Quote:
Originally Posted by marothisu
Actually the city gained 2118 households of under $100K from 2017 to 2018. The MSA reduced 35,505 households under $100K in that same time though.
In the city and MSA both, there was a reduction of under $20K households, but a gain in $20K - $35K households. Also in the city and MSA both, there was an increase of $60K - $75K households with a loss of $75K - $100K households in both.
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This is fascinating and, logically and anecdotally, it totally makes sense to me. $75-$100K is that income range where you can live comfortably, but around Chicago it's still going to be tough to put away much savings besides your 401K. You feel rich based on your salary but are shocked when your expenses quickly eat up your monthly income. If you're a family, health care costs keep going up and now your SALT taxes are going up plus they can't be deducted over 10K. You're going to be much more open to move to a low-tax state to keep living in the same size house (or bigger) + 2 cars at a lower cost. This income range also reflects people I've known who end up leaving the area due to the "high costs of Chicago."
This also fits into the narrative of the squeezed middle class.
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