US income by religious affiliation

  • Thread starter leroyjenkens
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In summary: Apparently, 43% of American Hindus make over 100k a year. This is surprising to me because I don't know anybody who makes that much money. I'm curious to know how they're able to do so. One reason might be that they have professional degrees, but it's not necessary or sufficient to have a degree.
  • #1
leroyjenkens
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Apparently 43% of American Hindus make over 100k a year.
http://www.pewforum.org/2009/01/30/income-distribution-within-us-religious-groups/

That was surprising to me. I see Hindus in their native countries and they don't seem to be doing so well, but in America, apparently they're doing great. Almost half of them make over 100k a year. I don't even know anybody who makes that much money. Any ideas on how they're so successful?
 
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  • #2
My assumption with many foreign americans is that their immediate ancestors were well off enough to get to the US. Because of the resources required to change to a far away country, you'd think that the immigration is biased towards people with more disposable income.
 
  • #3
Well for one thing, there are fewer Hindus in America than in India. This eliminates a lot of competition in that community. Also, by immigrating to America, the individual Hindus have shown a certain initiative to search for better opportunities in life than may be available in their countries of origin. I think this initiative carries on into working hard at a job, getting a good education, if not for oneself, then for your children.

These Hindus may have studied for a professional career in their native lands, but employment opportunities there were lacking, which is why they decided to immigrate to America.

I don't think Hindu parents generally will be satisfied by letting their offspring settle for a community college education or working in retail: you see students of Hindu faith going to school to become scientists, medical doctors, or engineers. The salaries of these professions generally are found in the upper end of the income scale in America. A lot of foreign Hindu students study at university in America and decide to stay afterward.
 
  • #4
Pythagorean said:
My assumption with many foreign americans is that their immediate ancestors were well off enough to get to the US. Because of the resources required to change to a far away country, you'd think that the immigration is biased towards people with more disposable income.

But on the other hand, if you are poor in your native land, by scraping up the price of a ticket to America, with a little hard work, you can better your station in life immensely over what you could expect without immigrating.

One example of this is Arnold Schwarzenegger. A lot of people assume that he built his fortune off his fame as a bodybuilder who became a movie star.

http://articles.latimes.com/2003/aug/10/local/me-arnoldbiz10

Arnold arrived in the US reportedly with only a few dollars in his pocket (100 Austrian schillings IIRC, whatever they were worth in the 1960s). He first earned money by working as a bricklayer, but instead of blowing all of what he made, Arnold very shrewdly saved and invested what he earned. Eventually, he invested in real estate in So. Cal. and bought shares in various companies. The bodybuilding got Arnold noticed, and provided a way into the movie business, but the feeling is he would have been successful even if he never made a picture.
 
  • #5
It might also help that one of the most basic religious duties (dharma) in Hinduism is to work hard and make enough money to support your extended family. It doing that means your spiritual development has to wait till your next reincarnation, that's not a big deal in the (infinitely) long term.

From what I know of Hindus in the UK, kids get the "work ethic" instilled by their parents by about age 7 or 8. And if the ultimate sanction against teenage rebellion is a one-way air ticket back to your family's home village, that rather focuses the mind - and/or weeds out the unfocused from the immigrant community.
 
  • #6
What surprised me was the amount of money they make. To work hard so that you can provide for your family and live comfortably is one thing, but to make 6 figures a year is another thing, at least in my opinion. And almost half of them seem to be accomplishing that. Even getting a degree and a good job usually won't have you making that much money, so the reason I asked was because I figured they were doing something special.
According to this website, there are only 10 degrees where you'll eventually make 6 figures.
http://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report-2014/majors-that-pay-you-back
Half of them happen to have those degrees? Of course, that doesn't include those who got wealthy without a degree, but I'd think those are rare.

I don't understand the suggestion that one reason is there's less competition because there's fewer Hindus here in America. Do you mean, for example, they can open up Hindu restaurants without other Hindu restaurants competing for business?
 
  • #7
I think you are losing sight of the fact that while having a certain professional degree may lead one to have a higher income, it is not necessary or sufficient to have a degree for this to be true.

For example, workers in certain skilled trades, like plumbing and electrical work, can easily command six-figure incomes, depending on their level of skill and the demand for their services. I don't know if you've priced plumbing work lately, but if you need someone to fix a drain or a toilet after hours or on a weekend, the hourly rate for a certified plumber can approach the billing rate for an attorney. The skilled trades are generally not salaried positions, so the opportunity to work overtime and on holidays (double time or more) can significantly increase a worker's annual income.

This is not to say necessarily that you will find a lot of Hindu electricians or plumbers. However, a lot of immigrants with an entrepreneurial bent will decide eventually to buy or start a small business. Depending on how shrewdly one chooses to invest and how hard one wishes to work, successful small business people should be able to reach the six-figure income level.

I think you would be surprised at all of the different skilled occupations where not only is it possible to earn an income of $100,000 or more annually, someone would be considered unfortunate if he did not reach this income level after several years of experience.
 
  • #8
The fact that there is an established community of successful Indian professionals in just-about every area you can think of that both helps in terms of networking/contacts as well as serving as a positive example may help explain why the situation persists. But the issue of how that situation came to be is harder to understand, I guess. I guess the farther away your native land is, the harder you work, since it is harder and costlier to go back (you may have to sell assets to travel, so you have little to go back to ), and the additional wish to avoid returning with your tail between your legs.
 
  • #9
leroyjenkens said:
What surprised me was the amount of money they make. To work hard so that you can provide for your family and live comfortably is one thing, but to make 6 figures a year is another thing, at least in my opinion. And almost half of them seem to be accomplishing that. Even getting a degree and a good job usually won't have you making that much money, so the reason I asked was because I figured they were doing something special.
Very likely it is a matter of folks immigrating with professional degrees, or students coming to university, getting a degree in math, science or technology, then getting jobs in those areas. I doubt there are many unskilled immigrants arriving in large numbers. On the other hand, in various states in the Persian Gulf, one might find a different demographic distribution because there are many immigrants who are hired for housekeeping or labor.
 
  • #10
SteamKing said:
I think you would be surprised at all of the different skilled occupations where not only is it possible to earn an income of $100,000 or more annually, someone would be considered unfortunate if he did not reach this income level after several years of experience.

+1 on that.

leroyjenkens, one of the things where you are clearly going wrong with your logic is that any list such as that shows the AVERAGE, not the upper end and there are LOTS of people in the upper end just as there are lots below average.
 
  • #11
phinds said:
+1 on that.

leroyjenkens, one of the things where you are clearly going wrong with your logic is that any list such as that shows the AVERAGE, not the upper end and there are LOTS of people in the upper end just as there are lots below average.

Still , re Leroy's link, 80% make at least $50,000 , and, by reasonable measures, Hindus do better as a whole than most other groups.
 
  • #12
WWGD said:
Still , re Leroy's link, 80% make at least $50,000 , and, by reasonable measures, Hindus do better as a whole than most other groups.

And why would they not? They are one of the ethnic groups in America that still believe in hard work and the value of a GOOD education, not just a free education. My wife teaches middle school and she tells me that most of her students spend their time in class texting each other and goofing off and that most of the ones who don't are the more ethnic kids who pay attention and get good grades.
 

1. What is the average income for different religious affiliations in the US?

According to a study by the Pew Research Center in 2016, the average household income for Jews in the US was $97,000, followed by Hindus at $85,000, and then Christians at $59,000. Other religious groups had an average household income of $49,000 and those who identified as religiously unaffiliated had an average of $50,000.

2. How does income vary between different Christian denominations?

The Pew Research Center study showed that among Christians, those who identified as Orthodox had the highest median household income at $75,000, followed by Mainline Protestants at $73,000. Evangelical Protestants had a median household income of $65,000 and historically black Protestant denominations had a median of $41,000.

3. Is there a gender gap in income among different religious groups in the US?

Yes, the Pew Research Center study found that there is a gender gap in income among several religious groups. For example, among Jews, the median income for men was $117,000 while for women it was $72,000. Among Catholics, the median income for men was $61,000 while for women it was $42,000.

4. How does income vary between religious groups among different racial/ethnic groups?

The Pew Research Center study found that among white Americans, the median household income for Jews was $97,000, followed by Hindus at $89,000, and then Christians at $59,000. Among black Americans, the median household income for Muslims was $49,000, followed by Christians at $42,000, and then those who identified as religiously unaffiliated at $35,000.

5. Has there been any change in income among different religious groups over time in the US?

The Pew Research Center study showed that there has been a slight increase in median household income for some religious groups in the US from 2007 to 2016. For example, Jews saw an increase of $21,000, Hindus saw an increase of $8,000, and those who identified as religiously unaffiliated saw an increase of $5,000. However, other religious groups, such as Catholics and Evangelical Protestants, saw a decrease in median household income during this time period.

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