Pay

What's considered doing well in this biz financially?
Whether you're a beat writer for a metro or a sports editor at a community paper. How much money would be considered doing well at, say, 25, 30, 35, 40.

Fairly open-ended question. I've been busting my ass in this profession for a while now and am two years from turning 30 and am finally making enough money to put some away in my bank (other than 401K). But I truly have no idea if I've just been making nothing before or if I'm actually doing well. Compared to my friends who studied business, I'm making what they made years ago. Though I'm happy with where I'm at.

Does that make sense?

 

Someone posted on here once that you should be making more than your age. That seems to be a good benchmark.

 

Wow, I can't wait until I turn 99 ... six figures, baby!

 

F that. So I have to wait till Im 50 to make a decent living? It may be the way it is, but that sucks.

 

I don't buy it. You're telling me you shouldn't be upset if you are 29 years old and still have yet to crack the 30k barrier?

If I had to give a general rule of thumb, it'd probably be

Age + $10,000 = Dollar figure at which you should be reasonably happy considering the business you are in.


25 = $35,000
30 = $40,000
35 = $45,000
40 = $50,000

Anything lower than those numbers and you're probably behind the curve. Anything higher and you're doing better than most.

Again, just a rough estimate.

 

I'm not quite making my age, but I'm doing a lot better than I was a few years ago.

 

I think that is interesting. How'd you come up w/ that estimate?
Next q, how many SportsJournalists.com floks could say they are making that pay?
Podunk Press doesn't seem to quite pay age+10K. ???

 

I think it's a lot harder to make that money -- $10K over your age. If you're 22 and fresh out of college, there's very little chance you're going to make $32K. I've moved around a lot in the Southeast for jobs and raises, but only until I sold my soul, left dailies and took up with a niche paper, could I say I'm making $10K more than my age.

 

floks
Oops. But I kinda like it. Flok!
Nice cuss word.

 

I guess it depends on where you live, too.
I mean, I made next to nothing at my first stop and was OK. Move to a big city, made about 5K more and struggled.

 

One guide I have heard is a comparison to what teachers in the local public school district make with similar experience. That would usually, though not always, give an idea what a reasonable minimum cost of living is. It might not be appropriate for papers with circulations under 25K, but I would think it would be a good guideline for any papers which are middle sized. If it's too far below that, some thought is required.

 

But the question was more of a prestige question rather than a practical question. Unless I read it wrong, he was asking what dollar figure would be considered "Making good money."

If you're 22 and making $32,000, I'd say you're making decent money. But I know 22 year olds making a decent amount more than that. And I know 22 year olds making a lot less than that.