Good salary

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by aabby757

A decent slary of a recent college grad in the DC area/mid atlantic region.

thank you so much.

Again, though, there are variables. Some cities in that area are less costly than others. How recent are you talking, someone who just graduated, or someone who has been out for 3-5 years?

I'm not trying to be a pain, but the question has a bunch of different answers, depending on variables. Also, I'm guessing that an answer in some wide range won't be especially helpful to your project.

ETA: I'll give you an example in my area of the country. If you were to ask about a good salary in New England, you would get a far different answer for people living in Boston than for people in Nashua, NH. You'd even get far different answers within a city - the cost of living in Jamaica Plain (right next to Boston, practically a part of Boston) is less than the cost of living in downtown Boston. It's the same for parts of Hartford if you're talking about CT salaries.

[aabby757]

A recent graduate, someone who is out of school no less than 2 years I'd say.

The DC area. A job working in the city and they can live in the suburbs I guess.

Thanks.

[ree-Xi]

I don't think that anyone here can give you anything but a purely arbitrary number.

There are sites out there that can help you figure out salaries across industries/job functions/geography/education levels. You might also want to try networking (meeting people) who work at the job/level/geographical location where you are looking. Try professional networking groups, doing informational interviews, or going through your college career office.

[aabby757]

I'm not interested in a job. I'm interesed in what "kids today" think is a good salary.

I'm working on a project and I feel our salary that we are offering is not what recent college grads would deem as high.

But I could be wrong.

So I *thought* this would be a good audience of people to confidentially tell me what they think is a good salary for them to be offered right after graduation.

In the DC area.

I realize costs of living are different in different cities.

I'm simply just looking for a number.

Thank you very much.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by aabby757

I'm not interested in a job. I'm interesed in what "kids today" think is a good salary.

I'm working on a project and I feel our salary that we are offering is not what recent college grads would deem as high.

But I could be wrong.

So I *thought* this would be a good audience of people to confidentially tell me what they think is a good salary for them to be offered right after graduation.

In the DC area.

This may not be as good an audience as you think. Most of us don't live in the DC area and would be guessing. (And lots of us are "yesterday's kids," or even "last week's kids." )

And now that you've indicated that your question is geared specifically to what your office pays recent college grads, the first question I have is what kind of work is it? Journalism? Government? Teaching? Non-profit? Political? Law? Medical? Public Relations?

Expectations for what is a good salary are going to vary, perhaps a great deal, from occupation to occupation.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by KSigkid

ETA: I'll give you an example in my area of the country. If you were to ask about a good salary in New England, you would get a far different answer for people living in Boston than for people in Nashua, NH. You'd even get far different answers within a city - the cost of living in Jamaica Plain (right next to Boston, practically a part of Boston) is less than the cost of living in downtown Boston. It's the same for parts of Hartford if you're talking about CT salaries.

Agreed! I grew up in Nashua, and while the cost of living might be a little higher than other areas of the country, it doesn't even compare to Boston.

Relate that to where I'm living now. I'm working as a paralegal, and while offers right out of college might start at 30 - 40,000 at a Boston firm, in Erie, PA, I started mid-20,000. But this makes sense for where I am, for reasons such as...

...A decent 1 bedroom apartment in Nashua, in a nice neighborhood probably wouldn't be much less than $800 to start, and probably higher. But here in Erie, I'm paying $420 a month + electric bringing me to between 480 and 500 a month. And downtown Boston is in a league of its own.

It truly is a difficult question to answer. Especially because most people on this board aren't from that area. If you want to get good results, ask people who live in and around the DC area. Because if you ask a bunch of people from all over the country, you're going to receive answers that vary a great deal.