Posted on 10/06/2007 11:25:28 AM PDT by Maelstorm
If you get paid a salary, you probably don't give much thought to what you make on an hourly basis. Either the thought is too depressing ("That's all I make per hour?"), produces too much guilt ("That's how much the company spends every time I take a 'little' break to watch YouTube videos?"), or simply doesn't occur to you. That said, $25 an hour may not sound like much, until you realize that the median household salary is $46,326 according to the 2005 U.S. Census Bureau, and that breaks down to about $22.27 per hour for a 40-hour work week.
So who's making more than the average American at $25 an hour?
1. Market analyst -- $27.18/hour
Market analysts work in government agencies, consulting firms, financial institutions or marketing research firms, where they research and predict the sales potential of a particular product or service. A bachelor's degree is the minimum requirement for many jobs; however, a master's degree in a field such as business administration, marketing, statistics or communications will provide more opportunities.
Average annual salary: $56,541*
2. Chemist -- $25.16/hour
Chemists search for and use knowledge about chemicals to discover and develop new and improved products, processes to save energy and reduce pollution, and advances in fields like medicine and agriculture. A bachelor's degree in chemistry or a related discipline is the minimum educational requirement; however, many research jobs require a master's degree or doctorate.
Average annual salary: $52,333
3. Civil engineer -- $25.29/hour
Civil engineers plan, design and oversee engineering for building projects like airports, bridges, buildings and irrigation systems. They often need a degree in civil engineering or certification as a registered civil engineer.
Average annual salary: $52,605
4. Social worker -- $25.06/hour
Social workers work for places like community centers, hospitals and penal institutions, where they develop programs to help individuals and groups enhance their personal relationships and social development. Social workers receive accreditation through a four-year college degree program in social work and on-the-job experience.
Average annual salary: $52,119
5. Human resources generalist -- $26.90/hour
Human resources generalists work to improve working conditions within an establishment by identifying, evaluating and resolving problems in employee relations and work performance. A combination of directly related training and experience is typically required for carrying out the responsibilities for this job.
Average annual salary: $55,959
6. Architect -- $26.41/hour
Architects apply their knowledge of design to plan and supervise the construction of building projects according to their clients' needs and financial resources. Architects need a degree from an approved school of architecture.
Average annual salary: $55,060
7. Speech pathologist -- $25.05/hour
Speech pathologists specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of speech and language disorders and study the science of human communication. Practice requires a four-year degree in the field of health sciences.
Average annual salary: $52,105
8. Budget analyst -- $26.71/hour
Budget analysts review financial plans and help institutions prepare budgets, improve efficiency and lower costs. Budget analysts typically have at least a bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, business, public administration, economics, statistics, political science or sociology.
Average annual salary: $55,579
9. Detective -- $27.02/hour
Detectives carry out investigations to prevent crimes or solve criminal cases. Detectives are appointed based on their eligibility under civil service regulations, their performance in competitive written exams and their previous education and experience.
Average annual salary: $56,197
10. Physical therapist -- $25.68/hour
Physical therapists plan and administer medically prescribed treatment for patients suffering from injuries or certain diseases to restore function, relieve pain and prevent disability. A combination of training and experience is typically required to practice, as well as compliance with state licensing requirements.
Average annual salary: $53,410
My personal opinion is you should never spend more than half an annual starting salary on the education it takes to get in the door. I know many would disagree but I think it is stupid to spend 400,000 on education when you are only expecting a 100,000 return the first year let alone a paltry 50,000k return. So many young people don't look beyond the school and the easy loans and too many end up having to have help from their parents or government long after they have began working full time in their profession. So they end up with loans they can't repay or makes life extremely difficult for them and their families to remain economically stable. They can at first easily get credit cards during this phase of desperation and "surprise surprise" they use them and use them till they can't pay those back either. Then a path to bankruptcy and bitterness. My advice is not to listen to your teachers on career advice they will guarantee you will be as poor as they.
One does not have to be a doctor to make doctor like salaries. It does not take years of expensive education and masters degrees to be successful. Many kids get depressed because they see no upward road or see the road blocked with money lenders and toll booths. Targeting your proficiencies to hit the highest possible economic return has more to do with understanding the supply and demand of the jobs you are interested in. Also one should consider moving or commuting temporarily to an area where the job they want to do is in very high demand. They can then get training and a fast track up the ladder that wouldn't be available otherwise.
If anyone has experience being a DBA or is interested in learning. Send me a private email. There is very high demand for DBAs and Business Intelligence Developers and it is only going to grow.
That's a lot of money in some parts of the country, in other parts it's not enough.
Those numbers are REALLY low - the starting salary for ME’s is greater than what is cited as the median.
Don’t tell the dems, but there are alot of jobs at those links
LOL
Good point.
Try this.
GEt a job with a telephone company - any will do - they only need to use a 5ESS in thier switching system.
For about $40K (varies on your location) you can get all the training you need to be a 5ESS switch tech.
Take a job in Sudia Arabia ($100K to $150K for a year) to pay off your cost of education and come bck STateside after 2 years (for tax reasons).
Depending on location union/nonunion, 5ESS techs can make between 50 to 100K year.
No degree, no need.
It could happen.
I don’t think the Dems are concerned about that right now. Re-runs of Oprah are on. (Oh...You mean the House,Senate and MSM dems). My mistake, LOL
LOL....check the pay of "court interpreters" in your area....
Here in Dallas, TX these folks are asking for a raise from the *measly* 25 bucks ph to 50 bucks per hour.
imagine if i didnt get screwed out of a huge HUGE chunk of my paycheck by the illegal income tax??
Imagine if wages weren't being artificially held down by illegal aliens.< /thread hijack>
Here’s an exercise for you...
Take your gross pay and add %7.5. Then divide by 2080. That will get your hourly gross rate.
Then take your net paycheck multiply times the number of paycheks per year and then divide by 2080 and get your hourly net rate.
Compare those two figures and look how much you pay in Taxes, Medicare, Insurance etc per hour.
Imagine if you got the whole thing every pay period...
25 dollars an hour isn’t alot? WTH? Something’s seriously wrong here.. because in my neck of the woods, that’s considered way over the top... most folks around here consider themselves lucky to make more than 10 dollars an hour.. The only people who make more than 15 dollars an hour are shrinks, plumbers and electricians.. and they make closer to 80 dollars an hour.
I love shoes. Al, in Greentree, about 25 miles from me, is one of the last great shoe repair guys. I picked up six pairs this morning I had dropped off last week. He charged me $250 for soles, heals and his best shine.
He does an honest day’s work for an honest day’s dollar and has more work than he can handle. He’s going to retire one of these days and I am going to have to find someone else. I’ve tried to find someone closer a time or so, but they just don’t fix shoes like Al.
If I had it to do over again, I might learn a trade instead of a profession.
That's not what I said.
I don't even own 6 pairs of shoes. Now, my wife's shoes is another matter
So...why aren’t you a plumber?
You ain’t in Silicon Valley are you, boy?
The unmentioned idiotic detail of government statistics: they are assuming one person working full time to support a family of four ...
The more likely scenario is two working parents with two kids, for $10/hour/per adult.
I agree. In the technical jobs those may be starting salaries, but I would think that after 10 years or so the salaries would be considerably higher.
When I was young and dirt poor, I would get one pair of cheap shoes in September that had to last me until the next June. By then, they were usually held together with black, sticky electrical tape. My dream was to have one pair of shoes for every day of the week.
I can go three weeks without wearing the same pair twice. Some of those pairs are 15 years old. (Tip - black wingtips never go out of style.)
Some dreams do come true.
I goofed when I read it - it said CE’s, not ME’s. I dunno, maybe target-builders are cheaper than weapon-builders.
But not that much. Sarting salary for any engineer in my AO is 60k, plus.
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