How much money should I make? Graduating with an MPH
June 3, 2014 8:05 PM Subscribe
So I grew up broke. And, I did not learn the best ways to handle and think about money. We were always living paycheck to paycheck. My parents are still that way and so am I. But, I am going to finish my master's and I want to break the cycle.
Financially secure here I come!
I am in Boston. $40,000 sounds like a lot but when I met with a school financial adviser she said to be looking for 60k.
Where are these public health jobs that pay this much? It feels weird and greedy to think this way, but my adviser made good points.In Chicago one of my friends was a pulling 72,000 as a teacher. so what is a good start salary? i have 8 years exp in health promotion and social justice. and what titles am I looking for and what areas to look, for 60k? maybe consulting? if so, which ones in Boston and DC? Thanks
I want to pay my debt and student loans, save, save and have a retirement and travel
I want to pay my debt and student loans, save, save and have a retirement and travel
I agree on checking Glassdoor, though do keep in mind that it's all self-reported, so the accuracy can be iffy. I've looked up jobs I've had, and it's shown salaries far different from what I was making (generally lower, but I'm sure it could go either way). I have less than zero knowledge of the job market in your field, but 40k seems really, really low to me for a job with a masters degree in a major city...
posted by primethyme at 8:42 PM on June 3, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by primethyme at 8:42 PM on June 3, 2014 [2 favorites]
Talk to recent grads from your institution, whether they be your former TAs from classes, or people from the school alumni directory? This is a good way to network as well (people in the directory generally want to talk: they would de-list themselves from the directory if they didn't want to be bothered).
If you want, do the usual hedging that it's "awkward" to ask, but "if you don't mind talking about it" "I just want to make sure I have reasonable expectations when going on the job search"...
posted by batter_my_heart at 9:15 PM on June 3, 2014
If you want, do the usual hedging that it's "awkward" to ask, but "if you don't mind talking about it" "I just want to make sure I have reasonable expectations when going on the job search"...
posted by batter_my_heart at 9:15 PM on June 3, 2014
Look for professional associations for people who work in public health - they may do a salary survey that you can access.
posted by mogget at 9:17 PM on June 3, 2014
posted by mogget at 9:17 PM on June 3, 2014
I found some salary information here, which says it's drawn from a survey of recent public health graduates conducted by the APHA. It looks like $40,000 is on the low end, and given that Boston is a higher cost of living city and you have significant experience as well as a master's degree, your financial aid advisor's suggestion sounds pretty reasonable. On the other hand, it really depends on what's out there and what you're looking for. A hospital administrator may make a ton, but that doesn't really matter if you don't have those skills or want that kind of job. The best source of information for you is probably people who've recently graduated from the same program as you, who are living in similar cities. Try reaching out to people in the alumni directory, as batter_my_heart suggests.
posted by MadamM at 9:59 PM on June 3, 2014
posted by MadamM at 9:59 PM on June 3, 2014
I'm not sure how feasible it is to get $60K as a starting salary in public health, especially if you're working for a nonprofit. Working a government job might get you more. I run a nonprofit and I hire public health grads for starting positions, and we pay… WAY less than that, but in a much lower cost of living area (a 3rd world country!).
If you really want to save money and be more financially secure you might want to consider looking at jobs in other parts of the country. I would also recommend looking for titles that involve some sort of managerial responsibility, even at a low level - hopefully you have some leadership experience on your resume to support this - which seem like they could lead to higher paying positions in the future. You could plan to start at one job, work it for maybe 2 years and look to move upward on the management ladder by finding a better job and leveraging the experience you get, and hopefully the contacts you'd have made as well.
posted by treehorn+bunny at 10:03 PM on June 3, 2014
If you really want to save money and be more financially secure you might want to consider looking at jobs in other parts of the country. I would also recommend looking for titles that involve some sort of managerial responsibility, even at a low level - hopefully you have some leadership experience on your resume to support this - which seem like they could lead to higher paying positions in the future. You could plan to start at one job, work it for maybe 2 years and look to move upward on the management ladder by finding a better job and leveraging the experience you get, and hopefully the contacts you'd have made as well.
posted by treehorn+bunny at 10:03 PM on June 3, 2014
Regarding the salary information link: I notice that these are salary ranges. Public health grads should know better! A mean or median along with those figures would give a lot more context (especially without any location data).
With a quick search I did also find this page which lists the median salary in public health in Boston as $49K. But I suspect that people doing health education, health promotion, and social justice work may generally be making less, while people in more hard science-y public health jobs like epidemiology and biostatistics would likely be making more.
posted by treehorn+bunny at 10:08 PM on June 3, 2014
With a quick search I did also find this page which lists the median salary in public health in Boston as $49K. But I suspect that people doing health education, health promotion, and social justice work may generally be making less, while people in more hard science-y public health jobs like epidemiology and biostatistics would likely be making more.
posted by treehorn+bunny at 10:08 PM on June 3, 2014
I did not learn the best ways to handle and think about money. We were always living paycheck to paycheck. My parents are still that way and so am I. But, I am going to finish my master's and I want to break the cycle. Financially secure here I come! ...
I want to pay my debt and student loans, save, save and have a retirement and travel
While you're getting a feel for the job market in your field, give some serious time and attention to learning how to budget. Even on $60K it's not all that hard to find yourself broke and living paycheck-to-paycheck if you don't think things through and establish good habits. If you've never had that sort of income then you might imagine it as an inexhaustible fountain of money, but it really isn't. A good job won't save you from yourself.
posted by jon1270 at 4:08 AM on June 4, 2014 [3 favorites]
I want to pay my debt and student loans, save, save and have a retirement and travel
While you're getting a feel for the job market in your field, give some serious time and attention to learning how to budget. Even on $60K it's not all that hard to find yourself broke and living paycheck-to-paycheck if you don't think things through and establish good habits. If you've never had that sort of income then you might imagine it as an inexhaustible fountain of money, but it really isn't. A good job won't save you from yourself.
posted by jon1270 at 4:08 AM on June 4, 2014 [3 favorites]
Best answer: I live and work in Boston, at a health-care-related nonprofit, and one of my coworkers has an MPH. She's been working here about 6 years and is making around 100k.
It's important to keep in mind that not all nonprofits are alike. Some are small or new, and won't be able to pay you much, but others are big and established and pay closer to corporate rates. Nonprofit does not always mean a tiny hole in the wall outfit living on grants or a government job, and public health doesn't necessarily limit you to those things.
Also keep in mind that MA is in the middle of ACA implementation right now, and things aren't going as swimmingly as planned. There's a lot of work out here for people with experience in your field.
FYI, I started working at my nonprofit at entry level 4 years ago with only a BA in an unrelated field to my name, and made 2k more to start than your adviser suggests. And it was still hard to stay afloat, even with a room mate and not living in the city proper. With your credentials and in Boston I would say you should be looking at more along the lines of 80k.
Feel free to memail me if you want to talk more.
posted by kythuen at 5:53 AM on June 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
It's important to keep in mind that not all nonprofits are alike. Some are small or new, and won't be able to pay you much, but others are big and established and pay closer to corporate rates. Nonprofit does not always mean a tiny hole in the wall outfit living on grants or a government job, and public health doesn't necessarily limit you to those things.
Also keep in mind that MA is in the middle of ACA implementation right now, and things aren't going as swimmingly as planned. There's a lot of work out here for people with experience in your field.
FYI, I started working at my nonprofit at entry level 4 years ago with only a BA in an unrelated field to my name, and made 2k more to start than your adviser suggests. And it was still hard to stay afloat, even with a room mate and not living in the city proper. With your credentials and in Boston I would say you should be looking at more along the lines of 80k.
Feel free to memail me if you want to talk more.
posted by kythuen at 5:53 AM on June 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
You can have a look at USAJOBs for federal PH jobs and have a look at the GS salary tables for what they pay - you've probably already done that but if not, it can give you some good info. Good luck!
posted by pointystick at 5:57 AM on June 4, 2014
posted by pointystick at 5:57 AM on June 4, 2014
$40,000 in Boston is not much money at all. Certainly not enough to have any hope of a secure retirement. For example, entry-level assistant district attorneys and public defenders in Massachusetts make approximately $40,000 and most have to supplement their incomes with second jobs just to make ends meet.
Your after-tax monthly income on $40k is approximately $2500. It's going to be tough to rent a one-bedroom apartment for much less than $1500. That leaves you with $1000/month for: utilities, cell phone bills, cable bills, repaying student loans, and buying food. There won't be much left over for your retirement savings.
You could spend less on rent if you moved out of the city, but then you're looking at car payments, car insurance, gas, etc.
This city is expensive. It's not "greedy" to expect more than $40k/year.
posted by ewiar at 6:59 AM on June 4, 2014
Your after-tax monthly income on $40k is approximately $2500. It's going to be tough to rent a one-bedroom apartment for much less than $1500. That leaves you with $1000/month for: utilities, cell phone bills, cable bills, repaying student loans, and buying food. There won't be much left over for your retirement savings.
You could spend less on rent if you moved out of the city, but then you're looking at car payments, car insurance, gas, etc.
This city is expensive. It's not "greedy" to expect more than $40k/year.
posted by ewiar at 6:59 AM on June 4, 2014
$40k is not much solo. (I'm at right about $50k, but since we can at the moment due to no financial burdens, I'm supporting my partner as he tries to develop his writing career). My takehome pay is right about $3000/month. I would NOT be able to support both of us in a big city, but I can in the smaller city we live in. We have a downtown apartment for $1250/month (and that's ritzy - we moved out of a $1000/month place that was fine but we wanted something a bit nicer. We're not exactly crazy frugal.) Health insurance is covered both by the govt (Ontario resident here) and by my work. Since we live right downtown, there is no need for a car - there's an easy $7000/year saved. We have cheap cell phones clocking in at $65/month for the two of us, and our internet is $45/month. Utilities ranges from $60-200/month depending on how much we heat/cool and how much laundry we do.
So that puts us at: $3000 - $1250 - $200 = $1550ish left over. Supporting two people (and a dog!) on that is fine. We save a bit every month, but haven't really been able to put it away longterm, as something always comes up. Remember that! Something ALWAYS comes up. Our "extra" fund wavers anywhere from $500-3000 depending on what incidental costs come up, entertainment, vet bills, travel, whatever. If we wanted to really cut down on costs, there would be a ton of easy ways to do so - but we're not in debt. Somehow, we both got out of our Masters degrees without any debt, via a combination of grants/scholarships/summer work/etc. So we don't have a $600/month monkey on either of our backs, like a lot of our friends.
There are no guarantees, so working at $40k is still better than going jobless for 6 months to a year or more! I mean, obviously $60k is 'better', but is $60k in Boston better than $40k in Idaho? That gets more questionable as cost of living is a HUGE difference.
posted by aggyface at 9:43 AM on June 4, 2014
So that puts us at: $3000 - $1250 - $200 = $1550ish left over. Supporting two people (and a dog!) on that is fine. We save a bit every month, but haven't really been able to put it away longterm, as something always comes up. Remember that! Something ALWAYS comes up. Our "extra" fund wavers anywhere from $500-3000 depending on what incidental costs come up, entertainment, vet bills, travel, whatever. If we wanted to really cut down on costs, there would be a ton of easy ways to do so - but we're not in debt. Somehow, we both got out of our Masters degrees without any debt, via a combination of grants/scholarships/summer work/etc. So we don't have a $600/month monkey on either of our backs, like a lot of our friends.
There are no guarantees, so working at $40k is still better than going jobless for 6 months to a year or more! I mean, obviously $60k is 'better', but is $60k in Boston better than $40k in Idaho? That gets more questionable as cost of living is a HUGE difference.
posted by aggyface at 9:43 AM on June 4, 2014
I believe that an MPH would qualify you to apply for a GS-11 public health job in the Federal government. Federal job titles that might be relevant to you based on your experience include: Public Health Advisor/Analyst, Health Communication Specialist. Looking at the salary tables on OPM's web site, it appears that the GS-11 step 1 locality pay in Boston is $63,386 a year. So it would appear that your advisor is in the right ballpark at least from that perspective. In general / on average, Federal pays more than state, and state pays more than local, but there are always exceptions. If you are open to relocation, it may be easier to find a Federal job if this is what you want. There are also a variety of non-profit, academic, and other organizations that employ MPHs.
You may also want to look into consulting firms with a government or healthcare-focused practice; some of these firms hire MPHs and they generally pay better.
On a more general budgeting level, I can personally recommend YNAB. I have tried many, many, many different systems in my life and YNAB has been the most helpful for me. I bought the software, but you can also just use their educational materials on their approach.
posted by oblique red at 9:50 AM on June 4, 2014
You may also want to look into consulting firms with a government or healthcare-focused practice; some of these firms hire MPHs and they generally pay better.
On a more general budgeting level, I can personally recommend YNAB. I have tried many, many, many different systems in my life and YNAB has been the most helpful for me. I bought the software, but you can also just use their educational materials on their approach.
posted by oblique red at 9:50 AM on June 4, 2014
Response by poster: Thanks so much to all of you!! I can't tell you how much it means that you took the time to give thoughtful responses. Thanks!
posted by TRUELOTUS at 7:15 PM on June 4, 2014
posted by TRUELOTUS at 7:15 PM on June 4, 2014
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by xingcat at 8:16 PM on June 3, 2014 [1 favorite]