$10k a year is a huge amount. The median US salary is $61k.
Also realistically, you're likely getting a loan, so you need to factor in interest.
Agree, and the $61,000 part is much of what this article is missing. Its a lot like "weep for those making $300,000/year" when most families are making less than half of that on average (almost a third, $122k if both family members are pulling average). However, taxes tell us they're not even doing that great.
If your family is reporting a family income of $122k, you're already at approximately the upper 25% threshold. The $61,000 number hides a really L-shaped distribution skewed heavily toward the $2,500,000+ crowd. Previously calculated 2024 statistics from another post.
in the most recent tax filing season data available (2024), there were tax returns of:
Top 1% Top 5% Top 10% Top 25% Top 50% Bottom 50% All Taxpayers
Number of Returns 1,535,899 7,679,495 15,358,991 38,397,477 76,794,954 76,794,954 153,589,908
Average Income Taxes Paid $653,730 $187,468 $108,251 $50,963 $27,891 $667 $14,279
Adjusted Gross Income (Millions) $3,872,395 $6,182,180 $7,745,525 $10,613,602 $13,191,209 $1,531,038 $14,722,247
1 2-5 6-10 11-25 26-50 51-100
Number of Returns 1,535,899 6,143,596 7,679,496 23,038,486 38,397,477 76,794,954
Income Taxes Paid (Millions) $1,004,063 $435,594 $222,966 $294,234 $185,068 $51,225
Adjusted Gross Income (Millions) $3,872,395 $2,309,785 $1,563,345 $2,868,077 $2,577,607 $1,531,038
Average Tax Rate 25.9% 18.9% 14.3% 10.3% 7.2% 3.3%
Average Per Capita Income $2,521,256.28 $375,966.29 $203,573.91 $124,490.69 $67,129.59 $19,936.70Not sure why you're downvoted as this is true.
(and there's nothing wrong with you expressing this opinion)
Not everyone in the US makes 500k TC doing remote work.
400k for a degree is absolute bonkers!
To pay $400k off over even 20 years at 6%, which is below the average student loan rate is just over $2,000 a month and it is mostly not tax free. Our society is messing up with how expensive this has gotten. The bloat is facilities and administrators who earn two and three or more times the tenured professor salary. The guarantors have to be the schools themselves and those execs who take these bloated salaries. And that interest isn't deductable other than a pittance of $2,500 or less in a year.
Here is the IRS about this;
Student loan interest is interest you paid during the year on a qualified student loan. It includes both required and voluntarily prepaid interest payments. You may deduct the lesser of $2,500 or the amount of interest you actually paid during the year. The deduction is gradually reduced and eventually eliminated by phaseout when your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) amount reaches the annual limit for your filing status.