$150k is middle class in NYC. If you work in Manhattan, it's a small place with ... (2024)

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humanrebar on Dec 19, 2013 | parent | context | favorite | on: Introducing Open Salaries at Buffer


$150k is middle class in NYC. If you work in Manhattan, it's a small place with a short commute or a normal-size place (by national standards) with a long commute.

If you don't work in Manhattan or can work from home most of the time, you can have a pretty luxurious lifestyle, yes.

Also, being single with no one to support isn't the average case. I'd argue we should assume that each working person supports one other person. That lines up with American demographics much better.

$150k is middle class in NYC. If you work in Manhattan, it's a small place with ... (2)

stephencanon on Dec 19, 2013 | next [–]


$150k is only middle class in NYC in the weakest possible sense of the phrase “middle class”. Even if we restrict to manhattan, $150k puts you in the top ~20% of household income (which often includes two wage-earners). Median income in Manhattan is right around $70k. I know that nearly everyone in America (except maybe for Bill Gates) believes that they are middle class, but at some stage one needs to accept that if you make whole-number multiples above the median wage, you are at the very least “upper middle class” or “well off”. To pretend otherwise is frankly a bit insulting to the actual middle class.

Yes, there are people making vastly more than $150k, but that doesn’t change the fact that it puts one solidly in the upper quartile.

$150k is middle class in NYC. If you work in Manhattan, it's a small place with ... (3)

zmitri on Dec 19, 2013 | parent | next [–]


Yep. For less than that amount I had a floor of a brownstone in Brooklyn, 20-30 minute commute via subway, paid off 10 year student loans in < 1 year, took my entire family on a vacation, and went out to dinner at a variety of nice restaurants on a fairly regular interval. I also saved up 30K in liquid assets (Although that includes some cash from 1-2 years before).

It's that's "only" middle class, the world is in serious trouble.

$150k is middle class in NYC. If you work in Manhattan, it's a small place with ... (4)

humanrebar on Dec 19, 2013 | root | parent | next [–]


Sounds middle class to me. Having a few months expenses in the bank and a 30 minute commute. Checks out modulo crime rate and quality of local public schools, both of which vary a lot in Brooklyn.

$150k is middle class in NYC. If you work in Manhattan, it's a small place with ... (5)

zmitri on Dec 19, 2013 | root | parent | next [–]


How long have you lived in New York?

$150k is middle class in NYC. If you work in Manhattan, it's a small place with ... (6)

lotsofpulp on Dec 19, 2013 | root | parent | prev | next [–]


What does the term of a loan have to do with anything? It's a meaningless metric in your context.

$150k is middle class in NYC. If you work in Manhattan, it's a small place with ... (7)

zmitri on Dec 20, 2013 | root | parent | next [–]


That's just what we call the loan where I'm from.

It's the loan I took out to pay for my 4 year undergraduate university education in it's entirety.

Is that better?

$150k is middle class in NYC. If you work in Manhattan, it's a small place with ... (8)

humanrebar on Dec 19, 2013 | parent | prev | next [–]


Fair enough, but that's beside the point.

I was referring to what that salary gets you in terms of standard of living and so on. Cost of living in all of New York, Manhattan especially, is high. $70k doesn't get you very far in Manhattan, especially if you don't have multiple roommates (which you wouldn't if you had a family).

Contrast that to what a family can do with $70k in Cleveland, San Antonio, or Raleigh. It looks closer to what $150k looks like in Manhattan, which is my point.

$150k is middle class in NYC. If you work in Manhattan, it's a small place with ... (9)

cm2012 on Dec 19, 2013 | prev | next [–]


This is so laughable. The median salary in NYC is $50,000 per household. This includes tons of people who work in Manhattan (I've met more people who work in Manhattan and live in other boroughs than otherwise - the daily commute numbers back that up.) As another poster mentioned, even just Manhattanites make $70,000 a year for the household. I personally know many people living in Manhattan making far less.

$150k is most definitely upper middle class. I grew up in Queens my whole life and until I started working professionally, never met someone who made more than $150,000 a year.

$150k is middle class in NYC. If you work in Manhattan, it's a small place with ... (10)

humanrebar on Dec 19, 2013 | parent | next [–]


Sure, upper middle class. What's wrong with a CEO making upper middle class wages? The point is it's respectable wages for a professional, but hardly as high-on-the-hog as $150k in Kansas City.

$150k is middle class in NYC. If you work in Manhattan, it's a small place with ... (11)

stephencanon on Dec 19, 2013 | root | parent | next [–]


In the context of discussing a company that lets employees work remotely, it is precisely as high-on-the-hog as $150k in KC. Remote employees in NYC choose to live there, because they think it’s a good tradeoff. If employees A and B both make $150k in Kansas City, but A cooks all his meals and B goes out to eat all the time, that doesn’t make A high-on-the-hog and B middle class; it just means that they value different things. Ditto for remote workers who choose to live in NYC.

$150k is middle class in NYC. If you work in Manhattan, it's a small place with ... (12)

nilkn on Dec 19, 2013 | prev [–]


And a net worth of $500M is lower class when you restrict your population to that of all people with net worths >= $500M (there are many thousands of such people).

$150k is middle class in NYC. If you work in Manhattan, it's a small place with ... (13)


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$150k is middle class in NYC. If you work in Manhattan, it's a small place with ... (2024)

FAQs

$150k is middle class in NYC. If you work in Manhattan, it's a small place with ...? ›

$150k is middle class in NYC. If you work in Manhattan, it's a small place with a short commute or a normal-size place (by national standards) with a long commute. If you don't work in Manhattan or can work from home most of the time, you can have a pretty luxurious lifestyle, yes.

What is a good salary in Manhattan? ›

A single adult living in New York City would need to make $138,570 a year in order to live comfortably, according to the study. That equates to an hourly wage of $66.62. To cover the cost of just necessities as a single person in New York City, you would need to make an estimated $70,000, according to SmartAsset.

What is the middle class income in Manhattan? ›

The minimum annual income required for a family of four to be considered part of the middle class in the Empire State soared to $81,396 in 2023, according to the Pew Research Center and the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

What is considered rich in Manhattan? ›

Six-Figure Income: A common benchmark for being considered "rich" in NYC is earning a six-figure income, meaning an annual salary of $100,000 or more.

Is 150k salary middle class? ›

There are three U.S. cities where people making a $150,000 income qualify as lower middle class and two of them are in California, according to recent research from GOBankingRates.

Is 150k a good salary in Manhattan? ›

$150k is middle class in NYC. If you work in Manhattan, it's a small place with a short commute or a normal-size place (by national standards) with a long commute. If you don't work in Manhattan or can work from home most of the time, you can have a pretty luxurious lifestyle, yes.

Is $150,000 usd a good salary in New York? ›

In New York City, a $150,000 salary feels like $54,000

For many, earning a salary topping $US100,000 ($151,000) feels like a mark of success — but how far it goes depends on where you live. In New York City, that annual paycheck is worth just $US36,000, after taxes and accounting for the steep cost of living.

What is upper class income in NYC? ›

Upper Class Salary in Manhattan, NY
Annual SalaryWeekly Pay
Top Earners$94,231$1,812
75th Percentile$74,508$1,432
Average$60,996$1,173
25th Percentile$42,732$821

What is the 1% salary in Manhattan? ›

New York's cutoff to be in the 1% is $777,126. The 1% pays an average income tax rate of 27.09%, while what they pay accounts for 48.10% of all income taxes paid.

What salary is considered poor in NYC? ›

The official poverty rate was 11.6%,. 2 percentage point more than in 2020, and the median household income was $69,717. For a family of four, consisting of two adults and two children under 18 years, the poverty threshold in 2021 is $27,479.

Is 200K good in Manhattan? ›

200K Salary in Manhattan, NY. $184,627 is the 25th percentile. Salaries below this are outliers. $218,047 is the 75th percentile.

What is the richest part of Manhattan? ›

Located on the southwestern corner of Manhattan, Tribeca (“Triangle Below Canal Street”) consistently ranks as the most expensive neighborhood in NYC, according to several sources. Best known for its stylish industrial lofts and charming cobblestone streets, residents here enjoy a hip and upscale neighborhood.

Where do rich people who work in Manhattan live? ›

Rich people in Manhattan often live in affluent neighborhoods such as the Upper East Side, Tribeca, SoHo, Hudson Yards, and the West Village.

What class am I if I make 150K? ›

However, new research from GOBankingRates shows that in some major U.S. cities, an annual income of $150,000 is only enough to qualify as “lower middle class.” This is especially pronounced in two Northern California cities and Arlington, Virginia.

What is a comfortable salary in Manhattan? ›

Researchers say a single adult needs to make more than $138,000, or an hourly wage of $66.62, to live comfortably while a family of 4 needs more than $318,000. According to Smart Asset, to cover necessities as a single person in New York City, you'll need an estimated $70,000 in wages.

Is $150000 upper class? ›

Middle class: Those ranging from $55,001 to $89,744. Upper middle class: Households with incomes between $89,745 and $149,131. Upper class: The top 20% of earners, with household incomes of $149,132 or more.

Is $80000 a good salary in NYC? ›

While ZipRecruiter is seeing salaries as high as $108,235 and as low as $30,065, the majority of 80K A Year salaries currently range between $72,155 (25th percentile) to $87,461 (75th percentile) with top earners (90th percentile) making $91,288 annually in New York.

Is 100k a good salary in NYC? ›

Making $100,000 a year in New York City is poor. One New Yorker told FOX 5, "Honestly, unless you're making about $150,000, I'd say you can't live comfortably." Another noted how "80% of my salary goes to rent alone."

Is 200K a good salary in Manhattan? ›

200K Salary in Manhattan, NY. $184,627 is the 25th percentile. Salaries below this are outliers. $218,047 is the 75th percentile.

What is considered a high paying salary in NYC? ›

Highest Salary in New York
Annual SalaryMonthly Pay
Top Earners$136,754$11,396
75th Percentile$108,900$9,075
Average$92,661$7,721
25th Percentile$81,500$6,791

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