@reddit
There are many many many people who are making six figures and still living paycheck to paycheck. Like if you’re spending habits are bad enough it would be difficult to actually make enough money to where you couldn’t end up living paycheck to paycheck.
SabresBills69@reddit
Its not salary. . Its thr most of living. There are some places where you earn 100K you are very wealthy. In karge cities it's low middle class
Penguin_Life_Now@reddit
The median family income where I live in Louisiana is about $60,000 per year, so yes lots of Americans live on less than $100K per year, though I really have to question how they do it.
Spirited-Way2406@reddit
The problem is that the middle class is disappearing. $36,000 with three dependents used to be middle class. Now it's broke-ass poor in most of the country. Costs of everything go up and up and up due to corporate greed, and the government institutions that are supposed to stop that are...well, that's politics.
The other problem is that people who are frustrated with the antics of the super-rich tend to aim their ire at the nearest "rich" target, i.e., the person who is able to buy some nice things and put money away for the future at the same time. So people who make $100,000 hasten to identify themselves as poor so they don't get lumped in with ghouls in yachts.
The upshot is that, depending on the local cost of living, $100,000 is either just getting by or solidly middle class. But I don't know of any place in the U.S. where $100,000 per year would make a person truly rich, i.e., so disconnected from daily life that they don't need to know how much anything costs.
ChocolatePain@reddit
Why do so many people assume things about America from some tiny sample size on the internet and not do any research?
Oolon42@reddit
Where I live (Seattle), $100k/year IS modest
GOTaSMALL1@reddit
My wife makes $0 a year and will happily tell you about in person or any of the social media she uses.
FunJackfruit9128@reddit
most of us make less than 100k a year. keep in mind teachers for example make around 40-50k a year- which is unfortunately a pretty standard income.
liv_free_or_die@reddit
Dude I make like $20/hr before taxes in a reasonably high cost of living state.
Shit ain’t fun.
KJHagen@reddit
That's not true at all. I live in a rural area with not a lot of jobs available. I know a lot of people who are making around $50,000 per year and living comfortably.
The_Menu_Guy@reddit
There are many Americans who make modest or even subsistence wages. For annual household income, 60% of us make less than $136,500 per year. 40% make less than $50,000 per year. Only 20% of us make more than $316,000 per year.
Donald_J_Duck65@reddit
JHC! Most lawyer in the US make well over $100k. The median is probably $150k.
macoafi@reddit
Median income for a household in the US is just over $50,000.
Icy_Consideration409@reddit
Could you provide a source?
Everything I’m seeing shows about $84k for a household.
Median for an individual is around $45k.
macoafi@reddit
Whoa! I'm way off, then. I remembered $56k as a stat I'd seen. Maybe it was Pew defining "middle-income" as $56k as the threshold for middle-income/middle-class?
Miserable_Middle6175@reddit
Not even close.
HotSteak@reddit
The median household income in 2024 was $83,740
JimBones31@reddit
My family and I are doing just fine on about 70k. Nothing crazy to brag about but the bills get paid every month and we relax at the end of most days.
TsundereLoliDragon@reddit
Oh god, you have even another account to spam these inane questions with? How many have you had banned already?
Common_Cut_1491@reddit
Also, 100k isn’t enough to live comfortably where I live. I’m okay, but I scrape by.
HudsonYardsIsGood@reddit
Yeah - to put this in perspective, as a rule of thumb, the maximum monthly rent one can afford is 1/40 of their annual income. In other words, $100k buys you $2,500/month in housing.
One can plug in that number to apartment search sites and look at the quality of life at that price. In small-town middle-America, it tends to be comfortable. In coastal California and New York City, you might find a studio on the outskirts of the city in a century-old building with roaches and mold.
Common_Cut_1491@reddit
Yeah, I live in Miami. 100K is not enough for a family, and my wife works, too. She’s below 100K. We barely make it.
Mesoscale92@reddit
Quite literally almost all Americans make less than $100,000 a year.
Zombie_Bait_56@reddit
82%
HudsonYardsIsGood@reddit
It may be obvious, but worth calling out this percentage is not evenly spread across the country.
In the highest-cost coastal cities, which are also the ones foreigners tend to visit, well over 18% of the population earns over $100k.
HaDov@reddit
And of course the money also doesn't go as far in those cities as it does in smaller cities or rural areas.
exitparadise@reddit
You're just seeing a kind of bias (I dont know the name) where people who make less than 100k are less likely to talk about their earnings, probably due to not wanting to be percieved of as 'poor'.
There are many people who make less than 100k, they just don't talk about it.
CinemaSideBySides@reddit
And the people making 100k and up want to talk about it, but they don't want to look bad, so they minimize it and do the whole "six figures is paycheck-to-paycheck territory" schtick
karnim@reddit
And on top of that, I would say people making lower incomes are probably less likely to be hanging out on reddit all day. Factory floor workers don't get to be distracted by their phone.
SteakAndIron@reddit
80-85 percent of American workers earn less than 100k
kyrokip@reddit
The average American males 60k a year. Dont let reddit fool you. Plenty of Americans lice comfortably on the average salary. It just depends on the cost of living in the area a person lives.
Homer_04_13@reddit
A significant number of Americans receive SSI benefits. That means that because they can't work, they are provided less than $12,000/year if they are single.
They may also receive residential services. In the U.S., institutional care is a right for certain people. Receiving equivalent care in the community costs less per individual most of the time and would cost less on a population level except that many people want community care who will do almost anything to stay out of institutions and that institutional staff get much higher wages than equivalent community staff. Community-based services are not a right although it is provided to some people.
For those who land in institutions, the facilities can take all income except $360/year. Individual states may agree to let people have more. The institution will provide you a bed and possibly less than a parking spot's worth of personal space, and some (usually low-quality) food. The government offers health care. In 1 city I am familiar with, a trip to health care and back costs $6.50. I am not in that position, but I have a minimum of 2 medical appointments a week just to stay alive, plus 1 more every 3 weeks, another monthly, and 2 more every 3 months each. They cannot be moved to the same day. So even though my state offers better than $30/month, I'd be missing some necessary appointments and going without shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrush, new clothing as old clothing wore out, etc.
$100,000/year is not close to "the standard."
ReeMayRe@reddit
I read this as "earrings" and started a response on the modest studs that I always wear and why, LOL ugh
CaramelMacchiatoPlzz@reddit
100k in some cities is rather modest.
FlamingBagOfPoop@reddit
A mom with 3 kids making 36k would be struggling without additional assistance in most places.
100k is traditionally the “aspirational” number goal as having “made it.”
Opus-the-Penguin@reddit
The teacher mom with 3 kids making $36k a year is just above the federal poverty level. At $33k a year, she starts qualifying for government assistance for healthcare, food, and heating/cooling. Depending where she is in the country, she might be ok or scraping by. Or there might be no realistic way to live on that amount. Either way, there are plenty of people in her position.
My wife and I have never made more than $55k a year between us. We have two grown children and an affordable mortgage on a 4-bedroom home. We've never felt as though we were hurting for money in the short term, but a comfortable retirement has always been an unrealistic goal. But this is in Kansas, where such things are possible. Before we moved here from the San Diego area, life was pretty brutal and home ownership was out of the question.
Crayshack@reddit
The US has a median household income of ~$84k and a median personal income of $45k. That means half of all households/individuals make less than that. An individual making $100k is in the ~75-80 percentile (depending on the exact data set you look at), which means ~75%-80% of people in the country make less than them.
The thing is, people who make more than that like to be very vocal about how much they make as a form of bragging. Such people often end up in an echo chamber of people who make a similar amount and end up convincing themselves that those numbers are average.
ceanahope@reddit
Where you live can define what modest earnings can be. If I lived outside of the SF Bay Area (and probably california), modest earnings would be around 60-70k a year. In the SF bay area that amount for a single person is considered below poverty line in several counties. In several counties, the poverty line sits at 90-105k/ year. I've spent over 20 years in my field and more than half of that time I was below the poverty line, but managed to make things work. I've had roommates to split rent, food pantry to supliment food needs, thrift shopping or just repairing clothing, more than one job or gig jobs to have multiple income streams, all to keep my head above water (roommates were doing the same).
Based off my county, my 100k a year is sitting close to poverty line. It's wild to think about that, especially seeing as the federal poverty line is about 16k annually. 16k wouldn't even be enough to have a roof over your head.
PM_ME_UR__SECRETS@reddit
I make 45k a year. My wife, about that much as well. So our AGI doesn't quite hit 100k.
Most Americans, and I do mean most, make under 100k. The median household income in all of the US is around 84k. For individuals, that number is closer to 55k, with some variance depending on how the data is collected.
Be happy you make as much as you do. A lot of us are really struggling to make ends meet right now.
Cudi_buddy@reddit
Most you see earning that much will be people from California or New York tbh. And while it sounds and still is decent money, cost of living is high there, so money doesn’t go far. As a Californian that travels, there’s few places in the world I’ve been that are “expensive” to travel to.
Perplexio76@reddit
And by NY, that's NOT the whole state. That's the NY Metropolitan area. I grew up in a part of NY state that had an average household income much closer to the averages seen in smaller states. My parents sold the house I grew up in in 2016 for less than I paid for my first townhome in 2006.
I have more equity in the home I now live in than what my parents sold their house for. But that's the difference between growing up in a part of NY state that's closer to Montreal, Quebec than it is to any major city in the US and now living in the 3rd largest metropolitan area of the country.
JustGiveMeAnameDude9@reddit
If you look at comments and TikTok and reddit, it does seem like everyone is making $100k plus.
1) The more people make, the more likely they are to brag about it online. You won't see the person only making $30k trying to brag.
2) Alot of the people saying this are just flat out lieing.
3) People living in a HCOL area are more likely to make higher incomes. But probably have a similar lifestyle as someone making much less somewhere else.
Example, I live in a rural area in [redacted to reduce transplants / we full]]. The cost of living in Manhattan is 3 times what it is here. Someone making $50k here would need to make $150k to live a comparable lifestyle in Manhattan.
Formal-Radish1413@reddit
The median salary in the USA is roughly $60k. Far from $100k
Certain professions can make $100k+ but those professions often necessitate living in higher cost of living areas.
For EX: a software engineer may make $150k/year but his job might be based in the San Fransisco Bay area which is one of the most expensive areas to live with high rents, high home prices, and expensive essentials.
Many many people live below $60k/year.
wantonseedstitch@reddit
This. I make $135K, but the average home price in the city where I live (a suburb of Boston) is $610K. Average rent for a 2-bedroom apartment is over $3K/month. Daycare costs over $2K/month for a preschooler, more for younger children. With mortgage and childcare payments alone, I'm spending almost $5K per month right now. Someone in my role (a director-level role at a large nonprofit educational institution, almost 20 years experience) would not be making this kind of money in a lower cost of living area.
mf9769@reddit
There are. The problem is with everything else, its not enough. I'm not one of them, but i'll give you an example, as I live in NYC and the cost of living justifies what you think of as "massive salaries". My wife and I between us make 250k a year. That kind of money is basically unheard of in most other countries, but my father in law, mother in law and dad each singlehandedly earn that kind of paycheck, and my mother's is just a bit under. And yet. My mortgage/house insurance/HOA fee is 1600/month. My wife's student loans, which, thank god, will be paid off next year, are close to 2k a month. My car, which I need to drive to work, has a monthly payment of 600/month and my insurance is another 200 or so. Our grocery bill (we shop at Lidl, which is cheap, plus buying a few nicer things at a more expensive spot) is $150/weekly. We have one child, so hold on to your hat for this: her daycare cost is 1800/month and that was the CHEAPEST we found that would take her at 6 months and is open for the 7AM-6PM window we need for work/travel to and from. Dinner out for 2? $150, minimum. Gas? 60 a tank. The cost of living is insane. We wouldn't be making this stupid money if the people hiring us didn't realize that its the bare minimum they can get away with paying if they want employees to actually be able to work.
PrimalColors@reddit
Where on earth did you get the idea that 100,000 is the standard? Sorry, but this post just reeks of inaccurate conceptions of America
Initial_Fill_2655@reddit
Yes it does
Initial_Fill_2655@reddit
My 'Yes it does" lost meaning when mod removed the comment it was referring to
meowmix778@reddit
Reddit. A lot of people on here complain that 100k is the entry fee to a "good" job or that you can't afford on that pittance of a salary.
Pitiful_Bunch_2290@reddit
I'm guessing it's because people making less than that aren't likely to boast about it in the subs OP is visiting. Which is why no one should base their beliefs on Reddit posts, of course.
LilacNites777@reddit
So many make less than that.
AstuteCouch87@reddit
on top of 100k not being standard, it's worth noting american salaries are often higher than european ones as health insurance and other costs are much higher here. plus we generally get less vacation/sick leave
beardiac@reddit
It really depends on the region of the country. Those numbers are really only prevalent in and around big cities where it's really difficult to live on less. I make over $100k, but that's with over two decades of experience and living outside a major city. If I worked the same job in a more remote part of the country, I'd likely be making about half as much.
ID_Poobaru@reddit
I make 51k a year, wife makes 40k a year.
There’s real people out there making real wages not made up Reddit wages
ChemicalNectarine776@reddit
I made like 34K last year per the IRS. Feel free to AMA 😂
SexysNotWorking@reddit
There are a lot of people who make a lot of money here, but there are also a lot of people who don't. It's also worth noting that a lot of people who make six figures or more also live in areas where the value of that is vastly diluted. In my area, cost of living is really high so the high salaries lots of people make actually look like much less than they would if they were in a different part of the country.
CaptainAwesome06@reddit
There are tons of Americans out there that make a modest living. The median household income in 2024 was $83K.
The median indivual earnings was $62K.
The median personal income - which includes seasonal employees and part-time earners - was $51K. So half of Americans were making less than $51K in 2024.
firesoups@reddit
LMAO what? I’m a single mom with two kids and I make about $40-45k a year as a tipped employee. Most of my friends make about what I make, except a few who make less.
No-Mouse4800@reddit
Most Americans may WAY less than $100,000 a year. Whatever media you are consuming is lying to you.
StupidLemonEater@reddit
Not at all. The median US salary for a full-time worker in the US is $65,000. According to this site (can't vouch for it's accuracy) $100 is around the 70th percentile.
OrangeToTheFourth@reddit
My mother supports her and my father on $44k living in a rural area. I make $92k, the most out of my immediate peer group, and that's as an engineer with high student loans I'm having to payback.
For reference too, in my area $1000/month gets you a private room and bathroom in a house maybe, and I pay $1500/month for a 1bdrm apartment. A burger and fries from a brewery near me is $25 without a drink and over $30 with a drink. That is the average for my area, and let's not even get started on the cost of health insurance, groceries, Internet, car insurance, gas, car maintenance, electricity... Basic necessities in my area. The cost of living inflates in areas where you can get those higher salaries so try to take high salaries for tech people that you see online in context. The fully remote high earning positions are being rapidly culled right now too.
Saints-and-Poets@reddit
I make 25K and rent from my parents.
StochasticallyDefine@reddit
If you only read Reddit I can see where that is your idea of American standard. But that’s not reality whatsoever. If I read the stats correctly it’s 18% of Americans that meet that mark. A good portion of that though is in high cost of living areas where that money doesn’t go as far. Most people earn much more modest incomes and depending on location live very happy lives.
Fun_Push7168@reddit
15% of Americans make 100k or more yearly.
But redditors mysteriously all make between that and double or triple that.
A lot of posturing here.
Living_Fig_6386@reddit
The "standard" in the US is $83,730 for a household, or $45,140 for an individual. Those are the median household and personal incomes in the US as of the end of 2024 as reported by the Federal Reserve. That means 50% of Americans earn less than $45,140 and the majority of households have more than one person earning an income.
$100K is a reasonably high income for an individual in the USA, and a little higher than normal for an American household.
I would guess that the cost of housing, goods, and services is also much higher in the US compared to your country.
No_Election_1123@reddit
The minimum wage in Chicago is currently $16.60 an hour, so a 40hr week is going to be $664 a week or $34K a year. Even if you work 80hrs it's still only going to be $69K
confusedstudent1021@reddit
i know very very few people who make 100,000 or more. i would say that 100,000 is not the standard for the average american
elphaba00@reddit
One of my dad's friends would say about a large company in the area, "Everyone in that building is making 100K!" I was working for the company at the time, and I was definitely not making 100K. Definitely not most of the office workers, not the people working the call center, etc.
Triabolical_@reddit
The federal "poverty level" for a woman with 3 kids is $33,000. $36,000 would make them eligible for some federal or state assistance.
How much money that is depends *drastically* on where you are in the US. Looking at cities, Bentonville Arkansas is at the low end when it comes to cost of living. Seattle is about 50% higher. There are other cities where the cost of living is double that.
croque-monsieur@reddit
People also lie a lot.
I personally make around $85,000 as an individual but I live in a high-cost-of-living city so I’m effectively lower-middle class because of taxes, bills, insurance, mortgage, utilities, groceries, etc. Also impossible to live without an automobile in my city and all the costs associated with that. Have to look at the bigger picture.
CharlesAvlnchGreen@reddit
In my city, a minimum wage earner working 40 hours a week would take home $41,600, so yes.
In my state, the minimum salary for public school teachers is a little over $80K with annual cost of living increases. So a "normal" teacher would def make $100K.
$36K for a household of four is well under the poverty line, and would not be able to afford rent/food/etc. unless they were able to score subsidized housing and were on food assistance.
Maybe in your country everything is cheaper? I made $36K a few years out of university, in the early 1990s.
Historical_Topic650@reddit
That’s usually for a dual income household, and remember that we have to fund our own health insurance (premiums, co-pays, co-insurance, deductibles, and non-covered/denied items) and our own retirement plans (401(k)s) out of that. We also work more (much less vacation, sick and family leave), and if there are kids, we also have to fund all of their post-secondary education.
manicpixidreamgirl04@reddit
Yes, the federal minimum wage (bottom 1% of the population) is $7.25 an hour, which, if the person works 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year would come out to just over $15,000. Almost a third of households earn less than $50k, although your example of a teacher would most likely not be accurate, since the average teacher salary of $74k.
Apprehensive-Big8900@reddit
For years I made less than 20K. But then I finally got my VA benefits as well as my husband. We make a lot more and are very comfortable. We're both retired.
possums101@reddit
I guess it depends on what you consider to be modest. A single mother with 3 kids making 36k a year is living in poverty in most places.
DetroitsGoingToWin@reddit
This is definitely why you got to be thoughtful when discussing what you earn, particularly on-line. If people know what you do for a living, they can look it up.
SummonBahamutZero@reddit
I just finalized divorce from wife of 20 years.
I make just under $80k. Every penny of my income went into family bank account. I always always always lived frugally. Talking… repairing holes in clothes, reusing, never purchasing new.
Found out 3 weeks ago at divorce signing that wife makes almost $600k a year.
I always felt so guilty spending any money at all on myself. Anything at all. All of my money went to the family. EVERYTHING.
Global-Biscotti-9547@reddit
My husband and I combined make about $60,000 for a household of 4 adults. The kids are looking for work but they don’t drive, autistic anxiety, so it’s a bit difficult. Also live out of town in the country.
Gilded-Mongoose@reddit
The vast majority of the country is making well under that.
I touched 100k+ just once and it's been extremely difficult getting back to it.
NotTheMariner@reddit
I would say don’t necessarily believe what you see on the internet. $100,000 a year can be a very comfortable life here as well, especially if you’re not supporting a family on that.
My first real job paid $42,000 a year and I couldn’t make ends meet with that.
The_Highland_Sword@reddit
I make 30k a year right now and living out of my car right now. Most Americans are struggling right now.
clairejv@reddit
The median individual income in the United States is $45,140/year. Most Americans earn a lot less than $100k.
bbspiders@reddit
I don't know many people who make $100k a year. I make $60k and feel like that's a decent salary.
CosyBeluga@reddit
60k was living the dream for me. Got laid off though now I’m making less…doing ok but I’d love to get back to 60k
Vandal_A@reddit
I think maybe you're just seeing posts and comments in communities that are inhabited by wealthier people (or people are lying). People with less money maybe aren't as inclined to talk about money online, or they might just not have time (manual labor and service job workers don't usually have the downtime office workers do, and they might be working second jobs too). Also, keep in mind that earnings is relative to local cost of living. I don't earn much by local standards but in rural or middle America I'd be doing quite well
wwhsd@reddit
In my local elementary school district, a first year teacher with the minimum amount of education required makes $62,145.
Minimum wage where I live is $16.90 an hour.
However, it would be hard to find a decent 1 bedroom apartment for under $1500 a month.
I live in a high cost of living city but I’m pretty sure that having three kids and making $36,000 a year will qualify for public assistance in almost the entire country.
tmorg5@reddit
I’m 52 and disabled. I get social security benefits which are about $22,000 a year and DoorDash for about $5000
Bullehh@reddit
The average salary in the US is around $65k. The average hourly employee makes under $40k a year. I'd guess most people fall into the $35k-$70k range. Reddit is not an accurate representation of Americans as a whole.
Maleficent_Carrot508@reddit
Knowledge economy workers are over-represented on Reddit, have salaries that definitely average >$100k, and are probably more likely to share them.
The median HHI in the US is like $84k. American salaries are certainly higher than most countries and that's especially true for knowledge economy work like tech, corporate, finance, law, medicine etc.. (there is a reason why the US attracts overseas talent). But it's definitively not universal and vast numbers of Americans take home modest to lower incomes.
Melodic-Supermarket@reddit
100k is not standard. I make 55k and while I’m not a high roller, I’m doing better than a lot of other people.
MaximusSaturday@reddit
There certainly are many Americans who earn far less than 100k per year. The median income for full time workers is much lower than that. However, 36k is not a livable income in most places in the country. Also, teacher earn less than similarly educated peers but aren’t as low paid as many expect; I know several that make over 100k as teachers others from 70-90k per year.
jvc1011@reddit
So first, yes, plenty of Americans make modest incomes. We also have a 20% child hunger rate. Inequality is real.
Also, depending on where you live, $100K could be a lot of money or barely enough to pay rent.
Further, you need to understand that monetary exchange doesn’t account for purchasing power. $10 USD is worth more in Canada or Mexico than it is in the US - that is, it buys more because you have exchanged it for a less valuable currency.
willtag70@reddit
You're being misled by a sampling error. As the comments here show, $100k is by no means the average in the US, not for individuals nor for household. It's half that at best.
CosyBeluga@reddit
Most Americans do not make 100k a year.
Bstallio@reddit
A lot of times when people mention 100k earnings they are telling about their household, which often includes both their income and their partners income.
Most Americans make modest earnings, about 31% of workers in America make between 30-60k a year, and that goes up to \~50% if you make the range 30-80k
25% make less than 30k a year, and about \~20% make 100k+
JoeMorgue@reddit
I make about 115,000 AS A HOUSEHOLD but it requires me and my wife working full time AND me having a full military pension, so functionally we're a three income family with two people.
The military pension is enough to cover our mortgage with a little left over and it's all our major insurances; health, vision, dental, and life insurance for me and my wife, which makes the income from our jobs go a lot further.
Oldpuzzlehead@reddit
I was making $40k at the last job I had before I stopped working.
xnatlywouldx@reddit
100k a year is not standard in America. The people in this country are mostly broke as hell.
MortimerDongle@reddit
US median income for a full time job is about $60,000 annually, but it's very right skewed (the mean is much higher than the median).
Lots of Americans do make $100k+, relative to other countries, more than 15%. But that still means over 80% make under that.
Combat__Crayon@reddit
$100K is above average. The median income is closer to $60k for individuals and $80k for families. There are absolutely people making $36k a year and with 3 children would be struggling and would be relying on various government assistance programs.
Depending on how old those kids are, daycare is a massive expense. When I was in the DC area we were paying around $20k per year for 1 child and that was in a mid priced center. We were able to drop that to about $11k, when we moved to Chicago and were able to get some grandparent help and only go 3 days a week. I had a coworker with twins at the day care in my building in DC and I think she was paying $45k a year there. That was almost half her salary.
FunImprovement166@reddit
Most people on Reddit are lying tbh.
Low_Command_TA@reddit
I'm not sure where you got the notion that we're all pulling six figures when only around 13% of Americans make over 100,000usd a year, and of those the majority are in the 35-44 are group.
Most younger Americans 20-24 earn around $40,000usd a year.
pikkdogs@reddit
Sure. Average household income is much lower.
However, it’s all relative. If you make 100 grand easily you probably live in an area where things are 3x more expensive than in other areas.
If you dream of a place where you can make 100 grand, we dream of living in a place where 100 grand feels like something. If I could move to Mexico and pay the prices they do, it would be awesome.
Limp_Dragonfly3868@reddit
Some people on the interstate lying.
People with high salaries are more likely to say do that people with low salaries.
$60-65k is the average teacher salary in my state. They all have college degrees, most of masters.
$100k isn’t possible in all career paths.
skilletjlc4@reddit
There definitely are, and they most likely receive some kind of government assistance like food stamps. $33k/year is the considered poverty for 4 people. I think $36k is a little low for a teacher salary in most places, but maybe I am wrong. A lot of people like this will live with their parents in order to pool enough money to live. Or they will have roommates. Someone making $36k a year probably works in customer service roles, having multiple jobs.
LabInner262@reddit
Median income in the us is $66, 622 or so. Half of us earn less than that. The 100K you cite would be within the top 25% range.
Ok_Competition_669@reddit
In my part of California, $127,000 is a median household income. Everything is very expensive.
Za_Lords_Guard_01@reddit
It really isn't. The median income for the US is ~$53k/year per individual.
Nearly half the working population earns less than a living wage here. (Living wage being defined as $25/hr.)
1 in 4 working Americans earn less than $17/hr.
SportTheFoole@reddit
Your perspective is likely getting skewed by what people on Reddit post. The median income is around $60,000 for a single person and the median household income is around $80,000. Are there a lot of people making $100,000 and above? Yes (I want to say it’s around 18%). But there are a lot more making less than that.
Adventurous-Time5287@reddit
i think it’s wild that people actually believe this. i know like 2 people who make more than 100k a year or even close to it. most people i know are making between 30k and 50k a year and struggling.
jacowab@reddit
Most Americans are making 35-50k and have two people working in the household, 100k is not the norm that means you've made it.
Ok_Jackfruit2612@reddit
Yes, lots.
Teachers in rural areas of the US often make $25K-40K and will struggle to make ends meet.
The median individual salary where I live is around $60K. If you are single with no kids, that's a decent salary. If you have kids, you will be struggling to make ends meet.
caserock@reddit
It seems like 98% of these $100k earners have zero awareness of how good they have it/how bad it is for everyone else
HippieJed@reddit
It is still considered “making good money” if you make 6 figures. The problem becomes, depending on where you live and the size of your family, you may need a part time job if you don’t make $100k
MrLongWalk@reddit
There are literally millions of Americans like this.
MollyOMalley99@reddit
The posters claiming to make over $100k a year are lying, especially when they're 22 years old.
DrMindbendersMonocle@reddit
100k is way above average
judgingA-holes@reddit
IDK where you're getting your info but average standard is not 100k. The average income for Americans is around 60k. But then you also have to think that we have to pay a lot of things out of pocket that other countries don't have to pay like health insurance and health care.
norahsharpe@reddit
100,000 is not the standard, whatever media you're consuming is lying to you
ComesInAnOldBox@reddit
Only about 17% of the country is making $100k or higher. I don't know where you're getting the idea that it's the standard, because it most certainly is not.
SirTwitchALot@reddit
80% of Americans make less than 100k per year, so yes. Many people make the modest earnings you describe.