The typical U.S. family earns about $71,000 per year, according to the Census. Yet, the average American believes a family needs at least $85,000 in annual household income to get by, according to a recent Gallup poll.

That finding tracks with a recent study from SmartAsset, a financial technology company, which found the average American worker needs $68,499 in after-tax income to live comfortably. (That works out to around $85,000 in total income, assuming a 20-percent tax hit.)

The two releases point to the same conclusion: Many Americans earn too little in 2023 to attain a decent standard of living in their communities.

  • jonne
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    1 year ago

    Because wealth inequality is at the same level as the 1920s. Eventually people will be too poor to actually buy the stuff the capitalists produce, and the whole thing will fall apart again.