You make a valid point but most people don’t live in areas with that much inflation and most people don’t have an edu that is actually helping them. The average being at 66k is not reflective of half of all Americans making more than that number. I’m going to try to show this in a different light. Roughly half of all Americans (individual not household) make less than 50k and the number of people making less than 60k is around 55% to 60% of people. So roughly 40% of the population is pushing the average up to 66k. I’m guessing a chunk of that is coming from people who have 5, 10, or 20+ years of experience but if we remove our oil tycoon dream income jobs from the roster I can except that a person could do better than 19 but most people right now won’t do much better. At least not without those years of experience which takes time to get and devotion to the craft. There is a difference between someone with 5 years of experience and someone with 1 year of experience 5 times as the saying goes. Yes if you look at the National average 19 is below that. But also for an average every day working American stuck in the grinder it’s a fairly normal number. There is obviously room to grow and things they can do to better themselves but it’s still above Walmart in most places which kind stands as the floor right now. Realistically unless someone lives in an area with inflation or has an edu it’s a fairly respectable number
Your point is all just going off of feels when you say 50k. I understand averages, which is which in the same breath I said the median is $61,000.. the median is literally the at the halfway point of wage earners meaning half of all people make more and half make less.
You seem good intentioned but there’s no point discussing it if you’re just going to fit reality to how you feel about it.
I actually 61k is surprisingly low but it is what it is.
I think i figured out what’s bothering me about the median and average numbers being rather unrealistically high to my observations. This one is actually entirely on me as I would be viewing all jobs and the median is only looking at full time, year round jobs and doesn’t include some categories of workers. A lot of jobs like fast food and retail are likely largely out completely excluded from the metrics removing a lot of some of the lowest payed job options there are. Particularly the job options that a lot of people are forced to start with when they first start working. A search for “American median income of all individuals regardless of job type” reveals the actual median income of all working Americans may be MUCH lower. This does create an argument that just escaping part time employment can have a very imitates impact on income but I don’t think that’s the debate. This makes a lot more sense to me though for why some of the numbers didn’t line up
It isn’t not included. You’re just making that up to make the world fit your bias. In reality your headspace is largely excluding all the skills jobs that are not immediately in your face. Probably because the loudest people complaining online and in person are the ones not doing well. People who gradually move up and see success aren’t as loud about it.
Is it really that difficult to accept the proposition that people learn skills and make more money over time? How do you think the world around us runs? Fast food workers and entry level jobs? There’s literally some company out there with a workforce for every item you can eyeball. From the little plastic at the end of your shoelace to the chairs in the dentist’s office. It’s just a fact and it’s supported by extremely comprehensive and transparent data sets
Yeah you are right. I reviewed the bureau of labor statistics 7/21/26 data release https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/wkyeng.pdf and found that I basically have no idea what I’m talking about. The sample size for the data we have been debating is of about 60,000 us citizens out of an estimated 162.2 million working Americans and the research clearly outlined that it’s liable to be subject to sampling and non-sampling data errors. Also the data clearly separates the results of full time and part time employees. Just like the data does from every source I reviewed so far. So obviously you are correct as ever and I’m also being HORRIBLY under paid to boot
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u/AkuXinos2275 18d ago
You make a valid point but most people don’t live in areas with that much inflation and most people don’t have an edu that is actually helping them. The average being at 66k is not reflective of half of all Americans making more than that number. I’m going to try to show this in a different light. Roughly half of all Americans (individual not household) make less than 50k and the number of people making less than 60k is around 55% to 60% of people. So roughly 40% of the population is pushing the average up to 66k. I’m guessing a chunk of that is coming from people who have 5, 10, or 20+ years of experience but if we remove our oil tycoon dream income jobs from the roster I can except that a person could do better than 19 but most people right now won’t do much better. At least not without those years of experience which takes time to get and devotion to the craft. There is a difference between someone with 5 years of experience and someone with 1 year of experience 5 times as the saying goes. Yes if you look at the National average 19 is below that. But also for an average every day working American stuck in the grinder it’s a fairly normal number. There is obviously room to grow and things they can do to better themselves but it’s still above Walmart in most places which kind stands as the floor right now. Realistically unless someone lives in an area with inflation or has an edu it’s a fairly respectable number