Even Santa Got Only a Piddling 2% Raise This Year

The average U.S. wage increased by 3.1%, but one of the hardest working men in the world only managed a 2.2% bump. And most people think he’s overpaid!

The good folks at Insure.com used a preset list of tasks to match occupations and wage data collected by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and reckoned that Santa’s 2016 salary reached $146,308.51. Compared with an average U.S. income of $48,099, that’s still not too bad.

But is that enough, or too much? Insure.com researchers surveyed 1,000 people to get their ideas on the right salary for Santa, as well as other thoughts on the holiday season.

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Here are survey results:

• 7% selected Santa’s current range of $150,001 to $200,000.
• 4% chose a range of $200,001 to $300,000.
• 18% think Santa should earn more than $300,001.
• 13% feel Santa should be paid $100,001 to $150,000.
• 14% chose $75,001 to $100,000.
• 17% think he should make between $50,001 and $75,000.
• 12% selected $25,001 to $50,000.
• 7% reported Santa should earn less than $25,000.
• 8% believe Santa should not receive any salary.

Most people think Santa is overpaid, with just 22% believing he should earn more, and the other 70% saying he earns too much. Insure.com’s consumer analyst Penny Gusner said:

The high percentage of respondents that chose the highest salary range really seem to value the idea of Santa’s work – not just the transaction of a doing a job for pay. The 8 percent who said that Santa should not get a salary said so because his work comes from a place of charity and love, and therefore should be considered volunteering.

For details on how the researchers derived Santa’s salary and other comments from respondents on other seasonal topics, visit the Insure.com website.

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