[DigitalMilford]

Originally Posted by jane_sm1th73

With little intrastate transportation infrastucture, it's great for kids because they are - in effect - imprisoned inside the two square mile radius of their houses. Likewise, the stay-at-home parent is imprisoned by the $40K/yr jobs in these little towns. Depending on your viewpoint, it's great to have total control over the whereabouts of the dependents. Just another way to look at it, from somebody who did the commute and made the big bucks so that I COULD escape.

We were taking the train to NYC without parents (and sometimes without their knowledge) from age 14 on...

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

Middle class income isn't growing anywhere in the country. It's why a big chunk of the middle class pulled the Trump lever a couple of years ago.


What we've seen is corporations shifting lower skill jobs to lower COL parts of the country. It cuts your labor cost for cubicle trolls 30%. Several giant banks have big operations in Charlotte, for example. As they moved jobs, the actual pay went down but those were relatively high paying jobs in a low wage place like Charlotte. Viewed nationally, it's not income growth. Viewed locally in Charlotte, it's income growth. No different than when the textile industry bailed out of New England for the Carolinas years ago. It allowed them to slash labor costs. Every dollar you don't pay in wages goes right to the bottom line as profit. $17.00/hour at a manufacturing plant in the south is good wages. It's starvation wages in the higher COL places.


Connecticut is similar to Massachusetts. Inward migration of high income people with strong 21st century job skills. The outward migration is centered on the $40k to $70k bracket where the math works better to move out to a place where housing is far cheaper even though the pay scales are lower.

I’m not sure why you’re talking about middle class income not growing anywhere. Income, overall, is growing at a much faster rate in the other two mentioned states than in Connecticut - which is dead last in the northeast.

[MrGompers]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

I’m not sure why you’re talking about middle class income not growing anywhere. Income, overall, is growing at a much faster rate in the other two mentioned states than in Connecticut - which is dead last in the northeast.

Wages have not been rising and this is a national issue. This is common knowledge at this point. I'm always surprised when people think wages have been going up. This chart shows 6% gain since 1980, but I have seen reports as low as 2%.


https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/...n_6507506.html

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by MrGompers

Wages have not been rising and this is a national issue. This is common knowledge at this point. I'm always surprised when people think wages have been going up. This chart shows 6% gain since 1980, but I have seen reports as low as 2%.


https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/...n_6507506.html

You might want to look up the difference between wage and income.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.bus...wth-map-2018-3

According to most recent numbers (above), looks to me like income has grown in almost all states. Of that, Connecticut ranked nearly dead last in the county, effectively disproving much of which has been said here.

[MrGompers]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

You might want to look up the difference between wage and income.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.bus...wth-map-2018-3

According to most recent numbers (above), looks to me like income has grown in almost all states. Of that, Connecticut ranked nearly dead last in the county, effectively disproving much of which has been said here.

LOL wages are not income ? The data shows that wages are not rising for the middle classs and the poor.


A few rich people can raise the average for a big group.


I do not care about the 1% of top earners nor should you unless you're part of that group.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by MrGompers

LOL wages are not income ? The data shows that wages are not rising for the middle classs and the poor.


A few rich people can raise the average for a big group.


I do not care about the 1% of top earners nor should you unless you're part of that group.

Again, I encourage you to look up the difference between a wage and what constitutes overall income. They are different. People can try and give excuses all day long, but that doesn’t change CT being at the bottom of the pack for income growth.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

Again, I encourage you to look up the difference between a wage and what constitutes overall income. They are different. People can try and give excuses all day long, but that doesn’t change CT being at the bottom of the pack for income growth.

For the middle class? Wages == Income. The middle class doesn't have passive income sources.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

I’m not sure why you’re talking about middle class income not growing anywhere. Income, overall, is growing at a much faster rate in the other two mentioned states than in Connecticut - which is dead last in the northeast.

You are wrong. Connecticut’s median income grew faster than Massachusetts and from what everyone here says Massachusetts economy is booming. Makes you wonder. Jay

Connecticut income growth ranks 44th in nation | HartfordBusiness.com

Mass. Household Income Ticked Up Just 1 Percent In 2017 | Bostonomix

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

For the middle class? Wages == Income. The middle class doesn't have passive income sources.

False. All classes have income - upper, middle and even lower, so I’m not sure why we’re so stuck on the middle class. The study showing CT having the slowest income growth took into account all classes. MrGompers study also measured wages of all classes.

Additionally, a good portion of working class jobs receive both bonuses and/or commission. Their wage may be $15/hr, but with commission and bonuses, it can be quite a bit more. So no, wages do not equal income for the middle class.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by JayCT

You are wrong. Connecticut’s median income grew faster than Massachusetts and from what everyone here says Massachusetts economy is booming. Makes you wonder. Jay

Connecticut income growth ranks 44th in nation | HartfordBusiness.com

Mass. Household Income Ticked Up Just 1 Percent In 2017 | Bostonomix

You literally proved my point by sharing the first article, stating CT ranks 44th in income growth. And great for MA, however the initial two states being compared were FL and TX, both of which rank higher and are producing far more jobs than CT.