$89,000 puts you in the Top 5% of earners

[I-Hate-Hulse]

I found this incredibly surprising.....

An income of at least $89,000 was needed to be in the top five per cent of earners in 2004, Statistics Canada said Monday.
This "five per cent club" earned 25 per cent of the income Canadians declared in 2004 — up from 21 per cent in 1992. They paid 36 per cent of the personal taxes collected in 2004.



http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2007/0...ighincome.html


I thought the bar to a "5% of earners club" would be much higher than this. Don't get me wrong, $89K is an excellent wage, but it doesn't seem that lofty.

Right now most Professionals in Calgary (Lawyers, Engineers, Chartered Accountants, etc) are extremely likely to be in this zone, as would many of the trades in this town and up North right now. Just a case of the "Alberta Boom" distorting perceived relativity?

[Thunderball]

Is that $89k after tax or before tax... if its before that... it can't be right.

[Fobby]

2004 census?

[The Yen Man]

Well, I guess for every professional you see (ie lawyer, accountant, doctor, etc), there are several average joes that make less ie. people working in factories and the service industry. Besides, there are a ton of jobs that don't make as much ie nurses, cops, firemen, etc etc.

And definitely it is the Alberta situation distorting reality. Anywhere else, there's no way tradesmen make 89K+.

[BlackArcher101]

Heck, my company has non-professionals making more than that.

[jolinar of malkshor]

Those numbers are three years old. I am sure it is much higher now.

[Rhettzky]

That's from 2004 so that may be part of the reason it seems a little low.

[FireFly]

Even if it was $100,000, doesn't it still seem low?

[I-Hate-Hulse]

The full article if anyone wants to read it:

http://www.statcan.ca/english/freepu...350high-en.htm

[jolinar of malkshor]

Originally Posted by FireFly

Even if it was $100,000, doesn't it still seem low?

Think about how many people work minimum wage jobs and even people to make say 90,000 now adays....that is still a lot of money and that is per person. Think about most government jobs......not many pay over 50,000 - 60,000 and the public service is the single largest employer in Canada.

[JohnnyB]

Originally Posted by FireFly

Even if it was $100,000, doesn't it still seem low?

I wouldn't think so. Just think back to everyone you went to highschool with, and imagine how many of them are probably making over $100,000 a year now. Does one in twenty really seem that low? And even if it does, consider how long it takes most adults to get to an age where they're earning that. There are a lot of people who may end up making that much, but not everybody is doing it at once, so there's both the people who will never earn that much and all the people who are slowly working their way up towards that amount but are yet to reach it to take into consideration.

[FlamesAddiction]

That doesn't sound too far off to me. Man, the town I grew up in, I doubt if there were too many household incomes that high - let alone just single incomes.

[Devils'Advocate]

Funny just how out of step Alberta is with the rest of Canada.

In Nova Scotia, if you are making half that, you are laughin'.

I know your cost of living, especially housing, is much, much higher. But there is a reason why everyone and their dog in Newfoundland just packed up their house and moved to Alberta.

[zukes]

I was just going to say that. My $192,000 house here in London is comparible to $500,000 houses there. Tim Horton's workers here make $8.50/hour, not $20.00.

[Burninator]

This reminds me that I need to ask for a raise.

[Incinerator]

Originally Posted by zukes

I was just going to say that. My $192,000 house here in London is comparible to $500,000 houses there. Tim Horton's workers here make $8.50/hour, not $20.00.

$20 is Fort Mac, Timmy's slaves only make $12-14 here

[urban1]

Exactly. Even in Calgary, theres a lot of people who havent had positive affects on their income during the boom.

Police, fire, teachers, bus drivers, etc. These traditionally have been good pay jobs and now have fallen far behind in terms of income.

Then look at jobs such as janitors and unskilled labor in areas not related to oil and gas. Theres a lot of people that for whatever reason are trapped or feel trapped and stay in low paying jobs.

Somebodies got to do the shtty jobs in society and earn the minimum wage.

And not all professionals are earn $100,000 with 50% or 100% bonuses. For example, i have a few friends who are designated accountants and work in jobs where they earn 70k/yr with maybe a 10% bonus. They could double their salary tomorrow but theyre happy in their low stress jobs and dont want the change.

Everyone also talks about receptionists earning $60k+ in O&G. There may be situations like that but theres also a lot of people working in O&G who are earning "reasonable" salaries. Take a look at some recruiters websites which post salary ranges for position theyre recruiting for.

And take a look at the "ghetto" east side of the city. You think all of forest lawn, dover, marlborough is making $100k?

Originally Posted by jolinar of malkshor

Think about how many people work minimum wage jobs and even people to make say 90,000 now adays....that is still a lot of money and that is per person. Think about most government jobs......not many pay over 50,000 - 60,000 and the public service is the single largest employer in Canada.

[Slava]

In my profession I see a lot of peoples incomes...This seems about right to me. I have a lot of clients who make much, much more. But there are a lot of people out there who make less.

As a household income the number would be higher, but on an individual basis I would doubt that 5% are over $100k.

[GreenTeaFrapp]

Originally Posted by jolinar of malkshor

Think about most government jobs......not many pay over 50,000 - 60,000 and the public service is the single largest employer in Canada.

Heh.

There's a reason why Ottawa has one of the highest average incomes in the country.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by GreenTeaFrapp

Heh.

There's a reason why Ottawa has one of the highest average incomes in the country.

I worked for the government for a couple of years and was only making $36,000 (as a professional no less). I was at the lowest level at that time, but even the top scientists were only making around $60,000.

My gf works for the government now and makes less than $50,000.

If Ottawa does have one of the highest incomes, it doesn't have to do with the normal government worker's salary. On average, I would say that the private sector pays much better and it's why I left the government.