Does Your Personality Decide Your Income and How Much You Save? I Found Out.

in #life8 years ago (edited)


Did you know your personality can be linked to how much you make as well as how much of that you are able to keep?

Many people have taken the Myers-Briggs personality test. If you haven’t HERE is a link to take the test for free, it will only take a few minutes and you can find out which one of the 16 personalities you are.

Go ahead, take the test, I’ll wait.

They have taken the data from the test takers and have released some information that is very interesting. What I am going to focus on is which personality earns the most, and then which personality is able to keep that money in their hands.

I am an INTJ, also called ‘The Architect’ or ‘The Intellectual’. My characteristics are: Intelligence, Honors commitments, and Highly independent. The average household income for an INTJ is $71,000 a year. Additionally, 66.44% of INTJs say they are frugal. I am one of them. We are one of the rarest personality types, with just 1-2% of the population being an INTJ.

It is important to note that the data is self-reported. What I mean by that is being frugal to one person could mean something totally different to another. An example: for one person, not purchasing an appetizer at a restaurant could make them think they are being frugal. For another, like myself, buying a $3.29 blizzard from Dairy Queen is being spendthrift because I could have achieved nearly the same thing by just buying Oreo ice cream from the supermarket for $2.99, which would easily have 6+ servings.

Yes folks, I am that fun to hang out with!

So this whole thing is just for fun really. But let’s see what we can find in the data.

The personality that makes the most money by far are ENTJs, with $83,000 a year. These are ‘The Commander’ or ‘The Director’ types, leaders. Just 2% of the general population are ENTJs, with 3% of men and 1% of women. You tend to find these types in leadership roles such as business leaders, entrepreneurs, and professors.

Runners up are ESTJs ‘The Executive’ with $75,000 and ESFJ ‘The Consul’ with $73,000.

At the bottom of the earning data are INFP ‘The Mediator’ with $60,000. The ENTP ‘The Debator’ with $61,000. And a tie for 3rd least average income goes to ESFP ‘The Entertainer’ and ISFJ ‘The Defender’ with $62,00 each.

Ah! But how good are the personalities with actually keeping the money in their pockets?


According to a survey by SunTrust about 33% of people making over $75,000 a year still live paycheck to paycheck. So many people are not very good with having money set aside, even if they make a good income.

To find out that information I searched for the average positive responses to the question ‘You are a frugal person.’ Using a completely scientific* method of just multiplying income by average positive responses to the frugality question, I came up with the following chart. *(science not included)

Personality:Income:Frugality%:Relative Income

The personality that, on an average income and frugality level, will have the most money in their pockets are the ISTJs!

ISTJs ‘The Logistician’ or ‘The Auditor’ make up approximately 13% of the population. With an average income of $70,000 and 67.16% responding positively to being frugal they can expect to feel as if they make $47,012. These personalities are organized, good listeners, and can handle criticism well. They are quiet, serious, and very responsible. They also value traditions and loyalty.

Runners up are ENTJs who have a relative income of $46,688, and ESTJs with $43,703.

At the bottom of the pack for keeping money in their pockets are ENTP ’The Debator’, ENFP ‘The Campaigner’, and ESFP ‘The Entertainer’

You guys may not keep a lot of what you make, but you sure are fun to hang out with.

The bottom three are all extravert personalities so they are less likely to be frugal. Being that extraverts love social interaction, they would appear to spend more money on social events like meals and/or drinks out with friends. Introverts will be more happy to spend a weekend home to recharge, which is an easy way to save money. Personalities that are extroverted and prospecting are more likely to splurge in the moment.

One of the most interesting things from this research is that ISFJs ‘The Defenders’ who were tied for 3rd place in making the least income, jumped up to 4th place for keeping money after applying the frugality formula. Introverted and judging personalities excel at impulse control and planning.


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Great article! I'm an INFP but also a Mustachian (in fact I found this article from one of your posts in the MMM forum). I feel like being Mustachian isn't natural for my MBTI type and I've sort of gone against the grain of myself to learn about saving and investing, but it's been absolutely worth it. I don't make even as much as what they say the average INFP makes, but I feel I really make the most of my small income, now having a net worth almost three times the size of my gross income.

Oh that's cool that you came here through MMM forums! I was hoping that people would find Steemit as it can be quite interesting here (after you find people that post things you like).

Yeah, as an INFP you are near the bottom of the list. I would imagine that a lot of the people around you are spendypants. You must have great willpower to give up spending, but as you see it is VERY worthwhile.

I don't make all that much either as my family is single income and two kids, but since we are FIRE focused our networth has increased dramatically with barely any increased income from work. Side hustles and frugality can really make up the difference.

I also think those with big incomes get somewhat complacent because of it. A sort of financial tortoise and the hare situation.

Thanks for checking Steemit out and try to stick around - it has been worth it to me!

Loved reading this :) I'm an isfj, and I'm very frugal and I want to be an allergist

Well, ISFJ's are the MOST frugal so I am not surprised.

Thanks for reading :D

I've got a few friends who really value their Myers-Brigg type - gonna show this around to them, they'll get a kick out of it.

Oh cool, I would like to hear the comments. :)

Insightful Information here

Much appreciated. What personality type are you, if you don't mind me asking.

Cool post!

I'm E/I NTP. Not frugal. Thrifty and creative about it, but not frugal no way.

I'm INTP. I don't make anywhere near the average above for that type...but I am currently dedicated to educating my daughter at home, so that cuts into the old work availability quite a bit. I think I'm pretty good at saving. Of the income I do make each month, I save 15%, and when I get some extra, unexpected funds, I always try to save 50% of that. But conscious saving is a relatively new thing that it took me years to really drill into habit.

And I'm not at all frugal with my spending habits. I'm frugal with my regular monthly expenses, like utilities and gas and whatnot. I always buy used cars and turn the lights out when I leave the room... but I can't convince myself not to eat out all the time, or not to buy little things for myself as soon as the mood strikes me. That's why I have to lock my savings away as soon as I get paid. Else I would blow it all on flavored coffees and books.

Interesting. I would suspect that your 'P' (prospecting) wins over the impulse type buying, but your introverted side wins over the long term planning side.

They list the income as 'household income' but don't state if the listed personality is head of household or single or what personality the partner is. So without further information I wrote this up as a kind of fun experiment with the data out there.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, much appreciated!

Spending wise, you must be on the ENTP side, as they have the 3rd lowest percentage that say they are frugal.

Since you are I/ENTP, do you like to question the prevailing mode of thought?

Always. I began that at a young age reading Nietzsche.

Cool information, I would like to include it in my TOP5 Lucky Find Psychology articles for today!

Found from MMM - look forward to following you and reading your articles.

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