What would you consider a "high", "medium" and " low" salary for where you live?

[SnowyPaws]

DH has just been offered a new job- great! I think it's a good offer he doesn't seem as impressed. He is more driven than money by me though. Would be interested to know other people's perceptions of salaries.

East Mids

low - under 30k
medium - 30-80
high 80+

however amongst our immediate circle it would be different since there are many in the group earning 150k+

in Scotland as household
very low just benefits or under 12k for full time 1 person
low under 23k ie no longer any benefits
medium 23-50k
high over 50 K ie higher rate tax payer
very high over 100k

High - anything over £25,000
Medium - £12-20,000
Low - under £12,000

I live in Cornwall where wages are shocking.

Rural Wales

Low - under £15k
Average - £15k - £30k
High - over £30k

Low - 2000e a month
Medium - 3500e a month
High - 4500e+ a month

These sorts of threads always reveal how separated from the average person in the UK people on here are, if there are people who think salaries of £40k are 'low'.

The median average salary in the UK is around £20k and many people earn quite a bit less than that (FT NMW is around £15k and all cleaners, retail and care workers plus a lot of people in factories/admin/call centres etc will be on this sort of money. In a lot of areas people like teachers and nurses are quite well paid compared to a lot of people, whereas on here they are generally considered to earn poverty money.

I would consider up to £20k low, £20-40k medium and above £40k high.

But to answer the OPs question, whether her DHs new job pays well depends entirely on what it is, where it is, how senior the post is and what the requirements are in terms of hours/travel etc. Will he have a good work/life balance or will he be expected to work all hours and be away a lot?

For one person doing a full-time job
High: 60K+
Medium: 30-40K
Low: Below 20K

But I know a hospital consultant in the same city as me who is distinctly unimpressed at her 120K+ salary and describes it as "tough" to live on, despite her DH earning 60ish as well.

It depends on your background partly I think - to me anything over 20K is not that bad because growing up I thought I'd be lucky to ever earn that much. While friend was privately educated, expects to be able to send her own DC to private school as well, buy designer clothes and have several foreign holidays a year as basics.

Well high for a part time waitress would be anything over £20k... However I'd regard that as very low for a professionally qualified person. Low would be under £30k, high £80k+. (Surrey commuter belt and assuming two FT working adults.)

London
Low - minimum wage
Medium say £40k - £70k
High over £500k

I'm a lawyer in London. The equity partners at law firms which are good and senior QCs and plenty of other people will earn several hundred thousand a year to £2m+ after 1 - 3 decades of working.

However people need to realise the different costs of living in different places. Until I repaid mortgage my mortgage was £1.3m. Child care is about £24k per child full time. I was paying £90k a year interest only mortgage nad £50k school fees plus for some child care at one point. I don't expect an iota of sympathy as I am very lucky or wise to have chosen law as a career and to be quite good at it but you always need to look at costs.
Eg someone on £13k minimum wage might around here also get a lot of housing benefit and tax credits if they have children which might mean they are on a lot more in practice. The benefits cap if you don't work at all is something like £30k of before tax income equivalent for full time workers!!! (London. Net benefits cap £23k). So a couple on £30k in London before tax may be no better off than people who don't work who are on the £23k benefits cap. Yet someone looking at the two couples might say wow you are on £30k you rich things and poor neighbour existing solely on benefits. Yet the money they have despite our waged couple both working full time for the minimum wage work 80 hours a week between them and end up no better off than our benefits cap couple next door who don't work.

These sorts of threads always reveal how separated from the average person in the UK people on here are, if there are people who think salaries of £40k are 'low'

It's a stupid question with stupid answers, since it is all relative to your skills, experience, profession and location!

Low - minimum wage
Average 20k-30k
High - 30k & over

N Ireland

Come on OP, where are you? what does your DH do, what does he earn now and what has he been offered?

Oh and West Yorkshire here:

low - < 20k
medium - 20-40k
high >40k

Depends on many things. Profession for starters!

Also it is relevant if you have lived elsewhere so are used to that wage. My DH was shocked having moved from SE to where we are now and the difference in wages. Difference is you can earn half of what you do in SE here (nice area in the middle of the country) and be better off than the higher wage in the SE.

Locally, and among friends:-
Low: under £35ish
Medium: 40-100
High £150k+

South-east. Our two up-two down will sell for over £300k

I don't think it reveals how separate people are because it's not a question that can be asked out of context.

Even setting aside the fact that salaries relate to training and experience (so value judgements like 'high' or 'low cannot be separated from that), you can't even tell how well off someone will be without thinking about how much wealth they're sitting on. Someone with a trust fund that pays out £15k a year, no dependents and no rent or mortgage to pay (because they own a house) is going to have more disposable income than many people with far higher incomes.

I'm in a cheap part of the Midlands. I earn £16.5k so by no means a lot but I am comfortably off on this. I always have spare money at the end of the month and enough for 2 holidays a year. I'm in a 2 bed flat just me and DS, we rent. Utility bills are very low.

It all really depends though on how many family members in the house, how high mortgage/rent is. I know people who earn more than me who have less spare money but they have more children.

London:
High is... around £150k or more? (Not combined income)
Not sure about the rest, I guess medium is £50K-150K
Below is low.

I'm in the south east and my husband and I both work full time and our combined income is just above £40K per annum. We have a mortgage, run 2 cars, have 2 children and live quite comfortably.
It's all about knowing your limits and living within your means. We have no credit cards, no debt and have enough disposable income to do the things we want.

It's a stupid question with stupid answers, since it is all relative to your skills, experience, profession and location!

Actually I don't think it is a stupid question and I think the basic question What is high/medium/low income, profession, training etc are irrelevant to the basic question. People still need money to live on and even doing a completely unskilled job should be able to have a decent life, unfortunately income is so unevenly distributed people working two jobs are having to visit food banks and rely on state handouts to feed their family.

Sorry op, bit of a rant. In your husbands case his skills are relevant to income. The other really interesting thing this shows is the different way men and women value themselves. I have heard a lot of research that part of the reason men are paid more is because they just value themselves higher and ask/demand more.

Low - min wage or thereabouts
Medium - 25K
High - 40K +

OP, were you talking about combined wages or...?

And anyhow, it depends on so many other things. Age, job, experience, inherited etc...

Deprived area of Cornwall.

Low: 8-15K
Medium: 15-25K
High: 25k+

Less then 20k low
Under 30k medium
Anything over 30k high

East Midlands

Btw, what would you classify as 'high'?

High means, imo, that you live a very comfortable live and aren't too 'squeezed'. But you aren't rich either. Or...?

Op, I think your question is too vague!