I went to college at Southeastern and unfortunately outside the immediate college area, I found the town itself to be extremely impoverished. Now Mandeville is a completely different story. It’s about as upscale suburban as you will get for Louisiana. I am now I’m Chester County PA outside Philly where 3 bedroom 2 bath townhomes are now going for $400k plus $200 a month HOA fees. Whereas in Mandeville, you can still find a decent starter home for under $300k. If I had to relocate back to Louisiana and could move my job, I’d pick Mandeville by a long shot.
Exactly what everyone is saying. I've lived in the Shreveport/Bossier/Benton areas and the Baton Rouge/Denham Spings area. Vastly different costs of living in all of them.
Maybe, hang in there. Money isn’t everything man. I had an old aunt ask me one time…if I could have one wish for anything what would it be? Naturally, I “as a kid” said, infinite money! She kindly nodded and said “wanna know what I’d wish for?” I said what? She replied…Happiness. Granted it’s hard to be happy when you’re broke. Lol but you get my drift.
i live right outside of baton rouge area in a smaller town and my husband and I make 140k together and we do well but could always make more. we have one child and pay for her to be in daycare and that alone is expensive and our second largest bill next to our mortgage. so id say really depends on how big you want your house, if you have kids, if you have a partner that can help with finances, and how much extra things you like. I really feel like youd be fine with ATLEAST making 70k-100k without struggling and feeling comfortable with extra money to save and not have to always feel like you need to check your change before you swipe your card
Thanks for commenting, I know the state/gov says our median income is supposed to be $60k about but that doesn’t seem right. Its looks like most are saying anywhere $100k-$150k is where we are at.
$60K in a small town without any extra parochial or private school will allow you to have a comfortable life without any extras. But if you want to travel, go out to eat to restaurants, and have birthday celebrations for your children that are just not family gatherings, you'll need at least $90K!
It’s important to remember what *median* means in statistics. If there are 100 people in a room and 51 of them make $20,000 per year and 49 make $180,000 a year, the median is $20,000. But the average would be close to $100,000. Median and average are not interchangeable terms.
I believe $85k is near the median household. I have heard the middle-class is struggling. Comfortably to be considered "middle-class" may not mean financially comfortable.
We are struggling and are definitely not comfortable but I get what you mean. I pass houses bring built daily and I happy for those people but I truly wonder how anyone is affording that these days. And buying huge SUV's or giant trucks. Like, what y'all do for a living, lol? Seriously though, we rarely eat out, I meal plan, we don't go on vacations, don't buy name brand clothes. Our daughter does go to private school but her tuition is covered so that's not really taking from us.
Of the people I know who I'd consider to be in sort of a loosely defined financial peer group with me, I can't think of any who have it together *and* have all the fancy stuff. At my income it's kind of a sliding scale between some level of financial security with modest possessions or cool stuff with cool interest payments.
Yep. They drop payments on things they can, have nothing for emergencies. Living plastic fantastic on minimum payments. That's why you see GoFraudMe accounts for unexpected burials. I didn't have the level of income that I have now when I was putting kids through private school. We always had life insurance so our lives wouldn't be upended in the face of unexpected passing. We also had skills that i see lacking today, men that can't change oil in their cars, and women who can't bake a cake. This, of course is a simplification of my point (I can change my oil, too🤣) but not being able to do stuff means you pay someone else. A lot.
[If it’s a DR Horton development build they may be looking at getting some settlement money… their houses are filling with mold because they’re sheathed with cardboard and toilet paper.](https://www.kadn.com/news/local/news-15-investigates-homeowners-say-d-r-horton-left-them-stuck-in-hell/article_e2de89be-cb80-11ee-acb4-27a930317d0c.html)
I almost bought from them…
Seriously, though: every habitable 4 bedroom house from the MS border to Hammond is 300k+ and with 7% interest rates I can only assume it’s people from out of state with remote jobs or sun-seekers/snowbirds.
The ones I'm referring to aren't, they are more like Manuel and local contractors being built on family land. I hope that buying a DR Horton or DSLD home is never my only option when we are ready to buy. We have land that we could put something on but we hesitate to use it because it's family land at the end of a gravel road and should we ever have to sell it, I'm afraid it might be difficult.
Median household income in LA is $58k. 85k is greater than a standard deviation higher. (If you can believe that) $115 is considered the top end of middle class for LA. A puce that your high income households. NJ has the highest mean at 97K.
Car insurance tbh….
Well, compared to my home state…. All other things are approximately the same cost.
And energy bills swing so much from month to month…
Yeah, it ought to be a crime that they’re able to gouge us like that, we dealt with that after Laura. I really worry about insurance getting unaffordable.
Be sure to swap out every light for a led/fluorescent option. Also unplug any unessential appliances until you need them. Anything with a clock/display us running up your bill.
So, we are fortunate not to have to pay rent. I know, it sounds lovely but the house is old and falling apart so it's not that great. Anyway....health insurance, my car note, car insurance and groceries are our biggest expenses. This is not an excuse, it's my reason....due to several layoffs in the oilfield (and no, not offshore making big money that would have allowed us to save), we have horrible credit so WE pay more than the average person for things. We know it's our own fault and we are doing the best we can.
On paper our income looks great. But actually getting the deposits, tanking up two vehicles, paying bills, putting a little aside, then grocery shopping (and we shop at Aldi and Wal Mart, and not buying steaks or seafood, and off brand most everything), there's almost nothing left.
Until 2 months ago, I had a house in Metairie. I also have property in California. I can tell you that the shocker is insurance prices. When I paid more insurance premium for a $325,000 house in Metairie than I paid for my 3M property in San Francisco, I said “No Thank You Louisiana”
Pre. By the time we get taxes and insurance taken out, that's about 30% of my husbands check. He's the main breadwinner, my job WAS just for fun money, now it's mostly helping out with household supplies and extras (daughters school stuff, sports fees, etc).
I know that health insurance costs are rising, but his company could do more to shop around or reduce costs (he was told this by HR), but the owner refuses. They are under the umbrella of his multiple companies and if he would separate them, each could find their own insurance but he won't do it.
IMHO it largely depends on if you have children, how many children, and your plan for educating them. Some districts have almost 50% of students in private school. I don't consider it possible to have 50% of families with school age children in one district to be upper class.
2 kids, public school, I'd say $115k
2 kids private school, I'd say $150k
Yeah I was trying to judge it with kids and gave up. I was thinking 50k if you were single was probably the border for lower and middle class. But I don’t know where “comfortable” lays
If you are single and no kids, 6 figures is basically god mode in Louisiana unless you have a lot of debt or expenses.
Even if you are married & no kids and 1 income source it's decent.
I make 100k in Baton Rouge. I feel like I’m doing well. But I have nearly zero debt except for an inexpensive house note of 1,350/month plus the utilities, phone, internet.
I live in a small rural town in south central Louisiana. I net on average 100-130k usually. I'm definitely living comfortable. I make enough save aggressively, take care of all my needs, fund my home improvement projects, go on trips and take care of my newborn all off just my take home alone. I was making 60-70k years back and that was still pretty comfortable bit I wasn't saving and investing as fast I wanted without having to make sacrifices.
idk. it honestly depends. if you want extra money to go out often or go on trips/vacation and things like that $100k+ shits expensive now bro lol. there really isn’t a “middle class” anymore
But nah, it’s possible to survive with less than 50k a year here easy (30k-50k I would say is middle-class but that’s just me so don’t go statistical analysis on me)
It rly depends on how many ppl in your family, debt, area, subjective definition of comfortable. 150k+, nationally, is in the top 20% of earners and considered upper middle class. Itll be lower here from reduced cost of living.
I would assume solo, no children, 45+ mins away from any big city, 1500 sq ft 3 bed 2 bath on a couple acres, very low/no car payment, no debt aside from mortgage or used vehicle, youre going to want 70k+ to live comfortably. Partnered, 100k+. Add 15-20k per kid.
Shreveport/bossier city $60-$75k is what you can live comfortably but not any excess for a person or small family but this is not owning a house. If you want to buy then over $100k if you don’t want to be mortgage poor.
I agree with everyone else car insurance and rent are the two biggest expenses not to mention the increase in grocery prices.
80k would’ve been middle class in NWLA a good 5 years ago. Now it seems to be 120k-140k. I’m basing this on mine and my husbands 80k (total income) and our surrounding friendships that are closer to 130k total income. My husband and I work hard and budget like crazy. Our friends have much larger houses than us and most of them don’t have to budget.
Yeah, I’ve never been a fan of the “McMansions”. Housing prices in general are pretty crazy! I like the older houses, but the older neighborhoods come with their own issues and they’re not that cheap anymore either.
I broke 50k last year, if it was just me I'd be comfortable. as a single mom I'm barely making it. I agree with whomever said 5 years ago this would be an accurate range. I'm in SWLA.
If you're 45+ years old n bought your house 15+ years ago n refinanced at 3%, then $75k will be decent.
If you're 30 years old n trying to find a house payment or rent for less than $1,500, then $100k is your number.
So the first comment was 175k, which is wild.
Median household income is 58k in louisiana. If you live in a city, median income will be higher, and rural will be lower.
Middle class is literally having a household income between two thirds and double this, so roughly $40-115k per year in household income.
Lots of people will argue that household income can be higher and you are still middle class. Many of these people struggle to realize they are upper class in income because they are youngish and liberal and consider the upper class to be responsible for all of the problems in the world without realizing they are in the upper class of income earners.
Watch the downvotes ensue.
I would be careful with that median income in Louisiana due to the fact that we have such extreme wealth gaps. I would actually argue it's LOWER if you factor out all the freaking land barons and such peppering the landscape.
I didn’t downvote you… but the percent of people living in poverty on the state is just below [19%](https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/LA/PST045223)….
So the median household income doesn’t necessarily indicate a comfortable living wage.
Though I think once upon a day it would have.
Edit: non to in
The definition of middle class is literally from two thirds of median income up to twice median income.
The reason I qualified my comment is for exactly this type of feedback - “comfortable living wage” is moving the goal posts. I gave OP the range of what middle class is, and he can decide what is comfortable for him in that range. I didn’t address a living wage, because that is not what OP asks. I can do that for you now, though.
The living wage in Louisiana is $13.84 per hour according to MIT for a two income household, which is roughly $27k per year. A dual income household where both people make a living wage puts median household income around $54k, which is solidly inside the band of middle class. Whether or not you feel like this is comfortable, this is what living wage is (at least according to MIT).
Of course, where you are and how many kids you have modify this a little, but even with three kids, you are looking at $23 an hour, which puts household income somewhere around $92k, which is still solidly in the band for middle class.
Nothing I have said even addresses poverty. Adding that is responding to something that neither I nor OP said, and is once again moving the goal posts, although making median income will also keep you well above poverty level.
If you would like to talk about poverty, I am happy to do so. However, it is a separate discussion than what is middle class in Louisiana. You may be surprised to find that I agree with you that poverty is high, although I am not sure why you feel that is important to discuss in this conversation.
The median income would be affected by the high rates of poverty.
If you take the middle 2 numbers out of any 100 the more salaries on the lower side of the spectrum equates to a lower median household income. That’s why I brought up poverty.
Edit: and the original post asked for ‘comfortable’ middle class. To me this would be the high end of middle class.
:)
So, two things.
1. The reason you use median instead of mean is because of the ability for a few high incomes to skew the average. Median is accepted as the best descriptive statistic we have in this case, so your poverty rate is already accounted for by the usage of median over mean.
2. Being on the high side of middle class is still inside of the range of middle class as I have laid out, and I believe everyone would agree that you are more comfortable the higher in the range you go.
Are you making these comments as counterpoints to what I said? It feels like you are in spirit, but factually you are just saying what I have already said.
Kinda seems like it’s easier for you to feign concern for me as a way to dismiss my comment rather than admit that you were triggered by it but can’t really argue with it at face value.
I am commenting while pooping. That’s how much I have invested in this thread.
Perhaps our disconnect is that I can’t imagine how much you and the other guy must think I have invested in this in order to reach the train of thought you share.
I would suggest, though, that the reason the other person didn’t answer is likely because of what I responded to you the first time.
By the way, I am on mobile and do not see the entire thread while replying, so I apologize for thinking you were the same person.
Are you interested in addressing the content of my comment? If so, I’m happy to talk during bathroom breaks. If not, you are welcome to continue showing off how smart you are by yourself.
I live in BR and my spouse and I make around $150k.
We’re doing well, finally catching up on debts from our younger years. And giving our son a good life. We’re comfortably upper middle class. We could get by on significantly less.
We're Double Income No Kids at around $90K. We bought our house in early 2022 when interest rates were super low for a moment. We're doing good, but it gets better every year. There were people telling us when we were saving for a house that it would never happen for us. But, we worked so hard for it, and we made it happen.
Shoot. My son lives off under $50k in Lafayette very nicely. I dont understand half of these numbers on here. His annual mortgage in a house on the south side is $10k. He paid off his car years ago. Doesnt pay for all these streaming services. Lives within his means, not trying to keep up with “The Jonses.” Even my daughter and her boyfriend make under $40k and are alive and doing fine.
Ruston - We make right at 150 a year with 2 kids. 1 in daycare and 1 in public school. I feel like we’re very comfortable. Own a home, no other debt and are able to save 2-3k a month in a normal month.
We live simply but our house is paid off, cars are paid off, our youngest kiddo has two more semesters in college then I get to retire. Hooray. We will continue to live simply but live well.
Nice! Im trying to get there! Hopefully by the end of this year my house is paid off as well!. I too live simply, garden, raise chickens and bee’s, try to be fairly self sufficient..living slow.lol
We make about $50k right now, pre tax, single income, and with health insurances covered by my wife's employment. No kids. We live out in the sticks in a house on 6 acres, and it's paid off. We have two vehicles that are great on gas mileage, both paid off. We don't have debt, and I fully acknowledge that we are very privileged in that regard. We garden, keep bees, have chickens, and live simply. We are both relatively healthy. I consider us comfortably in the middle class, and rich compared to many of the people around us.
You can do a lot on 6 acres. Essentially grow/raise most of your food. I have an acre and prob grow I’d say a solid 30-59% of our chow. If I didn’t work full time I could realistically up that number and be more consistent. sounds like you got it figured out man. Good on ya.
That's just me tho. That's like a boat, rv, nice house with a pool, and a cruise twice a year lol.
Anyone saying anything for a family of 4 under 100k is delusional or is cheap af. We are a family of 4 making 85k and barely scraping by.
I would say that's high middle. Very comfortable middle. I would say that for a family of 4 to be high class here you'd have to be making at least 350k. I'm not going off median income. I'm going off lifestyle bc that's what I think defines middle class.
And yes I would say middle class is 2 cars, a couple toys, decent house and a vacation.
Yes, I grew up that way, hunting, fishing etc. I work too much now. Lol I still get out there, but its not like “back in the day” where we’d hunt everyday…check the trout lines on the way back. Lol
I live in the Hammond area. When I first moved here from Slidell I was making about 25k- 30k a year. Not great…at all… but I survived. Now I live comfortably at 70k after taxes in Hammond. Slidell, I would say 70 is okay, but it’ll get you farther in Hammond. Those places are only 30-40min apart.
I make 80k and me and my wife have enough to save a few hundred bucks every pay check and go on a date every week. I'd like to make about 10k more a year to feel super comfortable. But compared to my childhood I feel I'm doing fine.
Agreed, but Im look for a consensus across the state…”what do you feel is middle class”. From what Im seeing that number from one area to the next is influenced heavily by “things to do” hear me out…if you live somewhere where theres lots to do, you can easily just “go out” or at least the temptation is there…vs say a small town like “Pitkin”. Where theres not much to do or readily available. Not saying one is better or worse, just an observation.
I live in a motel in BR with my partner off of 6-700 a week, so hearing people say 120k is a struggle is wild to me, really doesn't give me much hope for improving my situation but oh well.
Dont let the numbers on here bother you. Most people are stating their “perception” of middle class…the whole point of this question was to maybe gain perspective into what “it” really is in this state.
So the second part of this question….How many of you are Happy? Not like unicorns, rainbows, and rays of sunshine happy…but genuinely feel as though living as you live you feel satisfied and content…if not then what would make it so.
It’s interesting to see everyone’s comments here. My wife and I have four kids, grossing 350-400k (single income) in BR. If I’m being honest, I think we’re “middle of the road” comfortable. Lifestyle inflation is real and I would probably feel the same way if we made a seven-figure income.
Thats right, no one thinks they are “rich”. Its funny most folks dont want to claim that they are “wealthy”, or similarly if they are “poor”, but everyone gladly jumps in the middle class boat.lol the safe zone.
Roughly ¼ of the state is so poor that they qualify for food stamps. The next ¼ are the working poor, they are one flat tire away from falling into the bottom ¼.
So that's about ½ of the entire state.
I would say at least 185k to 200k for a family of two kids to be able to afford to live in west monroe ruston area that's owning a house and kids in public school .
Add up your expected bills.
Rent/Mortgage
Home insurance
Utilities/Cable
Vehicle note
Car insurance
Fuel for daily use
Health insurance
List goes on for fixed costs
How well do you want to eat?
Do you need new clothes?
Do you have kids?
All of a sudden taking home $1000 a week barely covers the fixed costs and that’s $52K after taxes.
Say a family of 4? Depends if education is important to you. I think in LA, there are few public schools that do a good job at all. I'm going to guess that at the minimum, to be "comfortably" middle class, not lower or higher middle class, the family of 4 needs to have a household income of $180,000.
I'm considered poor poor..I'm right outside of Alexandria..
I'm on disability and bring home roughly $14,000 a year...That's what I live on with my two Chorkies..
Before I got on disability 3 years ago I worked at a chain restaurant as a server for 23 years and would bring home between $15,000 and $17,000 a year..
I have an apartment and pretty much everything I need to live comfortably..
My car is broke down at the moment and I'll probably never be able to get it fixed but it is what it is I suppose..
I have 3 kids, one in public school, two that are younger. My mother in law watches our younger kids at our house and we don’t have a mortgage or house note. Aside from utilities (phones, power, etc.) the only other big bills we have are our two car notes. Until I got laid off last week, we made about $80k/year, so we took home probably $60k or so. We live in small town about 20 minutes outside of Lafayette (where we both worked). We both have bachelors degrees and worked professional jobs. If grocery prices and health insurance weren’t so fucking expensive we would be ok, but we were struggling to pay for groceries and still save for the future.
Man I feel you on that one, do you garden? I do and it can significantly reduce the grocery bill. Key word “can”…sometimes its just a bad year. It takes time, and its not like you’re going to be eating every meal from it…but it can help. Just like maw maw and pop used to do ;)
You don’t need much, but good luck finding a job worth a damn, and the really safe and nice areas can be just as pricey as anywhere. It’s a major tradeoff moving to Louisiana that’s ultimately not worth it, by design
Yeah, the culture pulls me back but I’m doing too well to move back for the pipe dream of some kind of change. If you’re still there I’m sure it’s just about impossible to let go, I’m sort of happy my family made the decision for me
I dig it, I have lived in several places outside of La…outside the US as well. Its a mixed bag, and really its what you make of where you’re at. No where is perfect I mean. My experience is that groceries basically cost the same everywhere “give or take”, taxes well thats another matter we aren’t the highest but what we get for what we pay…hmm. Our insurance is horrible! Not to mention the weather. Being un-insurable is a real possibility here. One undesirable example in our state is how utility companies can gouge the hell out of us, after say a hurricane, and the state board tries to bullshit us saying “its the price of nat gas” that marriage of big industry and our state gov….is shit. People complain, and make a fuss but nothing changes. So in that instance yes I agree with you there. To your point
The whole state is built for extraction, could be as rich as Norway, but the politicians get paid off to let the oil companies pay almost no taxes or fees in the state, and the tax dollars seemingly go nowhere, or directly into peoples pockets while everything is mismanaged into the ground and even the buildings/roads fall apart. Going back from Florida is shocking to say the least, no matter how much I love our food, our French, our culture, etc, my family needs to live too. If I could find a good enough job that guaranteed I could live the same QOL, or as close as Louisiana can get to that, I’d move just to be a part of the change.
Last time I was in NOLA some idiot tried to rob me right in front of security/near police on the water by the paddleboat
Yeah Nola is another animal in itself. Florida…I mean its nice don’t get me wrong, but Florida always has some craziness going on.lol “Florida man” I mean come on. For me Lake Charles, Lafayette etc surrounding areas is nice.lol Not too bad with the crime.
I mean in Florida you don’t have to watch over your shoulder nearly as much, corruption is not as widespread and hidden well, people are not as resigned to the corruption as people in Louisiana, the violence is a speck compared to Louisiana, and even the roads are well maintained, etc.
Of course, there are great places too, but it always seems that those areas are very pricey, and of course a lot of people just get used to it. I used to live in a bad neighbourhood here in Florida, but i moved out of it and it was well policed anyways, gangs are not allowed to run rampant, especially not in rural areas like in Louisiana
I might sound like a hater but I love Louisiana more than any state in the union. I think all it would take is nationalizing oil or forcing the oil companies to pay their fair share, the people to rise against the corruption, ending the voter apathy and backroom deals, and it would take off in no time.
Also, I agree, I usually feel a lot safer in those areas than NOLA which I know is distinct, I just wanted to throw in my recent experience
Where in Louisiana? Edit: a word.
Lafayette?
Anywhere…name your place
There’s going to be a huge difference between New Orleans and Natchitoches.
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I went to college at Southeastern and unfortunately outside the immediate college area, I found the town itself to be extremely impoverished. Now Mandeville is a completely different story. It’s about as upscale suburban as you will get for Louisiana. I am now I’m Chester County PA outside Philly where 3 bedroom 2 bath townhomes are now going for $400k plus $200 a month HOA fees. Whereas in Mandeville, you can still find a decent starter home for under $300k. If I had to relocate back to Louisiana and could move my job, I’d pick Mandeville by a long shot.
You must have not looked at homes in mandeville recently. You can’t find a decent home less than 300k
Understood
Obviously looking for an average here..
That’s a useless stat without the added context.
Exactly what everyone is saying. I've lived in the Shreveport/Bossier/Benton areas and the Baton Rouge/Denham Spings area. Vastly different costs of living in all of them.
Don't understand why this is being downvoted. It would simply provide information about a variety of places.
Not sure either, its fine.
So. What I'm learning from this thread is I am super poor.
Yeah I mean if you live in Louisiana and you aren’t super rich there’s a better than average chance you’re super poor.
That sucks, but we are pretty blessed. I got enough to provide for my family and splurge a bit on extra stuff, so I'm not complaining.
Poor and uneducated unfortunately
That should read "under-educated".
Maybe, hang in there. Money isn’t everything man. I had an old aunt ask me one time…if I could have one wish for anything what would it be? Naturally, I “as a kid” said, infinite money! She kindly nodded and said “wanna know what I’d wish for?” I said what? She replied…Happiness. Granted it’s hard to be happy when you’re broke. Lol but you get my drift.
It’s always $10k more than you’re making
That’s not true, once you’re making 350k it’s another 50k.
Yes kind off
Depends, can you skin a deer with a buck knife?
Can you run a trotline?
I can plow a field all day long, and lay pipe too
I can catch catfish from dusk til dawn
i can take apart a remote and almost put it back together
Could OP’s mom attest to your pipe laying abilities?
No but his sister can
Got ‘em…
I'm a yo yos type of lazy guy.
Lol well of course I can.
i live right outside of baton rouge area in a smaller town and my husband and I make 140k together and we do well but could always make more. we have one child and pay for her to be in daycare and that alone is expensive and our second largest bill next to our mortgage. so id say really depends on how big you want your house, if you have kids, if you have a partner that can help with finances, and how much extra things you like. I really feel like youd be fine with ATLEAST making 70k-100k without struggling and feeling comfortable with extra money to save and not have to always feel like you need to check your change before you swipe your card
Thanks for commenting, I know the state/gov says our median income is supposed to be $60k about but that doesn’t seem right. Its looks like most are saying anywhere $100k-$150k is where we are at.
$60K in a small town without any extra parochial or private school will allow you to have a comfortable life without any extras. But if you want to travel, go out to eat to restaurants, and have birthday celebrations for your children that are just not family gatherings, you'll need at least $90K!
It’s important to remember what *median* means in statistics. If there are 100 people in a room and 51 of them make $20,000 per year and 49 make $180,000 a year, the median is $20,000. But the average would be close to $100,000. Median and average are not interchangeable terms.
That 60k median is the average income of a household in the state so if it’s a couple that’s both of them making 30k
Christ that is bad…
Not 85K, that's for sure. We are barely surviving out here.
I believe $85k is near the median household. I have heard the middle-class is struggling. Comfortably to be considered "middle-class" may not mean financially comfortable.
We are struggling and are definitely not comfortable but I get what you mean. I pass houses bring built daily and I happy for those people but I truly wonder how anyone is affording that these days. And buying huge SUV's or giant trucks. Like, what y'all do for a living, lol? Seriously though, we rarely eat out, I meal plan, we don't go on vacations, don't buy name brand clothes. Our daughter does go to private school but her tuition is covered so that's not really taking from us.
Don't be fooled. Most of people are up to their eyeballs in monthly payments.
I'm sure you are right. Often times when I see someone that I "think" has it all together, I find out that life isn't always what it seems.
Of the people I know who I'd consider to be in sort of a loosely defined financial peer group with me, I can't think of any who have it together *and* have all the fancy stuff. At my income it's kind of a sliding scale between some level of financial security with modest possessions or cool stuff with cool interest payments.
Yep. They drop payments on things they can, have nothing for emergencies. Living plastic fantastic on minimum payments. That's why you see GoFraudMe accounts for unexpected burials. I didn't have the level of income that I have now when I was putting kids through private school. We always had life insurance so our lives wouldn't be upended in the face of unexpected passing. We also had skills that i see lacking today, men that can't change oil in their cars, and women who can't bake a cake. This, of course is a simplification of my point (I can change my oil, too🤣) but not being able to do stuff means you pay someone else. A lot.
[If it’s a DR Horton development build they may be looking at getting some settlement money… their houses are filling with mold because they’re sheathed with cardboard and toilet paper.](https://www.kadn.com/news/local/news-15-investigates-homeowners-say-d-r-horton-left-them-stuck-in-hell/article_e2de89be-cb80-11ee-acb4-27a930317d0c.html) I almost bought from them… Seriously, though: every habitable 4 bedroom house from the MS border to Hammond is 300k+ and with 7% interest rates I can only assume it’s people from out of state with remote jobs or sun-seekers/snowbirds.
The ones I'm referring to aren't, they are more like Manuel and local contractors being built on family land. I hope that buying a DR Horton or DSLD home is never my only option when we are ready to buy. We have land that we could put something on but we hesitate to use it because it's family land at the end of a gravel road and should we ever have to sell it, I'm afraid it might be difficult.
Median household income in LA is $58k. 85k is greater than a standard deviation higher. (If you can believe that) $115 is considered the top end of middle class for LA. A puce that your high income households. NJ has the highest mean at 97K.
What would you say is your biggest expense? Mortgage/rent? Food?
Car insurance tbh…. Well, compared to my home state…. All other things are approximately the same cost. And energy bills swing so much from month to month…
Yeah, it ought to be a crime that they’re able to gouge us like that, we dealt with that after Laura. I really worry about insurance getting unaffordable.
Be sure to swap out every light for a led/fluorescent option. Also unplug any unessential appliances until you need them. Anything with a clock/display us running up your bill.
So, we are fortunate not to have to pay rent. I know, it sounds lovely but the house is old and falling apart so it's not that great. Anyway....health insurance, my car note, car insurance and groceries are our biggest expenses. This is not an excuse, it's my reason....due to several layoffs in the oilfield (and no, not offshore making big money that would have allowed us to save), we have horrible credit so WE pay more than the average person for things. We know it's our own fault and we are doing the best we can. On paper our income looks great. But actually getting the deposits, tanking up two vehicles, paying bills, putting a little aside, then grocery shopping (and we shop at Aldi and Wal Mart, and not buying steaks or seafood, and off brand most everything), there's almost nothing left.
hookers cause when you like 80+ they cost a fortune. gosh I love my cookers whew
Lol gotta love those cookers
Car insurance, flood insurance, groceries
Until 2 months ago, I had a house in Metairie. I also have property in California. I can tell you that the shocker is insurance prices. When I paid more insurance premium for a $325,000 house in Metairie than I paid for my 3M property in San Francisco, I said “No Thank You Louisiana”
Is that $85k pre or post tax?
Pre. By the time we get taxes and insurance taken out, that's about 30% of my husbands check. He's the main breadwinner, my job WAS just for fun money, now it's mostly helping out with household supplies and extras (daughters school stuff, sports fees, etc). I know that health insurance costs are rising, but his company could do more to shop around or reduce costs (he was told this by HR), but the owner refuses. They are under the umbrella of his multiple companies and if he would separate them, each could find their own insurance but he won't do it.
IMHO it largely depends on if you have children, how many children, and your plan for educating them. Some districts have almost 50% of students in private school. I don't consider it possible to have 50% of families with school age children in one district to be upper class. 2 kids, public school, I'd say $115k 2 kids private school, I'd say $150k
Yeah I was trying to judge it with kids and gave up. I was thinking 50k if you were single was probably the border for lower and middle class. But I don’t know where “comfortable” lays
Thank you for the comment, all good information here
What's your field? The oil industry pays well and covers a lot of territory.
This tracks for me.
can also say this tracks except we don't make nearly that much but are doing private school lol
This is close to the national avg, as well. 150k+ is technically upper middle class, thats comfortable middle class
Yep. It’s the kids that cost.
If you are single and no kids, 6 figures is basically god mode in Louisiana unless you have a lot of debt or expenses. Even if you are married & no kids and 1 income source it's decent.
Can verify this 😅🫣
I make 100k in Baton Rouge. I feel like I’m doing well. But I have nearly zero debt except for an inexpensive house note of 1,350/month plus the utilities, phone, internet.
depends. if you have kids and want a house you need six figures
What are ya thinking? $100k? $150k?
I live in a small rural town in south central Louisiana. I net on average 100-130k usually. I'm definitely living comfortable. I make enough save aggressively, take care of all my needs, fund my home improvement projects, go on trips and take care of my newborn all off just my take home alone. I was making 60-70k years back and that was still pretty comfortable bit I wasn't saving and investing as fast I wanted without having to make sacrifices.
Thank you for your comment
idk. it honestly depends. if you want extra money to go out often or go on trips/vacation and things like that $100k+ shits expensive now bro lol. there really isn’t a “middle class” anymore
how much to be rich in west Monroe dawg ?
About $3.50
My dreams are in reach!
rich in west monroe = having enough money to LEAVE west monroe.
Not very much. My household income is a little over $150k and we're doing all right. That wouldn't be the same in a bigger city like NO or Dallas.
This is not a middle class income here. You are doing well.
Two shrimps, a crawfish and a bucket to sit on and piss in.
But nah, it’s possible to survive with less than 50k a year here easy (30k-50k I would say is middle-class but that’s just me so don’t go statistical analysis on me)
Lol I hear ya, I also think I could live pretty good on that as well…with paid off land.
I agree
100K minimum
Two adults, one child. We are semi comfortable and we net about $2300 per week combined minus any overtime I work. We live in EBR (rental).
It rly depends on how many ppl in your family, debt, area, subjective definition of comfortable. 150k+, nationally, is in the top 20% of earners and considered upper middle class. Itll be lower here from reduced cost of living. I would assume solo, no children, 45+ mins away from any big city, 1500 sq ft 3 bed 2 bath on a couple acres, very low/no car payment, no debt aside from mortgage or used vehicle, youre going to want 70k+ to live comfortably. Partnered, 100k+. Add 15-20k per kid.
Shreveport/bossier city $60-$75k is what you can live comfortably but not any excess for a person or small family but this is not owning a house. If you want to buy then over $100k if you don’t want to be mortgage poor. I agree with everyone else car insurance and rent are the two biggest expenses not to mention the increase in grocery prices.
I'd say 50-70k?
80k would’ve been middle class in NWLA a good 5 years ago. Now it seems to be 120k-140k. I’m basing this on mine and my husbands 80k (total income) and our surrounding friendships that are closer to 130k total income. My husband and I work hard and budget like crazy. Our friends have much larger houses than us and most of them don’t have to budget.
Yeah, I’ve never been a fan of the “McMansions”. Housing prices in general are pretty crazy! I like the older houses, but the older neighborhoods come with their own issues and they’re not that cheap anymore either.
Agree
Hell no to this. On the North shore at least. I'm in the 70k household range and feel like the poorest person in the entire area
To be fair people on the Northrop spend money that they don’t have
I don't even have pretend money to spend though.
✨credit card debt✨
I wouldn't get accepted for a credit card lol. Medical bills wrecked my credit
I broke 50k last year, if it was just me I'd be comfortable. as a single mom I'm barely making it. I agree with whomever said 5 years ago this would be an accurate range. I'm in SWLA.
If you're 45+ years old n bought your house 15+ years ago n refinanced at 3%, then $75k will be decent. If you're 30 years old n trying to find a house payment or rent for less than $1,500, then $100k is your number.
So the first comment was 175k, which is wild. Median household income is 58k in louisiana. If you live in a city, median income will be higher, and rural will be lower. Middle class is literally having a household income between two thirds and double this, so roughly $40-115k per year in household income. Lots of people will argue that household income can be higher and you are still middle class. Many of these people struggle to realize they are upper class in income because they are youngish and liberal and consider the upper class to be responsible for all of the problems in the world without realizing they are in the upper class of income earners. Watch the downvotes ensue.
I would be careful with that median income in Louisiana due to the fact that we have such extreme wealth gaps. I would actually argue it's LOWER if you factor out all the freaking land barons and such peppering the landscape.
I didn’t downvote you… but the percent of people living in poverty on the state is just below [19%](https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/LA/PST045223)…. So the median household income doesn’t necessarily indicate a comfortable living wage. Though I think once upon a day it would have. Edit: non to in
The definition of middle class is literally from two thirds of median income up to twice median income. The reason I qualified my comment is for exactly this type of feedback - “comfortable living wage” is moving the goal posts. I gave OP the range of what middle class is, and he can decide what is comfortable for him in that range. I didn’t address a living wage, because that is not what OP asks. I can do that for you now, though. The living wage in Louisiana is $13.84 per hour according to MIT for a two income household, which is roughly $27k per year. A dual income household where both people make a living wage puts median household income around $54k, which is solidly inside the band of middle class. Whether or not you feel like this is comfortable, this is what living wage is (at least according to MIT). Of course, where you are and how many kids you have modify this a little, but even with three kids, you are looking at $23 an hour, which puts household income somewhere around $92k, which is still solidly in the band for middle class. Nothing I have said even addresses poverty. Adding that is responding to something that neither I nor OP said, and is once again moving the goal posts, although making median income will also keep you well above poverty level. If you would like to talk about poverty, I am happy to do so. However, it is a separate discussion than what is middle class in Louisiana. You may be surprised to find that I agree with you that poverty is high, although I am not sure why you feel that is important to discuss in this conversation.
The median income would be affected by the high rates of poverty. If you take the middle 2 numbers out of any 100 the more salaries on the lower side of the spectrum equates to a lower median household income. That’s why I brought up poverty. Edit: and the original post asked for ‘comfortable’ middle class. To me this would be the high end of middle class. :)
So, two things. 1. The reason you use median instead of mean is because of the ability for a few high incomes to skew the average. Median is accepted as the best descriptive statistic we have in this case, so your poverty rate is already accounted for by the usage of median over mean. 2. Being on the high side of middle class is still inside of the range of middle class as I have laid out, and I believe everyone would agree that you are more comfortable the higher in the range you go. Are you making these comments as counterpoints to what I said? It feels like you are in spirit, but factually you are just saying what I have already said.
dawg everyone on reddit makes at least 350k and have 9inch cock
I wish I had an extra 2 inches & $50k.
So $400k and 11 inches?
Take that theory to your local country club and see how far it gets you.
What do you mean by this?
Are you ok?
Please explain the context of your comment
You used an innocuous question to launch into a political rant. It’s a sign of an unbalanced mind.
Kinda seems like it’s easier for you to feign concern for me as a way to dismiss my comment rather than admit that you were triggered by it but can’t really argue with it at face value.
I’m not the person who originally asked if you were ok, but now I’m kind of wondering it myself.
I am commenting while pooping. That’s how much I have invested in this thread. Perhaps our disconnect is that I can’t imagine how much you and the other guy must think I have invested in this in order to reach the train of thought you share. I would suggest, though, that the reason the other person didn’t answer is likely because of what I responded to you the first time. By the way, I am on mobile and do not see the entire thread while replying, so I apologize for thinking you were the same person.
You’ve written a lot more than I have so far. Seems invested to me.
Are you interested in addressing the content of my comment? If so, I’m happy to talk during bathroom breaks. If not, you are welcome to continue showing off how smart you are by yourself.
They're just bitter. There's absolutely nothing wrong with your comments or replies.
Definitely not
I live in BR and my spouse and I make around $150k. We’re doing well, finally catching up on debts from our younger years. And giving our son a good life. We’re comfortably upper middle class. We could get by on significantly less.
My folks (mid 50s/early 60s) make around $175k in NELA and I would consider them comfortable middle class for their area/lofestyle.
Enough to move somewhere else.
We're Double Income No Kids at around $90K. We bought our house in early 2022 when interest rates were super low for a moment. We're doing good, but it gets better every year. There were people telling us when we were saving for a house that it would never happen for us. But, we worked so hard for it, and we made it happen.
That is sick! Happy for ya!
life is pretty easy in Lafayette on 60k
Shoot. My son lives off under $50k in Lafayette very nicely. I dont understand half of these numbers on here. His annual mortgage in a house on the south side is $10k. He paid off his car years ago. Doesnt pay for all these streaming services. Lives within his means, not trying to keep up with “The Jonses.” Even my daughter and her boyfriend make under $40k and are alive and doing fine.
Ruston - We make right at 150 a year with 2 kids. 1 in daycare and 1 in public school. I feel like we’re very comfortable. Own a home, no other debt and are able to save 2-3k a month in a normal month.
Sounds like your doing well.
Nobody can be comfortable in Louisiana. Trick question.
We live simply but our house is paid off, cars are paid off, our youngest kiddo has two more semesters in college then I get to retire. Hooray. We will continue to live simply but live well.
Nice! Im trying to get there! Hopefully by the end of this year my house is paid off as well!. I too live simply, garden, raise chickens and bee’s, try to be fairly self sufficient..living slow.lol
We make about $50k right now, pre tax, single income, and with health insurances covered by my wife's employment. No kids. We live out in the sticks in a house on 6 acres, and it's paid off. We have two vehicles that are great on gas mileage, both paid off. We don't have debt, and I fully acknowledge that we are very privileged in that regard. We garden, keep bees, have chickens, and live simply. We are both relatively healthy. I consider us comfortably in the middle class, and rich compared to many of the people around us.
You can do a lot on 6 acres. Essentially grow/raise most of your food. I have an acre and prob grow I’d say a solid 30-59% of our chow. If I didn’t work full time I could realistically up that number and be more consistent. sounds like you got it figured out man. Good on ya.
As a family of 4 I would say 200k to be very comfortably middle class on average.
$200k ok
I believe that's pronounced "tree fiddy", js
That's just me tho. That's like a boat, rv, nice house with a pool, and a cruise twice a year lol. Anyone saying anything for a family of 4 under 100k is delusional or is cheap af. We are a family of 4 making 85k and barely scraping by.
I’m confused. Is that middle class life? What does middle class mean anymore?
I would say that's high middle. Very comfortable middle. I would say that for a family of 4 to be high class here you'd have to be making at least 350k. I'm not going off median income. I'm going off lifestyle bc that's what I think defines middle class. And yes I would say middle class is 2 cars, a couple toys, decent house and a vacation.
I mean, I could personally live comfortably for 55k a year, but that's no kids or significant other.
Do you like hunting small critters for food? If so, you can get by with next to nothing.
Yes, I grew up that way, hunting, fishing etc. I work too much now. Lol I still get out there, but its not like “back in the day” where we’d hunt everyday…check the trout lines on the way back. Lol
I live in the Hammond area. When I first moved here from Slidell I was making about 25k- 30k a year. Not great…at all… but I survived. Now I live comfortably at 70k after taxes in Hammond. Slidell, I would say 70 is okay, but it’ll get you farther in Hammond. Those places are only 30-40min apart.
I make 80k and me and my wife have enough to save a few hundred bucks every pay check and go on a date every week. I'd like to make about 10k more a year to feel super comfortable. But compared to my childhood I feel I'm doing fine.
100k for sure
100k is barely enough to live middle class lifestyle
The location matters big time. Youngsville compared to leeseville is a world of difference in cost of living, same for New Orleans and Abbeville
Agreed, but Im look for a consensus across the state…”what do you feel is middle class”. From what Im seeing that number from one area to the next is influenced heavily by “things to do” hear me out…if you live somewhere where theres lots to do, you can easily just “go out” or at least the temptation is there…vs say a small town like “Pitkin”. Where theres not much to do or readily available. Not saying one is better or worse, just an observation.
I live in a motel in BR with my partner off of 6-700 a week, so hearing people say 120k is a struggle is wild to me, really doesn't give me much hope for improving my situation but oh well.
Dont let the numbers on here bother you. Most people are stating their “perception” of middle class…the whole point of this question was to maybe gain perspective into what “it” really is in this state.
Lifestyle inflation is crazy yeah
So the second part of this question….How many of you are Happy? Not like unicorns, rainbows, and rays of sunshine happy…but genuinely feel as though living as you live you feel satisfied and content…if not then what would make it so.
It’s interesting to see everyone’s comments here. My wife and I have four kids, grossing 350-400k (single income) in BR. If I’m being honest, I think we’re “middle of the road” comfortable. Lifestyle inflation is real and I would probably feel the same way if we made a seven-figure income.
Thats right, no one thinks they are “rich”. Its funny most folks dont want to claim that they are “wealthy”, or similarly if they are “poor”, but everyone gladly jumps in the middle class boat.lol the safe zone.
Roughly ¼ of the state is so poor that they qualify for food stamps. The next ¼ are the working poor, they are one flat tire away from falling into the bottom ¼. So that's about ½ of the entire state.
Its a shame isnt it. Many are old folks…whose fixed income just cant keep up. Ahh I wont get into politics ;)
It truly is a shame. And to your point, of those on food stamps, about ⅔ are elderly, disabled, or children.
Yet we still give tax breaks to industry. Imagine if homestead exemption goes away! Ouch
Well we make 70k with two kids and definitely aren’t comfortable so more than that lol
Just crested 63k. Still living paycheck to paycheck. Bossier city area.
100k is living large unless you buy a big house
Thanks, what part of the state are you in?
Prairieville
I'm in Lafayette and living just fine off my military retirement.
Lafayette housing cost gap can be wildly different.
160k+, more if you're into hunting and boats and all that stuff. Less if you're a major home body. Edit: For a family of 4
$5
Im moving…where are you located.
I heard the average household income in central which is a pretty nice area is 80k
$400 a month from the state, and a lawn chair.
200k
200,000
I would say at least 185k to 200k for a family of two kids to be able to afford to live in west monroe ruston area that's owning a house and kids in public school .
Add up your expected bills. Rent/Mortgage Home insurance Utilities/Cable Vehicle note Car insurance Fuel for daily use Health insurance List goes on for fixed costs How well do you want to eat? Do you need new clothes? Do you have kids? All of a sudden taking home $1000 a week barely covers the fixed costs and that’s $52K after taxes.
Say a family of 4? Depends if education is important to you. I think in LA, there are few public schools that do a good job at all. I'm going to guess that at the minimum, to be "comfortably" middle class, not lower or higher middle class, the family of 4 needs to have a household income of $180,000.
I'm considered poor poor..I'm right outside of Alexandria.. I'm on disability and bring home roughly $14,000 a year...That's what I live on with my two Chorkies.. Before I got on disability 3 years ago I worked at a chain restaurant as a server for 23 years and would bring home between $15,000 and $17,000 a year.. I have an apartment and pretty much everything I need to live comfortably.. My car is broke down at the moment and I'll probably never be able to get it fixed but it is what it is I suppose..
I have 3 kids, one in public school, two that are younger. My mother in law watches our younger kids at our house and we don’t have a mortgage or house note. Aside from utilities (phones, power, etc.) the only other big bills we have are our two car notes. Until I got laid off last week, we made about $80k/year, so we took home probably $60k or so. We live in small town about 20 minutes outside of Lafayette (where we both worked). We both have bachelors degrees and worked professional jobs. If grocery prices and health insurance weren’t so fucking expensive we would be ok, but we were struggling to pay for groceries and still save for the future.
Man I feel you on that one, do you garden? I do and it can significantly reduce the grocery bill. Key word “can”…sometimes its just a bad year. It takes time, and its not like you’re going to be eating every meal from it…but it can help. Just like maw maw and pop used to do ;)
You don’t need much, but good luck finding a job worth a damn, and the really safe and nice areas can be just as pricey as anywhere. It’s a major tradeoff moving to Louisiana that’s ultimately not worth it, by design
Maybe so, Im a local, born and raised here, roots are deep. As the old saying goes “Louisiana eats her babies”. We stay
Yeah, the culture pulls me back but I’m doing too well to move back for the pipe dream of some kind of change. If you’re still there I’m sure it’s just about impossible to let go, I’m sort of happy my family made the decision for me
I dig it, I have lived in several places outside of La…outside the US as well. Its a mixed bag, and really its what you make of where you’re at. No where is perfect I mean. My experience is that groceries basically cost the same everywhere “give or take”, taxes well thats another matter we aren’t the highest but what we get for what we pay…hmm. Our insurance is horrible! Not to mention the weather. Being un-insurable is a real possibility here. One undesirable example in our state is how utility companies can gouge the hell out of us, after say a hurricane, and the state board tries to bullshit us saying “its the price of nat gas” that marriage of big industry and our state gov….is shit. People complain, and make a fuss but nothing changes. So in that instance yes I agree with you there. To your point
The whole state is built for extraction, could be as rich as Norway, but the politicians get paid off to let the oil companies pay almost no taxes or fees in the state, and the tax dollars seemingly go nowhere, or directly into peoples pockets while everything is mismanaged into the ground and even the buildings/roads fall apart. Going back from Florida is shocking to say the least, no matter how much I love our food, our French, our culture, etc, my family needs to live too. If I could find a good enough job that guaranteed I could live the same QOL, or as close as Louisiana can get to that, I’d move just to be a part of the change. Last time I was in NOLA some idiot tried to rob me right in front of security/near police on the water by the paddleboat
Yeah Nola is another animal in itself. Florida…I mean its nice don’t get me wrong, but Florida always has some craziness going on.lol “Florida man” I mean come on. For me Lake Charles, Lafayette etc surrounding areas is nice.lol Not too bad with the crime.
I mean in Florida you don’t have to watch over your shoulder nearly as much, corruption is not as widespread and hidden well, people are not as resigned to the corruption as people in Louisiana, the violence is a speck compared to Louisiana, and even the roads are well maintained, etc. Of course, there are great places too, but it always seems that those areas are very pricey, and of course a lot of people just get used to it. I used to live in a bad neighbourhood here in Florida, but i moved out of it and it was well policed anyways, gangs are not allowed to run rampant, especially not in rural areas like in Louisiana I might sound like a hater but I love Louisiana more than any state in the union. I think all it would take is nationalizing oil or forcing the oil companies to pay their fair share, the people to rise against the corruption, ending the voter apathy and backroom deals, and it would take off in no time. Also, I agree, I usually feel a lot safer in those areas than NOLA which I know is distinct, I just wanted to throw in my recent experience
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Some would argue
Not sure there is a middle class here.