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Here’s how fast Calvin Harris and Tiësto earn the average salary

Numbers don’t lie...

Calvin Harris and Tiësto are two of the top paid electronic producers and DJs in the world, so there’s no doubt each artist is pulling in lots of income every year. We’re talking big money: According to Forbes’ annual World’s Highest-Paid DJs list from last year, Calvin Harris, who topped said list for the fifth consecutive year in 2017, pulled in $48.5 million in earnings, while Tiësto came in second with a cool $39 million.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the wealth disparity around the world continues to grow. According to a recent annual inequality report from global poverty relief charitable organization Oxfam International, 82 per cent of the wealth generated last year went to the richest 1 per cent of the global population, “while the 3.7 billion people who make up the poorest half of the world saw no increase in their wealth.”

The report also indicated that “it takes slightly over one working day for a CEO to earn what an ordinary worker makes in a year” in the US.

With that in mind, the folks over at Magnetic decided to pull some figures and compare the differences in income between today’s top artists and your everyday worker. The results are stunning, to say the least.

The data pulled information from Forbes’ World’s Highest-Paid Musicians Of 2017 list, which included the top earners in EDM: Calvin Harris ($48.5 million), Tiësto ($39 million) and The Chainsmokers ($38 million). It then compared five common jobs across various industries, along with the median annual salary for each, including: truck drivers ($41,340/year), elementary school teachers ($59,020/year), registered nurses ($68,450/year), real estate brokers ($79,340/year) and software developers ($100,080/year). The compared results then showed the estimated time it would take some of the world’s best-paid musicians to earn the annual salaries in these jobs. 

Diddy, who topped last year’s list with $130 million, would make a minimum wage earner’s annual salary in just over an hour (61 minutes), while Drake would make a teacher’s annual salary in less than six hours.

The Chainsmokers, who are at the bottom of the Forbes list and tied with Jennifer Lopez, would make a minimum wage earner’s annual salary in just 3.5 hours. In about half of a day, Calvin Harris would make what a registered nurse would earn in an entire year, and it would take Tiësto just about 18 hours to top a real estate broker’s annual salary.

Read more, and check out the full data in the below infographic (click image to enlarge).