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I'm referring to the bands from this: http://envisioningdevelopment.net/map http://envisioningdevelopment.net/map Extremely Low Income: $0 - $23,050 Very L

I'm referring to the bands from this: http://envisioningdevelopment.net/map http://envisioningdevelopment.net/map Extremely Low Income: $0 - $23,050 Very Low Income: $23,050 - $38,400 Low Income: $38,400 - $61,450 Moderate Income: $61,450 - $92,150 Middle Income: $92,150 - $192,000 High Income: >= $192,000 There is no one classification to rule them all -- I'd just like to point out that comparing "American" anything to NYC specifically is a waste of time. To anyone that lives in NYC and perhaps a few other cities in the country, you'd know generalized statistics for the country are way off the real world situation found in the city.

hapless 14y ago
Generalized statistics are quite reasonably applied to NYC. The NYC average wage (37k) is only about 10k more than the national median, 28k. Yes, the wealthiest people in the world live in NYC, but the average New Yorker is not substantially wealthier than the average American, by any measure. He is, in fact, poorer, thanks to cost of living. There are census tracts in NYC where the median income is under $10,000.
- apaprocki 14y ago
  According to the BLS[1], the average wage (based upon weekly pay in 2012 Q1) in Manhattan is $128k and the average wage in other boroughs is around $41k. [1]: http://www.bls.gov/ro2/qcew9310.htm
  - hapless 14y ago
    let's start from the beginning 1. Manhattan is 7% of NYC's land area 2. Manhattan (County of New York) is the richest county in NY by per capita income (as opposed to resident income: Manhattan is home to hundreds of thousands of urban poor) 3. the arithmetic average wage is not the same as the median personal income. The average wage in America is around $41k. The median wage is about 28k.
    - apaprocki 14y ago
      I will admit it makes the case that statistics are applicable, but I suppose I'd like to see Manhattan as an exception then rather than all of NYC. Where are you getting this $28k figure from? BLS[1] more recently stated that the median wage was $758/wk in 2012 Q3 (~$40k/yr). [1]: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/wkyeng.pdf
      - hapless 14y ago
        The BLS figures you cite only include full-time hourly and salaried workers. These are the upper crust of employment in America. My figure comes from payrolls reported to the Social Security Administration: http://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2011 http://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2011 "By definition, 50 percent of wage earners had net compensation less than or equal to the median wage, which is estimated to be $26,965.43 for 2011." 28k was a peak value from a graph that adjusted old dollar values to present dollars. (The SSA data is unadjusted for inflation.)
      - hapless 14y ago
        Something I should have mentioned yesterday: Manhattan alone, county of New York, has a higher poverty rate than NY state as a whole. Urban poverty and inequality are inescapable facts in NYC.

hapless 14y ago

Generalized statistics are quite reasonably applied to NYC. The NYC average wage (37k) is only about 10k more than the national median, 28k. Yes, the wealthiest people in the world live in NYC, but the average New Yorker is not substantially wealthier than the average American, by any measure. He is, in fact, poorer, thanks to cost of living. There are census tracts in NYC where the median income is under $10,000.

apaprocki 14y ago
According to the BLS[1], the average wage (based upon weekly pay in 2012 Q1) in Manhattan is $128k and the average wage in other boroughs is around $41k. [1]: http://www.bls.gov/ro2/qcew9310.htm
- hapless 14y ago
  let's start from the beginning 1. Manhattan is 7% of NYC's land area 2. Manhattan (County of New York) is the richest county in NY by per capita income (as opposed to resident income: Manhattan is home to hundreds of thousands of urban poor) 3. the arithmetic average wage is not the same as the median personal income. The average wage in America is around $41k. The median wage is about 28k.
  - apaprocki 14y ago
    I will admit it makes the case that statistics are applicable, but I suppose I'd like to see Manhattan as an exception then rather than all of NYC. Where are you getting this $28k figure from? BLS[1] more recently stated that the median wage was $758/wk in 2012 Q3 (~$40k/yr). [1]: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/wkyeng.pdf
    - hapless 14y ago
      The BLS figures you cite only include full-time hourly and salaried workers. These are the upper crust of employment in America. My figure comes from payrolls reported to the Social Security Administration: http://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2011 http://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2011 "By definition, 50 percent of wage earners had net compensation less than or equal to the median wage, which is estimated to be $26,965.43 for 2011." 28k was a peak value from a graph that adjusted old dollar values to present dollars. (The SSA data is unadjusted for inflation.)
    - hapless 14y ago
      Something I should have mentioned yesterday: Manhattan alone, county of New York, has a higher poverty rate than NY state as a whole. Urban poverty and inequality are inescapable facts in NYC.