Exactly - plus there's always the parking issue if you have a vehicle, where you're either paying for parking in/around your own building, or you're paying for nearby public parking. At least in Boston, neither of those are cheap!

That was my experience and the experience of my friends, outside of those who went into finance or investment banking. I always thought my salary was low because I was working for a non-profit (doing public relations), but my friends at PR agencies were making a similar amount. The funny thing is my salary didn't go up until I moved to CT and got my current job!

Having friends in the same circumstances definitely helps - not a lot of pressure to go nuts on Friday and Saturday nights when you know that everyone's money, for the most part, is going to rent.

My son, who is graduating in May, has been getting offers in the low 30's (with full benefits) for entry level banking. Granted this is in Florida where the cost of living is low. He thought he'd be offered more, but at this point, he's just glad he has offers!!

His fiancee makes in the mid 30's as a high school math teacher!! Maybe he should have gotten that education degree!

In a few years, he'll probably make more than his fiancee. Most teachers--and public employees as a whole--only get small raises each year that are more like COLAs than actual bumps in salary. I started out making about the same amount as my friends who became teachers, but now I make about considerably more because of the private sector. That, to me at least, is better than getting summers off. :)

Yes, I agree. The people he's interviewing with all say how quickly you can move up within the company (provided you're a good employee :)). One even said how sorry they were that they couldn't offer more, but that advancement occurs pretty quickly.

He's just so happy to have a legitimate job offer because, right now, many of his friends do not....

I think you're absolutely right about entry-level salaries being a little depressed. I can only speak for DC and for the jobs I'm familiar with (media, PR and the Hill), but there is a real sense of using low salaries to weed out people who aren't dedicated. Employers are able to get away with paying low salaries because so many young people move out here and want to work on the Hill -- for every person who won't accept 20k to answer phones, there is another who will. And once you're in the door, it's like a test to see who cares enough about the work to stick out the lower salary. Turnover tends to be high and those who are willing to pay their dues can see huge salary increases once they've proved they can stick it out. Most people I knew who worked on the Hill were annoyed by the low pay and menial job duties and quit -- but the ones I know who stayed were promoted to legislative assistant or press secretary after a year or so (since turnover is so high) and most of them are making about twice as much as they used to.

In regard to the percentage of salary spent on rent -- I did some calculations and we do spend about half of our income on rent. My husband is graduating law school in May and theoretically he should have a job sometime soon (shakes fist at the economy). We've always lived comfortably on just my salary, so I'm always baffled when we visit friends in the Midwest who complain about having no money. I'm like, "Really? Because you make only a little less than I do and your rent is only $400 a month." But then I realize that my husband and I don't spend huge amounts of money on going out to eat, going to bars, shopping sprees, dropping a hundred bucks on random shit at Target, etc. Even with relatively expensive hobbies (me triathlon, him photography), I've never felt like we're lacking in the basics. I think paying that much in rent makes you more aware of where the rest of your money goes.

I think you put this perfectly. They can get away with paying low in the media professions (PR, journalism, editing, etc.) because, as you said, it's almost like a way to prove your worth. You make almost nothing for a while, do a good job, and end up (if you're lucky) with a good salary after a couple of years. The people I know who stuck with it are 5-7 years into their careers and are on their way to better salaries and more challenging positions (whether as a primary press secretary or higher within a political office, handling their own accounts in PR firms, or getting front-page stories for their newspapers).

Good luck to your husband in finding a job. The lawyer market was hit pretty hard, it's kind of discouraging out there right now. I'm looking at the DC area as a possible destination, and heard that the lawyer market down in DC/VA/MD hasn't been hit quite as hard as the Northeast.

There's a lot to be said about paying one's dues. It's hard to understand when you're just out of school that the money gets better quickly, and to just hold out and work hard. If anything, making so little just out of graduate school prepared me for the importance of saving money, investing for retirement, and not blowing my money on frivolous stuff like clothes. I have chosen to blow my money on frivolous stuff like travel. ;)

I agree completely. I tried really hard to find a place where I wouldn't be paying a ton of money on rent; even now I pay about 1/3 of my net pay each month on rent. But, I'm super careful about where the rest of my money goes. I'd probably pay less if I chose to have roommates, but I'm pretty happy living on my own and think it's worth it now. :)

On the other hand, if you are considering a field like Education depending on the region, 40k could be the high end!

I think a "good salary" depends more on how much it cost you to get the job than anything else. My future career requires that I go to a 4 year professional school and will cost me at least 100k in loans. Because of this, a good salary to me is at least 90,000/year. Any less and I wouldn't be able to afford to have that career! However, if I was just sticking with my undergrad, I'd be happy with around 40k.

I don't think the poster cares any more...and, even at the time, the poster didn't especially care what people had to say on the subject.