Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by PaulDavisThe1st 1087 days ago
In this context, "typical" would normally mean something very close to "median",

US household median income is about $71k/year. You're saying you need $280k to meet basic bills?

Perhaps by "typical" you meant something closer to "near minimum" ?
1 comments
WarOnPrivacy 1087 days ago
I mean typical as in a rate of pay that would be available to the most possible people.
link
PaulDavisThe1st 1087 days ago
That's a very unusual metric to use for this purpose. Essentially the "mode" of the income distribution. I'm not saying you're wrong to use it, it's just a little strange. The mode of most distributions doesn't tell you much about the distribution as a whole, which might be just fine in this case.

OTOH, the median is the number for which half the households in the country earn more and half earn less, and whatever the merits of the mode might be, I still think that's a fairly significant value too.

link
WarOnPrivacy 1086 days ago
It's a measurement intended to bring focus on the most common economic experiences - something that disconnected metrics aren't very good at.
link
PaulDavisThe1st 1086 days ago
I applaud the focus. I am just not sure that the mode is the best way to do that. There is something compelling about "the income that the most people make". But I think "the income that is right in the middle of what everyone makes" has a slight edge for me in this respect. Anyway, it's a good thing to focus on, regardless of the metric chosen.
link
WarOnPrivacy 1085 days ago
> I applaud the focus. I am just not sure that the mode is the best way to do that.

I'm not pitting it against BoL Statistics metrics. I use it to better communicate how the largest swath of the public experiences the economy.

link
PaulDavisThe1st 1083 days ago
After another day, I think I realize my issue with using the mode.

The actual mode is going to be a single number, not a range, and it will correspond to very few people's incomes. To be usable in the way you mean, you need to add a range to it, and the size of that range is up for debate (mode +/- 1000? 2000? 10,000 ? etc)

link
WarOnPrivacy 1085 days ago
>But I think "the income that is right in the middle of what everyone makes" has a slight edge for me in this respect.

I get that. However, that income doesn't reflect the largest bracket of the working population.

link
ac29 1086 days ago
The rate of pay available to the most possible people is minimum wage. Its covers 100% of (legal) jobs. So, are you saying your expenses are 4x minimum wage?
link
WarOnPrivacy 1085 days ago
> The rate of pay available to the most possible people is minimum wage.

It isn't because so few employers pay that. The most available rate of pay would be closer to 10 or maybe 12 an hour.

link