5 ms·
I think this type of Census data understates household incomes. I am not exactly sure why, but Atherton comes in at about 400k a year per household. That is a
by vasilipupkin 8y ago
I think this type of Census data understates household incomes. I am not exactly sure why, but Atherton comes in at about 400k a year per household. That is a lot, but doesn't seem like a lot for Atherton.
- glitchc 8y agoNo, this seems right. The typical distribution of income across the pop., even in a distorted environment like the valley, looks far more like a Poisson distribution with a long tail than a typical Gaussian
- vasilipupkin 8y ago137 is a median. Half the people in Palo Alto make less than 137 in household income? Maybe, if you count East Palo Alto. But Atherton at 443 ( https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2018-hundred-richest-places/ https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2018-hundred-richest-plac... ) ? seems too low
- zhobbs 8y agoI can't find the $400k/year number anywhere. The census puts it at "$250,001" which seems like a fishy number.
- vasilipupkin 8y agohttps://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2018-hundred-richest-places/ https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2018-hundred-richest-plac...
- ryanburk 8y agoI believe it is skewed since many people in these neighborhoods aren't making their money through salary income (anymore), but instead through interest / dividends. If you sold your company, aren't working at FB/goog/etc and are sitting on a ton of stock holdings, your income is going to show as near $0
- vasilipupkin 8y agothat should be accounted for in govt household income calculations, but I could be wrong. For example, ton of stock holdings will pay you dividends or capital gains.
- throwaway-1283 8y agoWhat you put on your tax return every year doesn't really reflect your actual wealth. Even in tech most people top out at ~$200k-$250k base salaries but you may vest and accumulate millions in stock RSUs that you don't sell in a given year.
- ariwilson 8y agoStock RSU vests go on your tax returns.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- throwaway-1283 8y agoAh ok - I'm thinking private shares
- arcticbull 8y agoThose do too. The only thing that doesn't is deferred compensation in the form of an ISO or NSO. The latter is recognized as ordinary income when exercised.
- gthippo 8y agoDon't RSUs show up on the W-2 as income though (even if you don't sell them)?
- arcticbull 8y agoThey do; RSU vesting is a taxable event. It's counted as ordinary income based on the fair market value at the time it vests and taxes are due immediately. Companies tend to withhold a percentage of the shares and sell them to cover your tax burden.
- vasilipupkin 8y agoMy working explanation is that it's actually survey data. the richest people either don't answer the survey or understate their actual holdings when they do answer.
- telchar 8y agoYou don't want to rely on it for means because the high incomes are capped at a relatively low level so that they don't out high-earners in sparse areas. But that shouldn't affect medians.