Monday, June 04, 2007

The Break-Down of Class in America

The New York Times has an excellent interactive infographic, visually showing the how education relates to income distribution, the degree of income bracket mobility in America, and a bar chart showing occupation, education, income, and wealth statistics. (See related articles and multimedia on NYT's website.)

Here is how I stacked up with my occupation and education before coming back to school. Looks like I might have given up a good thing?

Maybe so, but I have no regrets. I am much happier where I am now than where I was. I'm making progress towards finishing off that last 3% on my education score.

According to these rankings, if I pursue a legal career after school, apparently my occupation notches up a few steps compared to being a mechanical engineer. On the other hand, if I pursue a career as an economist, I take a slight step backwards. Interesting…

These statistics are fine for getting a better understanding of the socio-economic make-up of America, but I wouldn’t read too much into them. As Max Ehrmann wrote in Desiderata:

If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

As long as you’re getting your bills paid, things like health, happiness, close relationships with family and friends, and strong faith are far more important in life than all of this. I used to make quite a bit above average in income and now I’m way below. I’m much happier now than I was making significantly more money.

Having said all that, I still think the way they've done these graphics is cool...

See my previous posts that may help convince you that you're better off than you think:

(HT Statistical Modeling)

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