Money

Charts Show How Much You're Likely to Make at Your Age

May 29th 2016

How much do you make?

If you're middle-aged, male, Asian-American, and living in Maryland, you're likely to have a sizable income. But if you're a Millennial, you're not doing that great, at least according to data from Credit Repair. Researchers analyzed information from the U.S. Census Bureau historical tables for median income. According to the study, all income levels are based on the 2014 dollar value and pulled from the 2014 Census Data.

Credit Repair studied the median income of Americans by age, ethnicity, education level, and state. Some of its findings:

  • People aged 35-44 have the highest median incomes, followed by people aged 45-54.
  • Men out-earned women in every age group.
  • Asian-Americans aged 35-44 have the highest median income, $51,981.
  • Whites aged 45-54 are in second place, with a median income of $41,326.
  • Whites and Asian-Americans earned more than Blacks and Hispanics in all age groups, except among people aged 65 or older: In that group, Blacks actually earned more than Asian-Americans, though less than Whites (Hispanics earned the least in that age group).

Credit RepairCredit Repair - creditrepair.com

Women earn less across the board.

Credit Repair's data confirm the conclusion that women earn less than men in America, even though they comprise more than half of the workforce and outpace men in college enrollment.

The average American woman earns 79 cents for every dollar earned by the average man in America, according to The Washington Post.

One possible explanation for the gender pay gap is society's understanding of a woman's role as primary caregiver. It is often argued that women, more often than men, take time off work to have and raise children and these family choices are to justify the wage discrepancy, according to Vox. Another reason, of course, may be sexism in the workplace and a bias against professions in which women are dominant.

Race plays a factor.

Credit Repair's data also confirm that income varies widely depending on ethnicity.

Credit Repair infographicCredit Repair - creditrepair.com

Apart from open racial discrimination, one reason for the disparity in income levels among the various ethnicities may be the nature of jobs available to people of color and their levels of educational attainment.

Hispanics make up 15 percent of the labor force, but they account for 36 percent of high school dropouts, according to The Atlantic. Hispanics are overrepresented in lower-paying industries: They make up about half of all farm workers and laborers, 44 percent of grounds maintenance workers, and 43 percent of maids and house cleaners.

Blacks similarly account for only 11 percent of the workforce but are overrepresented in such low-paying professions as home health aide, where they account for a third of the workforce, as well as security guards (25 percent) and bus drivers (25 percent).

Whites, meanwhile, account for 80 percent of the nation's workers but are disproportionately represented in higher-income brackets, professions, and management. Nearly 90 percent of CEOs are White, The Atlantic reported.

Similarly, Asian-Americans make up only 5 percent of the workforce, but are overrepresented in the beauty industry (60 percent), software development (29 percent), and medicine (20 percent are physicians and surgeons).

College education plays a huge part.

It's no surprise that the higher you go in education, the better off you'll be in the long run — hopefully.

Credit Repair infographicCredit Repair - creditrepair.com

According to the Credit Repair, you're likely to cash in big if you have a degree in medicine, law, or dental care.

But if you're young, you're out of luck.

But for most Millennials, education isn't the problem. It's securing a job in the first place.

In 2015, 2.8 million college students graduated with bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees, with no guarantee of employment. Millennials make up 40 percent of the unemployed, even as the U.S. unemployment rate of 5 percent is the lowest level in years, according to CNBC.

[h/t Credit Repair]

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