Older Millennials Are Happy With a $65K Salary: Why They Ask For Less Than Other Generations

08/05/2024

Smiling African American woman manage finances on laptop

Most of the jobs are in engineering. It’s long been said money can’t buy happiness. Still, there’s no argument that a certain amount of money, especially when it comes to salary, can satisfy you — satisfied to have enough to pay the rent, the utilities, the groceries and put some away.

Learn More: How I Make $5,000 a Month in Passive Income Doing Just 10 Hours of Work a Year

For You: How To Get $340 Per Year in Cash Back on Gas and Other Things You Already Buy

But what salary would make you happy? GOBankingRates surveyed 1,005 Americans 18 and older from across the country and asked them how much they’d need to earn each year to consider themselves happy. The answer varied by age, and in studying the data, the first group to reach a majority was workers 35 to 44, with just over 54% of them saying a salary of up to $65,000 per year would create contentment.

The four other age groups identified the next salary tier — $65,001 to $80,000 — as the annual salary target for happiness for at least half of the respondents.

So why are the respondents ages 35 to 44 happy with this salary? Apparently, they value something more than money: their work-life balance.

A Voluntary Pay Cut

Another study, the Ford Trends 2024 Survey, posed this thought to 16,086 respondents from 16 countries: “To achieve a lifestyle that prioritizes my quality of life, I would be willing to take a 20% pay cut.”

In all, 52% of the global respondents concurred with the statement, 51% among the pool of American workers. However, the U.S. residents who participated in the survey varied in level of agreement at different rates.

Among baby boomers, 33% of Americans said they’d take a 20% pay cut. The number rose to 43% for members of Generation X and 56% among those who fit the Generation Z demographics.

But among the millennial age group, 60% was the number.

Part of a Larger Trend

The willingness of millennials to take a pay cut to improve their work-life balance fits in with other polling this decade, part of a trend that shows that generation doesn’t favor putting work first.

Research for the World Values Survey, conducted by King’s College London and published in September 2023, showed only 14% of millennials agreed with this statement: “Work should always come first, even if it means less spare time.” That number fell dramatically from 41% in a similar 2009 survey.

Among other age groups in the recent study, only 17% of Gen X members and 19% of Gen Zers said work should go first. Members of the generation classified as Pre-War agreed at a 43% clip.

In another question, 52% of millennials agreed that it would be a good occurrence should less importance were placed on work, an increase from 31% in 2005.

Methodology: GOBankingRates surveyed 1,005 Americans aged 18 and older from across the country between Jan. 23 and Jan. 26, 2024, asking six different questions: (1) What is more important to you in a job/career?; (2) What is the minimum annual salary that would make you feel happy?; (3) How much do you believe you will need in savings in order to retire comfortably?; (4) How much do you currently have saved for retirement?; (5) Do you think you will be able and prepared to retire at 65?; and (6) What percentage of your salary do you put toward a retirement plan such as a 401K? GOBankingRates used PureSpectrum’s survey platform to conduct the poll.

A Voluntary Pay Cut

Part of a Larger Trend

OTHER NEWS