Shocking Salaries Shared By People In Western New York

People normally don't talk about how much they make.  It's a bit of a taboo subject.  But on the internet...they'll do just about anything.

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You're taught at a very young age to never ask someone how much they make.  A person's worth is more than the number on the check their boss gives them at the end of the week.  But if you don't ask, how will you ever find out?

When someone is looking for a job, one of the biggest things they have to decide is how much money they can ask for.  If you ask for too much, there's a good chance the employer will look you over for someone who will do it for cheaper.  Ask for too little and it might take you forever to actually work your way up to where you want to be.

So how do you find out how much people in the area are making?

There are a couple different ways to find out what a job pays.  You can find databases online, but they might not be accurate.  You can ask someone, but that seems rude. Or you can ask the employer what they're willing to pay.

However, if you've ever been on social media at all, you know that people will say things there that they would never say to someone in public.  The anonymity, even if it's false anonymity, is enough to get people to open up about their salaries too.

People shared how much they make in Western New York

There is a thread on Reddit that asks people in Western New York how much they make.  It's simple as that.  The one rule is that they have to be working in Western New York.  While a bunch of them are what you might expect from someone who is an engineer or a software developer, some of the answers are pretty shocking (and maybe a little depressing depending on where you work).

Here are some of the salaries mentioned in that thread from people right here in Western New York:

Private School Teacher (6 years experience) - $37,000

Brewer at a local brewery - $28/hr which would turn out to be $58,000

Bartender (3 years experience) - $70,000

State Employee in a Local Field Office (8 years experience) - $90,000

Aircraft Mechanic - $129,000

Media Production Manager - $87,000

Manufacturing (1.5 years experience) - $75,000

College professor (15.5 years experience)  - $75,000

Engineering Technician (5.5 years experience) - $57,000

Now, a lot of you might be thinking that these aren't bad salaries.  Where are all the people making $35k-$40k?

A lot of people in the thread seemed to think that the people who were incredibly proud of their wages were the ones that were posting in the thread and the others just scrolled through it.

There are a ton more.  You can look at this list and probably think that it's very hopeful that so many people get paid so well or wonder why in the heck you're still in the job that you're in.