Assuming this data from SeekPublishing is correct then are we better off now then our parents were? People are always referring to the good ole' days and seeing the chart it seems they truely are behind us.
The latest ssa.gov figures are for the year 2012. In 2012 the average income in America was around $42,500 however the median was only $27,500. It is easy for us to see average income as $42,500 and think that that is okay, but really we need to be focused with median! 50% of Americans make LESS than $27,500.
So from data collected on a government website we know that the average Joe makes around $27,500 a year.
According to census.gov in June 2012 the median home price was $232,600 and the average home price was $271,800.
According to numberous sources including forbes and the wall street journal the average car price in 2012 was right around $30,000. Unfortunately I wasn't able to find a median price for new cars in 2012.
I won't spend the time or effort looking up the rest of these figures. We all know that it takes huge scholarships or bank accounts to be able to attend Harvard University. Gas was at least around $3.00/gal two years ago. Going to the movies can still be around $1.50 if we chose the dollar theatre and skip popcorn.
Just taking the major things into account:0
1970's vs Now
Income: $10,622 $27,500
Housing: $25,200 $232,600
New Car: $3,560 $30,000
Anyone else notice that housing and new cars increased almost ten fold whereas income has not even tripled?
Are we really better off than our parent?
No comments:
Post a Comment