LiveJournal: Poor by Moscow standards, rich by Russian

BASHMATCHKIN, male:

The following categories should be used to analyse income levels in modern Russia, based on Euros and Rubles:

(1) Extremely destitute (income up to 3,400 Rubles, ~100 Euros) - 13.4% of the population
(2) Destitute (3,400-7,400 Rubles, 100-210 Euros) - 27.8%
(3) Poor (7,400-17,000 Rubles, 210-500 Euros) - 38.8%
(4) Rich poor (17,000-25,000 Rubles, 500-740 Euros) - 10.9%
(5) Middle income (25,000-50,000 Rubles, 740-1,480 Euros) - 7.3%
(6) Well-off (50,000-75,000 Rubles, 1,480-2,200 Euros) - 1.1%
(7) Rich (over 75,000 Rubles, >2,200 Euros) - 0.7%.

AIDAROV, male, 26, lives in Perm, Volga federal district:

It all becomes clear if you understand that people who are making a noise about salary levels are Moscow residents, aged 30-40. For them a salary of 16,000 is poverty, although in any district town of our huge Motherland, save for the oil-producing regions, a person on this salary would almost be a local oligarch. Some bloggers note that an apartment costs 4,500,000 Rubles ($176,500). Anywhere outside Moscow this sum would build you a house, maybe even with two-stories and a swimming pool. Everyone hangs "poor" and "rich" labels on others (and on themselves) based on their own outlook.

La buka, female, 24, lives in St. Petersburg:

I think that it's not how much you earn, it's how much you can buy. In Russia I spend 1.5 times more than in Europe: clothes are more expensive and so are high quality products. I am not even talking about credit, nobody has the outrageous interest rates which we have.

All rights reserved by Rossiyskaya Gazeta.