[PhasmaFelis]

> Golf is cheap. You could spend $1000 on equipment, get a yearly pass for $2300 right outside Google HQ.

$3300 is not in any way "cheap" for the majority of Americans.

I like HN, but it's disheartening how many of my peers in tech seem to think that a West Coast programmer's salary is normal.

[SamReidHughes]

It's cheaper than smoking. Edit: Well, depends on the accounting. The median U.S. income is $51K so by all means it's affordable. The main cost is time.

[randomdata]

Median household income is $50k. Median individual income is $30k, leaving the aforementioned year of golf taking about 10% of ones (median) income. That is a fairly large expense.

[SamReidHughes]

If you're trying to go pro, 10% of income is nothing compared to the time investment. Like, it's an amount. But plenty of people get by on $27K.

[randomdata]

That's pre-tax income though. There will be some variation by location and situation, but if we say post-tax is $24k that does not even leave $21k.

That is not a lot to live on. And, since we're talking about the median, 50% of the earning population are going to be left with even less than that.

[SamReidHughes]

Even then you're talking a cost for something you'd be devoting most of your free time to doing. You don't have to do it in California.

[akvadrako]

It's cheap compared to 6000 hours, unless you make under 10 dollars per day.

[et-al]

West Coast programmer who feels adequately compensated here and $3300 ain't cheap for me, either. At $275/month, that's more than my current grocery budget for a single person.