I'm writing a college essay on the myth of affluence in certain cultures. I am writing about several different cultures, one of which is the Mormon culture; however, I am finding it hard to find statistics on poverty levels in the Mormon church, or even just average income of church members. Could you possibly point me into the direction to a resource or speak to the issue of individual members' income within that community?

Rachel from West Hollywood, 7/11/2009

AllAboutMormons.com Webmaster from La Jolla, California:

Hi Rachael. I don't think the Church itself keeps direct records regarding the income of its members. My impression is that American Mormons are very much a middle-class people, with some notable exceptions like Mitt Romney, Willard J. Marriot, Jon Huntsman, etc.

A recent Pew Forum survey seems to confirm this suspicion. Here's a summary:

26% of Mormons make less than $30,000
21% earn between $30,000 and $49,999
22% earn between $50,000 and $74,999
16% earn between $75,000 and $99,999
16% earn more than $100,000

It should be noted, however, than Mormons are among the youngest populations in the country, so that the above statistics may make us out to be a bit poorer than we actually are.

I myself am a proud member of the lowest 26%! :) Nothing like being a starving student...

Pamela Dean from Clarenville:

Hi Rachel,

The webmaster has provided some interesting statistics for you. Your question is a very challenging one. Our church encompasses a wide variety of people, backgrounds, and nationalities all over the world. What constitues affluence or poverty in North America is unlikely to be the same for Africa or Russia or Micronesia or any other area.

Also, remember that there can be very large differences between what different groups of people consider 'poverty'. For example, when I was in university a professor wanted to demonstrate the concept of poverty within our class. He asked a series of questions and we were required to sit down if those situations applied to us. At the end, I was the only one left standing, as the last comment was 'sit down if you had indoor plumbing as a child'. I didn't have running water in my house until I was twelve, and it wasn't until 1982 that my grandparents even had an indoor washroom. The professor then told everyone that I was poor as a child because of this. I disagreed - we always had food, shelter, clothing, one or two vehicles, recreational vehicles, the latest toys, and anything else we wanted, including dance, piano, karate and guitar lessons. My parents were able to save enough money between 1975 and 1985 to build a 3500 square foot house that still has people talking about how beautiful it is as well as family vacations throughout Canada every year. Poor? No. Frugal and not living near a ready water source? Yes. We were voluntarily impoverished when I was growing up in order to effect changes in our lives according to what we felt was more important, which is a lifestyle I have also chosen to live now. In 2007 after 9 years, I left a job halfway across the country that would have paid me close to $100,000 this year so that I could live near my parents and other family again, and am currently unemployed after working for a 33% paycut for the same type but in another part of the country for the past two years. Yet, because of the chosen frugality of my lifestyle - often called 'provident living' in the church - all of my needs are met, all of my bills are paid, we have food, shelter, clothing, and many 'luxuries' such as electronics, numerous pets, nice furniture, etc.

In short, because of the chosen way of life of some of the members, and because of the huge variance in background of our people, I would expect that you would find that affluence and poverty levels in the church are similar to that of the home nation or area you are studying.

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