In 1957, a committee led by then-Senator John F. Kennedy selected Senator Robert A. Taft as one of five great senators whose portraits would adorn the President’s Room off the Senate floor. Taft was also included in Kennedy’s 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning volume, Profiles in Courage, featuring short biographies describing acts of bravery and integrity by eight United States senators.
While Taft continues to be regarded by historians as one of the most powerful senators of the 20th century, Taft himself appeared rather tight-lipped and coldly intellectual, characteristics that were, however, offset by his gregarious wife, who served as a confidante and powerful asset to her husband’s political career.
It is something Mrs. Robert Taft is to have said that I would like to quote to preface the statistics that follow: “I always find that statistics are hard to follow and impossible to digest. The only one I can ever remember is that if all the people who go to sleep in church were laid end to end, they would be a lot more comfortable.” ~Mrs. Robert A. Taft
So let’s see if we can stay awake for a few statistics regarding annual incomes.
According to U.S. Census Bureau figures, the average income of a Grand Marais resident is $27,398 a year (around 13 bucks an hour) with nearly half our residents (48.6 percent) making under 40,000 greenbacks annually.
In fact, 19.1 percent of our residents make under $15,000 per year; the Minnesota state average is 10 percent.
While scrutinizing the numbers, Census statisticians found 41 percent of households in Minnesota make less than $50,000 a year, while 60 percent earn less than $75,000. To put that in perspective, a $50,000 yearly salary translates to a $25 hourly wage doing full-time work.
Care to guess how this annual takehome compares with the yearly salaries of the approximate 119 individuals the county employs full-time?
According to 2018 figures, less than 7 percent (6.72 percent) of county employees make under $40,000 per year; about the same percentage that garners over $90,000 per year working for the county.
Keep in mind, the 80 percent portion of health insurance premiums paid by the county–er ah, excuse me, you the taxpayer . . . should be added to this figure: single coverage adding $6,662.40/ family coverage $16,646.40 annually.
Contemplate, roughly 64.7 percent of county employees make over $50,000 per year, not including benefits of any kind; another 14.29 percent make over $70,000 per year.
Pull all these statistics together, and you will discover 100 percent of full-time county employees–primarily funded by taxpayer dollars–make more than the average Grand Marais resident.
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