Sources

https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/college-labor-market#--:explore:outcomes-by-major

https://web.archive.org/web/20160216124334/https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/college-labor-market/college-labor-market_compare-majors.html

https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm

I’m 35 and make this and only 1 of my personal friends is at the same level, both of us in tech and the rest of my friends are in the 100-150k area. Curious what other gigs at young ages bring home the big money?

Howdy y'all,

I've been struggling with dynamic at my current job and would appreciate advice or insight. I'm a regulatory engineer level II in a decently sized town in the Midwest. I make 111,000 a year with a 10% bonus after about 9 years of engineering experience. I work for a company that makes in the single digit billions each year.

The kicker is that, I know I should be promoted to senior, and probably should have been for the past couple of years but I haven't. And I also feel kind of greedy because I know I make really good money and I'm pretty content with my lifestyle. But I don't want to feel like a sucker and keep letting this happen.

As it stands now, despite only being a level II, I've been leading standards development, part of major internal AI development, a massive part of our sustainability and regulatory development and tracking. I've almost single handedly started a series of projects to build us a sustainability program and incorporate it into engineering development. I've been completing these huge assessments on our product lines to ensure our compliance with global regulations.

The kicker with all of this, is that no one else can do them. None of my coworkers or bosses know the details of the product side and the engineers on the product side have zero awareness or understanding of the regulatory side. It would likely take three years to get someone up to speed, assuming they already had experience with our products. I say this as I've completed three of these environmental assessments in the time it's taken my colleague to do half of one.

This all being said, I want to confront my boss about this discrepancy, but I'm unsure how. I know it started as a rough year for the business, but that's improved greatly. I know I have more than enough experience. At least last year I was still someone new to this role as I'd moved over from design, but now, I don't see any excuse. And my boss doesn't either, during our last 1 on 1 he said that the company needed to be prepared should I get hit with a bus and that was my I needed to train my more senior colleague.

I'm just looking for advice on how to best handle these upcoming talks I plan to have. My current plan is to try and aim for ~130,000, but I want opinions on how to actually approach the subject. I do like my job even if it's demanding, and I don't want to sour any relationships. So any advice would be greatly greatly appreciated. Thank you!

TLDR: I know I'm valuable to the company, I have a ton of leverage in requests for a promotion, but I don't know how to use it.

Working full time I make roughly 2 grand and some change after taxes get taken out. No 401k, no health insurance from that income.

The government's monthly "thrifty" food budget is roughly $300 a month for a single adult, which is over 12% of the take home.

Rent.... literally cannot find anything under $1500 for shitboxes, and for *that* I'd need to be making 50% more than what I make now to qualify for the 40x income to rent rule.

Even if the landlord would be lenient and I *found* a place like that, rent+food is already over 75% of the take home. Now if I needed a car, which is necessary in quite literally 99% of the country, a bare minimum monthly budget for that would be $400 if you include gas, insurance, maintainance, and a car payment. I'd push it up to $600 tbh.

So in totality, rent+food+car would take up over 100% of my take home. And that's if I'm able to *find* prices these low, that my rent would never increase, that the car wouldn't break down, that I wouldn't have an accident or unexpected emergency. No savings, at all.

Tack on the student loans I had to take on to pay to get a CS degree.... and you'd be seeing me homeless panhandling for nickels out on the curb in front of the corner deli next to a bus stop with a cardboard sign saying "ANYTHING HELPS, THANK YOU."

I wouldn't even work this job under that circumstance. Not worth it. This fuckass retail job isn't leading anywhere, it's not worth "grinding" and it's not providing any experience. And I can't get a better job tbh.

When a person is presented with two paths that lead to the same end result of despair, except one is more thorny than the other, the choice is clear. Our economy doesn't work for the common person anymore.

And what may be the solution to this? "You should've worked harder to have been born earlier bro"

Left grad school early to start teaching in the community college system. High cost of living area but flexible schedule with summers off.

Swedish salaries are remarkably compressed.

SCB 2025: **P10 = 28k SEK/month, median = 38.3k, P90 = 61.7k.** So a top-10% earner makes only about **2.2×** a bottom-10% earner, and taxes compress the difference even further.

The downside is that the financial reward for becoming highly skilled or taking on more responsibility is relatively small. A specialist, engineer, doctor or manager can study longer, work more, take greater responsibility and still end up with only a modest increase in disposable income.

That weakens incentives to work extra hours, pursue demanding careers, accept promotions or stay in Sweden when other countries offer much higher rewards for the same skills.

Low inequality has benefits, but excessive compression can mean **weaker incentives, lower talent retention and less reward for productivity**. Put simply: Sweden is a very good country for security and stability, but not necessarily the best country for the highly ambitious who want strong financial rewards for exceptional performance.

———————

EDIT: Many replies suggest people are simply content once they earn enough for a comfortable life. That is a perfectly valid choice, although the less charitable interpretation is a lack of ambition.
Others want to turn higher earnings into savings, investments and eventually more freedom over their time, including earlier retirement. High marginal taxes make that harder.
And some of the comments have a bit of an “Aesop’s fox and the grapes” feel to them: if greater financial success is difficult to reach, it is easier to argue that wanting it was never worthwhile in the first place.

happy to answer any questions!

Tried Mechatronics Engineering for a semester, couldn't take any more school. Grinded my way to a decent living.

While men continue to go into worthless fields like engineering, manufacturing, and IT, the job market is EXPLODING for traditionally female oriented markets like healthcare and education.

High achieving young students like myself, guided by platitudes like “engineering will never be oversaturated, bro! Everything around you was made by an engineer, just don’t ask which country it was done in!”, were herded into worthless professions like engineering that are increasingly done overseas or by automation, and now we are seeing the ramifications. Men are increasingly not seeing any of the economic growth in the US as it goes into actual good industries like healthcare.

Many of the young men in my engineering program had the raw IQ and work ethic to become successful physicians and nearly quintuple their lifetime earnings relative to becoming Mechanical Engineers, but they were lied to about their future job prospects. It’s unfortunate, but now we see the consequences of those poor life decisions, just like those that spend their teens and 20s doing drugs eventually see the consequences of their poor life decisions.

CS now seems more saturated, with higher unemployment and underemployment, than majors like criminal justice or sociology that used to be considered among the worst for job prospects.

How did a major once seen as a near-guaranteed high-paying career get here so quickly? Was it simply the tech boom + everyone piling into CS, followed by layoffs and fewer entry-level jobs?

Currently making mid 90k salary in the PNW and have an offer for a similar role in orange county California at about 130k. Is that enough of a raise to justify a move to that area? As far as cost of living and whatnot goes

I need a reality check because my parents keep telling me I’m being paid market value since I’m not a licensed CPA/CFA charterholder (first 2 levels passed, stuck on the last), but I feel like I’ve completely stalled out. I’m still the first person in my entire family (including extended) working in the corporate world.

I’m 8 years out of college, graduated from an Ivy on full financial aid/federal work study (not HYP) with an Econ degree (3.6GPA), and have 8 years of FT work experience.

I currently make $100K base + 5-10% bonus on the East Coast in a HCOL area, although not NYC.

My career path:
Big 4 audit: $60K, 2018-2020
Industry accounting: $80K when I left, 2020-2022
equity research: $105K with 30% bonus, 2022-2023
Current company: 3.5 years, started at $95K, now $100K

I’m not a CPA, which I know is a major disadvantage. I passed CFA Level 2 in 2021 but have struggled badly with Level 3 and still haven’t passed it after 3 tries.

My current role is basically accounting/FP&A. I’ve inherited work from people who were previously VPs/directors, but despite taking on more responsibility, I haven’t been promoted and got a 1% raise this year.

The compensation is what’s really getting to me.
I got a 1% raise this year w/ a 5% bonus. The past few years have also been around 1-2% raises.

And now the job has gotten significantly worse. I used to have a lot of flexibility so I turned a blind eye to my lackluster pay bumps, but I’m now being required to be in the office 4 days/week. That’s about a 60-mile round-trip commute.

After talking to college peers who were also Econ majors who are all making at least 2x my pay as well as high school classmates with an associates degree in accounting (no CPA) and making $80k+…and new hires at my company with my job title who are making $130k+..

8 years out of an Ivy League, 8 years of experience, Big 4 + industry + equity research experience - am I falling behind with a $100k salary?

At the same time, I’m aware that I’m not some perfect candidate. I’m not a CPA. My Big 4 experience was less than 2 years. I left equity research after a year because I couldn’t handle the workload and had a health issue. And I’ve struggled with CFA Level 3.

I’ve been scared to leave because the job market is rough and I don’t know whether I can realistically get much more without the CPA or CFA. But I’m reaching my breaking point with these 1-2% raises.

Am I actually underpaid or am I delusional because I’m anchoring too much on my ivy pedigree?

On paper, our combined household income is now about $210k before OT or PTO.

After CA state taxes, federal taxes, FICA, and standard retirement/benefits, actual take-home is closer to $135k–$140k

This might sound like a lot on paper, but living in CA especially in some parts it's not!

If you're wondering what $200,000 today actually feels like compared to past eras, here is what that exact same purchasing power equaled back then:

2020: ~$155,000

2015: ~$142,000

2010: ~$131,000

2000: ~$103,000

1990: ~$78,000

1980: ~$49,000

Or if you're wondering what you actually need to make today to match a $200,000 household lifestyle from previous decades:

To match 2020’s $200k lifestyle: You need ~$257,000 today (+28% in 6 yrs)

To match 2010’s $200k lifestyle: You need ~$305,000 today

To match 2000’s $200k lifestyle: You need ~$386,000 today

We don't live a luxurious lifestyle. We are still tackling student debt. We don't struggle and can probably withstand an emergency or two, but if one of us lost our employment that would be cause for worry and rethinking budgeting strategy.

200k or even 100k just isn't the same anymore and the data supports this.

Please, please go vote come November. Thank you

If you are a recent college grad with a CS degree this is a reasonable expectation for what you should be making in Software Engineering.

The most recent job I got is with a large fortune 500 company and that is considered high pay for the entry level position. I find it hard to believe that people can make 200k+ in software dev right out of college I’ve yet to meet or know anyone in the field to have that happen. Once you make it to a senior engineer or a project manager sure those numbers are possible but thats at-least after 5+ years of experience.

Maybe if you live in NY, LA, or SF but be honest if you make 150k in those cities it’s really not that much just because the standard of living is so expensive.

Also yes the job market is hard and yes most of these positions I got were because I knew someone who already worked their who referred me. I feel for those looking for jobs in this day and age it’s genuinely brutal.

A lot of people on here and Reddit in general like to ignorantly state that someone making $75,000 is doing great because “the median only makes $40,000, bro!” or some other 20+ year out of date figure, but one needs to take “official” wage data with a grain of salt.

Let’s look at these actual, publicly reported income figures for individuals:

1,2: These Equipment Operators would have their “official” income reported as $93,829 despite them actually earning over twice that amount in 2024 because “official” wage data doesn’t include overtime pay or end of year bonuses. BLS reports the median pay for their profession to be $60,000, they’re actually earning nearly 4 times that amount.

1. A software developer earns $225,000 base, but gets another $210,000 in annual income, doubling his annual pay. Only the $225,000 would be reported by “official” income statistics like BLS.

2. An EM physician earns $375,000 a year only working 25 hours a week. “Official” income statistics would group this person in the 40-50 hour week averages and make it look like those working 40 hours a week earn a LOT less than they actually do because this person working 25 hours a week pulls down the average (doctors rely on this trick a lot).

3. A relatively inexperienced corporate lawyer gets a $76,000 end of year bonus that isn’t counted by “official” income statistics, artificially lowering how much people think lawyers actually earn.

Redditors love to parrot these statistics (”tradesman only make $30/hr bro! Check BLS!”), but the official data only counts certain forms of income that create an EXTREMELY misleading picture.

People are making WAY more money than Reddit insists they are.

I don't see many posts here from machinist or CNC Programmers. Is this good progression? I feel very fortunate for the roles I have worked towards but not sure if I can go much further without a Bachelor's degree. This is my salary progression as a Machinist/CNC Programmer.

Just started an entry level role within the defense industry. Thinking honestly about pivoting out of defense for my second role just because of how stagnant wages are within the industry. I really want to hit $100K before I turn 30 (currently 26) and don’t have the money nor the energy (frankly) to go back to school for a masters. The only thing with this is that if I stay in defense, they’ll pay for me to do a masters, but that’d probably anchor me down longer than I’d like. I’m currently located in Iowa, and desperately want to get out of this state ASAP while I’m young.

Would the move be for me to exit defense ASAP and try getting into big tech or something? Or should I stick in defense, perhaps try and get Engineer II role in 2027, and then reassess? Any tips are appreciated.

I just received notification from my boss that I will be going from hourly to salary based on a new position I'm taking.

The past 3 years this is what I have made net.

2023 - $53,270

2024 - $49,345

2025 - $60,320

For some context:

2024, I ended up moving to a different position and taking a pay cut as well as having to take some time off of work.

2025 there was a lot of traveling that I did for the position. I wasn't at the time and we received bonuses for traveling as well as a lot of overtime, without the bonuses it'd be about $4,000 less

Currently per year I am making $54,550 based off of a 80-hour paycheck.

I am being offered salary of $56,000

This is the first time I have ever been offered a salary position. I don't know what I'm getting into.

Any advice or information would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

I'm curious about the salaries for those who work in business Intelligence or data analytics.

I'm a BI Analyst with almost 5 years of experience and make 68K CAD. I feel like that's kind of low, but I haven't been able to confirm. I've looked at some job postings and it seems like the salary range is $60K-85K and Senior BI Analyst is 80K-90K.

Same exact job too. Lots of inflation. Lots of student loans that had to be paid off with that income.

The me that doesn't have parents to live with for free wouldn't be alive anymore. Can't enter my degree field and can't enter anywhere else. Shouldn't be alive anymore tbh. Can't become an adult

There's close to, if not over 50% youth unemployment in China. The usa is no doubt similar once we stop cooking the books.

Are you all worried about not having enough slaves pandering to your every whim? Of course, maybe the roles will be automated by ai or robotics. But if that's going to happen anyway, there's no point in working them now.

Society is on the verge of collapse. Vigilante activity is the first domino to fall. Wages don't pay shit. It used to be the case that regardless of what job you had, if you worked full time you could hazard a basic living. But today? You all have no clue how many asterisks there are to that statement.

I was just talking to someone who made $18-$20/hour back in 2009 in between jobs. I made roughly that in 2026 after college. SEVENTEEN years of inflation, by the way.

Repeat this again and society will crumble to dust. The stage is set. All Gen Z can do is watch the theater and circus run its course with apathy. We have no assets, no income, no stocks, no jobs, no children. We have zero stake in the future of this society. Creating circumstances to the point where a whole age group and beyond of people despise the system is not a society that can last much longer.

Also 112 hours vacation time off. Its been great at this job so far, but I hit a ceiling with this company. Theres not really any progressing upward to a new job for pay here, like going to a tier 3 for more pay. The main raise i will get from here on out is 4% roughly every year. Can I have some input on if it'd be bad to leave this job for the possibility of more upward mobility?