My guess is that they add everything together. 47K was a number posted earlier, most of the people in my area work overtime to make $25,000 per year which really isn't much when you stop and figure what the cost of living is these days. Is it true that factory workers and people that are stuck in the manufacturing sector are actually making less than they did a few years ago?
2006-08-09 09:35:11 · 4 answers · asked by tadpoleslider 2 in Social Science ➔ Economics
The number you are talking about is the average HOUSEHOLD income. If a husband and a wife make $25,000 each, their household income is in fact $50,000.
2006-08-09 10:17:05 · answer #1 · answered by NC 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Um, yep, they take every ones salaries, add 'em up, and divide them by the total number of salaries. Of course, there are some people who make a lot more than 47K and some people who make a lot less. That's how averages work. The high numbers offset the low and vice versa. I don't know what to tell you about the people who barely make 25K, they must have chosen the wrong field.
2006-08-09 16:41:06 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yeah, he is right.. Household income. They take total income and they divide by the number of households. You have to be careful though. Although someone like bill gates may have a net worth of tens of billions of dollars, his income (as used for this calculation) is not as high. Income is what you bring in for one year. As far as I can tell, yes real wages have decreased for the manufacturing sector. Inflation has grown faster than wages for that field.
2006-08-09 19:38:43 · answer #3 · answered by TheSilence 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They take that income of that homeless guy on the corner (000.00)
and that of Bill Gates (50-something billion), and find the middle ground somewhere.
Ok, so I don't know...sue me!
2006-08-09 16:42:45 · answer #4 · answered by Sick Puppy 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋