What Is High Pay?

Everybody wants to be rich. Duh. Most folks, as a result, want a high paying job to get the money coming in. Thing is, knowing what is high pay doesn’t translate to a universal standard. Cost of living varies location by location. So does quality of life and how much money impacts that. Then you have to drill down further and ask, what is high pay for my industry? For professionals in my line of work and with my years of experience? You get the idea: high pay depends on who you ask.

There are some easy markers of answering what high pay is. “High pay” is whatever job you have that provides much more than “enough”. I personally define high pay as anything that pays you at least $80,000 a year for 40-ish hour work weeks. Some set the bar lower than that; others set it higher. There’s also those that go further in the definition, claiming high pay is whatever lets you amass a fortune in a shorter amount of time.

High pay is also different than what the average salary is; “average” is the measuring stick, with anything more than that being the high pay you’re looking for. If you want to figure out the averages and what high pay is, you’ve come to the right place.

So What is the Appropriate Amount?

If you want to know what high pay is for your specific career – and therefore your own prospects of hitting it – I’m happy to note the Internet makes this easy. After some quick Google searches you can tell what the average salary is by age range, by gender, by race, by sexual orientation, and even by height. As a 20-something white woman in the 96^th percentile for height, these are all good bench markers; demographically-speaking at least, my $90k salary is very much high pay.

If I wanted to look at this from a more career-focused perspective, it’s sites like Payscale and Glassdoor that have the information I need. Both anonymously collect salary reports so the rest of us can know what the going market rate is for most job titles. I can go to either one and look up what the average salaries are for the roles I’m interested in, including my current one as a marketing manager. According to that, I’m making a little bit of a high salary; the current rate is in the high 80s range, so I’m only a little bit high pay according to my job title.

I’d caution against using that as a bench marker for high pay; instead this is good for figuring out which high-pay jobs are the ones you want to target.

This is Different for Everyone

As I’ve said, my definition of high pay is $90,000. But that’s coming from some random chick living in the Boston area. If I was still living where I grew up, the answer to “what is high pay” is more like $50,000. And in even more backwoods parts of the country, the number is lower than that.

Why the difference? It depends on how far your dollar goes in your area. In Boston your money doesn’t go that far. In Fearsville (my home town!) your dollar means much more. A median two-bed rental in Boston is $2,680, and that’s after rates have fallen in the last year. In Fearsville that would probably get you a sprawling mansion, if there were mansions to rent. There’s not because it’s a beaten down and haunted area, but I digress.

It’s not just between these two places where high pay differs. My $90,000 would seem like peanuts in places like New York or Los Angeles; even less so in cities like Paris, Singapore, and – apparently? – Osaka, Japan.

Don’t even get me started on how different this is depending on your own financial hangups and expectations. In college I worked as a personal assistant for a divorcee living in Beacon Hill (which is the old-money, uber-rich area of Boston). One day I’m going through her mail and find a check from her ex-husband. The check itself was for something like $118,000 and I shakily handed it to her immediately. She glanced at it, cackled, and commented “This will pay for my next year of expenses!”

I’m sorry, what?

At the time I could’ve stretched that amount of money to cover half a decade and still have money left over. She’s giving me $10 an hour to watch her play around on Facebook and complain about her family; what else does she possibly do that makes this only float her for a year?

Then again, it can be a lot more out-of-touch than that, as our lovely friend DeNiro can attest:

So it will take some calculating to understand what “high pay” would be for your needs. I’m assuming you’re good enough with your money that you don’t need to blow six or seven figures to be happy and fulfilled. Outside of rent I’m now spending around $12,000 a year, which my pay can provide for more than once. Ask yourself how much money you’d need to spend in a year to feel secure and content; the high pay for you is whatever will give you that, plus cushion for your savings and investments.

This Will Change Throughout Your Life

The concept of “high pay” will change for you throughout your life. I still consider my current salary ($90k) a high salary, but not as highly as I once did. This is fully due to ease of comparison – I live in one of the richest suburbs of Boston, with most of my neighbors and coworkers making serious bank.

Let’s compare further. If we traveled back in time twenty years to my six-year-old self, first-grade me would consider $10 the ultimate high-pay figure. Do you even know how much that can buy me at the dollar store? I’d have been overwhelmed with options. Alexander Hamilton would have witnessed a very exuberant little kid literally shaking with joy as she runs around the candy and toy aisles.

Today that same $10 has gone through the trials of inflation and general adulthood realities like “making rent” and “taxes”. 26-year-old me disagrees with 6-year-old me on what is high pay, which makes sense. 36- and 46-year-old me will likely have deviating opinions as well. I fully expect my views on money to change thanks to later life adjustments. They hopefully won’t change to mirror those of that Beacon Hill divorcee, but they will somehow shift to accommodate different responsibilities.

Is it All About the High Pay?

It would be awesome if I could wave a magic wand and get so much money I wouldn’t really have a reason to pursue high pay. Who wouldn’t want a fortune to enjoy? Bring me that inheritance/winning lottery ticket/lucky stock pick STAT! I got goals and dreams to realize that ain’t gonna fund themselves!

In lieu of that wand I will define high pay in the way I, myself, consider that to be. You have to do the same for yourself to better inform what you want in your own unique life journey. You might find some high pay jobs aren’t worth it due to bad work/life balance or a toxic workplace. I’m proud of you if you choose to go into a job that doesn’t suck your soul dry. Blindly going after high pay without considering what you want out of the job itself is a recipe for disaster. High pay is the main perk of a good job, sure, but it’s not the only factor you need to consider.

So now is the time I ask you: what is high pay in your life? Shoot me a message on it to help me and other readers gain some great perspective!

Cover image credit: Benjamin Wong via Unsplash