- How do you stack up? Average salary in U.S. according to Bureau of Labor, was $59,384
Average salaries and wages in the United States have been increasing year after year, but the landscape looks different depending on a range of factors, from where you live to how old you are. We’ve compiled the official numbers to produce a comprehensive breakdown of average salaries in the country. We’ve split salary data by age, race, gender, occupation, state and educational background, then analyzed the results to see who earns what in the United States.What is in this guide?
- Social Security COLA Set at 2.5% for 2025. Annual benefit adjustment lowest in 4 years
Inflation is clearly top of mind, not just for retirees, but for Americans generally, and the annual COLA provided by Social Security is a critical feature of the system. The 2.5 percent COLA will bump up the estimated average Social Security retirement benefit by $49 a month, from approximately $1,927 to $1,976, starting in January. Some may feel the increase for 2025 is low relative to the inflation they feel in their pocketbooks, still, it’s a welcome increase that builds on a 5.9 percent increase in payments in 2022, 8.7 percent in 2023 and 3.2 percent this year.” Social Security is almost entirely funded by a payroll tax of 12.4 percent on eligible wages, with employers and employees each paying 6.2 percent. (Self-employed people pay the full 12.4 percent.) The tax is applied to earnings up to a certain threshold, which will increase next year from $168,600 to $176,100.
- Good news: COVID cases are on a downward trend. And updated vaccine will continue to protect against new variants.
COVID-19 cases continue to fall throughout the country after a summer wave peaked in early August, surveillance data shows. The percentage of positive COVID-19 tests dropped from 17.8% the week of Aug. 10 to 14.9% the week of Sept. 7, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Walgreens’s national respiratory disease tracker showed a similar trend. Americans can prepare for the respiratory virus season by ordering free tests from COVIDtests.gov,
- Restaurant Portions Are About to Get Smaller. (Will they get cheaper, too?)
Portion sizes in American restaurants shot up in the 1980s and never came down. Nutritionists and policymakers haven’t had much success fighting portion creep. But today, a combo plate of economics, demographics and climate science may accomplish what years of official hand-wringing could not: loosening the grip that super-size restaurant portions have on the national diet. More than 75 percent of customers say they want smaller portions for less money, according to the 2024 National Restaurant Association report on the industry.Food costs aren’t the only pressure on serving sizes. As much as 40 percent of food served at restaurants never gets eaten! [more]
- Our increasing fear suggests otherwise, but FBI finds violent crime declined in 2023.
Violent crime in the U.S. dropped in 2023, according to FBI statistics that show a continued trend downward after a coronavirus pandemic-era crime spike. Overall violent crime declined an estimated 3% in 2023 from the year before, according to the FBI report Monday. Murders and non-negligent manslaughter dropped nearly 12%. Violent crime has become a focal point in the 2024 presidential race, with former President Donald Trump recently claiming that crime is “through the roof” under President Joe Biden’s administration. Even with the 2020 pandemic surge, violent crime is down dramatically from the 1990s. [More]
- Popular stopover for 50 years, Motel 6 is sold to an Indian hotel company expanding in the U.S.
Motel 6 was founded in 1962 in Santa Barbara, Calif., and has been an indelible part of Americana for its basic accommodations. The Motel 6 name originally came from the company’s offering of an all-cash $6-a-night rate. Motel 6 and Studio 6 currently have roughly 1,500 hotels across the United States and Canada. The budget hotel chain that has lined American highways for decades, will be sold to Oyo, an India-based hotel operator. Oyo expanded into the United States in 2019, and has recently ramped up efforts to expand further. It currently operates more than 300 hotels domestically.
- Housing costs are through the roof. Here Are the Pros and Cons of an alternative: a Mobile Home
For many, living in a mobile home is not a choice, but a necessity. An estimated 20 million Americans live in mobile homes, and they make up the largest source of unsubsidized affordable housing in the country. The average sale price of a home in December 2020 was $394,900 while the average price of a new mobile home was $88,200 in August of 2020. There are pros and cons, of course, so do your homework. [More]
- An extremely practical guide to this year’s cold, flu, and Covid season
More than 200 viruses cause the coughs and sneezes that make so many of us miserable every fall and winter. The good news is that there are now a range of strategies available to fight them, although after years of battling a constantly shifting pandemic, many people are understandably exhausted and confused about how they should keep themselves and others safe. The bottom line is you can minimize respiratory viruses’ effects on your life by reducing your exposure to them, priming your immune system to fight them off, getting vaccinated, and making a plan to get tested and treated for an infection if you’re someone who’ll benefit. Here’s how to think about this year’s cold, flu, and ongoing Covid-19 season, how to keep yourself healthy and safe, and how to be strategic about testing, vaccines, and medications. [More]
A newspaper by and for seniors, Senior News Daily scours the internet each morning for news of interest to active men and women of retirement age. Coverage includes financial and health news, politics, retirement strategies and assisted living news and helpful blogs about aging.
Senior News Daily is written by and for active seniors. We believe seniors have a sense of humor and can laugh at themselves. We know our readers are intelligent, influential, have active lives and get their news from a variety of national sources, both left and right of the political center. We don’t simply duplicate what they report. Each day we scour the internet for articles that interest and benefit seniors. We publish health and financial news for seniors, breaking political news, and retirement and community news of value to seniors. Humorous or serious, they advocate for our generation of AARP members. In addition to news by and for seniors, Senior News Daily publishes a Blog featuring posts from our editors and the opinions of our contemporaries. Occasionally there are reviews of products and services we test and endorse.