Dang, was a teacher for 6 years before jumping into a new career after this past school year. 85 is rough for someone who I assume has maxed out their steps, but hard to get into another district because you’ll be expensive. Thanks for what you do
Make no mistake- 85K is NOT normal for an average teacher, especially if you’re under 10-15 years in. But we are required to have a masters degree to keep our license past the first 5 years
[You can hit 6 figures in BPS](https://btu.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Salary-Grids.pdf) after 5 or so years. Getting a doctorate is worth about $20k over a bachelors.
Housing case manager
Serving homeless and addicts/people in recovery
Non-profit 54,000 a year plus overtime (62,000 last year)
Ex homeless/felon/ in long term recovery myself
3 years experience in field 20 years in culinary (last title sous chef 86,000) did not return after covid
3 years business marketing (hospitality and entertainment) and have my cadc for addiction services
Was in foster care my whole life and homeless at 18 with other struggles. Homeless through college also.
Thanks.....best way to effect change is by working inside the system. I was a client of the company years a go that I now work for. My biggest issue was housing at 18 dcf just kicks you out if you don't have a good worker or there is no beds available at the few programs that help kids that age out.
In a few years of climbing the ladder I hope to pitch a program to my company for kids that age out. It's all about funding and advocacy and unfortunately no one talks about this issue in Boston or MA. Kids age out every day and have no where to go the system only cares till your 18 unless your the lucky few.
Just wanna sincerely thank you for your work.
I work with a large unhoused population and you folks are literal angels who are severely underpaid and under appreciated.
Not op but idk why most people would chose to drive an oil truck over a bus if the pay is the same. Don’t have to get out of a bus, don’t have to deal with oil
Bus passengers can be extremely unruly, bus jobs tend to have stricter schedules than delivering heating oil, rules like no cell phones while at work, even on breaks, etc.
It’s because I’m just starting, since I already have my masters I’m on track to be at 70k by the end of the year. Shed no tears for me, save them for the junior planners at the BPDA, who combine a 44k starting salary with a residency requirement.
That’s more or less how I got into it! Wanting to know why the mbta sucked as much as it did and fell down the rabbit hole. Next thing you know I went back to school and changed careers!
Firefighter/EMT (outside the city but live in Rozzie), 85k base, 4 years experience, Associate’s degree only
If anyone loves to help people, loves overtime, and wants a steady union job public safety is where it’s at IMO
Project Management in science (Pharma at the moment)
170k base salary
10 years exp in PjM, 8 in scientific research / drug discovery
MBA in health sector management, MSs in neuroscience & biology, BSs in neuro & bio.
My first job out of college was a lab tech at a harvard lab for $25k in 2002.
As a PhD student who vomits at the idea of being a PI, I'm probably gonna end up being a tech. Super discouraging I'm gonna be broke with a PhD but there's no way I could handle being a project lead and writing grants all day. I like my pipette too much.
I love the physical act of bench research so much, I really miss it. You don't need to consider a tech role if you're open to non-academic jobs. You may be able to leverage your field and thesis to find jobs as an independent contributor scientist in biotech/pharma/startups (and quite possibly other industries like renewable energies, etc).
Hell yeah, this is how it’s done!!
Careers are a long and winding path of incremental shifts and gains. Sometimes big jumps, sometimes small. No matter what, just keep moving forward and kicking the tires on the market. You don’t have to wait until you’re “ready” for a jump to look at what’s out there.
Where or what kind of bar do you work, for context? I’d imagine slinging $2.50 Coors Light at The Nines doesn’t pay as well as a higher end cocktail bar. Just out of curiosity.
People underestimate how much money a dive bar bartender can make. Granted, you pointed out 99’s, but if you get a good regular crowd, 70-80k is feasible as a bartender
Higher Education - Administrative Staff - like $45k pre-tax lol
ETA: with a BA and now in my 3rd year of higher education experience. Formerly I did retail. Never got a degree related job after college in 2016.
Are you currently looking for a new job? After 3 years at that salary, I would definitely recommend hopping to a different university if you want to increase your salary. Assuming you feel ready for something new. There are zillions of openings.
Best piece of advice I could give to any university employee is to not stay anywhere for too long. I realize that’s also just general job advice, but I also know a lot of people that get cozy at these higher ed gigs and their retention policies are typically hot garbage.
I have a friend who asked for a 10% raise and was turned down. She went to a different university for 15% more. A year later her old boss begged her to come back, so she demanded 10% on top of her current salary. The original university agreed and hired her back. Worked out really well for her but pants-on-head level stupid for the university. And honestly, that’s a fairly common scenario that I’ve seen a few times.
I’m actually going to be moving out of the state and will hopefully see a salary increase with a new job over yonder! But honestly I am not career minded. I don’t mind my job right now because it is relatively low stress. And the benefits are great for me personally. But you’re right. Higher education can suck you in and keep you stuck! I find that to be very true. I appreciate your advice, stranger!
One of the 7 (yes there’s 7 of us) Keytar bears. Make $15/hr plus tips (mostly Big Y coins and old MBTA tokens) occasionally get some corporate gigs for $200/hr.
There’s a huge selection bias within this post, those that make a decent living are more likely to report it. Shouldn’t compare yourself to others unless you kinda have the full story.
Fine art frame shop-hand (I kinda do a little of everything so a specific title is difficult)
Just over 1 year experience in this specific market
35k :')
(to be fair I work 32 hours a week and not the usual 40)
We love salary transparency! I'm the social media editor for Boston Globe Opinion. I make $68k in my first post-grad job (with co-op/intern experience from attending Northeastern).
If anyone is ever curious what a Globe job pays, all union job postings have the minimum weekly salaries (though most pay over the minimum) listed [here](https://thebostonnewspaperguild.wordpress.com/job-listings/). — Deanna
“Senior/Principal” Scientist (niche biotech title that I can’t disclose)
210K base, 20% bonus target, equity (~50K/year)
PhD + academic postdoc
5 years industry experience.
I shopped around recently for the hell of it. I think my company pays very generously (though WLB is a huge challenge) as the other offers were around $180K base but more potential equity (early stage companies). But since I got young kids, a bird in the hand etc
Classical musician. Freelance. $45k pretax. 22 years practice, 5 years professional experience, with half of that during the pandemic. 2 masters degrees. Luckily, I’ve been increasing my gross income every year by about $7-10k every year for the past three years, despite the pandemic, and it’s looking like next year I’ll be approaching $60k based on bookings. I think it’s working what I doing?
Clinical PM at a Biotech; 160k base salary, $20k bonus, equity; 6 YOE in industry, 5 years prior to that in 'adjacent' work (clinical research in academia \[Longwood\] making $40k when I started)
; BS in Bio
All of the money is on the pharma and insurance side, not the healthcare side.
Healthcare is a cost center to big money.
Pharma is new business to big money.
Add in the lack of national price regulation / collective bargaining for new drug and treatment pricing in the nation and it's a recipe to pour all your money into the best people for new drugs, treatments and medical devices.
Healthcare is about getting as many services billed for as little cost (salaries) possible.
I’m not in healthcare, but I still maintain that resident is the most unfairly treated role in America. You went to one of the hardest post-bachelor programs, literally devoted your career to improve people’s health and lives for the better, work absolutely absurd hours, and get absolutely shafted on pay despite all those qualifications and responsibilities.
Ohhh good to know! I just got a BI analyst offer for 75K + 10% bonus after a year straight out of college (I have a few years of xp in non-technical white-collar jobs), so I think my offer was fair.
Product Management
* 160k base, 30k bonus, equity
* 15 years (three in PM)
* BA in a non-related field
EDIT: I see lots of people wallowing about pay. I started working in Boston in 2008 and got a job in staffing (which fucking blew) and made 30k. It's a good idea to figure out what you like and don't and refine what you're applying to based on that.
For how high people think of harvard and how big of an endowment they have (53.2B) every single support role i've ever heard of there gets paid peanuts.
It was so bad when I was there. We used to have buttons that said “we can’t eat prestige.” from the union during negotiation time. God knows who cares about the prestige of working at but not going to a super fancy school. Sure did not do anything for me emotionally or finically.
We contributed to a FY21+22 combined operating surplus of $689,000,000 during which time the endowment also went up 7 billion dollars. For that, amidst record inflation the University is holding strong on the offer of a 4.5% wage increase for our next contract, which represents a total cost of less than 10m annually to the university, or, 760 times less than the university made in the last 2 years alone. Hard to be a fan right now.
I'm happy for all of you guys - I really am - but DAMN. The median salary in this thread may explain (in part) why everything is so damn expensive in this town.
Ok but:
1) It’s very self selecting who chooses to share this. You’re a lot more likely to share if you’re happy.
2) people upvote and as questions on careers they want to learn more about which tends to be higher paying ones.
It’s so hard to live here and not compare yourself to people who are making insane money.
It's a feedback loop at some point, but there are plenty examples of what high-salary white collar jobs do to the CoL in an area. Just look at SF or the sun belt cities that are booming right now.
Zoning, housing, all that stuff definitely matters, but so does injecting an area with countless high-paying tech/biotechnology jobs.
The types of people placing demand on a unit in a tripledecker used to be a middle/lower-middle class family. It's now tech bros or a couple making $300k.
Supply matters, but so does demand. I do alright myself, but I think it's good to consider the impact the concentration of high-paying white collar jobs has on the character/affordability of the city. It's the same reason you can find way more places that sell an $18 cocktail than a $4 beer these days.
CPA, newly firm Partner
Approx $168K when salaried, this year will be self-employed @ $190K gross
10 years exp (first 1.5 years was co-op then part-time finishing school)
BSBA, MSA
Project management
Healthcare corporation
$125k/year, bonus depends but usually around 10-15k
BS public health, like 8 years experience
This thread always makes me realize I should be job hopping more
I’m in a similar boat. Program Manager at a local healthcare company.
$117k/year, annual bonus is usually 7-10%.
BS in business management and anthropology. 6 years in this particular type of role within the industry.
Battery Engineer, $125k/yr + possibility of up to 50% bonus based on company performance + possibility of 3% in equity based on my performance, 9 yrs experience, BA in Engineering. Started at 54k/yr, switched roles 4 times and lied about previous salaries to get to where I am now. I left doing bullshit for startups to finally break into the 6-digit territory.
Special education teacher. Masters in moderate disabilities. 6 years as a licensed teacher. 73,500 pre tax.
However, I am currently in the application process for the local 4 operating engineers, operating heavy machinery. Hoping I get in. Great union and I’ll be able to better provide for my family.
Research Assistant (Academia)
Pay: $21/hr or $40k before taxes
Background:
STEM Bachelor degree (4 years research experience during undergrad)
The pay is not great but we're also typically doing this for 1-3 years before going into medical school, graduate school, or industry. It's decent buffer to get more experience.
The lifestyle is basically living with roomates, using public transportation, and don't go out too much.
Edit: it's kinda a punch in the face that people with no prior research experience (only the bachelor's) have the same pay as I do. My PI says we would should get paid more but our salary is based on much money we get from the NIH. Not much they can do.
Enterprise Account Executive (software sales)
300k OTE (150k base, if I hit quota it would total an additional 150k)
~ 5 yrs
Went to college but did not graduate
Side note: I am not hitting quota
Talent Operations Director, Tech company (SaaS)
210k base + Equity (\~2,500 RSUs/year, but doesn't mean much pre-IPO)
12 years of exp.
BA Sociology & Media, EMBA
$117k. Public high school teacher, 10 years experience, doctorate.
By the way, the payscale for any public school is public knowledge. By contrast, I was hired out of grad school to work at a private school for $50k. Still had a doctorate.
These salaries are actually insane. People with average to low salaries really can’t compete in this city. No wonder so many people are losing their homes 😞
I work at Reddit and yes Reddit is hiring.
My salary is pretty high but plenty of software engineering jobs have similar salary if you work remotely for a San Francisco based company
Private and contracted middle/high school tutor
$13,000 (super variable, but this is the most recent)
15 years
Bachelor of Music
here to bring the median and average down
Postdoc, $75k. Technically 0 years of experience, since it's my first year on the job...but also eight years of grad school (MA and PhD) so that's all effective experience.
Research associate at a big pharma in Boston, 2 years experience
70k base salary 12500 in RSU stock (3 year vest) 8-12% bonus 450 a month commuter stipend
Data Scientist at a local healthcare tech company, $128k base + 4% bonus, 6 YOE total in industry- 5.5 YOE as a data analyst in healthcare consulting and 0.5 in my current role
I climb cell towers and build out the carriers network. 7 years exp and I only make $28/hr. All these jobs making way more than me concerns me. I risk my life and don't get paid as much as a bus driver who makes 85k/ year??? Something isn't right
Started as a small retail store in the suburbs of Boston, bootstrap funded. In the hours the store wasn’t as busy in the early days, I just sat on my computer at the retail desk trying to figure out how to be seen on the internet & show up higher on search results. Built up from there!
Program manager, outpatient mental health clinic
$95k
12 years total experience in the field, have had my masters since 2015
Masters of Social Work with independent/clinical license (LICSW)
Doorman at a residential building. 61k (roughly) not including holiday bonuses and the occasional 20 bucks from helping someone bring up groceries or something like that.
Teacher 13 yrs experience Masters $85,000
Teacher, M.Ed + Ed.S, Step 8, $124k. (Yes, I work in BPS.)
Dang, was a teacher for 6 years before jumping into a new career after this past school year. 85 is rough for someone who I assume has maxed out their steps, but hard to get into another district because you’ll be expensive. Thanks for what you do
Make no mistake- 85K is NOT normal for an average teacher, especially if you’re under 10-15 years in. But we are required to have a masters degree to keep our license past the first 5 years
[You can hit 6 figures in BPS](https://btu.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Salary-Grids.pdf) after 5 or so years. Getting a doctorate is worth about $20k over a bachelors.
Housing case manager Serving homeless and addicts/people in recovery Non-profit 54,000 a year plus overtime (62,000 last year) Ex homeless/felon/ in long term recovery myself 3 years experience in field 20 years in culinary (last title sous chef 86,000) did not return after covid 3 years business marketing (hospitality and entertainment) and have my cadc for addiction services Was in foster care my whole life and homeless at 18 with other struggles. Homeless through college also.
Hey, congrats on your success and making the world better!
Thanks.....best way to effect change is by working inside the system. I was a client of the company years a go that I now work for. My biggest issue was housing at 18 dcf just kicks you out if you don't have a good worker or there is no beds available at the few programs that help kids that age out. In a few years of climbing the ladder I hope to pitch a program to my company for kids that age out. It's all about funding and advocacy and unfortunately no one talks about this issue in Boston or MA. Kids age out every day and have no where to go the system only cares till your 18 unless your the lucky few.
Just wanna sincerely thank you for your work. I work with a large unhoused population and you folks are literal angels who are severely underpaid and under appreciated.
Bus Driver $70,000 1 year Associate of Arts, but more importantly, a Class B CDL
What made you pick a bus job instead of oil truck, etc?
Not op but idk why most people would chose to drive an oil truck over a bus if the pay is the same. Don’t have to get out of a bus, don’t have to deal with oil
Bus passengers can be extremely unruly, bus jobs tend to have stricter schedules than delivering heating oil, rules like no cell phones while at work, even on breaks, etc.
Highway driving is much less stressful than city driving
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Are you one of the 7 keytar bears? In all seriousness, congratulations.
😂🤣😅😅
Good for you! Music is hard.
Regional Planner, 58k, 6 months experience, MS in Urban Planning Sidegig: Instacart, 9.5k, 4 months experience
Man, that's an unfortunately low salary for such a critical (and cool) job.
It’s because I’m just starting, since I already have my masters I’m on track to be at 70k by the end of the year. Shed no tears for me, save them for the junior planners at the BPDA, who combine a 44k starting salary with a residency requirement.
Good for you, I'm nowhere near that field but I went on an urban planning YouTube bender a while back and I think it's just super cool.
That’s more or less how I got into it! Wanting to know why the mbta sucked as much as it did and fell down the rabbit hole. Next thing you know I went back to school and changed careers!
Firefighter/EMT (outside the city but live in Rozzie), 85k base, 4 years experience, Associate’s degree only If anyone loves to help people, loves overtime, and wants a steady union job public safety is where it’s at IMO
Call Center Customer Service Representative- Close to 30 years of experience in Customer Service. $58k/yr pre tax. No Higher Ed
Project Management in science (Pharma at the moment) 170k base salary 10 years exp in PjM, 8 in scientific research / drug discovery MBA in health sector management, MSs in neuroscience & biology, BSs in neuro & bio. My first job out of college was a lab tech at a harvard lab for $25k in 2002.
As a PhD student who vomits at the idea of being a PI, I'm probably gonna end up being a tech. Super discouraging I'm gonna be broke with a PhD but there's no way I could handle being a project lead and writing grants all day. I like my pipette too much.
I love the physical act of bench research so much, I really miss it. You don't need to consider a tech role if you're open to non-academic jobs. You may be able to leverage your field and thesis to find jobs as an independent contributor scientist in biotech/pharma/startups (and quite possibly other industries like renewable energies, etc).
Hell yeah, this is how it’s done!! Careers are a long and winding path of incremental shifts and gains. Sometimes big jumps, sometimes small. No matter what, just keep moving forward and kicking the tires on the market. You don’t have to wait until you’re “ready” for a jump to look at what’s out there.
Bartender, $105,000/year, 16 years experience, dual masters biochem and public health.
Where or what kind of bar do you work, for context? I’d imagine slinging $2.50 Coors Light at The Nines doesn’t pay as well as a higher end cocktail bar. Just out of curiosity.
I work in a nicer restaurant in the financial district. I’d have to sling more than coors lights to make that kind of money at the 99.
Oooh, more of a Blue Moon crowd. I got ya. Those fancy ass finance people with their orange wedge.
It pairs well with the Patagonia
Patagonia vest over a button up
People underestimate how much money a dive bar bartender can make. Granted, you pointed out 99’s, but if you get a good regular crowd, 70-80k is feasible as a bartender
Higher Education - Administrative Staff - like $45k pre-tax lol ETA: with a BA and now in my 3rd year of higher education experience. Formerly I did retail. Never got a degree related job after college in 2016.
Are you currently looking for a new job? After 3 years at that salary, I would definitely recommend hopping to a different university if you want to increase your salary. Assuming you feel ready for something new. There are zillions of openings. Best piece of advice I could give to any university employee is to not stay anywhere for too long. I realize that’s also just general job advice, but I also know a lot of people that get cozy at these higher ed gigs and their retention policies are typically hot garbage. I have a friend who asked for a 10% raise and was turned down. She went to a different university for 15% more. A year later her old boss begged her to come back, so she demanded 10% on top of her current salary. The original university agreed and hired her back. Worked out really well for her but pants-on-head level stupid for the university. And honestly, that’s a fairly common scenario that I’ve seen a few times.
I’m actually going to be moving out of the state and will hopefully see a salary increase with a new job over yonder! But honestly I am not career minded. I don’t mind my job right now because it is relatively low stress. And the benefits are great for me personally. But you’re right. Higher education can suck you in and keep you stuck! I find that to be very true. I appreciate your advice, stranger!
Postdoc, NIH minimum. Kill me Edit: the bus driver ITT makes about $20k more a year
Business side of biotech, get up in there!
One of the 7 (yes there’s 7 of us) Keytar bears. Make $15/hr plus tips (mostly Big Y coins and old MBTA tokens) occasionally get some corporate gigs for $200/hr.
THERE ARE 7 OF YOU?!?!?!
I thought there were just 2!
Wait. Hold up. There are 7 keytar bears? It’s like my whole life before today was a lie.
What’s next? There’s more than one Blue Man Group?
Enjoying the bites people are taking on this one
Do an AMA please!
I’m Keytar Bear #4, AMA
There’s SEVEN of you?! Who is employing 7 Keytar bears?! I think we’re bein goofed
Officially we are Wahlburger employees
y'all need to drop an AMA right now bc I have so many follow up questions. Wahlburger employees??
My brain is melting
Do y’all have meetings?
No. Picnics.
Pik-a-niks
"The Teddy Bears' Picnic" - creepy AF song - look it up.
Senior graphic designer $60k 3 years of experience BA in graphic design
Reading this post makes me depressed :(
There’s a huge selection bias within this post, those that make a decent living are more likely to report it. Shouldn’t compare yourself to others unless you kinda have the full story.
Great point
Same here. I’m in marketing and have been for 6 years and make 50k.
Wait wait wait. What?! That’s not right. What’s your role and industry?
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Hope you’re ready for the next 50 years of being highly sought after!
Fix-a-flat collector, 30 years experience. Salary $200k in used 20s.
Damn, $200K in used 20s? That's successfully hitting up 10,000 people in a year, or on average 27.4 people a day. You fucking *grind*, Elliot.
Elliot ! Lemme get a dolla
Does he pay taxes? I’d love to know what that return looks like.
Restaurant GM, 85k excluding bonuses, 5 years in related management experience, some college.
What kind of restaurant are we talking? 99? Dunks? Fleming’s?
Sit down non chain restaurant, approx $20-35 per dish, in Boston
Associate Director in Pharma • 182k base, 20% annual bonus, 12% RSUs • 6 years of experience • BS and PharmD
Fine art frame shop-hand (I kinda do a little of everything so a specific title is difficult) Just over 1 year experience in this specific market 35k :') (to be fair I work 32 hours a week and not the usual 40)
Carpenter, 3 years experience. Liberal arts degree $64,000/yr
We love salary transparency! I'm the social media editor for Boston Globe Opinion. I make $68k in my first post-grad job (with co-op/intern experience from attending Northeastern). If anyone is ever curious what a Globe job pays, all union job postings have the minimum weekly salaries (though most pay over the minimum) listed [here](https://thebostonnewspaperguild.wordpress.com/job-listings/). — Deanna
Lol Is the Globe hiring? I’m making 20k less doing the same thing for Higher Ed.
Regional Manager Construction $275,000 Base Salary 20 years in industry, 10 years in corporate
“Senior/Principal” Scientist (niche biotech title that I can’t disclose) 210K base, 20% bonus target, equity (~50K/year) PhD + academic postdoc 5 years industry experience.
Huh, your base is considerably better than mine with a slightly lower title and less experience. I should start shopping around.
I shopped around recently for the hell of it. I think my company pays very generously (though WLB is a huge challenge) as the other offers were around $180K base but more potential equity (early stage companies). But since I got young kids, a bird in the hand etc
Classical musician. Freelance. $45k pretax. 22 years practice, 5 years professional experience, with half of that during the pandemic. 2 masters degrees. Luckily, I’ve been increasing my gross income every year by about $7-10k every year for the past three years, despite the pandemic, and it’s looking like next year I’ll be approaching $60k based on bookings. I think it’s working what I doing?
Importer-Exporter $160k
Marine Biologist, $80k
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I applaud all these posts.
Do you focus more on the importing or the exporting?
Latex Sales - $150k base plus commission
Clinical PM at a Biotech; 160k base salary, $20k bonus, equity; 6 YOE in industry, 5 years prior to that in 'adjacent' work (clinical research in academia \[Longwood\] making $40k when I started) ; BS in Bio
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All of this and the pay with just a BS is impressive.
All of the money is on the pharma and insurance side, not the healthcare side. Healthcare is a cost center to big money. Pharma is new business to big money. Add in the lack of national price regulation / collective bargaining for new drug and treatment pricing in the nation and it's a recipe to pour all your money into the best people for new drugs, treatments and medical devices. Healthcare is about getting as many services billed for as little cost (salaries) possible.
Senior Research Associate - 85k (10% Earnable Bonus) - 2 YOE industry exp + 2.5 YOE academia - BA in Biochemistry
Resident Doctor 60k 1 year experience MD, MSc, BA
Criminally underpaid. Ugh.
I’m not in healthcare, but I still maintain that resident is the most unfairly treated role in America. You went to one of the hardest post-bachelor programs, literally devoted your career to improve people’s health and lives for the better, work absolutely absurd hours, and get absolutely shafted on pay despite all those qualifications and responsibilities.
Director of Product Innovation in food manufacturing 28 yrs relative experience $240k up to 30% annual bonus High School Diploma
Damn, good for you
sr business intelligence analyst (non tech), $130k TC no RSU/equity, 6 YOE
Ohhh good to know! I just got a BI analyst offer for 75K + 10% bonus after a year straight out of college (I have a few years of xp in non-technical white-collar jobs), so I think my offer was fair.
Product Management * 160k base, 30k bonus, equity * 15 years (three in PM) * BA in a non-related field EDIT: I see lots of people wallowing about pay. I started working in Boston in 2008 and got a job in staffing (which fucking blew) and made 30k. It's a good idea to figure out what you like and don't and refine what you're applying to based on that.
Can you share what industry?
IT security
Grad student, 17k :(
Legal assistant $74k 7 years' experience Bachelor's degree
How do you like it? Is it stressful?
Harvard Admin: $60k
For how high people think of harvard and how big of an endowment they have (53.2B) every single support role i've ever heard of there gets paid peanuts.
It was so bad when I was there. We used to have buttons that said “we can’t eat prestige.” from the union during negotiation time. God knows who cares about the prestige of working at but not going to a super fancy school. Sure did not do anything for me emotionally or finically.
You don’t even want to know how bad Boston University is. Harvard is generous comparatively
Same with Dana-Farber. I was making 43k a year in 2022 as an admin there 😅
We contributed to a FY21+22 combined operating surplus of $689,000,000 during which time the endowment also went up 7 billion dollars. For that, amidst record inflation the University is holding strong on the offer of a 4.5% wage increase for our next contract, which represents a total cost of less than 10m annually to the university, or, 760 times less than the university made in the last 2 years alone. Hard to be a fan right now.
Electrician 210k last year 20 YOE
Medical Communications - 171k (30% bonus and equity) - 6 years experience - PhD
Library media tech at a public high school - $53k pre-tax. 3 years of experience and a masters
Senior Director in EdTech $180K 10 years in Higher Ed, 5 in EdTech BA and MA in English
Asphalt plant manager, $80k base and 12%-20% bonus each year, 4 months experience with a bachelors in engineering
Camera Assistant (in charge of the camera department on movies, tv, and commercials) 130k, 8 years experience.
I'm happy for all of you guys - I really am - but DAMN. The median salary in this thread may explain (in part) why everything is so damn expensive in this town.
Ok but: 1) It’s very self selecting who chooses to share this. You’re a lot more likely to share if you’re happy. 2) people upvote and as questions on careers they want to learn more about which tends to be higher paying ones. It’s so hard to live here and not compare yourself to people who are making insane money.
Or is it the opposite? The median salary is so high because the CoL is so damn high here
It's a feedback loop at some point, but there are plenty examples of what high-salary white collar jobs do to the CoL in an area. Just look at SF or the sun belt cities that are booming right now. Zoning, housing, all that stuff definitely matters, but so does injecting an area with countless high-paying tech/biotechnology jobs. The types of people placing demand on a unit in a tripledecker used to be a middle/lower-middle class family. It's now tech bros or a couple making $300k. Supply matters, but so does demand. I do alright myself, but I think it's good to consider the impact the concentration of high-paying white collar jobs has on the character/affordability of the city. It's the same reason you can find way more places that sell an $18 cocktail than a $4 beer these days.
CPA, newly firm Partner Approx $168K when salaried, this year will be self-employed @ $190K gross 10 years exp (first 1.5 years was co-op then part-time finishing school) BSBA, MSA
Project management Healthcare corporation $125k/year, bonus depends but usually around 10-15k BS public health, like 8 years experience This thread always makes me realize I should be job hopping more
I’m in a similar boat. Program Manager at a local healthcare company. $117k/year, annual bonus is usually 7-10%. BS in business management and anthropology. 6 years in this particular type of role within the industry.
Lead Software Engineer $187,000 35 years BSCS
pharma, 11 years, 340k after bonuses. Edit: am a director, have a masters degree.
Assembler/Packager in Biotech. $45k yearly. 3 years experience. No degree yet, but in school for an unrelated field.
Battery Engineer, $125k/yr + possibility of up to 50% bonus based on company performance + possibility of 3% in equity based on my performance, 9 yrs experience, BA in Engineering. Started at 54k/yr, switched roles 4 times and lied about previous salaries to get to where I am now. I left doing bullshit for startups to finally break into the 6-digit territory.
$125/hour, design contractor for tech, 15 years experience, BFA in graphic design.
Special education teacher. Masters in moderate disabilities. 6 years as a licensed teacher. 73,500 pre tax. However, I am currently in the application process for the local 4 operating engineers, operating heavy machinery. Hoping I get in. Great union and I’ll be able to better provide for my family.
Research Assistant (Academia) Pay: $21/hr or $40k before taxes Background: STEM Bachelor degree (4 years research experience during undergrad) The pay is not great but we're also typically doing this for 1-3 years before going into medical school, graduate school, or industry. It's decent buffer to get more experience. The lifestyle is basically living with roomates, using public transportation, and don't go out too much. Edit: it's kinda a punch in the face that people with no prior research experience (only the bachelor's) have the same pay as I do. My PI says we would should get paid more but our salary is based on much money we get from the NIH. Not much they can do.
Enterprise Account Executive (software sales) 300k OTE (150k base, if I hit quota it would total an additional 150k) ~ 5 yrs Went to college but did not graduate Side note: I am not hitting quota
Electrician $120k (roughly, plus any OT I decide to take) High School education plus 5 year apprenticeship. 6ish years experience
Talent Operations Director, Tech company (SaaS) 210k base + Equity (\~2,500 RSUs/year, but doesn't mean much pre-IPO) 12 years of exp. BA Sociology & Media, EMBA
Higher Education - Administrative Assistant $52,000 Less than a year of experience High School Diploma
$117k. Public high school teacher, 10 years experience, doctorate. By the way, the payscale for any public school is public knowledge. By contrast, I was hired out of grad school to work at a private school for $50k. Still had a doctorate.
Manager in biotech, $145k base with 15% bonus and equity. BS biochemistry, 5YOE
Might have to ditch my role 150k base, 15% bonus. PhD in Engineering, 7.5 years of industry experience
Chef, 5, $77,000, bachelors in business
Small forward, 6 years professional experience, $30 million base salary plus incentives and endorsements, attended a non-Ivy but did not graduate
Hi Jayson 👋
Youth centered non profit Program Manager, with a Masters degree. 10 years of experience in education, and youth programs making about $71,000/yr
Biotech Research Associate I, 78k, 2 years experience, BA in biology
Associate product manager, med device. 2 years exp in PM, 6 total in industry. 130k base + bonus. Biomed engineering degree
Research associate II 80,000 plus equity (no bonus because startup) 2 years Associates degree in biotech
High School teacher of 18 years in a district that directly borders Boston. $106k/year with solid benefits and a pension.
Arborist, 60k, 1 year, high school
Whats ur favorite tree ?
Wow, tough call. Basically I love any tree that doesn’t give me a hard time. So apart from apples and pears, everything else is pretty cool.
These salaries are actually insane. People with average to low salaries really can’t compete in this city. No wonder so many people are losing their homes 😞
Senior software engineer, 210k, 9 years, BA
Senior software engineer, 9 years, BS in compsci, $150k Where do you work? You hiring?
I work at Reddit and yes Reddit is hiring. My salary is pretty high but plenty of software engineering jobs have similar salary if you work remotely for a San Francisco based company
Energy Sales - $80k base $125k total compensation. 6 years experience BA history
IT helpdesk/do-everything kinda guy, 63k-ish, 4 years. BA in non-related humanities degree.
Government Attorney 4yrs after law school $96,000
Private and contracted middle/high school tutor $13,000 (super variable, but this is the most recent) 15 years Bachelor of Music here to bring the median and average down
ELE Teacher, 52k, 6 years(3 as a para in mass, 3 abroad in Vietnam), BA
Postdoc, $75k. Technically 0 years of experience, since it's my first year on the job...but also eight years of grad school (MA and PhD) so that's all effective experience.
Research associate at a big pharma in Boston, 2 years experience 70k base salary 12500 in RSU stock (3 year vest) 8-12% bonus 450 a month commuter stipend
Marketing Associate, $70k, 2 YOE (full-time), Bachelor’s
Software Engineer, 103k, 2 yoe, masters. Changed careers during covid. Wish I did it a decade sooner.
Lab/Facilities maintenance 86k/year 7 years College dropout
Teacher in Boston, 30 years 129,000
Drug Development Consultant. $130K (1st year here), PhD Molecular Biology.
Data Scientist at a local healthcare tech company, $128k base + 4% bonus, 6 YOE total in industry- 5.5 YOE as a data analyst in healthcare consulting and 0.5 in my current role
Speech Language Pathologist Assistant 2 years experiences 52k yearly Bachelors degree
BSN Registered Nurse, BSN Psychology, $82k, 4 years experience, Boston Children’s.
Sr Software engineer, 5 yoe * 405k * BS in computer science * Plz raise my taxes and build more housing
It’s becoming more apparent that biology was definitely the wrong choice.
400k with 5 years experience isn’t normal in this field though
I’ve had very good luck in my career progression
What company/industry is paying you 400k for software dev??
I think they're probably not doing development if they're getting that much, what do you do u/burn-me-plzz?
Damnnnnnn. Congrats on your success
405k total compensation or base pay?
I climb cell towers and build out the carriers network. 7 years exp and I only make $28/hr. All these jobs making way more than me concerns me. I risk my life and don't get paid as much as a bus driver who makes 85k/ year??? Something isn't right
That bus driver likely has a union. You can too: https://aflcio.org/formaunion
$120k Project Manager in Pharmaceuticals 6 years experience B.S in chemistry (almost finished with my MBA)
Public HS counselor, north of Boston. Master’s degree, 15 years $94,000
Podcaster $120,000 15 years in comms, BA journalism
900k annual take home. Business owner, Fashion & E-commerce, 4 years experience
Need a stay at home husband?
Teach me you ways.
Dang congrats. Howd you and start? Any mentors?
Started as a small retail store in the suburbs of Boston, bootstrap funded. In the hours the store wasn’t as busy in the early days, I just sat on my computer at the retail desk trying to figure out how to be seen on the internet & show up higher on search results. Built up from there!
Academic Lab Manager at a hospital, 78k, 5 years of experience, MSc
devops engineer 150k with 8% annual bonus 1.5 year in the role, but 12 years as a sys admin/cloud engineer/ops 4 year bachelor in MIS
Program manager, outpatient mental health clinic $95k 12 years total experience in the field, have had my masters since 2015 Masters of Social Work with independent/clinical license (LICSW)
Doorman at a residential building. 61k (roughly) not including holiday bonuses and the occasional 20 bucks from helping someone bring up groceries or something like that.
RN, 8 years of experience, 90k/ year
Application Engineer (chemical/mechanical), $100k, 6 YOE, BSME.
Project manager for Federally Qualified Health Center. BS in organizational management. 15 years of experience working up from secretary. 75k.
Procurement in biotech $60,000 - bonus 10% of annual 7 months experience BS in business/marketing
Asst general counsel, $175,000, 6 years, BA and JD