Time to learn about each other 😀 Late last year I put up a poll on the site to survey how much total income people make. Thanks to everyone who voted (^_^) Here are the results below.
This means over half of you make more than $80,000 a year! The median income for the group is somewhere in the high 5 digits range. And the mode income (choice that appears most often) is over $100,000. Wow, I’m pleasantly surprised at how financially well off most of you are 😀 This blog has visitors are from all over the world but most of you are from Canada so just for fun, here’s how much the typical Canadian made in 2010. 
Huge difference! Only 27% of the general population made over $50,000 a year, meanwhile a whopping 76% of my wonderful readers are making over $50,000. Nice job ladies and gents :0) Using the information we’ve looked at so far we can put together a comparison chart like the one below.
As mentioned earlier, most of you make more than $80K a year. Since my own total income isn’t even close to $80K yet what this poll reveals is that most of my readers are apparently making more than I am, haha. That’s quite a humbling realization. It means you guys probably have a better understanding of how to become rich than I do because so many of you are already living the good life 😉 The people who took the poll probably also comments on this blog. So read the comments and you’ll probably learn a lot from them :0)
There are many successful and intelligent individuals who come here and have interesting things to say. For example Phil from Ontario who retired early and is quite well read would sometimes comment and offer book suggestions for further reading on a specific topic. Mrs. PoP from Florida has an impressive net worth and sometimes offer good advice about real estate investments. I’ve personally learned a lot by simply reading other people’s comments, and so can you 😀 I don’t have all the answers to life’s financial problems or the best investment ideas, but thanks to all the great commentators who took the time to give their opinions I’m sure we can have some interesting discussions ^_^ I normally don’t censor anything unless it’s spam.
Limitations and improvement ideas:
-The income spectrum I used was too narrow >_< In future polls it would be more helpful to include higher income ranges such as $100,000 to $150,000 and $150,000 to $250,000.
-I forgot to mention “personal” in the poll. I was only looking for individual incomes, not for family or households. This was not very clear so next time I will be more specific with my question.
I don’t think that making a high income has any real correlation with becoming rich or knowing how to become rich. It just means you’re smart/lucky/in a good job/etc.
It’s one step in the 2-step equation of making lots of money and then being able to save it too.
Most of us are on your site because we’re interested in managing that money (I’d wager), and we’re interested in personal finance in general.
There are lots of people out there who are making a serious income, but have no idea how to save any significant chunk of it. They just spend it all.
I’d wager you’re right. I’ve heard of professional athletes and lottery winners who have gone broke. Learning how to manage money is arguably more important than making a high income.
Good info! I really think many people make A LOT more than people know or think. As your results show, 50% make more than $80,000 and 38% make more than six figures.
It’s all about STEALTH WEATH baby! Be rich, but blend in and never let anybody know how much you’ve really got. Sam
I wonder what the country’s GDP would be if people were more honest when disclosing their incomes to the government then :0)
That’s some pretty interesting info there. I’m obviously not one of the higher earners but it’s kind of interesting to know where you audience sits.
I was surprised by the outcome. I’m not part of the upper 50% either but we’re both young so I’m sure one day we can both make it to the six figure mark 😀
Haha I should stop paying attention to you, and b-line it to your comments section!
Can’t avoid me that easily. I’m in the comments section too 😉
It’s certainly an interesting poll, but I would imagine, no, bet my house, that people who follow and read PF blogs are going to be better off in general. I certainly hope that rubs off on commenters too…
Yup, and people who comment can learn from others who comment so everyone can be better off in general. New PF blogs are popping up around the web everyday which is great to see 😀
Very cool results – and thanks for the shout out, too!
No prob. Glad you liked the results. Maybe I’ll do a poll next time on reader’s net worths :0)
It’s hard for me to take these at any value if it’s possible some people reported individual income and some reported household income. That is a huge difference.
Maybe should have broken it down in to 2 categories or something. I got so used to living by myself I forgot at the time that there are many couples who read this blog too.
Interesting findings! I love the Toy Story reference, by the way. It’s a beloved series in our home. 🙂
I almost shed manly tears when I saw the 3rd one in the theaters. Pixar is one of my favorite animation studios ^_^
Household income vs. personal income was a good catch! But the analysis was interesting, nonetheless. I can honestly all of your readers are making more than I am at the moment. 😛
That’s probably because you’re like semi retired or something like that :0) Once I have more assets I can quit my 9 to 5 job as well 🙂
Interesting! Looks like your readers are way richer than me too! lol
Me three. It gives us something to work towards though. I think we both have great personal finance ideas on our blogs. If we follow our own advice we should be able to increase our incomes over time.
I am in 18% crown, no wonder I am in BK!
18% is pretty good, as expected with your field of work. With your thrifty lifestyle I’m sure you’ll triumph over your BK and be much better off financially. Look at how far you’ve come already with the latest improvement to your credit score.
Great post, I always like looking at stats and numbers.
Same here. I’m a visual kind of person 🙂
Well at least you have a similar income to me! I think that’s why I find your updates so interesting, we seem to be of a similar age/income bracket but you’ve wholeheartedly embraced using debt while I’ve avoided it like the plague. You’ve just recently surpassed me in terms of net worth (and in 2008 I already had fairly significant savings) so it appears to be paying off…
That’s cool. You’re probably in the $60K to $80K range like me :0) I do have the advantage of working a part-time job on the weekends, plus rental income from the farm, plus thousands of dollars a year from dividend stocks. But otherwise I would be making a lot less with just my one job alone as most people have. As for investments, it probably comes down to risk tolerance and personalities that determine how everyone invests. The risky thing about leveraging is it can cause some major damage to my personal finance if things go bad in the future, especially if I have a girlfriend or wife by then and have to think about how my financial decisions would affect others. But I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it 😀 Thanks for dropping by.
Income figures of course are not that informative – it depends on where you live, how many adults and children funded etc. What is interesting is the disposable income per head – that after fixed costs like mortgage, travel to work, utilities etc. I suspect then that many people who were filling in a household value would be much poorer. In fact I suspect many in the PF world are not particularly well off at all – that’s the reason we got into PF. And what income will be like in 5 or 10 years…. Crystal ball, please!
I think that’s a good reason. I got into PF because I wasn’t well off, but wanted to be. I can’t say I’m well off today after just a couple of years of blogging about it but I think eventually I’ll get there.
Nice post Liquid. Happy I could be an example. sorry for the late post, I’ve been out skiing the past few weeks. I volunteer as a CADS ski instructor, now that i am retired, and last week was teaching a few injured and recovering Canadian and American watr vets the pleasure that can be had on snow. As mentioned before your blog is always informative and very entertaining. Finacially you appear on the right track and are still in the planning stages of a wonderful Finacially Independant future, unlike most of our fellow Canadians. Keep up the great work. – Cheers.
That sounds like fun. I haven’t gone skiing in a long time. I went snowshoeing for the first time earlier this year. It was fun and felt like a mix between cross country skiing and hiking. I think of it as cross country walking in the snow lol.
How much do you make? It’s such a taboo subject. Too bad no one likes to reveal their actual incomes in the comment section haha!
its not “taboo”
It’s also about net income, whether it’s in the form of a paycheque, with or without passive income, or just retirement income.
I always go with net income or cash flow after everything has been paid.
Take John or Jane Doe (single or combined) gross income $100k, net income $70k – minus expenses that includes rent, loans, living & all other expenses including rent or mortgage. What’s left at the end of the day? That’s the measure.
Some folks need more income just to spend more, while others can have less income, spend less & be ahead of those that have larger incomes.
The measure of ‘gross income’ means nothing – what is your net income & cash flow!
Maybe the net worth is more important?
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