7 ms·

Anyone making six figures can live like a king almost anywhere in the US. Capitalism.

by vehemenz 5y ago

beaconstudios 5y ago
Just not in the places where you can actually make six figures!
- giraffe_lady 5y ago
  It may not have been the case even five years ago and you definitely won't make the same six figures, but that simple threshold is probably in reach in any mid-size american city for a software dev more than a year or two into their career.
- tzs 5y ago
  I'm a bit confused by housing in San Francisco. The median household income in San Francisco is around $120k, which suggests that making six figures is quite sufficient for living in San Francisco. But the impression I often get on HN is that you've got people making well above that finding themselves barely able to afford a place to live in SF. I'm clearly missing something, but what?
  - beaconstudios 5y ago
    I think everybody is just stuck renting and can't get on the property ladder.
  - usrn 5y ago
    Half goes to taxes and half of what's left over goes to rent. After that you have to save up for a pretty large downpayment.
  - pandaman 5y ago
    Somebody could have bought a house in 90s for 200K, retired and live in the same house, which has appreciated to 2M now, drawing on 60K retirement. Somebody making 180K cannot afford the 2M house even though these two individuals have a median 120K income and the latter makes much more than the former.
supertofu 5y ago
I make six figures and can afford only a modest 1-bedroom in a rural area well outside of an east coast university town. I will probably not be able to afford a house without parental help.
- vehemenz 5y ago
  My back-of-the-napkin math suggests you are in a high COL area. It's not an indictment of capitalism if you choose to live in a desirable area, have a generous salary, and just can't make it work. That or you are mishandling your finances, but I don't know your situation. For reference, I am debt-free homeowner in a midwest university town and make much less than you.
  - PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
    > It's not an indictment of capitalism if you choose to live in a desirable area, have a generous salary, and just can't make it work. It's an indictment of any system that people making twice the median household income cannot afford to buy housing within a reasonable distance of wherever their labor generates that income. It's a terrible situation - communities in which at least half of the necessary jobs do not pay enough for the people who do those jobs to live in the community - and it isn't good for anyone in or around those communities, and probably not for the nation as a whole. The fact that, yes, yes of course there are other communities where the economics are different doesn't in any way mitigate the fucked-up ness of the situation the GP is describing.
  - beamatronic 5y ago
    >> Midwest
    - vehemenz 5y ago
      Is it a failure of capitalism if semi-rich people can't afford to live among rich people on the coasts?
      - 5y ago

Anyone making six figures can live like a king almost anywhere in the US. Capitalism.

beaconstudios 5y ago

Just not in the places where you can actually make six figures!

giraffe_lady 5y ago
It may not have been the case even five years ago and you definitely won't make the same six figures, but that simple threshold is probably in reach in any mid-size american city for a software dev more than a year or two into their career.
tzs 5y ago
I'm a bit confused by housing in San Francisco. The median household income in San Francisco is around $120k, which suggests that making six figures is quite sufficient for living in San Francisco. But the impression I often get on HN is that you've got people making well above that finding themselves barely able to afford a place to live in SF. I'm clearly missing something, but what?
- beaconstudios 5y ago
  I think everybody is just stuck renting and can't get on the property ladder.
- usrn 5y ago
  Half goes to taxes and half of what's left over goes to rent. After that you have to save up for a pretty large downpayment.
- pandaman 5y ago
  Somebody could have bought a house in 90s for 200K, retired and live in the same house, which has appreciated to 2M now, drawing on 60K retirement. Somebody making 180K cannot afford the 2M house even though these two individuals have a median 120K income and the latter makes much more than the former.

supertofu 5y ago

I make six figures and can afford only a modest 1-bedroom in a rural area well outside of an east coast university town. I will probably not be able to afford a house without parental help.

vehemenz 5y ago
My back-of-the-napkin math suggests you are in a high COL area. It's not an indictment of capitalism if you choose to live in a desirable area, have a generous salary, and just can't make it work. That or you are mishandling your finances, but I don't know your situation. For reference, I am debt-free homeowner in a midwest university town and make much less than you.
- PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
  > It's not an indictment of capitalism if you choose to live in a desirable area, have a generous salary, and just can't make it work. It's an indictment of any system that people making twice the median household income cannot afford to buy housing within a reasonable distance of wherever their labor generates that income. It's a terrible situation - communities in which at least half of the necessary jobs do not pay enough for the people who do those jobs to live in the community - and it isn't good for anyone in or around those communities, and probably not for the nation as a whole. The fact that, yes, yes of course there are other communities where the economics are different doesn't in any way mitigate the fucked-up ness of the situation the GP is describing.
- beamatronic 5y ago
  >> Midwest
  - vehemenz 5y ago
    Is it a failure of capitalism if semi-rich people can't afford to live among rich people on the coasts?
    - 5y ago