Sangamon County Income Disparity

Sangamon County Income Disparity $120,000.00

This chart shows that very few people live well enough to spend money on more than the bare necessities. This chart also shows the real number of people in Sangamon County, and not just the “marketplace participants” (those who have the extra income available for savings accounts and retirement investment.)

Actual Income and Number of people

$100,000.00

$80,000.00

$60,000.00

$40,000.00

$20,000.00

$5 .9 $6 4 .0 $7 0 .0 $8 0 .0 $9 0 . $1 00 0. $1 0 0 1. $1 0 0 2. $1 0 0 3. $1 0 0 4. $1 0 0 5. $1 0 0 6. $1 0 0 7. $1 0 0 8. $1 0 0 9. $2 0 0 0. $2 0 0 1. $2 0 0 2. $2 0 0 3. $2 0 0 4. $2 0 0 5. $2 0 0 6. $2 0 0 7. $2 0 0 8. $2 0 0 9. $3 0 0 0. $3 0 0 1. $3 0 0 3. $4 0 0 0. $4 0 0 2. $4 0 0 5. $4 0 0 7. 00

$0.00

People in Hourly Wage Category Median Annual Salary Starting Median Annual wokers Wage Salary 2000 $5.94 $12,405.25 484 $6.00 $13,503.24 40,290 $7.00 $15,825.69 39,516 $8.00 $18,083.79 37,240 $9.00 $19,987.54 23,404 $10.00 $21,804.04 5,283 $11.00 $23,687.98 9,499 $12.00 $26,478.67 14,570 $13.00 $27,987.40 13,419 $14.00 $30,872.58 9,461 $15.00 $33,543.33 3,024 $16.00 $35,872.19 3,443 $17.00 $37,655.44 11,100 $18.00 $40,355.22 14,785 $19.00 $42,975.13 5,108 $20.00 $42,915.93 1,691 $21.00 $45,002.54 991 $22.00 $46,488.10 1,227 $23.00 $48,986.13 894 $24.00 $50,590.00 149 $25.00 $53,260.63 488 $26.00 $54,261.67 195 $27.00 $57,096.00 38 $28.00 $59,523.67 210 $29.00 $61,291.00 204 $30.00 $63,095.00 149 $31.00 $65,342.00 562 $33.00 $69,829.00 9 $40.00 $79,721.00 59 $42.00 $88,164.00 95 $45.00 $95,478.00 13 $47.00 $97,956.00 284

projected workers 2010 559 45,251 43,315 39,637 26,533 5,550 10,279 16,702 14,874 10,645 3,377 3,981 13,188 16,689 5,277 2,072 1,055 1,542 1,010 172 632 216 45 225 237 173 626 10 60 113 17 276

Money is a finite resource, and Sangamon County is almost tapped out.

This chart was compiled from two seperate documents provided by the Illinois Department of Employment Security and the United States Census Bureau. The data was originally produced in such a way that made it extraordinarily tedious to combine into a single Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Much of the data had to be manually entered and verified, taking about twelve hours. It was well worth it. As you can see, the vast majority of people in the county earn under $10.00 per hour. This is the selected “drop-off” point into my interpretation of “poverty.” What is the significance of knowing this information?

The full data sheet contains actual job descriptions, number of employees actually in that particular position, and what *Data compiled from State of Illinois, IDES, EI&A in December 2006 they earn. Some of the data is

wokers 2000

projected workers 2010

actually missing. Some jobs were reported on the sheet for number of employees, while not reported on the sheet recording wages and salaries. The following pages will also contain interactive work sheets to give you a better idea of how expenses effect the lower income brackets. The whole point of this exercise is to demonstrate that money permanently leaves the local economy for the pockets of people outside the state, such as National restaurant franchises and “Big Box” store chains. Money hemmorages faster from the local economy at the lower end of the income scale, and the problem is not perceived at the higher end of the income scale where the local government officials reside, including legislators, lawyers, as well as members of the Chamber of Commerce.

The results of the last election should have been heeded as a waring sign. The Republican platform of privatizing Social Security, individual health savings accounts as a replacement for Medicare, and promoting entrepreneurship are good ideas but the audience to which such appeals might be attractive numbered in the minority at the polling places. Those numbers continue to dwindle as poverty creeps into the lives of those who think they are secure in their jobs or businesses higher up in the income brackets. Economic collapse is arrived at when those at the bottom of the income-chain make a single major modification to their overall lifestyle. What will it be this time?

Income Federal tax Fica tax State tax Subtotal Net Income This chart shows real pay $10./hr 0.082694444 0.0765 0.028402778 Deducted $8.12 / hr based on a part-time job with 72 hours per pay period. $720.00 $59.54 $55.08 $20.45 $135.07 $584.93 This real income may be after taxes, but does not include all other expenses. How much do you make? Wage

Federal tax

$10 $720.00

Fica tax

0.082694444 0.082694444

0.0765 0.0765

State tax

Subtotal deducted

0.1876 0.028402778 =(wage x Fed) + 0.028402778 (wage x Fic) + $135.07 (wage x sta)

Net Income =wage - sub $584.93 per pay period

Okay, now let’s look at other expenses:

GASOLINE Tank capacity

RENT $600.00

12.00 Cost Per Gallon $2.69

FOOD

UTILITIES Electric

Meal Budget

$10.00

$5.00

Water

Meals per pay period

Per pay Period

$10.00

$300.00

50.00

Gas

Fillups per Month

$10.00

Cost per pay period

2.00

Sewer $10.00

$250.00

Trash $10.00

Cost Per Month

Cost Per Month

$64.56

$500.00

Total Cost per pay period

$32.28

$50.00

$25.00

per paycheck

Can you get Groceries and eat at home for less?

So what do you have left after all of that? Can you save enough for retirement? Your children’s college?

Net Expenses

$617.28

Your new net income!

($32.35)

Having figured all this out (excluding car insurance, health insurance, telephone, cable, repair costs, education, banking fees, credit card related expenses, and childcare), how easy do you think it would be to save any money?