Sure but that doesn’t say anything about the wages there. How many $100k jobs am I going to find in Milwuakee and Detroit? I work in tech so I can tell you now the answer is close to zero.
This source says that median household income in Pittsburgh is in the low $60ks. And while housing costs are 2% below national average, utility costs are 20% above national average 🤷♂️
How many $100k jobs am I going to find in Milwuakee and Detroit?
These are literally major cities with populations measured in the millions. There’s plenty of high paying jobs to be had. And the best part is, since home prices aren’t measured in the millions you can survive on a lower income.
Also I work in tech too. I’ve interviewed for jobs making $80-120k in some of the listed cities. I know people making over 100k in some of the listed cities. Median income is just that, the median. Some people are going to make more and some people are going to make less. Highly skilled workers in any major city will make high pay. Sure you might shave off 10-20% from your expected wage in your sector in a lower cost of living city but your housing costs will likely be literally be half or a third of that when compared to LA, New York City or the San Francisco Bay Area, plus with that lower cost of living comes more options if you become burnt out from your highly paid and likely high stress job, you can afford to jump ship and change careers
I’m sorry, I just don’t buy your argument that “it’s a major city.” I gave you an actual statistic and you brushed it aside in favor of notions like “there are millions of people there,” and you’ve met some outliers.
Web developers in Pennsylvania make a median annual salary of $92,930, and the 75th percentile make an annual salary of $117,000 which oh look is over 100k
Network and Computer Systems Administrators make a median salary of $94,420 and the 75th percentile make an annual salary of $104,210 which again oh look is over 100k
Database Administrators make a median annual salary of $105,100
Data Scientists make a median annual salary of $107,450
Is that too tech heavy?
Funeral home managers make a median annual salary of $100,080
Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers make a median salary of $119,550
Clinical and Counseling Psychologists make a median salary of $103,980
Web developers in Wisconsin make a median annual salary of $92,930, and the 75th percentile salary is $117,000 which oh look is over 100k
Software Developers make a median annual salary of $114,030
Computer Programmers make a median annual salary of $104,080
Too tech heavy?
Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers make a media salary of $92,790 with a 75th percentile salary of $104,430
Human Resources Managers make a median salary of $148,000 with a 10th percentile salary of $93,450 (so its not just super-high earners skewing the data, by the way the 90th percentile is $213,680)
Veterinarians make a median salary of $118,030
Pharmacists make a median salary of $141,090
Air Traffic Controllers make only a median salary of $108,330 (which is shockingly low for how famously high-stress of a career that is!)
Software Developers make a median salary of $120,950
Data Scientists make a median salary of $111,490
So my point still stands, looking at states with much lower cost of living and highly skilled professions are still highly compensated, many folks well above 100k/year
Oh and before you bring up the median salary for all occupations in these states being 60k (an amount firmly in the middle class that you can live comfortably off of in these states) the median salary in New York and California, states with famously unaffordable housing in their cities, the median salaries are only $80k and good luck getting a house in these cities at that salary!
Sure but that doesn’t say anything about the wages there. How many $100k jobs am I going to find in Milwuakee and Detroit? I work in tech so I can tell you now the answer is close to zero.
This source says that median household income in Pittsburgh is in the low $60ks. And while housing costs are 2% below national average, utility costs are 20% above national average 🤷♂️
These are literally major cities with populations measured in the millions. There’s plenty of high paying jobs to be had. And the best part is, since home prices aren’t measured in the millions you can survive on a lower income.
Also I work in tech too. I’ve interviewed for jobs making $80-120k in some of the listed cities. I know people making over 100k in some of the listed cities. Median income is just that, the median. Some people are going to make more and some people are going to make less. Highly skilled workers in any major city will make high pay. Sure you might shave off 10-20% from your expected wage in your sector in a lower cost of living city but your housing costs will likely be literally be half or a third of that when compared to LA, New York City or the San Francisco Bay Area, plus with that lower cost of living comes more options if you become burnt out from your highly paid and likely high stress job, you can afford to jump ship and change careers
I’m sorry, I just don’t buy your argument that “it’s a major city.” I gave you an actual statistic and you brushed it aside in favor of notions like “there are millions of people there,” and you’ve met some outliers.
Okay lets dig into some BLS data then!
Since you brought up Pittsburgh, one of the largest cities in Pennsylvania let’s look at the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics for Pennsylvania in 2024
Is that too tech heavy?
And because I listed the two largest cities in Wisconsin lets look at Wisconsin quickly as well:
Too tech heavy?
And lets just for the heck of it look at Montana!
So my point still stands, looking at states with much lower cost of living and highly skilled professions are still highly compensated, many folks well above 100k/year
Oh and before you bring up the median salary for all occupations in these states being 60k (an amount firmly in the middle class that you can live comfortably off of in these states) the median salary in New York and California, states with famously unaffordable housing in their cities, the median salaries are only $80k and good luck getting a house in these cities at that salary!