# What Percent Are You? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 18, 2012, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percent-are-you/609882 "2012-01-18T05:41:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percent-are-you/609882/61 "2012-01-19T04:36:44Z")
5% nationally, 16% for my area (San Jose) ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percent-are-you/609882/62 "2012-01-19T05:17:49Z")
My fiance and I are in the top 3% (top 5% locally NYC). I’m a manager in the NYC office of a Silicon Valley startup formed by a bunch of other former management consultants and she rates RMBSs for a rating agency. Both of us have MBAs. But we would give it all up in a second for just a little more! ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percent-are-you/609882/63 "2012-01-19T05:31:08Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > For those of you in the top say..30% what do you do for a living? I’m an actuary. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percent-are-you/609882/64 "2012-01-19T05:49:02Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > For those of you in the top say..30% what do you do for a living? Attorney. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percent-are-you/609882/65 "2012-01-19T06:56:08Z")
Top 41%, both nationally and regionally. Apparently I live in an area which matches the national average. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percent-are-you/609882/66 "2012-01-19T06:58:13Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > Okay, that was weird. According to the site, I’m in the top 45% for where I live, but in the bottom 49% of the country. Quadlings apparently have lower than average incomes. ---
**Author:** ![groo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecd19e/32.png) [@groo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percent-are-you/609882/67 "2012-01-19T07:12:22Z")
Engineer: Embedded radar software. Incredibly fascinating job, but it’s a niche market. ---
**Author:** ![groo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecd19e/32.png) [@groo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percent-are-you/609882/68 "2012-01-19T08:36:05Z")
Forgot: top 5% last year, but it was an unusual (and good) year. My base salary is just in the top 7%. I appreciate the salary right now; I really do, but this is after 27 years of very difficult work, and the working conditions have become abyssmal in the past ten years. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percent-are-you/609882/69 "2012-01-19T10:48:18Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > For those of you in the top say..30% what do you do for a living? I posted above (top 5%) (Me) Engineer: Embedded avionics software. (Wife) Banker: Loan department manager. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percent-are-you/609882/70 "2012-01-19T15:02:52Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > For those of you in the top say..30% what do you do for a living? My wife and I have a combined household income of top 5% nationally, top 10% DC area. I work in international development, I had mostly worked for not for profits, but recently took a job with a for profit. I’ve been doing this a long time and I’m close to reaching my pay plateau. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percent-are-you/609882/71 "2012-01-19T15:39:50Z")
By the way, if any other 5%ers are in the NYC area this weekend, we are going shopping for solid gold toilet seats. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percent-are-you/609882/72 "2012-01-19T18:08:00Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > By the way, if any other 5%ers are in the NYC area this weekend, we are going shopping for solid gold toilet seats. Does Ikea carry them? ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percent-are-you/609882/73 "2012-01-19T18:17:53Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > Top 5% here as well. Like Dangerosa, we’re a two income household. Both in the medical field. I don’t think it’s “hard” when you have two college grads both working to end up in the top 30%, depending on what sort of career they are in. It’s just math. It’s one of the reasons that household income can be misleading. I’m on another board that has a lot of stay at home moms, many convinced that households like mine are “unfair”. But there IS an element of choice in addition to luck, fate, ability, etc. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percent-are-you/609882/74 "2012-01-19T18:42:01Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > For those of you in the top say..30% what do you do for a living? Attorney. ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percent-are-you/609882/75 "2012-01-19T18:52:31Z")
Bottom 47% nationwide, bottom 37% in my area. Single income household, local government employee. ---
**Author:** ![Necros](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/necros/32/11086_2.png) [@Necros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necros)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percent-are-you/609882/76 "2012-01-19T18:55:00Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > I’m on another board that has a lot of stay at home moms, many convinced that households like mine are “unfair”. What the heck do they mean by that? Us, both IT management, but the wife tends more towards the sales/product side. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_fun_ball/32/17664_2.png) [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Fun_Ball)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percent-are-you/609882/77 "2012-01-19T19:31:43Z")
I’m an optical engineer (currently working in aerospace), my wife does strategic planning of various types as a hired gun. She makes about the same as I do but only works half as much. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percent-are-you/609882/78 "2012-01-19T20:15:26Z")
> [@Necros](#): > > What the heck do they mean by that? We can afford things they can’t, despite their husbands having “good jobs” A lot of people really don’t get that you give up something to get something, at least most of the time. That someone else can do something they can’t is “unfair” even when their choice drove their situation. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percent-are-you/609882/79 "2012-01-19T20:54:18Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > I don’t think it’s “hard” when you have two college grads both working to end up in the top 30%, depending on what sort of career they are in. It’s just math. It’s one of the reasons that household income can be misleading. I’m on another board that has a lot of stay at home moms, many convinced that households like mine are “unfair”. But there IS an element of choice in addition to luck, fate, ability, etc. Yeah, two people earning the median personal income ($40k) have a 75th percentile household income. And then if you look at people with a college degree, two median personal incomes ($56k) adds up to a 90th percentile household. Or, in my case, my wife and I are in grad school, and both of our stipends combined put us right around the 50% line. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percent-are-you/609882/80 "2012-01-20T00:50:13Z")
Bottom 2%. In _Tennessee_. Damn. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percent-are-you/609882.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percent-are-you/609882.md?page=5)