What is the definition of "making good money" in your area?

[mommy4ever]

How much is a good income is all relevant to the cost of living in ones area.

2007 Average expenditure per household

Concept

Annual Amount

Food
$7,491
Shelter
$14,686
Household Operation
$3,867
Transportation
$12,443 Personal Taxes
$19,675

Date

Average House Price

2008 Forecast

$333,000

2009 Projected

$333,000

Median Family Income

2000

2005

Non-immigrant

$72,133

$80,744

Immigrant

$64,766

$69,210

Difference

$7,367

$11,534

Source: Statistics Canada, 2008.

2007 Federal Income Tax

Net Income

Tax

Basic Personal Amount

0%

Up to $37,885

15%

Up to $72,769

22%

Up to $123,184

26%

Over $123,184

29%

We fall under the median in our area. Dh seems to think we make "really good money". But in looking at all costs involved.... I'm not so sure, we are also a family of 6. As a childless or single person, then it would be good money.

I don't know that these numbers are that accurate, as food works out to $624/mo, most people I know do $400/week(NOT ME)..lol. But it is an average and not necessarily based on family size.

[HomeschoolMom]

Hmmmm, I think in this area that as a family you'd have to be making well over $100,000 to be considered making 'good money'.

Now, we do live within a 45-60 minute drive of the biggest city in Canada (Toronto). I'm sure that makes a difference.

I wonder how much that will change with the economy? We have 2 auto part factories closing in our local area by this summer, not to mention other lay-offs and job losses.

[Thevail]

We live in a pretty spendy town..so I don't know if we make good money or not. I think anywhere else we probably would be.

Ex. We bargain shopped for months to find a house, and got one at the lowest price anyone in our neighborhood has seen in a decade. It was only 10,000 more than the other one we found next to a fire station (just couldn't live with the racket) in a much worse neighborhood.

Our bargain was nearly a quarter million.

But our lifestyle is different anyway..DH is in construction so it's always a bit iffy when a job winds down. he could be off a day, a week, or a month before the next job starts up.

So we just don't do payments. We purchase everything outright. Except the house obviously..

[mommy4ever]

A 1/4 Mil for a house here is under the median cost of a home. We were lucky to buy 8 years ago, just as the market started to climb. A year sooner and we would have save almost 20K! But now the value is about 300K more than what we bought it for and that is after a downslide of value. There's no way we'd make it today.

[Contrary Housewife]

DH makes what I consider "good money" for our area. He's not what I'd call "high paid", but his income more than covers our needs and we are not stupidly in debt with CCs like nearly everyone else he works with at the same salary. (people who don't understand how we live with no debt)

Our expenses, housing, and the "average income" for this area are all lower than what you list. I'm sure we'd struggle with DH's income in another part of the country.

[latierra84]

35k is considered liveable in our area. you can buy a 1500 square foot home brand new for 90k. i live in south dallas. it gets a much worse rep than it deserves. some parts, even i wont venture into but for the most part if you're smart and stay out of unlit back alleys.. youve really got little to worry about. my only issue (i dont have kids though) is the school system. i went through private schools and if i had children would do the same.

[Starlight9803]

around here the median income is only 32K. DH makes a bit more than that and we get by fine, but most consider "good money" to be around 75K. We have a pretty low cost of living and very high unemployment though, which brings down median income levels.

[jamie79]

Were we are stationed 45% of the kids in the school system are on free or reduced lunch. A good paying job here is about $32,000 a yr. Dh makes more then that by alot so some people consider us well off for this area. All our needs are covered and some of our wants but we have debt which I have been working hard on.

[Edna_E]

According to our Department of Devleopment, the median house price is just over 100K and the average income (not sure whether they mean median family income or average per capita) is 36K. I think that means that the average family cannot afford the average house, which is kind of bad in a town where there are not alot of apartment options.

[Pianolady]

Our stats:

Median family income $50,273

Average home price $124,915

I don't think 50k is considered a lot of money here, but enough to get by. $100k+ household income is doing pretty good.

[jennordhavn]

Average home price $210,000 (has come WAAAAY down in the past year)
Median income $63,000

We are a 4 person family on one income and we are over median (make about $70k). We rent right now while we wait to improve our credit and save money to buy a house. If we do buy, we wouldn't buy in this city. We can pay all of our bills and have some wants (satellite, cel phones, high speed internet, etc.), but we have little left over for savings or extras. This is a high COL area in the Bay Area, CA. This area is actually one of the more affordable areas in the Bay Area, some areas are just insane.

[forHISglory]

Missouri has a fairly low cost of living. We have over 4 acres of land and a very nice house, and our taxes run about $1000 a year. Homes run from 90,000 and up. I'm just guessing, but I imagine an average home here is about 140,000. A good salary here is about 40,000.

[pollypurebred39]

Since the factories shut down around here and the pharmacueticals moved in around here it is a case of the haves and the have nots.

A good living is had by mostly those that transfered to this area, not the natives. $500,00-$750,000 is not unheard of out this way. They built houses outside of town that are 2-3 million dollar houses. What ended up happening was our real estate increased dramatically in value. My friend lives in a house they built up from a hunting cabin(Hunting was big around here before we became over run by population) That is now valued at $380,000!!!!! Beautiful house, huge, lots of land. But it pales in comparassion to her wealthy neighbors living in 2-3 million dollar homes. Our home is a tiny rancher on a little over an acre and a half, I'd say worth $150,000-$175,000. The cost of living has risen dramatically around here, rentals are ridiculously high. My oldest will never be able to rent in our town unless he had 8 room mates! I remember when they built these phamaceutical plants they swore it would bring thousands of jobs to our area. jobs that stayed (not construction) Turns out that was true, but only for workers imported from other states.

What I see a lot of are people walking to the food pantry on Thursday mornings. Haves and have nots around here. A good living around here would be upwards of $100,000 that is not pharmacuticals, that is commuting 2 hours min a day well outside this area.

[Grainlady]

I live in the middle of rural Kansas with a composit cost of living index at 79.0 - one of the lowest in Kansas (U.S. average 100). So our dollars go farther, but we don't make as much as most places, either. For a bit of perspective, we have as many grain elevators in town as we do grocery stores.

Median Per Capita Income per Household: $40,848 (2007) (average for Kansas is $47,451)

Median House or Condo value in 2007: $119,119 (average for Kansas is $121,200)

When we first moved here after college (1975), we lived in a mobile home (we've never rented - always owned), and earnings below the poverty level.... With hard work and persistance, hubby has advanced to an executive position with earnings in the top 10% of this area. The proverbial American Dream.

[ravenmaniac]

In Maryland I believe the median family income is about $68,000. The median house value is $215,000. Our income is a little above this but we seem to make it paycheck to paycheck with a tiny savings, we are trying to add to the savings. Our house was refinanced 2 years ago for $260,000. I honestly do not know if our house is worth that because of the economy. At the time it appraised for $325,000. Any way, I don't feel you get the most out of your dollar living in Maryland.