What is considered a "good salary" in the DMV?

[Anonymous]

We make combined HHI around 500k. We have two kids and just finished with daycare costs. Our cars a paid off, no student loans and no other debt except for a small mortgage. We still live pretty frugal and have had to recently convince ourselves we don't have to loop 10 minutes out of the way to save 2 dollars on a tank of gas. Growing up poor/lower middle class makes it hard to break these habits of trying to pinch pennies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A good salary would be $500k. Cost of living is so high. I don't see how you can live comfortably on less than that.
This is the average income on this board.

Define comfortably PP?

I agree, $500k would be comfortable. At $250k, you are still pinching pennies…watching grocery budgets, making hard choices on kid activities or educational opportunities, going on more affordable vacations, buying reliable cars. 500k gives you breathing room.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A good salary would be $500k. Cost of living is so high. I don't see how you can live comfortably on less than that.
This is the average income on this board.

Define comfortably PP?

I agree, $500k would be comfortable. At $250k, you are still pinching pennies…watching grocery budgets, making hard choices on kid activities or educational opportunities, going on more affordable vacations, buying reliable cars. 500k gives you breathing room.

So this is interesting.... I wouldn't call what you describe as "pinching pennies."

Pinching pennies to me is when you have to bring a calculator to the grocery store and take free leftovers from the lunchroom at work home for dinner. We did this at $80-100K combined income in DC. No kids. Owned modest 1 bedroom condo in NE DC. We did SAVE though... that was important for the next phase....

At $150-300K we make tradeoffs for sure, but they are "first world problems." Becuase of our savings we have a solid, newly renovated, home with plenty of space in NW DC. Our kids have good childcare, public schools and yea, we have 1 reliable car. We take vacations that are probably affordable by the standards of this board, but I think are great. We max our 401ks and also put a few thousand in a brokerage account each month. I would define this as comfortable. It's comfortable for me in that we have more room in our budget than either of us did when we were growing up.

It seems like when we are using the word comfortable we mean not having to make any tradeoffs? If so, then sure comfortable is closer to $500k. I agree actually. I would personally call this "wealthy" but I can see how that's super relative. All these terms are.

So, a good salary is = what amount it takes to live what you define as a comfortable life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A good salary would be $500k. Cost of living is so high. I don't see how you can live comfortably on less than that.
This is the average income on this board.

Define comfortably PP?

I agree, $500k would be comfortable. At $250k, you are still pinching pennies…watching grocery budgets, making hard choices on kid activities or educational opportunities, going on more affordable vacations, buying reliable cars. 500k gives you breathing room.

Housing, housing, housing. If a couple bought their first home in the DMV more than 15 years ago, they are in a much different boat than someone buying in today.

I see two families living the same life and saving the same but one bought their first house in 2005 and makes $250k while the other family bought their first house in the DMV last year and makes $500k.

[Anonymous]

We are around $300K HHI with Federal jobs, so great job security and good benefits. Only 1 kid in public school and only a few small college loans that are long paid off. We also lived in a super LCOL area before we moved here about 10 years ago, so saved a ton when we lived in the sticks, and continue to put away a good amount.

I would say the last few years we finally feel like money is really not an issue. Yeah we can not get a private jet to our own private island, but I don't sweat the day to say stuff anymore. Like we needed to make an emergency repair to the house the other day and I did not even flinch at the $1K cost to repair it. I buy the expensive cheese at the grocery store, and bring on those organic berries! I sign my kid up for any activity he wants. Once we feel more confident that Europe has COVID under control, we will head off for a fun 7-10 vacation there. In the meanwhile, vacations are staying closer to home, and I splurge on the bigger/better hotel rooms.

It feels good to finally be here. It's a level of breathing room I have never had, including while growing up.

[Anonymous]

This thread is ridiculous. You need to make $500k to feel comfortable? People listen to yourselves! We make $350K a year with two kids--one in daycare and one in private elementary school and feel rich and save thousands a month outside of retirement. WTF are you people spending your money on? People on this forum have an enormous sense of entitlement and UMC tastes for only the finest most updated homes, cars, and vacations. Just look at the real estate threads and all the posts about $1.2m houses being trash. There was a recent thread about who buys $500-600k houses in mediocre schools off the eastern part of the red line. You know who? Us. And our neighbors like us who work at NIH, as government lawyers, and in the 270 tech area, etc. We all live in $600k houses. The average DCUMer is in such a bubble they are barely aware of any of this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread is ridiculous. You need to make $500k to feel comfortable? People listen to yourselves! We make $350K a year with two kids--one in daycare and one in private elementary school and feel rich and save thousands a month outside of retirement. WTF are you people spending your money on? People on this forum have an enormous sense of entitlement and UMC tastes for only the finest most updated homes, cars, and vacations. Just look at the real estate threads and all the posts about $1.2m houses being trash. There was a recent thread about who buys $500-600k houses in mediocre schools off the eastern part of the red line. You know who? Us. And our neighbors like us who work at NIH, as government lawyers, and in the 270 tech area, etc. We all live in $600k houses. The average DCUMer is in such a bubble they are barely aware of any of this.

+1 DCUM is not real life. We make about 230k, live in a small house in Vienna VA (bought in 2009), do not pinch pennies by any stretch of the imagination, manage to save for 529, and put money away for retirement. I suppose our vacations would be considered "too middle class" for the likes of DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A good salary would be $500k. Cost of living is so high. I don't see how you can live comfortably on less than that.
This is the average income on this board.

Define comfortably PP?

I agree, $500k would be comfortable. At $250k, you are still pinching pennies…watching grocery budgets, making hard choices on kid activities or educational opportunities, going on more affordable vacations, buying reliable cars. 500k gives you breathing room.

When I read stuff like this, i can't figure out if it's a troll or if people are really that disconnected from real life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Montgomery County

https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/montgomerycountymaryland

Median Household Income $108,820 (in 2019 dollars)

"Household" income, I believe, is the median income of the entire household members. It could be 1 person - or 10 for an extended family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is ridiculous. You need to make $500k to feel comfortable? People listen to yourselves! We make $350K a year with two kids--one in daycare and one in private elementary school and feel rich and save thousands a month outside of retirement. WTF are you people spending your money on? People on this forum have an enormous sense of entitlement and UMC tastes for only the finest most updated homes, cars, and vacations. Just look at the real estate threads and all the posts about $1.2m houses being trash. There was a recent thread about who buys $500-600k houses in mediocre schools off the eastern part of the red line. You know who? Us. And our neighbors like us who work at NIH, as government lawyers, and in the 270 tech area, etc. We all live in $600k houses. The average DCUMer is in such a bubble they are barely aware of any of this.

+1 DCUM is not real life. We make about 230k, live in a small house in Vienna VA (bought in 2009), do not pinch pennies by any stretch of the imagination, manage to save for 529, and put money away for retirement. I suppose our vacations would be considered "too middle class" for the likes of DCUM.

+1 we make 240k in NWDC and have two kids. We save for retirement, 529s for both, and pay cash for cars when we need them. We live in a two bedroom condo. Living on a budget because you have goals is not pinching pennies. Our income will likely cap out at 350k. We will just save more at that income level. We definitely don't need a 1.2M house or a luxury car. Our vacations are modest, but our kids enjoy sports and camps and a few luxuries. We bought here because the public school is great and we have a few neighbors like us. It's nice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's all relative. We make 500k and don't feel wealthy at all. We have a large chunk of that. When we were making 250k, we lived a fine life, just didn't save as much. Now at 475-500k we save close to 200k a year. Essentially, 250k was the point where we could live comfortably, the amount over than is purely savings at this point.

So to answer, I would say 250k is a "good salary"

sorry *we SAVE a large chunk of that*

Wow, quite some savings....what’s your NW and how old are you. I will be getting a promotion and hoping to up savings.

We just started making this kind of money so our NW is low, both 31 years old. NW about 650k but should grow considerably pretty quickly. My goal was 1.5M NW by 35

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is ridiculous. You need to make $500k to feel comfortable? People listen to yourselves! We make $350K a year with two kids--one in daycare and one in private elementary school and feel rich and save thousands a month outside of retirement. WTF are you people spending your money on? People on this forum have an enormous sense of entitlement and UMC tastes for only the finest most updated homes, cars, and vacations. Just look at the real estate threads and all the posts about $1.2m houses being trash. There was a recent thread about who buys $500-600k houses in mediocre schools off the eastern part of the red line. You know who? Us. And our neighbors like us who work at NIH, as government lawyers, and in the 270 tech area, etc. We all live in $600k houses. The average DCUMer is in such a bubble they are barely aware of any of this.

+1 DCUM is not real life. We make about 230k, live in a small house in Vienna VA (bought in 2009), do not pinch pennies by any stretch of the imagination, manage to save for 529, and put money away for retirement. I suppose our vacations would be considered "too middle class" for the likes of DCUM.

+2

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is ridiculous. You need to make $500k to feel comfortable? People listen to yourselves! We make $350K a year with two kids--one in daycare and one in private elementary school and feel rich and save thousands a month outside of retirement. WTF are you people spending your money on? People on this forum have an enormous sense of entitlement and UMC tastes for only the finest most updated homes, cars, and vacations. Just look at the real estate threads and all the posts about $1.2m houses being trash. There was a recent thread about who buys $500-600k houses in mediocre schools off the eastern part of the red line. You know who? Us. And our neighbors like us who work at NIH, as government lawyers, and in the 270 tech area, etc. We all live in $600k houses. The average DCUMer is in such a bubble they are barely aware of any of this.

+1 DCUM is not real life. We make about 230k, live in a small house in Vienna VA (bought in 2009), do not pinch pennies by any stretch of the imagination, manage to save for 529, and put money away for retirement. I suppose our vacations would be considered "too middle class" for the likes of DCUM.

+1 we make 240k in NWDC and have two kids. We save for retirement, 529s for both, and pay cash for cars when we need them. We live in a two bedroom condo. Living on a budget because you have goals is not pinching pennies. Our income will likely cap out at 350k. We will just save more at that income level. We definitely don't need a 1.2M house or a luxury car. Our vacations are modest, but our kids enjoy sports and camps and a few luxuries. We bought here because the public school is great and we have a few neighbors like us. It's nice.

I wouldn't save living in a 2 bedroom condo as a family is ideal. If you want to buy a SFH in NWDC you will need well upwards of a 250k income. So call me crazy, but owning a piece of land with a modest home is about 1 - 1.5M anywhere near NWDC or the surrounding suburbs. Affording a modest home is not a luxury, granted we could live out in the Vienna's of the world but I would rather chop my hand off. People are very skewed, myself included, but for a family of 4 in Bethesda, CC, Arlington, McLean, NWDC (even in public school) 250k won't give you much. I think the number that is comfortable is closer to 400k. I also assume that every person should be saving 20% of their income. Simplistically, after taxes, 400k = 250k net, less 50k savings = 200k to live on. Hardly living "large"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is ridiculous. You need to make $500k to feel comfortable? People listen to yourselves! We make $350K a year with two kids--one in daycare and one in private elementary school and feel rich and save thousands a month outside of retirement. WTF are you people spending your money on? People on this forum have an enormous sense of entitlement and UMC tastes for only the finest most updated homes, cars, and vacations. Just look at the real estate threads and all the posts about $1.2m houses being trash. There was a recent thread about who buys $500-600k houses in mediocre schools off the eastern part of the red line. You know who? Us. And our neighbors like us who work at NIH, as government lawyers, and in the 270 tech area, etc. We all live in $600k houses. The average DCUMer is in such a bubble they are barely aware of any of this.

+1 DCUM is not real life. We make about 230k, live in a small house in Vienna VA (bought in 2009), do not pinch pennies by any stretch of the imagination, manage to save for 529, and put money away for retirement. I suppose our vacations would be considered "too middle class" for the likes of DCUM.

+1 we make 240k in NWDC and have two kids. We save for retirement, 529s for both, and pay cash for cars when we need them. We live in a two bedroom condo. Living on a budget because you have goals is not pinching pennies. Our income will likely cap out at 350k. We will just save more at that income level. We definitely don't need a 1.2M house or a luxury car. Our vacations are modest, but our kids enjoy sports and camps and a few luxuries. We bought here because the public school is great and we have a few neighbors like us. It's nice.

I wouldn't save living in a 2 bedroom condo as a family is ideal. If you want to buy a SFH in NWDC you will need well upwards of a 250k income. So call me crazy, but owning a piece of land with a modest home is about 1 - 1.5M anywhere near NWDC or the surrounding suburbs. Affording a modest home is not a luxury, granted we could live out in the Vienna's of the world but I would rather chop my hand off. People are very skewed, myself included, but for a family of 4 in Bethesda, CC, Arlington, McLean, NWDC (even in public school) 250k won't give you much. I think the number that is comfortable is closer to 400k. I also assume that every person should be saving 20% of their income. Simplistically, after taxes, 400k = 250k net, less 50k savings = 200k to live on. Hardly living "large"

PP, I didn't say ideal. It's a choice I make. My net worth is also higher than a few PPs back who make twice what we make. It's a lifestyle choice. Doesn't make me poor.

I've looked at houses for a few years that are single family in our area and none of them are as nice as our condo. They all need work and have significant deferred maintenance. No thank you. Hardley ideal either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A good salary would be $500k. Cost of living is so high. I don't see how you can live comfortably on less than that.
This is the average income on this board.

Define comfortably PP?

I agree, $500k would be comfortable. At $250k, you are still pinching pennies…watching grocery budgets, making hard choices on kid activities or educational opportunities, going on more affordable vacations, buying reliable cars. 500k gives you breathing room.

When I read stuff like this, i can't figure out if it's a troll or if people are really that disconnected from real life.

The other families on our block have only one parent working a full time job. They wouldn't believe our 50+ hour a week jobs - two of them - to be "real life" either. When you work a lot more than the average person, you have a much higher HHI and financial goals.