Re: Typical MR Mag Reader - Did You Know

...Earns a household income of $70,709.

Uh-oh. Got some catching up to do.

Reply to
CowGoesMoo
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Jim=A0Stanton wrote: Did you know that the average reader of Model Railroader Magazine... ..Has been a model railroader for over 28 years. ..Earns a household income of $70,709. ..Spends 9 hours per week involved with the hobby. Does that sound like you?

--------------------------------------------------- Well, I failed on one of these (...Earns a household income of $70,709). The other ones I did a lot better than the average.

Bill Bill's Railroad Empire N Scale Model Railroad:

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Reply to
Bill

In my book the most interesting and enlightening statistic regarding the typical MR reader/subscriber was totally left out of their recently published survey results. This is,"What is the typical or average age of the MR readership?" The recent survey results were the first in nearly 50 years of MR surveys not to include this figure. Was it perhaps because they found this number to be much higher than they'd like to admit?

John

Reply to
JBortle

Interesting...because the guys who run regular hobby shop were discussing this very statistic recently. It seems that the average age of model railroaders is getting higher all the time.

Perhaps it has something to do with fewer younger model rails taking up the hobby? You just don't seem to see younger folks in model railroad shops like you did 15, 20 years ago. (We all grew up...)

Reply to
Steve Hoskins

I have more years of MR than that. I think I have about 36 years of MR, and lots more before that, but 36 years continuous to present. I have been an HO scale model railroader (I did not have a Lionel phase) for 43 years. And I haven't reached my 46th birthday yet. I've been a prototype modeler for 29 years, which just about corresponds to the coining of the term.

Sounds nice, where do I sign up?

That's a modest week, if you don't count time spent on line talking about trains, or down at the hobby shop. But I can tell you this, I was spending more than 9 hours a week on the hobby when my annual income was less than 1/100th of the amount above.

I dunno, I can only hear the sound of a computer fan and my laundry on spin-cycle around the corner :-)

Andy

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Reply to
Andy Harman

Since 1958. Been a Model Railroader reader since 1963.

Not quite.

I'm sure they meant "9 hours per day" - that's close enough.

Reply to
Gregory Procter

--------------------------------------------------- Well, I failed on one of these (...Earns a household income of $70,709). The other ones I did a lot better than the average.

That is what they SAID they made.

Jim Stewart

Reply to
Jim Stewart

=>There's also a significant amount of alternatives for today's =>kids...video games, etc.

There's also a much lower proportion of kids. Under 15s now are about the same proportion as over 60s -- frist time in human histiory as far as we know. In another 5 years or so there will be fewer under 15s than over 60s. And kids are less likely to be subscribers to MRR and fill our reader survey forms....

I've found the same number of kids interested in model trains from year to year. For most it's a passing interest, (Thomas the Tank Engine is a phase most rugrats seem to go through) although I'm sure some will take it up again. The peak of interest seems to be middle school age.

Reply to
Wolf Kirchmeir

=>>...Earns a household income of $70,709. =>

=>Uh-oh. Got some catching up to do.

AFAIK, this is an average, not a median, income. That means that a few high income earners may well have distorted the numbers. MRR should report median income. (see footnote) 2ndly, their survey produced a relatively small sample, and was self-selective, both of which are likely to skew the figure upward. 3rdly, MRR subscribers are likely to have higher incomes than non-subscribers. 4thly, the results also showed a higher than average rate of graduate and post-graduate education, both of which imply higher than a average earnings. IOW, the income figure is not very informative, to put it as gently as possible.

Median household income in Canada was well over $50,000 in 2001. Median individual income was roughly $35,000. This means most households had at least one full time and one part time earner.

Footnote: A skewed example, to illustrate how misleading simple averages can be. Suppose nine people earn $30K each, the tenth earns $100K. Average income for these ten people is $40K, 25% more than 90% of them earn..

HTH

Reply to
Wolf Kirchmeir

about that!

Does that sound like you?

say " hey cool sound, let's hear the BELL" thanks Doc.

Regards Charles Emerson, Bellbird, NSW, Australia.

Reply to
Charles Emerson

About 20 here...

That's pretty darn close, but I do live in NJ so it's really not all that much. :-|

More like 12-15 here.

I guess I'm not too far off the mark!

Steve W

Reply to
Steve Woodward

Are they any worse than Mexican Pesos?? :-)

Reply to
Steve Hoskins

=>Got you beat, Andy. This is my 54th year in the hobby. =>

=>Den

I've got 61 years, if I start the count with a lovely green and red and brass Meccano locomotive I got for Christmas when I was not quite 6 years old. My uncle "helped" me build it, and then got to play with it, too. :-) It's long gone. Sigh.

Reply to
Wolf Kirchmeir

Well I would have had to start nine years before I was born to equal that...

Andy

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Reply to
Andy Harman

That's true, if a disproportunate number of east and west coasters answered the survey, that would push the average income up significantly. I know I couldn't afford my house in the Bay Area. I couldn't afford _any_ house in the Bay Area. I did a little math and figured if I could make quadruple my current income, I might consider moving there.

Andy

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Reply to
Andy Harman

University application forms are a good starting point. Or a spouse with a good job.

Reply to
Mark Mathu

You are right about the bay area. Most of us who live here couldn't afford to buy our own houses. It's an area where "half a mil" is a starter house.

Reply to
Jon Miller

I was talking about an opportunity to earn $70,000 not *spend* $70,000! [LOL]

Andy Dropout Without Regrets P.S. you don't think I'm going to disclose my income in this place do you?

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Reply to
Andy Harman

As the old saying goes: It takes money to make money.

Reply to
Mark Mathu

Damn, that's why I'm not rich. I can't afford it!

Reply to
CowGoesMoo

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