Which income quintile is your household in?

[Cobalt Violet]

Poll question: Which income quintile is your household in?

Base on 2003 numbers. Income Limits for Each Fifth and Top 5 Percent of Households.

[wtbymark]

1. Net or gross? n/t

[Cobalt Violet]

2. Before taxes.

[RaleighNCDUer]

3. I voted 2nd

but in that range I'm a hell of a lot closer to 1st than to 3rd.

[Cobalt Violet]

4. Maybe in 2006 figure you would be in the 1st then.

These are the most current figure I could find.

[Sammy Pepys]

5. I'm just barely in the fifth....

By like $2,000.

[Cobalt Violet]

6. These numbers are 3 yrs old.

You really may be in the 4th if today's numbers were availible to use. In most of the recent years the numbers have gone up by more than $2000 between the 4th and 5th.



http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/histinc/h01ar.html

[Sammy Pepys]

11. Then I'm probably in 4th....n/t

....

[obnoxiousdrunk]

7. Wow there are

some rich folks at DU. Glad to know.

[BiggJawn]

9. Yeah, now I know why some of them seem to speak a different lingo...

...from me. Look at like this, you fifth-quintilers, suppose everything you buy cost 4 times what you pay for it now.
Think that could give you an idea what it's like for us under 40 Kilobuckers?

FWIW, I'm in the LOW end of the 3rd.

[mondo joe]

8. The thing I don't get about "Household" income is that it matches

individual income to couples-income.

I guess I'd be more curious to see individual comparisons.

But it's an interesting poll = thanks!

[walldude]

10. Was in the third last year

landed a good job and jumped to the 5th this year. Figures, a repuke in office and I get the best job I ever had. :eyes:

[Cobalt Violet]

13. Congrats! That's quite a jump.

I'm sure you earned it on your own and not because the chimp-in-chief willed it upon you.

[cynatnite]

12. Basing it on before taxes seems misleading

Hubby is an owner/operator truck driver. 2/3 of what we make goes to expenses and taxes.

On paper it looks like we make almost 150k a year.

[Gormy Cuss]

14. Your gross household income is net after his business expenses

but before your personal taxes (which include the employee portion of Social Security contributions but not the self-employment premium.) It sounds like 150K is the business revenue, not income. Your answer for income legitimately would be 3rd quintile.

[cynatnite]

16. Thank you!

That would be about right.

[QC]

15. This certainly explains a lot. n/t

[Cobalt Violet]

27. It's a suprise to me.

Although it really shouldn't be.

[Bucky]

17. Follow up poll: "Can I barra a dollah, mistah?"

Check once for "yes"

[DiverDave]

18. We WERE in the third...

only because we had to cash out an IRA...
I tell everybody, get supplemental insurance, don't end up like me.

We are seconds away from losing everything.
But, I just got hired to drive a truck.
It's gonna be a looong road to get outta this hole.

[hyphenate]

19. I'm in the first, but there should really be a category for

those of us who at poverty level or below. With my disability fixed income, I'm getting just a tad over $12,500 a year. I don't know how they expect anyone to actually "live" on that amount or even less.

[peacebaby3]

21. My goodness. Nobody can live off of that. It's ridiculous! My parents were

living off of social security which together equaled $14,400 a year and then when my Mom passed away a little over a year ago, it cut it down several thousand a year so that is what my Dad now lives off of. It's pitiful and yet, they wanted to f*ck with that small amount he gets every year.

[Cobalt Violet]

23. That money doesn't go very far in Massachusetts.

It's just about enough for the landlord. :(

[hyphenate]

33. Thankfully

A friend owns the house I'm living in and hasn't charged me rent in a very long time (2 1/2 years now), so I'm lucky in that respect. But his plans for keeping the house are beginning to fluctuate and I'm not sure what he plans on doing. When I was in California, the rents were horrific, and I had to get out of there. At least in Massachusetts I have a few options I didn't have in CA.

[Cobalt Violet]

34. I hope he hangs on to the house.

Not paying most of your check to a landlord helps a lot.

I left a job in December that took me 3 weeks of work to pay the rent.
I now have a job that takes me slightly less than 2 weeks to pay the rent. It's still alot but it is makes a huge difference in my standard of living.

[hyphenate]

37. It helps give me a leg up

That I needed. I've been in a slump for awhile and it's hard to get things back to normal. And, of course, our current political situation hasn't helped in the slightest!

[Cobalt Violet]

39. One of my friends on disability spent 9 years on a section 8 waiting list.

He just got it this year. 9 yrs! If you haven't already applied perhaps you could. You never know.

[hyphenate]

41. If I'm alive in 9 years, I think

I will be very surprised!

Actually, I've been trying desperately to save some money to go with the small sum I got as backpay when my disability went through. I'm trying to qualify for a house. Nothing fancy, and nothing I couldn't afford, which is kind of hard. The only houses in Massachusetts which I can afford are in the Springfield area. Once my credit report is all straightened out, and once I have $10,000 back in the bank (I have less than half that right now), I should be able to do it. It would definitely be nice to get a house of my own. If I scrimp and stay away from anything I don't really need, I might be ready in 4 or so years.

[Cobalt Violet]

42. That sounds like a good plan.

It sounds a lot better than paying a slum lord 3/4 of your income to live in a bed bug and cock roach infested hell hole. (Like I did this past summer)

That sounds like a very good plan and I wish you luck in saving for it and working out the credit details.

[dysfunctional press]

32. my disability amount is about the same-

but my wife has a decent enough job, and we rent out the upstairs, so we're in the fourth quintile, for the time being.

[peacebaby3]

20. We are in the 4th, but closer to the 3rd. My husband is in the Army with

just under 20 years in (he retires in Sept.!!!) and I do indigent defense work so neither pay well. We are really blessed in many ways compared to many other people, but we still live paycheck to paycheck. I worry about finances every month.

[grasswire]

22. next question...

...should be: How much of your net income is allocated to dumping Republicans from office? I'd like to see how many of our monied Dems use disposable income in our struggle against the politics of personal destruction and pernicious conservatism.

[ProfessorGAC]

25. Why?

The question presumes that it doesn't happen. Would you care to elaborate or will an implied insult toward those of us who voted in the upper 2 quintiles suit your needs?
The Professor

[grasswire]

30. if it happened in Dems as it does in Pubs....

...we'd be ahead of them, not behind them, in establishing the institutions and initiatives to ensure that liberal and progressive issues prevail over right-wing issues, and no progressive candidate or cause would go without funding. The dedication of conservatives to the future of their ideology through financial support is clearly demonstrated to be superior to that of our ilk, and has been for several decades now.

My question isn't an insult. The truth is what it is. Monied Dems (generally) aren't using their resources to preserve their alleged social values to the same degree as conservatives do. If the shoe doesn't fit you, fine. No need to be snippy about it.

Some of us who have sacrificed our careers and our personal comfort in order to stop the politics of the right simply get weary of what are sometimes jokingly called "Utne" liberals. The real joke comes when the test our forefathers endured arrives for us in the next few years -- when each citizen must decide what he or she will sacrifice to preserve liberty. My life? My fortune? My sacred honor? Some of us have already sacrificed the fortune, or prospect thereof, as it is the easiest of the three to relinquish. Those progressives/liberals still holding fortunes beyond any reasonable personal need cannot, in my opinion, honestly, rightfully claim to cherish our liberty in this hour when democracy itself quivers in anticipation of the sound of boots on the street; the midnight knock at the door.

What does it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own liberty? (paraphrased, obviously) Do financially comfortable liberal/progressive folk believe they won't be taken away when the taking away starts? Professors will be high on the list.

Mediamatters.org awaits donations. The ACLU. Amnesty International. FAIR. People for the American Way. Etc.

Sacrifice. Give 'til it hurts. Now is the hour. To win -- or even to survive -- we must be willing to love liberty and democratic values above ALL ELSE.

[ProfessorGAC]

31. Define Moneyed!

People who make $140k are moneyed? Seems a fairly low standard for that term.

I volunteer my time on econometric and poll data for the county dems. If they had to pay for that, it would cost them thousands. Yet, i wouldn't say i give 'til it hurt.

So, am i in good standing, or not?
The Professor

[Cobalt Violet]

35. To those making 10 x less it would appear that your moneyed.

To those making 10x more it would appear that your not.

:hide:

[grasswire]

44. question

The answer to your question lies within yourself. Only you can answer it. What are you willing to sacrifice for our continued liberty? The same question was asked of our ancestors during the American Revolution. Some of my family members gave everything to be free from tyranny. One remained loyal to the crown and ended up fleeing to Canada in the back of a farm wagon, losing everything as well. A bit further back, my ancestor Elizabeth Tilley lost all of her family members the first winter in the New World -- her parents had sacrificed everything in the 1620 quest for freedoms.

Not making that decision is a decision for a citizen. The hour of decision is here. How much am I willing to pay for our continued liberty? And when do I pay it?

[Gregorian]

24. I'm in 1 and in 5.

Damn, you DU people are big time earners.

I don't earn a dime. But I make money. I buy and sell property. All on accident. If it weren't for accidents, I'd be poor.

[Lars39]

26. I've been in the top four categories at one time or another in my life.

Earning more doesn't necessarily mean that you forget the lean times,
or that you are incapable of putting yourself in another's shoes.

[shanti]

28. one income or two?

that makes a difference, imo.

[Thtwudbeme]

29. Household means household.

That could be between 1 and infinity members.

[smirkymonkey]

36. I'm in 4, but in NYC that's not a lot of money.

Believe it or not, I am barely getting by.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

38. 5th. Before Taxes About 112,000. However, We Live In Jersey, So It's

all relative.

[NJ Democrats]

40. Hard to say

My dad's salary is just in the 4th, almost in the 5th. My Mom's pushs us over into the 5th, but she won't work after we move, from NJ to NC. We were fully in the 4th until my dad got his new job 3 weeks ago.

[Squatch]

43. What's a quintile?

[Breeze54]

45. LMAO!! Yeah? What is a quintile? LOL! n/t

[Cobalt Violet]

47. Quintile

quin·tile (kwntl, kwntl)
n.
1. The astrological aspect of planets distant from each other by 72° or one fifth of the zodiac.
2. Statistics The portion of a frequency distribution containing one fifth of the total sample.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[kineneb]

46. Under 125% of poverty

Two of us living on Hubby's disability ($14K). Can't earn any more or he will lose the Medicaid coverage for his (many) meds. Life is "interesting".