What's the average wage in the US of A ?

Question

No one in Europe can understand why $4 a gallon for petrol (sorry gasoline) is such a problem if (as we have always believed ) y'all earn more than the rest of us.Our average national wage is £18K ( pounds sterling).We pay £6 for diesel or £5 for unleaded.Do you own math on these numbers.

So - what's going on over there ? No conspiracy theories or paranoid therapy exercises please.Just straight answers with reasons/facts/points we can discuss.

Answer 1

You pay more for fuel because you WANT to.  About half the cost of your fuel goes to taxes.  Get rid of the red herring in your argument.

$4 for a gallon of gas is high because it isn't worth that much.

Some people like to blame the "greedy" fuel companies and want the government to do something about it, but even here in the US, the government earns more for each gallon than the fuel company does.   So who's the greedy one?

Answer 2

thanks

permiso is with only one s**

bye!

Answer 3

The median family income in the US for 2008 is figured at $61,500.  The median family income in a given area, however, can vary greatly from that (eg. the median family income in my area is only $48,700).

I think most folks over here understand that gas, while expensive here, is even more expensive in Europe.  That doesn't mean we like to pay gas prices that increase exponentially by the month.  It wasn't that long ago when gas was $1.30 a gallon so it's understandable that we're not particularly fond of a 200%+ increase even if y'all are paying more.  It can also be pointed out that there are countries that pay less than us, such as Mexico and Kuwait.

Furthermore, the US is a more vast and open country (open meaning more open countryside) than any European country with less of a public transportation infrastructure and therefore Americans tend to drive more & by extension, use more gas with the result that a smaller increase in gas prices has a greater effect on a person's pocketbook because they buy more gas in the first place.

You also have to consider that our nation is a nation of debtors which means a lot of that $65,000 may already be earmarked to pay off debts with less wiggle room for inflation.

FYI--the last page of this 7-page pdf file lists the US' median incomes for 2008 per state and per the entire US. (this is a federal government publication) http://www.huduser.org/datasets/il/il08/...

Answer 4

$38,651.41

but im not from the US and im not even old enough to drive yet...

Answer 5

I remember this same subject came up in 1999 during a high price spike - the comparison with U.S. price to U.K. price. U.S. Federal tax on a gallon of gas is 15 percent. I know in many other countries it's a lot higher. Those other countries get much more in the way of social services from that higher gasoline tax. The U.S. citizen pays less tax on gas but pays more tax in other areas. So higher gas tax here really cuts into the personal budget.

Answer 6

Fight global warming - price gas at ten dollars a pint!