This Handy Living Wage Calculator Drills Down To City Level Data

If you work in the field of arts administration, you’ve probably figured out that it isn’t exactly the ideal career if your primary goal in life is to secure a position at the top of the economic food chain.

ArtsHacker.comHaving said that, and regardless of your position in the field, it’s still good to keep tabs on up to date wage data and I published an article at ArtsHacker on 2/6/2015 that examines the MIT Living Wage Calculator created by Amy Glasmeier, a professor of economic geography and regional planning at MIT, is a handy resource in that effort.

It’s a terrific resource and one that should find its way into your bookmarks.

Get the scoop on the MIT Living Wage Calculator

About Drew McManus

"I hear that every time you show up to work with an orchestra, people get fired." Those were the first words out of an executive's mouth after her board chair introduced us. That executive is now a dear colleague and friend but the day that consulting contract began with her orchestra, she was convinced I was a hatchet-man brought in by the board to clean house.

I understand where the trepidation comes from as a great deal of my consulting and technology provider work for arts organizations involves due diligence, separating fact from fiction, interpreting spin, as well as performance review and oversight. So yes, sometimes that work results in one or two individuals "aggressively embracing career change" but far more often than not, it reinforces and clarifies exactly what works and why.

In short, it doesn't matter if you know where all the bodies are buried if you can't keep your own clients out of the ground, and I'm fortunate enough to say that for more than 15 years, I've done exactly that for groups of all budget size from Qatar to Kathmandu.

For fun, I write a daily blog about the orchestra business, provide a platform for arts insiders to speak their mind, keep track of what people in this business get paid, help write a satirical cartoon about orchestra life, hack the arts, and love a good coffee drink.

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2 thoughts on “This Handy Living Wage Calculator Drills Down To City Level Data”

  1. I don’t know what planet these people live on but in my county in the South, it is impossible to find housing for $670 a month anywhere I’ve ever looked here and I’ve been all over the rental sites, Craigslist, etc., or to spend only $242 on food for 1 person for an entire month, and only $77 on “other”–utilities alone are $200 a month at a minimum (water, gas, phone, electric) even without internet and when one is on the even payment plans for gas and electric, and utilities are not even listed as an expense item that I could see. This is way off base in my opinion. $20,000 salary for one person annually? Let’s get real; not in any city of any size.

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