What is a good salary?

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  • Gavin83
    Gavin83 Posts: 8,739
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    ruperts wrote: »
    I think from most people's perspective a good salary is whatever they currently earn plus about 50%, and that applies whether they're earning £12k or £120k.

    Objectively I think all you can do is look at the wage ranges, adjust for age and location and put descriptions against percentile ranges. Something like

    0-20% - very poor
    20-40% - poor
    40-60% - average
    60-80% - good
    80-100% - very good

    So here 'good' would kick in once you reach the top 40% of all earners, so probably about £35k

    I think £35k would put you a lot higher than that. There was a survey about this a few years back, I was earning about £36k(ish) and I remember it put me in the top 10% of earners in the UK. Something like 40% of earners were on minimum wage.

    People are answering two different questions here. It could roughly be broken down into "What's a good wage compared to the national average" and "What's a good wage for an individual to live on". The second clearly depends on someones personal circumstances, the first does not.
  • coffeehound
    coffeehound Posts: 5,649
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    Gavin83 wrote: »
    I think £35k would put you a lot higher than that. There was a survey about this a few years back, I was earning about £36k(ish) and I remember it put me in the top 10% of earners in the UK. Something like 40% of earners were on minimum wage.

    I wouldn't take such figures at face value since they don't reflect the true picture. E.g. there will be many contractors out there laundering their earnings through Limited companies who – on paper – pay themselves NMW, but will be on way higher real-world income.
  • TBagpuss
    TBagpuss Posts: 11,198
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    There is an interesting calculator from the Institute of Fiscal Studies, here - https://www.ifs.org.uk/wheredoyoufitin/ £35K (gross) gives 'higher than 78% of the population)
    £35K net puts you in the top 11%
    £21K (the 'point at which repayment of student loans starts, for those earning the 'higher' salary as a graduate) puts you in the 47th percentile
    All posts are my personal opinion, not formal advice Always get proper, professional advice (particularly about anything legal!)
  • TheDebtinator
    TheDebtinator Posts: 237 Forumite
    TBagpuss wrote: »
    There is an interesting calculator from the Institute of Fiscal Studies, here - https://www.ifs.org.uk/wheredoyoufitin/ £35K (gross) gives 'higher than 78% of the population)
    £35K net puts you in the top 11%
    £21K (the 'point at which repayment of student loans starts, for those earning the 'higher' salary as a graduate) puts you in the 47th percentile

    Based on that I aren't doing too bad, but then I wonder how I would compare if it took living area into consideration. I suspect I would be somewhere in the middle to lower half.
  • lincroft1710
    lincroft1710 Posts: 17,545
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    £100k+ pa.
    If you are querying your Council Tax band would you please state whether you are in England, Scotland or Wales
  • Jaglad111
    Jaglad111 Posts: 146 Forumite
    According to the link myself and wife have a greater disposible income than 97% of the uk population. However, without her I'd be in the top 2%. I also suspect i would be happier :rotfl:
  • FBaby
    FBaby Posts: 18,367
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    As pointed above, salary means nothing, it's disposable income that matters. I felt the richest when I earned the least! That's because at the time, I was a lodger and paid minimal rent (stayed with a wonderful woman who treated me like her daughter in her beautiful house!). I was single and only went out occasionally and didn't need a car as worked 10 minutes walk away and was next to good public transport. No debts, no large outgoings, once rent (incl. bills) were paid, I was able to put £500+ a month aside on a £13K salary.

    The poorest I've been was earning about £40K being a single mum of two young children. By the time pension was deducted, I'd paid the mortgage, nursery fees (I think I was only entitled to £50 a month tax credits), travel expenses, large repairs to the house, car cost etc... I was lucky to have £50 left at the end of the month.
  • GothicStirling
    GothicStirling Posts: 1,157 Forumite
    Its also lifestyle dependent. I have colleagues who earn more than me, but are living payday to payday, up to their noses in debt, and no savings. Whereas I, live well within my means, I have no debt (cut up my CCs in 2010), and have a savings pot. I've been in their position, and it isn't worth the misery. I'd rather have my life where I pay for holidays from savings rather than loans. Who cares if the car I go out for trips to the coast is a 2017 reg or a 2009? (well, not the kind of people I want to be friends with anyway).
  • Leo2020
    Leo2020 Posts: 910 Forumite
    Lots of factors affect what you think is a good wage. Living costs, stage of life, how much experience you have had in a role/similiar role, type of work, area you live in.

    Also personal experience of earnings has a big impact for me. Although I know 20k per annum is not a huge amount, when you look at average earnings, to me it seems a lot because I have never earned that or even close or been in a position where I could have progressed up to that with experience. 20k seems unattainable right now.
  • theoretica
    theoretica Posts: 12,256
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    Judging it on personal spending seems a bit strange - some people will never be on a good salary by those standards as their spending will just rise and rise.

    I think it is also important to think about full or part time work. Is someone working halftime for 12k on a better wage than someone working full time for 16k? Some of the salary comparison calculations only look at full time (or full time equivalent) figures and some look at earnings regardless of hours.
    But a banker, engaged at enormous expense,
    Had the whole of their cash in his care.
    Lewis Carroll
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