TBH, that's a win-win. There's nothing better than being content with what you're paid, and then learning that there's huge upside potential.

The worst thing ever is finding out that you're in the top 2% of salaries for your role in the industry, and then knowing there's nowhere to go but down from there.

That's an odd statement. I don't think I'd be disheartened to learn I'm in the top 2% of salaries. That sounds like one of those good problems to have.

It also doesn't make sense - there is plenty of room to move up even if you're in the top 1% of salaries. The curve doesn't abruptly end at the top, there is a long tail of increasing salaries at the 1%, 0.5%, 0.1%, etc marks.

But, does finding out that you're in the top 2% change your salary or lifestyle, or is it just learning something about what already is?

Finding out you're in the bottom 25% is also just learning something that already is; but in this case, it's empowering information.

Note that we're talking about somebody who just learned about something that already is.

>There's nothing better than being content with what you're paid, and then learning that there's huge upside potential.

That's a good point. I feel somewhat fiscally irresponsible since I have student loans and such. On the other hand, part of the reason I'd like to make more money is because a lot of my close friends became engineers, etc, and make a lot more money. It's not very fun to always be the guy who is like "Uh, guys, can we plan something a little cheaper?"

I'm contributing to my 401k and I'm saving money on top of that though, so I don't really have much to complain about. It's just little things.

It's not a win win at all. If OP could get a job they were equally happy with in other aspects that paid more and had less commute they would be better off. Their situation is probably fine but it's hard to spin low salary and long commute as positives.

The positive is that your currently happy, but in a easy move increase it even further.

I was thinking, a lot of them are _underpaid_. I work remote as well.

That may be true. We might also be looking at different job titles as well. I spend about 50% of my time as an analyst, and 50% of my time doing database marketing. Their employees in marketing roles and analyst roles are both paid significantly more than me.

I'm not entirely surprised though, the non-profit I work for pays poorly even compared to other non-profits. Compensation is the same for everyone on a similar level regardless of what the responsibilities of the role are. I have a much more specialized and technical role than everyone else, so there is no way that my compensation is commensurate with my experience or responsibility.

I'm not bitter about it, a huge part of why I'm under compensated is because I've been allowed to make the role my own and take on a lot of additional responsibility. In a sense I've grown out of my title. I'm just shocked by how much less I'm actually making.