Where do you fall?

[slim j 10+ year member]

The best way to give people a sense of where they stand is to lay out some data. Every three years the Federal Reserve Board conducts a national survey that tracks the financial health of American households.
The Fed slices and dices this stuff with the vigor of an Iron Chef; the result is a rich, if dry, array of offerings on household net worth, pension and income levels, plus other demographic side dishes.

Whenever I slip these tidbits into cocktail party chatter, people are surprised to realize how little money it takes to win a gold star from the Fed. If you and yours are bringing in $40,000 a year, you're doing better than half the households in America.

Or, as a Washington think tank recently pointed out: If you're a teacher married to a policeman, your combined household income puts you in the top 25 percent of all households in the nation.

Below you'll find the average income picture sliced into income levels. Think of this chart as a parking ramp. If your household income is $170,000, you're among the nation's top 10 percent wage earners and get to park on the top floor.

Anything in six figures means you're in the top 20 percent and get to park on the floor right below.

Annual income parking ramp

Income level (percentile) Median income (rounded)

Level VI (90 to 100) $170,000

Level V (80 to 89.9) $99,000

Level IV (60 to 79.9) $65,000

Level III (40 to 59.9) $40,000

Level II (20 to 39.9) $24,000

Level I (less than 20) $10,000

Source: Before-Tax Family Income, 2001 Federal Reserve Board Survey

So does making $170,000 a year make a person rich? Last year a plurality of respondents (29 percent) in a survey by The New York Times said that "rich" was making between $100,000 and $200,000 a year. Unfortunately, the survey didn't break out how many people in that salary range considered themselves rich. If the people I talk to are any indication, very few do.

Of course, income is only one part of the equation defining where you stand. Net worth is more telling. Net worth, as every financially precocious schoolchild knows, is the sum of one's assets -- home equity, investments, savings accounts, retirement funds, cars, furnishings and such things as jewelry, furs, wine collection, old baseball cards -- minus all outstanding liabilities such as mortgage balance, revolving and credit card debt, college loans and so on. Across all households, the national median net worth is $86,000. Half of your fellow citizens have more than that, half less. As you see, there's a massive disparity between the haves and have-nots.

Net worth parking ramp

Net worth (percentile) Median net worth (rounded)

Level VI (90 to 100) $833,600

Level V (80 to 89.9) $263,100

Level IV (60 to 79.9) $141,500

Level III (40 to 59.9) $62,500

Level II (20 to 39.9) $37,200

Level I (less than 20) $7,900

Source: Family Net Worth, 2001 Federal Reserve Board Survey

We live in a country that once celebrated itself as egalitarian, yet 1 percent of the population -- nearly 3 million people -- currently has as much money as the 100 million people at the bottom of the ramp.

Just curious where you fall....I am single and fall in the top 50% of income....I guess that shows there is a lot of poor people out there.

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[JLJunkieMX107 10+ year member]

I am full time in college and still fall between level II and III but slightly more towards III. Once I get my degree I will be about to level 5

 

[Flipx99 5,000+ posts]

I am full time in college and still fall between level II and III but slightly more towards III. Once I get my degree I will be about to level 5

You go to MTSU?

 

[Decado2 10+ year member]

Hmmmm

 

[Chevillac 5,000+ posts]

You go to MTSU?

Ohio state, son.

For some reason, this thing doesnt seem very accurate.

 

[RedlineAccord 10+ year member]

Just three more years of pharmacy school and I'll be in level 5 making 120k/year //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[Flipx99 5,000+ posts]

What do some of you do?

I find it interesting jobs that pay well that people don't expect to pay well.

 

[JLJunkieMX107 10+ year member]

You go to MTSU?

Naw im doing that online schooling. I am transferring to MTSU in the spring.

 

[bdawson72 5,000+ posts]

I am currently in level 1

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif

Oh well. I guess thats what part time jobs are for when you are in school.

 

[JLJunkieMX107 10+ year member]

I work part time at a feed and seed store, do construction in the afternoons and weekends. I also do installs for people and rebuild motors. Then I manage to squeeze school in at night.

 

[Jameseypoo 5,000+ posts]

I think I managed around $12,000 last year putting me barely into the 2nd bracket. Most tips don't get claimed though and that's my source of income, so I probably made around $20,000 I'm guessing? I need to get done with school..