Moved from Early Childhood Education to paralegal work (well I'm in the process of getting my paralegal certificate, I'm still technically a teacher), and did some deeply upsetting math:
Right now I'm making about 38k a year before taxes, adding up to about ~2600/mo after taxes. My rent is super low for my super super shitty low income and poorly maintained area at…1900/mo for a 1br. So that's 73% of my paychecks going to rent.
When I finish my certification and can get a typical paralegal job after 3 years of experience, my paychecks will skyrocket to literally 70k a year as long as I can secure some form of work experience in the field during the next year, year and a half or so I have left in school. So that's 2x my current paycheck. After taxes I should make approx…4600/mo.
So, my boomer family members have always said rent shouldn't be more than 1/3 your paycheck. Even at 70k/year my current rent is gonna be 41% of my paycheck which is infinitely better than 73%, but not at that 33% I was always told to shoot for… So I broke it down further.
In order to make enough to continue to live in this area (where we are literally fighting a flea infestation bc of a lack of government funding for community hygiene), I'd have to pull 86k/year before taxes. To have that 33% in a more livable part of town, I'd need to make 133k/yr because rent for a 1br in a decent neighborhood is like, 2500/mo average.
Tldr switching to law is more lucrative but literally still unfeasible without being an actual corporate lawyer and I like having some form of morals and soul left.