An average American income isn’t enough for a comfortable living in 2023, according to two recent reports.  The typical U.S. family earns about $71,000 per year, according to the Census. Yet, …

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.

  • pragmakist
    2•1 year ago

    You should be aware that here in Denmark we pay about as much as you Americans for our healthcare.
    Those of who don’t use it that is.

    It’s really only if you need it that having paid through your taxes instead of through insurance makes a difference.

    (And there’s plenty of European nations that have sort of functional healthcare financed by some kind of insurance system.)

    • GizmoLion
      2•1 year ago

      I don’t have a statistic to provide, but I would be willing to bet 80%+ of American households have some deferred medical issue. Whether it’s getting something checked out, teeth cleaned, affording prescribed meds etc.

      As it is now people die rather than see a doctor because they don’t want to empty the family coffers over what might be nothing.