Interesting unverified statistic- if you earn more than $30k USD annually

[GON]

Heard this statistic earlier today. I am not able to verify the statistic, but found the statistic very thought provoking and gives another view on perspective:

If you earn over $30k USD annually, you are in the top one percent of the world's earners......

 

[k1xv]

Lots of folks making Nike products for peanut wages. $30K is a fortune to the average worker in, say, Bangladesh.

 

[RhondaHonda]

I believe it. A billion plus people in Africa, India, and China each and low wages.

 

[nbpt100]

Yes I have not problem believing that. The US is so prosperous compared to most countries around the world.

 

[Kira]

There are BILLIONS of people living in the dirt worldwide who populate the denominator, but there are also tens of thousands of people making <$30,000 a year right here.....and every one of them has been ripped off and is angry. < jk IBTL

 

[Zee09]

There BILLIONS of people living in the dirt worldwide who populate the denominator, but there are also tens of thousands of people making <$30,000 a year right here.....and every one of them has been ripped off and is angry. < jk IBTL

Why mention me in this post ????
Wow dude

 

[fdcg27]

If we do the math, this certainly grossly understates the proportion of world population earning the equivalent of 30K USD or more.
World population is now around 8.2 billion, so 1% of that would be 82 million.
Does anyone believe that only that number of people worldwide earn at least 30K a year?
There multiples of such earners in our own country all by itself.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Why mention me in this post ????
Wow dude

Guess we're not alone in this big, beautiful universe?

 

[Jetronic]

If we do the math, this certainly grossly understates the proportion of world population earning the equivalent of 30K USD or more.
World population is now around 8.2 billion, so 1% of that would be 82 million.
Does anyone believe that only that number of people worldwide earn at least 30K a year?
There multiples of such earners in our own country all by itself.

the quate was probably based on figures a few years old, and made a few years ago.

In fact likely based on gdp per capita, so that skews results for large families....

 

[SC Maintenance]

Likely true but it also means you live in the country with the highest cost of living.

Its like saying the average worker in silicon valley earns more than the top 10% in South Carolina. Looks appealing till you figure out how much a house in Silicon valley costs

 

[Cujet]

Not accurate. In US dollars, the income threshold that puts you in the top 1% worldwide is about $65,000.
In the USA, to be in the top 1%, your income needs to be $788,000 per year.

If we discount Africa with it's traditionally low income, then the number jumps to about $75,000 annual income.


The idea that the entire world is dirt poor is wildly in error. That's just not so. Much of the world has far more technology than the USA, much of the world is cleaner, has nicer cities, nicer ports, vibrant recreational activities and so on. The USA is tops in aviation.

 

[fdcg27]

The idea that the entire world is dirt poor is wildly in error. That's just not so. Much of the world has far more technology than the USA, much of the world is cleaner, has nicer cities, nicer ports, vibrant recreational activities and so on. The USA is tops in aviation.

Yep, if you travel to Europe, you'll see this.
These people are not poor and their cities are typically really nice and very walkable with plenty of transit options as well.
They are not the car-infested urban hellholes we tend to have here, where car ownership is more a necessity than a luxury. We react with ideas like the fifteen minute city concept, but European cities are already that since they date from centuries or even a millennium before the motorcar existed.

 

[ATex7239]

I believe it. I’ve traveled the world and seen what real poverty looks like. We have fat poor people in America. Our idea of soul crushing poverty is many people’s idea of normal.

 

[andrew_j]

Heard this statistic earlier today. I am not able to verify the statistic, but found the statistic very thought provoking and gives another view on perspective:

If you earn over $30k USD annually, you are in the top one percent of the world's earners......

The wage you make is relevant to living expenses where you live.

 

[buster]

Per Greg Mankiw, "If you're a person living at the poverty line in the United States, you are wealthier than 85 percent of people in the world."

Source:

 

[Dave Hess]

Most people don’t realize how lucky they are to be living in the USA.

I know I am…

 

[GON]

The wage you make is relevant to living expenses where you live.

That is yes and no.

The price of travel, goods, and education generally do not get reduced because on earns less.

• Out of state student tuition at University of Ohio is not reduced because on lives in Cambodia.
• A iPhone cost in Ghana is not substantially different than a Iphone cost in a western nation.
• A liter of fuel in China is not substantially less than a litre of fuel in Oklahoma.

Some things that are less:

• A round trip ticket from Thailand to the US is generally less than a round trip ticket from the US to Thailand
• A medical procedure in Kenya is much less than the same medical procedure in the US
• A name brand prescription drug made in the US costs much less in Mexico than the US

 

[GON]

Yep, if you travel to Europe, you'll see this.
These people are not poor and their cities are typically really nice and very walkable with plenty of transit options as well.
They are not the car-infested urban hellholes we tend to have here, where car ownership is more a necessity than a luxury. We react with ideas like the fifteen minute city concept, but European cities are already that since they date from centuries or even a millennium before the motorcar existed.

Not going to challenge your post, but the desire to immigrate from Europe to the US is substantially higher than the desire to migrate from the US to Europe.

One can get ahead and be the master of their destiny much better in the US than in Europe.

A simple example, I can migrate from Germany to the US and open an independent auto repair shop the same day I arrive in the US. If I legally migrate from US to Germany, I can't even legally get a job washing windows on the day I arrive.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

That is yes and no.

The price of travel, goods, and education generally do not get reduced because on earns less.

• Out of state student tuition at University of Ohio is not reduced because on lives in Cambodia.
• A iPhone cost in Ghana is not substantially different than a Iphone cost in a western nation.
• A liter of fuel in China is not substantially less than a litre of fuel in Oklahoma.

Some things that are less:

• A round trip ticket from Thailand to the US is generally less than a round trip ticket from the US to Thailand
• A medical procedure in Kenya is much less than the same medical procedure in the US
• A name brand prescription drug made in the US costs much less in Mexico than the US

Where did you find a gas station in Oklahoma that sold you a litre of fuel?!? Commies…

 

[fdcg27]

That is yes and no.

The price of travel, goods, and education generally do not get reduced because on earns less.

• Out of state student tuition at University of Ohio is not reduced because on lives in Cambodia.
• A iPhone cost in Ghana is not substantially different than a Iphone cost in a western nation.
• A liter of fuel in China is not substantially less than a litre of fuel in Oklahoma.

Some things that are less:

• A round trip ticket from Thailand to the US is generally less than a round trip ticket from the US to Thailand
• A medical procedure in Kenya is much less than the same medical procedure in the US
• A name brand prescription drug made in the US costs much less in Mexico than the US

There is no "University of Ohio".
There are both the Ohio State University in Columbus and Ohio University in Athens.