21 ms·

Who considers 55-60k "high paying" especially when the job contains potential life threatening risks and other health issues. I wouldn't do much of that danger

Who considers 55-60k "high paying" especially when the job contains potential life threatening risks and other health issues. I wouldn't do much of that dangerous and exhausting work for double that pay range and I would still make less money than I do sitting at a desk now. I can put in <35 hrs a week, run errands during the day, work from home in my underwear, meet friends for long lunches. I do think there are downsides to the office life though. The politics and games of course. There are also the issues of needing to make sure you take time for your physical fitness. Its easy to forget or slack off on that one. I think the reality here is that those jobs are still majorly underpaid for the work involved when there are alternatives around every corner.

rdiddly 8y ago
Young high-school grads for whom that's a lot of money and for whom the health risks are not quite as bad.
- watwut 8y ago
  High-school grads are not immune to injuries and don't have savings to pay for healthcare if they get injured. They might be less risk averse on average, but that does not make health risk not relevant. Also, adults in their life who are older are likely to caution about occupation that is health risk even absent injuries - and although all wont listen, some will.
  - rdiddly 8y ago
    Did I say somehow that they were immune to injuries? I said the risks are not as bad. For example, they are, overall, statistically less likely to suffer any on-the-job injury attributable to inflexibility of muscles and tendons, obesity, loss of bone density/strength, Alzheimer's, arthritis, or dizziness from diabetes-related blood-sugar problems. Those are all risks that go up with age. They are also less likely to suffer any injury caused, or made worse, or made more likely, by some past injury they've already had, because they're likely to have had fewer of those. Also, even given the same exact injury, they will likely heal faster & better than someone even 10 years older. Black & white thinking doesn't really serve here. There's not some age before which 100% of people have none of the problems and after which 100% of people have all the problems. It's a continuum.
    - watwut 8y ago
      What are they going to do when they age? These risks apply to people choosing profession even as they are in the future. No one is young forever and there is no promotion from these jobs to another job. Cumulatively, during career, the longer you work there the more likely injuries happen to you. And the more physical work, the more catastrophic consequences (I can code with two broken legs). All that must be factored in for young people too.
      - rdiddly 8y ago
        Yes, as you age, the risk/reward balance begins to shift - sometimes slowly, sometimes all at once. There are paths out of the trades though. You can start your own small (plumbing/building/etc.) company, hire people (younger ones) to do the heavy lifting, and essentially "move into management." Or you can take some of the money you earned, go back to school, and change careers. I know someone who injured his back digging trenches, and while recuperating from that injury, started teaching himself computers. Now he works for a state agency and sits in a chair. Nothing is guaranteed of course, but the question was "Who considers 55-60k 'high paying' especially when the job contains potential life threatening risks and other health issues?" and the answer was "Young high-school grads for whom that's a lot of money and for whom the health risks are not quite as bad." That's a very general answer that deliberately doesn't offer any opinion on whether they are right or wrong in thinking that way. And obviously the less young they are, or the more money they want, or the less risk they tolerate, the less true the statement is.
maxerickson 8y ago
Median (personal) income in the US is $31,000: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEPAINUSA672N https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEPAINUSA672N So approximately everybody should consider twice that "high paying". (fixed the number, was $32,000)
- hackerman12345 8y ago
  But presumably some of these are bright kids who could make that rate on their sophomore year engineering internship. It'd be silly not to attend university and instead do the $60k trade route for most of the HN audience.
  - csa 8y ago
    The type of kid that can make $30k in a sophomore internship is the same type of kid that will end up running their own $TRADE company making a 6 or 7 figure annual income.
    - swiley 8y ago
      What makes you think the skills required for both of those are the same?
      - csa 8y ago
        At a certain level of abstraction, intelligent and sociable people who can get things done have the capacity to rise to the top in any occupation they choose to enter. Without debating the specific skill sets needed in each (of course they vary based on field of choice, this is obvious), all of the “blue collar” multimillionaire business owners I know have the three traits I listed above. Ditto for the “white collar” multimillionaires. It’s also interesting that they have similar problems (again in abstraction) — hiring, training, and retention. The nitty gritty details differ, but the problems sound awfully similar to me. There are probably a few more characteristics and problems that I could list, but these were the ones that came off the top of my head.
mynd 8y ago
I made $7 an hour when I was 20
- fastball 8y ago
  I made $20ph bartending. My only qualification when I started at 19 was being an alcoholic who liked cocktails.
EADGBE 8y ago
> Who considers 55-60k "high paying" Wow - HN at its best, folks. Just because it's not high where you are (Somewhere probably really nice, honestly) doesn't mean that's not a good living in 90% of the rest of the country.
- geodel 8y ago
  Well this is place where $400K worth of salary and perks at Google are brushed of as 'Oh, but bay area is so expensive'. 55-60K for them would be like kids' private schooling.
- chongli 8y ago
  Just because they're trade jobs doesn't mean they're located in "90% of the rest of the country." All the good paying construction trades are going to be in places where they're building lots of high rises; places where rent is high enough to warrant such construction. If you're living in San Francisco as an ironworker then $55,000 means you're barely getting by. Construction jobs tend to start really early in the morning so long commutes are pretty much off the table, too.
  - djrogers 8y ago
    You've got a very myopic view of the US if youthink construction is only happening in expensive coastal cities. Also, 'trade jobs' are not limited to construction.
    - EADGBE 8y ago
      Everywhere I look land is cheap and lifestyles are good. They can’t build SFR houses fast enough. And I’m ignoring downtown Renaissances happening all across the Midwest.
- godelski 8y ago
  > Who considers 55-60k "high paying" the state's average annual wage of $54,000. That accounts for all cost of living adjustments, since it is the same state. I wouldn't consider 2%-10% above average "high paying"
Avshalom 8y ago
I've never managed more than 28000 in my life and that was a year that I was working 60hrs a week between two jobs for half of it. For 30k plus benefits I'd strangle puppies.
- fastball 8y ago
  What do you do?
  - Avshalom 8y ago
    Well at the time I was working as a stock boy at Target on the weekends (with a couple shifts during the week during Christmas when we moved to a 2am start time) and warehousing (later junior locksmith) at a door company (Hull Supply in Austin). Currently just a stock boy while I add a second BS onto my useless resume.
    - airstrike 8y ago
      What was your first BS? What prevented you from getting a better degree or going to a better university?
      - Avshalom 8y ago
        Physics, minor in math from New Mexico Tech. Money, youthful ignorance (and a desire to get the fuck out of Florida) and an inability to fill out an application probably due to my truck load of self esteem issues (though there is always the possibility that I fail not because I think I'm garbage but because I actually am).
        godelski 8y ago
        Have you tried applying to engineering jobs? I have a degree in physics (minor in math), and that's what I did (as well as many of my friends). Or tutoring? That can pay pretty well and give you flexible hours. This type of movement is extremely common for physicists. Grad school is also an option, and you don't have to go for physics (which is fairly competitive). I got into a CS program, have a friend doing EE, and know of plenty of people doing ME, AE, CE, etc. People will read "Physics degree" as "smart" or "worked hard". > not because I think I'm garbage but because I actually am Sounds like imposter syndrome. It is extremely common, though I know it is extremely difficult to deal with (coming from personal experience).
starpilot 8y ago
You have to realize, only a third of American have bachelor's degrees. Many of them from schools you've never heard of, not MIT, not Penn State. If you and everyone you know are college-educated professionals, you're in a bubble.
- swiley 8y ago
  It's projected to be half sometime soon.
  - csa 8y ago
    As a society, we should probably be targeting more like 10% for 4-year degrees and higher. Many jobs that are requiring or preferring 4-year degrees need at best a 2-year degree, and more likely no degree (maybe a 1-4 month focused training course). The college degree requirement typically serves as either a vanity requirement or a filter to reduce the number of applications.
    - moorhosj 8y ago
      Does the education system only exist to train future workers? Should it?
      - csa 8y ago
        That seems to be a non sequitur — I suggested no such thing. In abstraction, I will say that there always is an education system of some sort that trains workers, but that system may be formal, may be informal, may be public, may be private, etc. acknowledging what role the citizens want a formal education to serve is an important discussion, imho. This is a discussion we are not really having in the US right now — at least not in a frank way. That said, I think education should exist to train future members of society. Work training is a part of that, but there are other elements as well (social skills, communication skills, life skills, etc.).
        moorhosj 8y ago
alexashka 8y ago
Except there are not alternatives around every corner :) That's just hubris on your behalf. Regarding 60k being high paying - for a job at 20, that's A LOT. For a job at 40, that's pretty good.
throw7 8y ago
Commenters are being overly critical. Isn't ~80k when people get to a point of "relaxment". I'd say "high pay" would start there.
pflats 8y ago
>Who considers 55-60k "high paying" especially when the job contains potential life threatening risks and other health issues. These interviews are with apprentices! They're still in training and they're make $55k+ with benefits. Depending on the trade, an apprenticeship usually lasts 3-5 years, with pay increasing along the way. By the end you'll be a journeyman, earning probably 50% more per hour. If you're a specialist or a leader (foreman), you'll get more pay on top of that. Call it an average 4 years, that's a six-figure advantage over someone who went to college, assuming they invest nothing and the college student pays in cash. Being union and hourly also means they will get overtime when the crunch comes. And it will. An executive somewhere will always change their mind and decide they want Y instead of X. >I wouldn't do much of that dangerous and exhausting work for double that pay range and I would still make less money than I do sitting at a desk now. Industrial construction work in particular can be hard, but I wouldn't call it exhausting. You get less of a workout than you would in the gym—you need to be able to do it 40 hours a week, after all. >I can put in <35 hrs a week, run errands during the day, work from home in my underwear, meet friends for long lunches. Back when I was in an industrial trade, I could show up to work, do my job and that was it. I'd go home with a nice gloss of sweat on me, take a shower, and feel good. I took zero stress home with me. I looked damn good. Most importantly to me, though, at the end of the job, when I was talking to someone or just reflecting on my own work, I could point to a hotel, an office tower, a bridge, a federal building, and so on, and say, "We built that. I built that." And I did. And it felt good.
clarkmoody 8y ago
The opportunity cost of university getting up there: $60k salary x 4 years = +$240k vs $25k tuition X 4 years = -$100k (state school [1]) $50k tuition X 4 years = -$200k (private school) So total opportunity cost is around $340-440k and four years, assuming you can go straight into the $60k/yr job from high school. If you finance school with debt, then you have interest as part of the calculation. Of course there are other intangibles to be had from working, such as learning personal responsibility at a younger age ;-) [1] https://www.collegedata.com/cs/content/content_payarticle_tmpl.jhtml?articleId=10064 https://www.collegedata.com/cs/content/content_payarticle_tm...
- godelski 8y ago
  But if you make more than $60k because of your college degree, then you are in the black in not too long. Let's say you make $80k, then you are break even at 17 years. If you are making more like 100k, then you break even at only 8.5 years. Considering that the retirement age is around 70, this means that even a small increase in salary leaves a good chunk of money on the table by retirement (or allows an earlier retirement). Of course, there are the other factors that others are discussing. Plus things like interest (on loans and investments).
- mywittyname 8y ago
  There are also risks. Recessions hit trades much harder than anyone else, as they tend to be affected first and recover last from them. Construct unemployment is a leading indicator of recessions.
  - NFPA_SysAdmin 8y ago
    There are some skilled trades that companies, even during a recession, can't get around...fire alarm/suppression system inspectors/technicians, elevator inspectors/technicians, electricians, electrical code specialists, OSHA compliance specialists, etc...
    - mywittyname 8y ago
      You can get around those by not building. New construction is a considerable portion of work in these trades. My family owns a construction company and my father is an electrician. They have three times as many employees in installations as they do service. It's the nature of the business.
brandonmenc 8y ago
Back home in the rust belt, you can get a 2,000+ sq. ft. home for like $100k (no, really), so $60k/yr there is actually a pretty sweet gig. Doubly so if your spouse also earns that much.
- flubert 8y ago
  Here are some deals for you: 2680 sq. ft., $44,900 -- https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1-Hillcrest-Dr-1-Marysville-OH-43040/221566929_zpid/ https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1-Hillcrest-Dr-1-Marysvil... 2268 sq. ft., $37,000 -- https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/505-Francis-St-Daykin-NE-68338/108889920_zpid/ https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/505-Francis-St-Daykin-NE-... 2187 sq. ft., $39,900 -- https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1941-S-Broadway-Ave-Wichita-KS-67211/77364449_zpid/ https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1941-S-Broadway-Ave-Wichi... 4462 sq. ft., $400,000 on 5 acres -- https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/6472-N-431-Pryor-OK-74361/86070348_zpid/ https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/6472-N-431-Pryor-OK-74361...
  - brandonmenc 8y ago
    pssh, that's nothing: 2208 sq. ft., $14,900 -- https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/353-E-24th-St-Erie-PA-16503/52568043_zpid/?fullpage=true https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/353-E-24th-St-Erie-PA-165... What I meant was that you can get a big gorgeous home on a nice lot in a great neighborhood for $100k.
itslennysfault 8y ago
First of all, 55k isn't the ceiling. My dad is a union carpenter and made about $50/hr ($104k). Electricians make even more, and are paid decently throughout their 5 year apprenticeship (which is half classroom half job site). Secondly, depending on where you live that is a lot of money. I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and my parents home is only worth $250k. It's 4 bedroom, 2 car garage, finished basement, on a 1/2 acre.

rdiddly 8y ago

Young high-school grads for whom that's a lot of money and for whom the health risks are not quite as bad.

watwut 8y ago
High-school grads are not immune to injuries and don't have savings to pay for healthcare if they get injured. They might be less risk averse on average, but that does not make health risk not relevant. Also, adults in their life who are older are likely to caution about occupation that is health risk even absent injuries - and although all wont listen, some will.
- rdiddly 8y ago
  Did I say somehow that they were immune to injuries? I said the risks are not as bad. For example, they are, overall, statistically less likely to suffer any on-the-job injury attributable to inflexibility of muscles and tendons, obesity, loss of bone density/strength, Alzheimer's, arthritis, or dizziness from diabetes-related blood-sugar problems. Those are all risks that go up with age. They are also less likely to suffer any injury caused, or made worse, or made more likely, by some past injury they've already had, because they're likely to have had fewer of those. Also, even given the same exact injury, they will likely heal faster & better than someone even 10 years older. Black & white thinking doesn't really serve here. There's not some age before which 100% of people have none of the problems and after which 100% of people have all the problems. It's a continuum.
  - watwut 8y ago
    What are they going to do when they age? These risks apply to people choosing profession even as they are in the future. No one is young forever and there is no promotion from these jobs to another job. Cumulatively, during career, the longer you work there the more likely injuries happen to you. And the more physical work, the more catastrophic consequences (I can code with two broken legs). All that must be factored in for young people too.
    - rdiddly 8y ago
      Yes, as you age, the risk/reward balance begins to shift - sometimes slowly, sometimes all at once. There are paths out of the trades though. You can start your own small (plumbing/building/etc.) company, hire people (younger ones) to do the heavy lifting, and essentially "move into management." Or you can take some of the money you earned, go back to school, and change careers. I know someone who injured his back digging trenches, and while recuperating from that injury, started teaching himself computers. Now he works for a state agency and sits in a chair. Nothing is guaranteed of course, but the question was "Who considers 55-60k 'high paying' especially when the job contains potential life threatening risks and other health issues?" and the answer was "Young high-school grads for whom that's a lot of money and for whom the health risks are not quite as bad." That's a very general answer that deliberately doesn't offer any opinion on whether they are right or wrong in thinking that way. And obviously the less young they are, or the more money they want, or the less risk they tolerate, the less true the statement is.

maxerickson 8y ago

Median (personal) income in the US is $31,000: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEPAINUSA672N https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEPAINUSA672N So approximately everybody should consider twice that "high paying". (fixed the number, was $32,000)

hackerman12345 8y ago
But presumably some of these are bright kids who could make that rate on their sophomore year engineering internship. It'd be silly not to attend university and instead do the $60k trade route for most of the HN audience.
- csa 8y ago
  The type of kid that can make $30k in a sophomore internship is the same type of kid that will end up running their own $TRADE company making a 6 or 7 figure annual income.
  - swiley 8y ago
    What makes you think the skills required for both of those are the same?
    - csa 8y ago
      At a certain level of abstraction, intelligent and sociable people who can get things done have the capacity to rise to the top in any occupation they choose to enter. Without debating the specific skill sets needed in each (of course they vary based on field of choice, this is obvious), all of the “blue collar” multimillionaire business owners I know have the three traits I listed above. Ditto for the “white collar” multimillionaires. It’s also interesting that they have similar problems (again in abstraction) — hiring, training, and retention. The nitty gritty details differ, but the problems sound awfully similar to me. There are probably a few more characteristics and problems that I could list, but these were the ones that came off the top of my head.

mynd 8y ago

I made $7 an hour when I was 20

fastball 8y ago
I made $20ph bartending. My only qualification when I started at 19 was being an alcoholic who liked cocktails.

EADGBE 8y ago

> Who considers 55-60k "high paying" Wow - HN at its best, folks. Just because it's not high where you are (Somewhere probably really nice, honestly) doesn't mean that's not a good living in 90% of the rest of the country.

geodel 8y ago
Well this is place where $400K worth of salary and perks at Google are brushed of as 'Oh, but bay area is so expensive'. 55-60K for them would be like kids' private schooling.
chongli 8y ago
Just because they're trade jobs doesn't mean they're located in "90% of the rest of the country." All the good paying construction trades are going to be in places where they're building lots of high rises; places where rent is high enough to warrant such construction. If you're living in San Francisco as an ironworker then $55,000 means you're barely getting by. Construction jobs tend to start really early in the morning so long commutes are pretty much off the table, too.
- djrogers 8y ago
  You've got a very myopic view of the US if youthink construction is only happening in expensive coastal cities. Also, 'trade jobs' are not limited to construction.
  - EADGBE 8y ago
    Everywhere I look land is cheap and lifestyles are good. They can’t build SFR houses fast enough. And I’m ignoring downtown Renaissances happening all across the Midwest.
godelski 8y ago
> Who considers 55-60k "high paying" the state's average annual wage of $54,000. That accounts for all cost of living adjustments, since it is the same state. I wouldn't consider 2%-10% above average "high paying"

Avshalom 8y ago

I've never managed more than 28000 in my life and that was a year that I was working 60hrs a week between two jobs for half of it. For 30k plus benefits I'd strangle puppies.

fastball 8y ago
What do you do?
- Avshalom 8y ago
  Well at the time I was working as a stock boy at Target on the weekends (with a couple shifts during the week during Christmas when we moved to a 2am start time) and warehousing (later junior locksmith) at a door company (Hull Supply in Austin). Currently just a stock boy while I add a second BS onto my useless resume.
  - airstrike 8y ago
    What was your first BS? What prevented you from getting a better degree or going to a better university?
    - Avshalom 8y ago
      Physics, minor in math from New Mexico Tech. Money, youthful ignorance (and a desire to get the fuck out of Florida) and an inability to fill out an application probably due to my truck load of self esteem issues (though there is always the possibility that I fail not because I think I'm garbage but because I actually am).
      - godelski 8y ago
        Have you tried applying to engineering jobs? I have a degree in physics (minor in math), and that's what I did (as well as many of my friends). Or tutoring? That can pay pretty well and give you flexible hours. This type of movement is extremely common for physicists. Grad school is also an option, and you don't have to go for physics (which is fairly competitive). I got into a CS program, have a friend doing EE, and know of plenty of people doing ME, AE, CE, etc. People will read "Physics degree" as "smart" or "worked hard". > not because I think I'm garbage but because I actually am Sounds like imposter syndrome. It is extremely common, though I know it is extremely difficult to deal with (coming from personal experience).

starpilot 8y ago

You have to realize, only a third of American have bachelor's degrees. Many of them from schools you've never heard of, not MIT, not Penn State. If you and everyone you know are college-educated professionals, you're in a bubble.

swiley 8y ago
It's projected to be half sometime soon.
- csa 8y ago
  As a society, we should probably be targeting more like 10% for 4-year degrees and higher. Many jobs that are requiring or preferring 4-year degrees need at best a 2-year degree, and more likely no degree (maybe a 1-4 month focused training course). The college degree requirement typically serves as either a vanity requirement or a filter to reduce the number of applications.
  - moorhosj 8y ago
    Does the education system only exist to train future workers? Should it?
    - csa 8y ago
      That seems to be a non sequitur — I suggested no such thing. In abstraction, I will say that there always is an education system of some sort that trains workers, but that system may be formal, may be informal, may be public, may be private, etc. acknowledging what role the citizens want a formal education to serve is an important discussion, imho. This is a discussion we are not really having in the US right now — at least not in a frank way. That said, I think education should exist to train future members of society. Work training is a part of that, but there are other elements as well (social skills, communication skills, life skills, etc.).
      - moorhosj 8y ago

alexashka 8y ago

Except there are not alternatives around every corner :) That's just hubris on your behalf. Regarding 60k being high paying - for a job at 20, that's A LOT. For a job at 40, that's pretty good.

throw7 8y ago

Commenters are being overly critical. Isn't ~80k when people get to a point of "relaxment". I'd say "high pay" would start there.

pflats 8y ago

>Who considers 55-60k "high paying" especially when the job contains potential life threatening risks and other health issues. These interviews are with apprentices! They're still in training and they're make $55k+ with benefits. Depending on the trade, an apprenticeship usually lasts 3-5 years, with pay increasing along the way. By the end you'll be a journeyman, earning probably 50% more per hour. If you're a specialist or a leader (foreman), you'll get more pay on top of that. Call it an average 4 years, that's a six-figure advantage over someone who went to college, assuming they invest nothing and the college student pays in cash. Being union and hourly also means they will get overtime when the crunch comes. And it will. An executive somewhere will always change their mind and decide they want Y instead of X. >I wouldn't do much of that dangerous and exhausting work for double that pay range and I would still make less money than I do sitting at a desk now. Industrial construction work in particular can be hard, but I wouldn't call it exhausting. You get less of a workout than you would in the gym—you need to be able to do it 40 hours a week, after all. >I can put in <35 hrs a week, run errands during the day, work from home in my underwear, meet friends for long lunches. Back when I was in an industrial trade, I could show up to work, do my job and that was it. I'd go home with a nice gloss of sweat on me, take a shower, and feel good. I took zero stress home with me. I looked damn good. Most importantly to me, though, at the end of the job, when I was talking to someone or just reflecting on my own work, I could point to a hotel, an office tower, a bridge, a federal building, and so on, and say, "We built that. I built that." And I did. And it felt good.

clarkmoody 8y ago

The opportunity cost of university getting up there: $60k salary x 4 years = +$240k vs $25k tuition X 4 years = -$100k (state school [1]) $50k tuition X 4 years = -$200k (private school) So total opportunity cost is around $340-440k and four years, assuming you can go straight into the $60k/yr job from high school. If you finance school with debt, then you have interest as part of the calculation. Of course there are other intangibles to be had from working, such as learning personal responsibility at a younger age ;-) [1] https://www.collegedata.com/cs/content/content_payarticle_tmpl.jhtml?articleId=10064 https://www.collegedata.com/cs/content/content_payarticle_tm...

godelski 8y ago
But if you make more than $60k because of your college degree, then you are in the black in not too long. Let's say you make $80k, then you are break even at 17 years. If you are making more like 100k, then you break even at only 8.5 years. Considering that the retirement age is around 70, this means that even a small increase in salary leaves a good chunk of money on the table by retirement (or allows an earlier retirement). Of course, there are the other factors that others are discussing. Plus things like interest (on loans and investments).
mywittyname 8y ago
There are also risks. Recessions hit trades much harder than anyone else, as they tend to be affected first and recover last from them. Construct unemployment is a leading indicator of recessions.
- NFPA_SysAdmin 8y ago
  There are some skilled trades that companies, even during a recession, can't get around...fire alarm/suppression system inspectors/technicians, elevator inspectors/technicians, electricians, electrical code specialists, OSHA compliance specialists, etc...
  - mywittyname 8y ago
    You can get around those by not building. New construction is a considerable portion of work in these trades. My family owns a construction company and my father is an electrician. They have three times as many employees in installations as they do service. It's the nature of the business.

brandonmenc 8y ago

Back home in the rust belt, you can get a 2,000+ sq. ft. home for like $100k (no, really), so $60k/yr there is actually a pretty sweet gig. Doubly so if your spouse also earns that much.

flubert 8y ago
Here are some deals for you: 2680 sq. ft., $44,900 -- https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1-Hillcrest-Dr-1-Marysville-OH-43040/221566929_zpid/ https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1-Hillcrest-Dr-1-Marysvil... 2268 sq. ft., $37,000 -- https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/505-Francis-St-Daykin-NE-68338/108889920_zpid/ https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/505-Francis-St-Daykin-NE-... 2187 sq. ft., $39,900 -- https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1941-S-Broadway-Ave-Wichita-KS-67211/77364449_zpid/ https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1941-S-Broadway-Ave-Wichi... 4462 sq. ft., $400,000 on 5 acres -- https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/6472-N-431-Pryor-OK-74361/86070348_zpid/ https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/6472-N-431-Pryor-OK-74361...
- brandonmenc 8y ago
  pssh, that's nothing: 2208 sq. ft., $14,900 -- https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/353-E-24th-St-Erie-PA-16503/52568043_zpid/?fullpage=true https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/353-E-24th-St-Erie-PA-165... What I meant was that you can get a big gorgeous home on a nice lot in a great neighborhood for $100k.

itslennysfault 8y ago

First of all, 55k isn't the ceiling. My dad is a union carpenter and made about $50/hr ($104k). Electricians make even more, and are paid decently throughout their 5 year apprenticeship (which is half classroom half job site). Secondly, depending on where you live that is a lot of money. I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and my parents home is only worth $250k. It's 4 bedroom, 2 car garage, finished basement, on a 1/2 acre.