median income

[arethinn]

There was a bit of article the other day in the Mercury News about how overall, despite people migrating away and loss of jobs and all, Silicon Valley is still wealthy on average (like duh), measured by median household income. In part, it read:

"San Jose still tops the charts on household income, the basic benchmark by which we measure ourselves against other regions. Although median income in the 'capital' of Silicon Valley dropped $6,556 from 2000 through 2003, it still topped $70,000, randing it No. 1 in the nation [!], according to the Census Bureau. That's nearly $11,000 more than second-place Anchorage, Alaska, $12,000 more than third-ranked San Francisco, and $27,000 more than the national average."

I'd be willing to bet that 4, 5 and 6 are other places in California, too, although I haven't looked up the information. So what I want to know is, what's with Anchorage that it's in the #2 spot? Why is it so wealthy, that it turns up in the middle of the California-held ranks?

Comments

[twopiearr.livejournal.com]

oil, I'd guess.

[arethinn]

So why not places in Texas, or Alberta for that matter?

[tyrsalvia.livejournal.com]

Well for one thing, every resident of Alaska gets money from the government because of oil drilling, so that ups everyone's income. Also, fishing is a *huge* deal there, and there are probably a lot of people who both make a lot of money and maybe own companies related to that industry there. Lastly, it's expensive to be in Alaska. You have to get virtually all your food imported. Like the bay area, it's unlikely to mean that everyone is rich so much as that everything is expensive.

[lindsaybits]

because NO ONE wants to live there. seriously. i once talked to a lady who was planning on retiring at 35. she had just gotten a forklift job in anchorage and it paid 6 digits. for a FORKLIFT JOB. the summers are short, the winters are heinously long, and the mosquitos there are not to be believed. depression rates are high (as are suicide and alcoholism rates). it's a horrid place to be, but if you can tolerate it for a year or two, you can make a sickening amount of money.

[nsingman.livejournal.com]

Minor nit: you're conflating wealth and income. :-)

There are many check-to-check people who are high earners. A person might easily accumulate far more wealth earning $50,000 per year in a suburb of Omaha than earning $100,000 per year in Silicon Valley.

As for Anchorage, one reason why salaries are so high is because it's not exactly the garden spot of the United States. The laws of supply and demand are immutable, and apply to labor markets. It takes more money to get someone to work in Anchorage than in other comparably sized cities in the US.

[twopiearr.livejournal.com]

smaller overall population = higher per capita of total wealth.

similar to the american vs canadian broadband statistics you posted awhile back.

[arethinn]

And to think I got solicitations from the University of Alaska when I was in high school...

[arethinn]

I posted broadband statistics?

(I think I know what you mean - same technological capability over 10 percent of total population - but ??)

[arethinn]

Minor nit: you're conflating wealth and income.

I'm just re-using the article's terms. I tend to agree that it's versus local cost. The big bit on the front page which led to this smaller continuation showed the median income ($71,000 something as I recall) and the median house price - $625,000 ish, I think. And I remarked that those didn't go together; you couldn't afford a house of that price with that income. So it hardly necessarily adds up to "wealth", I agree.

[evergrey.livejournal.com]

And yet, it's harder for people to survive here, even making more money, because everything costs even more... wha'ts the point of making 12 dollars an hour when rent is 888 a month, bills are 160 a month, gasx is 300 a month, etc etc etc

[nsingman.livejournal.com]

Apologies; the article was conflating wealth and income. :-)

And you're looking at precisely the right thing, too - the ratio of median income to median house price. I'm a bit conservative, financially, but I don't think anyone should carry a mortgage that's more than twice their annual income. Nowadays, people sometimes carry mortgages that are almost four times their income. Can we say "one missed payment to foreclosure," boys and girls?

[arethinn]

I'm guessing by your "$888" that that's your rent; frankly I'm surprised it's that low. I'm lucky I live so close to my work; I don't think I spend even $40 a month in gas. But yeah, I hear ya. I did a "cost analysis" a couple months ago wondering if it would be possible for me to move into my own apartment and not live in my parents' house, and it was very depressing to see that my ~$33,600 net income would only barely stretch to cover everything. I would have no money left over to have any fun with, never mind continue to build savings. Teh suck.

Fortunately the cost of living is much lower in Kitchener, where enotsola lives. Earning power is also less, but the discrepancy between the two is a lot smaller, the major factor being that real estate isn't as outrageously costly. The average in Ontario is something like US$250,000 right now, although that's pushed up by expensive housing in placed like Toronto, and the last I looked at real estate ads in Kitchener-Waterloo a decent house could be had in the region of US$150-175,000.

I never thought I would be itching to take on a mortgage, but living space is about the most valuable thing one can own...

[johnnybrainwash.livejournal.com]

People in Anchorage have high incomes to compensate for the high cost of living. It's expensive to live so far from your sources of food and consumer goods, especially without all the transportation infrastructure we take for granted. So the high income doesn't translate into making a lot of money in real terms.

[evergrey.livejournal.com]

$888 for a bedroom in a house shared by two other people is surprisingly low?

My sister lives in Toronto. Oh man, I am eyeing Canada a lot mroe these days...

[arethinn]

No, it's surprisingly low for a 1br or even studio apartment. I didn't know you had one room in a house.

Toronto itself is pretty expensive. I hear car insurance, particularly, is a big shock for people coming from the US.

[graphxgrrl.livejournal.com]

I don't know how it is in Ontario, but in BC I find it comparable to what I was paying in California. I think it would possibly be a shock for someone coming from a state like Oregon where I paid the lowest insurance I'd ever paid.

[baxil.livejournal.com]

The oil dividends are only about $1,000 to 2,000 per year. Can't speak to the rest, although I've never really thought of the fishing industry as one that pays well.