If "Making less than $70K per year in this city pretty much means you're struggling," then the average Bostonian is struggling according to U.S. News & World Report. (That number did not strike me as believable.)
10. San Diego, California
Average annual salary:
$56,410
Unemployment rate:
3.3%
9. Denver, Colorado
Average annual salary:
$57,400
Unemployment rate:
3.0%
8. Anchorage, Alaska
Average annual salary:
$58,980
Unemployment rate:
6.1%
7. Hartford, Connecticut
Average annual salary:
$60,040
Unemployment rate:
4.2%
6. New York, New York
Average annual salary:
$63,079
Unemployment rate:
4.0%
5. Seattle, Washington
Average annual salary:
$63,120
Unemployment rate:
3.9%
4. Boston, Massachusetts
Average annual salary:
$65,420
Unemployment rate:
3.1%
3. Washington, D.C.
Average annual salary:
$69,210
Unemployment rate:
3.4%
2. San Francisco, California
Average annual salary:
$69,700
Unemployment rate:
2.7%
1. San Jose, California
Average annual salary:
$77,180
Unemployment rate:
2.6%
U.S. News & World Report released their 2019 ranking of the Best Places to Live on Tuesday, which considers thousands of survey responses about what it's like to live in U.S. cities, including factors like like job market health, quality of life and desirability. When the publication looked at...
www.cnbc.com
The most recent Wal-Mart pay info I could find for Massachusetts was 2015:
Massachusetts' minimum wage became $9 in January, and increases to $10 in January 2016. On Thursday, Walmart, the largest private employer in the U.S., announced that 1,030 workers in Massachusetts received pay raises as part of raises that went into effect this week across the country. The average full-time hourly wage for Walmart workers in the state is $13.88, according to the release.
Walmart announced that 1,030 workers in Massachusetts received pay raises as part of raises that went into effect this week across the country.
www.masslive.com
Minimum wage in Massachusetts is now $11 an hour, there's no indication of if Wal-Mart raised wages there when they announced they were starting people at $11 nationally. But let's just say the average full-time hourly wage for Walmart workers in the state is now $16.00. That's $33,280, barely half the state average! Which is below what you defined as struggling! And that's working full-time year-round without missing a week (for a company famous for messing with people's schedules)!
Some people are working those jobs and trying to support families. I don't understand why, unless you had roots there, you wouldn't move to Phoenix or Vegas or some other reasonably affordable city in that case. (Even if you have roots there, I understand it but it's probably a questionable decision.)
I do understand that sometimes people are too poor to even move and it's not that easy. But the reality of the situation is mind-boggling to me.
www.bloomberg.com
