Model S Buyers: What's Your Income?

[jbcarioca]

It's not what you make, but what you save! A net worth thread would be much more useful.

I'll wager that a net worth distribution would simply shift the skew to older people, mostly 'empty nesters'. However, from other reports I suspect all Tesla owners distribute disproportionately to technical/scientific occupations also, with IT by far the highest on the rankings. I'd really like to see a comprehensive distribution of tesla owners by a number of factors, such as:
1. Past early adopter habits- automotive, other transportation (airplanes, boats, etc);
2. Psychographic factors from reading habits to hobbies;
3. Geographic/residential (multiple residences, house vs multi-family, rural/suburban/urban)
4. Occupational history;
5. Educational history;
6. Domestic status

I imagine Tesla has a surfeit of such data. Soon we should have enough used ones circulating to have a distribution of new vs used on a similar basis.

In times past I did such analyses for Porsche, MB, BMW, Rolls-Royce, Infiniti and Lexus with a handful of traditional US cars thrown in. That was for one of the new entrants in luxury cars and was very comprehensive for US, Canada, UK, France, Germany and Benelux.

Based on that ancient history I'll hypothesize that Tesla owners are, once self-reporting bias is removed, fairly strongly bifurcated economically, but much more consistent in occupation and psychographic factors. Therefore I also hypothesize that a great many non-wealthy people stretch to buy a product that appeals to them intellectually and emotionally. For the most wealthy types the motivation is probably the same but the financial impact is less a factor.

 

[AMPd]

Ill start!

I'll wager that a net worth distribution would simply shift the skew to older people, mostly 'empty nesters'. However, from other reports I suspect all Tesla owners distribute disproportionately to technical/scientific occupations also, with IT by far the highest on the rankings. I'd really like to see a comprehensive distribution of tesla owners by a number of factors, such as:
1. Past early adopter habits- automotive, other transportation (airplanes, boats, etc);
None

2. Psychographic factors from reading habits to hobbies;
I'm not much of a reader, however if you give me a book that deals with murder/any other crimes really and I'll read it!
i love sports, watching and playing
basketball, soccer, football and baseball
LOVE EM ALL

3. Geographic/residential (multiple residences, house vs multi-family, rural/suburban/urban)
Condo

4. Occupational history;
Started working in law enforcement after college.
Multiple jobs in between college ranging from manual labor to general office work

5. Educational history;
Bachelors in Criminal Justice

6. Domestic status
Single

.

Awaiting my 70D

 

[ZsoZso]

However, from other reports I suspect all Tesla owners distribute disproportionately to technical/scientific occupations also, with IT by far the highest on the rankings. I'd really like to see a comprehensive distribution of tesla owners by a number of factors, such as:

I'll bite:

1. Past early adopter habits- automotive, other transportation (airplanes, boats, etc);
I'm not an early adopter for transportation related goods, but I was first in line for many high-tech electronics bleeding-edge stuff, such as computers, blue-ray players etc.

2. Psychographic factors from reading habits to hobbies;
Love Sci-Fi booth in books and films / TV-shows. Main hobby is video-games, other hobbies include hiking, skiing, bicycle, astronomy.

3. Geographic/residential (multiple residences, house vs multi-family, rural/suburban/urban)
Living in fully paid house in suburb, own a few more properties (town-houses in-city, another house in a smaller city) that are rented out. Planning to buy vacant land in rural area to build net-positive energy eco-house.

4. Occupational history;
Founded a molecular modelling / drug-design focused software development company in 1996 (right after completing my PhD) which was sold in 2014 to a large scientific publishing company, where I currently work as software architect.

5. Educational history;
BSc + MSc in computer science, PhD in computational chemistry

6. Domestic status
Married for 20 years, have 2 teenage kids: a girl just finishing high-school planning to enter University for nanotech-engineering course, a younger boy with interest in computers.


Another probably relevant data point: I am not much of a car-guy, the most expensive car I had prior to the S was a Nissan Murano (below 40k as new), I bought the Tesla strictly because it is the only full-electric car available that can serve as a complete car solution including long-range trips.

 

[Max*]

I'll wager that a net worth distribution would simply shift the skew to older people, mostly 'empty nesters'. However, from other reports I suspect all Tesla owners distribute disproportionately to technical/scientific occupations also, with IT by far the highest on the rankings. I'd really like to see a comprehensive distribution of tesla owners by a number of factors, such as:

I'll play.

1. Past early adopter habits- automotive, other transportation (airplanes, boats, etc);
Not really an early adopter, I usually wait to see if the technology will survive.

2. Psychographic factors from reading habits to hobbies;
Not much of a reader. Photography is a big hobby of mine. Pre-kids used to be more into sports (rock climbing, snowboarding, etc.)

3. Geographic/residential (multiple residences, house vs multi-family, rural/suburban/urban)
Suburban. Recently moved into a single-family home. Have a rental condo.

4. Occupational history
Electrical Engineer/Algorithm Developer

5. Educational history
BSEE/MSEE

6. Domestic status
Married, 2 kids

Waiting on my 70D... also not much of a car guy. My current car is a 2006 MazdaSpeed6, and the most expensive car my wife and I have owned was under $40k.

 

[bp1000]

Generally I work in the online tech space as I'm sure many Tesla owners do.

I run my own tech company and invest in other startups.

Im an early adopter but only on educated gambles. The tesla was a fairly easy bet at EMs ability to deliver on an idea, creative vision and hire flippin good people to do it.

Like all sorts of sports, Motorsport, rock climbing, swimming cycling etc.

I live economically and my past is in coding, project management, data science and achieved a 1st BSc at university

 

[jbcarioca]

I suppose I should answer my own questions too
1. Past early adopter habits- automotive, other transportation (airplanes, boats, etc);
I seem to be addicted to early adoption. Cars: NSU RO80 (first rotary engine car); Mazda 100 (first rotary engine car that worked); DAF 33 (first continuously variable transmission); Rover 2000TC; Morgan +8 (car was show car for Earl's Court showing, first delivered +8); three early production airplanes Socata Trinidad TB-21; Beagle 206, Citation 525 SN41 plus others. I can hardly call my P85D early adoption, can I?
2. Psychographic factors from reading habits to hobbies;
I read lots of history, some science, mostly physics, tons of junk novels. I am a formerly avid ski bum, scuba enthusiast, traveller and gardener
3. Geographic/residential (multiple residences, house vs multi-family, rural/suburban/urban)
At the moment I have two residences a house in Rio de Janeiro and a condo in Miami, FL. I have lived in 16 countries and have owned residences in a few of them. Almost always urban but did include an island a half hour from the nearest other inhabited place.
4. Occupational history;
I had a variety of early occupations, but ended out as an international banker moving form country to country, then as a management consultant in a company I founded but sold 25 years later to a large technology company entering the consulting business. I still do the odd consulting job, but mostly am a money manager. My specialities have been primarily product development, startups, turnarounds and M&A. Clients have been worldwide mostly financial firms. Oddly, my PhD thesis get me started as a consultant.
5. Educational history;
eclectic undergraduate (six majors), then commercial focus for MBA and PhD. I still don't know what I do when I grow up.
6. Domestic status
Happily married for 35 years, no kids

 

[Patrick W]

Cool! I'm willing to assume that despite the "lower" income you don't regret the purchase one bit?

Only regret is that I did not order sooner so it would be here now. The My Tesla page switched to "Production Complete Your Model S is in transit from the factory" last week but my DS just told me it's still at the factory.

 

[krisg81]

Hobbies: Long Walks on the Beach
Occupation: Gigolo
Income: $5.6M annual income
Favorite Food: Cheeseburger
Favorite Movie: Muppets Go To Manhattan
Favorite Color: Grey

 

[Dutchie]

You don't really need the income. If you have cash sitting in your account you can buy one (or getting a loan against an extreme low interest rate and leave you cash grow in funds). The running costs of the MS are very low and can easily be offset by the interest you pay on your loan. So for some people the ability of purchasing the car is not defined by income.

 

[Pilot_51]

These posts are worthy of a new thread, so I would suggest that a mod split them out.

1. Past early adopter habits- automotive, other transportation (airplanes, boats, etc)
I'm rarely an early adopter of products that cost money, because I'm really hesitant to spend money when I don't need to, but I am often an early believer. Android is perhaps my first significant early adoption, having bought a G1 in 2009 when the rest of my family was getting iPhones. EVs have always been on the back of my mind as a great idea since I was a kid, before I knew they existed in conventional form. Since I was determined to make my first car a pure EV without compromises, I never owned a car before my Model S and only drove, or was carpooled by, the family car and brother's car.

2. Psychographic factors from reading habits to hobbies
These days, I rarely read books (I'm ashamed to admit), watch TV, or listen to music. The large majority of that is covered by online content, often centered around science and technology. Most of my top favorite YouTube channels are all about science education, and I've been working through all the StarTalk Radio episodes on my commute for the past several months. If I do intentionally listen to music, usually only when distractions become an issue at work, 99% of the time it's my game soundtracks on Google Music. My main hobbies are video games (mostly PC), Android/Java development, building PCs, astronomy, and bowling. Since 2010, I've been using Linux exclusively both at home and at work.

3. Geographic/residential (multiple residences, house vs multi-family, rural/suburban/urban)
Currently living in a suburban house with parents and two siblings, paying rent and helping cover costly maintenance. I've been looking into getting solar on the house probably next year if not this year, after I recover from paying off the car.

4. Occupational history
Got my first full-time job in 2009 at a web startup, doing internal tech support as well as data entry for minimum wage. When that company hit the fan a year later and laid me off, I started learning Java and Android development using free online resources and some encouragement from an online friend learning alongside me. Two years and six apps later, I landed a job in Android development with a salary that allowed me to realize my dream of owning a Tesla.

5. Educational history
Homeschooled most of my childhood and went to private schools for about 3 years. Only graduated high school. Never pursued "higher education". Never stopped learning.

6. Domestic status
Single, never married.

 

[krisg81]

 

[bp1000]

we know krisg81 you defined yourself as the forum clown in post 67.

 

[Max*]

we know krisg81 you defined yourself as the forum clown in post 67.

Don't feed the trolls.

 

[krisg81]

we know krisg81 you defined yourself as the forum clown in post 67.

I defined myself as the only person realizing this is the dumbest tread on this forum, followed by soap box ego strokers feeding the topic. Seriously. No one cares

 

[hill]

Last time I checked, 7 folks at $40k income level? Are these folk owners or forum members. imo, blowing more than 20% of one's agi on transportation is a mind blower. Are there any threads that break down other owner elements? ... gender? education? age?
.

 

[Trnsl8r]

I defined myself as the only person realizing this is the dumbest tread on this forum, followed by soap box ego strokers feeding the topic. Seriously. No one cares

About 8 pages of posters would disagree with you, but feel free to move along.

- - - Updated - - -

Last time I checked, 7 folks at $40k income level? Are these folk owners or forum members. imo, blowing more than 20% of one's agi on transportation is a mind blower. Are there any threads that break down other owner elements? ... gender? education? age?
.

Like someone else pointed out, income is not necessarily an indication of wealth, or lack thereof.

 

[bp1000]

I defined myself as the only person realizing this is the dumbest tread on this forum, followed by soap box ego strokers feeding the topic. Seriously. No one cares

732 people cared enough to vote.

Why are you singling out the interesting, successful or wealthy as if it's something to be ashamed of. Would you point your finger at average or below average income person and berate them in the same way?

Nobody is exactly mimicking rich kids of Instagram. There is nothing more said here that wouldn't be on linked in or discussed about in a bar.

If you don't like it don't contribute. Talk about the 691bhp instead.

 

[krisg81]

732 people cared enough to vote.

Why are you singling out the interesting, successful or wealthy as if it's something to be ashamed of. Would you point your finger at average or below average income person and berate them in the same way?

Nobody is exactly mimicking rich kids of Instagram. There is nothing more said here that wouldn't be on linked in or discussed about in a bar.

If you don't like it don't contribute. Talk about the 691bhp instead.

the poll I get, and I voted.

the novels being written here are not needed, sorry.

 

[EarlyAdopter]

I defined myself as the only person realizing this is the dumbest tread on this forum, followed by soap box ego strokers feeding the topic. Seriously. No one cares

I suspect the person who asked the questions cares.

Likewise, the people sharing details about themselves to connect with others of similar backgrounds and interests seem to care.

It's called being social. You should try it sometime.

 

[neroden]

Last time I checked, 7 folks at $40k income level?
.

Savings.