1 in 4 Americans Think ‘Ideal’ Partner Should Earn $150K — How Does This Square With Reality?
Written by
Vance Cariaga
Edited by
Jenna Klaverweiden
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Earning an income of $150,000 per year means you make more than twice as much as the typical U.S. worker. But it’s still not enough to qualify you as spouse or partner material for a large percentage of Americans.
A survey of 1,000 U.S. adults from matchmaking service Tawkify found that 1 in 4 Americans say their ideal romantic partner should earn more than $150,000 a year. About 1 in 10 say the ideal partner should earn $250,000, while 1 in 20 aren’t interested unless you earn at least $500,000 a year.
Those are some pretty steep expectations. But how do they square with reality?
Also see four financial blocks that keep couples from building wealth.
What Most Americans Earn
The average American worker doesn’t come close to qualifying as the “ideal” partner financially for about one-quarter of Tawkify’s survey respondents.
For example, full-time workers in the United States earn a median income of $1,196 a week, or $62,192 a year, according to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
An analysis from the Don’t Quit Your Day Job financial site found that people who make $150,000 a year are in the top 25% of earners, while those who earn $250,000 to $500,000 a year are in the top 10%.
Those numbers suggest that if your minimum income requirement for a romantic partner is more than $150,000 a year, then you are immediately eliminating three-quarters of the working population.
The Role of Money in Relationships
The purpose of the Tawkify survey was to explore how love, money and “emotional baggage” intersect in modern dating. The average age of respondents was 39. Half were women, and half were men.
Although one-quarter or respondents said their ideal partner should earn more than $150,000 a year, the average among all respondents was much lower. For women, the ideal income is $110,000 a year, while for men it’s $90,000.
There were some other key takeaways from the study that revealed how relationships and finances interact. For one, over half of respondents said they’d prioritize romantic love over financial security. Additionally, 63% reported they’d marry for love even if it meant they’d struggle financially throughout their life.
Generational Differences
One thing the survey uncovered is how different age groups view the relationship between money and love. Baby boomers and Gen Xers said their “perfect” partner would earn an average of $110,000 a year. That compares with $100,000 for millennials and $80,000 for Gen Z.
Millennials are the most likely to choose love over money, with 59% saying they’d prioritize a “broke and magical” relationship over financial security. Those figures drop to 54% for Gen Z, 48% for boomers and 46% for Gen X.
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