Posts
More information than you probably require about the comparative finances of Five-0:
(Oh my god I'm a dork, and I need a new hobby, and it's likely I'm the most boring and pedantic person you know.)
Steve:
As a Lieutenant Commander of the Navy, Steve's on the O-4 payscale; assuming around 15 years of service, if he were still considered active duty, his base pay would be $6851.10/mo plus housing allowance of $2,604 (in Honolulu county) plus subsistence allowance of $224, for a total of $9,682.10/mo.
On top of that, he may get some special pay, plus anything he gets from the State of Hawaii.
[Edit: It has come to my attention (thanks eponymousanon and estefee) that Steve says he's in the Reserves. (So did he retire or what?) In that case, as a veteran enlisting within four years of active duty, he retains his O-4 pay grade. However, he gets paid only for 4 days of duty each time he does a weekend of drilling. So it looks to me like he's only getting maybe $913/mo from the Navy. (Note: The Guard and Reserve pay scale amounts on the chart are based on a typical month's payment for 4 drills.) He isn't getting either the housing or subsistence allowances.
His main salary must come from the State of Hawaii; there is no information to indicate how much that is. But if Steve is getting paid a separate, special salary, maybe the rest of Five-0 is, too?]
Danny:
Pre-move, in the Jersey City PD: A Police Officer in year 15 is sitting at around $87,000/year, or $7,250/mo. Possibly a bit higher for a Detective? I can't find anything official on the subject.
Honolulu PD: Doesn't accept lateral transfers, so Danny's probably back to making 1st-year officer pay of $53,268/yr or $4,439/mo. Plus vehicle allowance of $562-$600/month, which is why the police car is Danny's car. He may also get some overtime, special duty pay, and/or hazard pay, depending how the HPD classifies duty with Five-0. If Danny's getting special duty pay, he might be getting more like $5,200/mo.
The question is, why is Danny's apartment such a shithole? In Honolulu, according to Craigslist, you could get a pretty decent 1BR or maybe even 2BR for under $1,000/mo - well under the 30%-of-income level of "affordable housing".
If Danny has any kind of reasonable Separation Agreement (or Final Orders) at all from his divorce, he doesn't have to pay spousal maintenance now that Rachel is remarried - depending on her individual income (NOT Stan's) and Jersey's divorce statutes, she may actually be paying him. He may have a child support obligation, but (again, depending on Rachel's personal income, NOT Stan's) it shouldn't be too out of control. Under New Jersey's child support guidelines, the absolute worst-case scenario would be $1,638/mo, assuming a) that Rachel's income is $0 (she's a stay-at-home mom) and b) Danny has only every other weekend (no mid-week days or holidays). If Rachel makes $5,000 per month, Danny's child support would a much more reasonable $672/mo.
Other ideas: Maybe Danny's still paying off a mortgage in New Jersey? It's pretty rare for the husband to retain the house in a divorce settlement, unless Rachel was already moved in with Stan. With Stan backing Rachel's finances, Danny may have serious legal bills left over from the divorce. Or maybe he has some other debts?
Kono:
HPD salary in the same income bracket as Danny, probably - unless she's still counted as a recruit, in which case it would be $51,240/yr or $4,270/mo. Does she have a college degree? It doesn't help you get hired by the HPD but it does help your chances of promotion.
She probably has some savings left over from her surfing career, since Coral Prince paid for her PT. It seems like she was a pro in her late teens/early twenties? So she could have been pulling in $50,000+ in purses if she was in the top ranks. Even if she wasn't in the top 44, she obviously had a pretty good sponsorship with Coral Prince, which could easily have been as much as $40-50,000 all by itself.
Chin:
Honestly I have no idea. I don't know what the HPD's HR department would say about his salary - is he on a first-year's money like Danny, or are they counting his previous 10 years' experience?
His shave-ice job was likely minimum wage in Hawaii, $7.25/hr, or maybe as much as $8/hr, for $1,386/mo. Making money like that, he almost certainly has a roommate (at least when the show starts).
I love this SO much. So much!!
ReplyDeletethis is awesome!!!! you dork! :))) brilliant.
ReplyDeleteSteve is in the reserves, though, according to the Pilot. We need to ask the Governor what he's making for his task force salary. She'd have to budget it separately I'm guessing.
Steve's in the Reserves I believe; standard for Reserve officers is half-pay (base pay, no hazard/housing/location premiums, I believe). It'd be interesting to figure out where he lies on the org chart, since he still identifies himself as "Commander" and not as the LT of an HPD unit. If they really are independent from HPD, then who knows where he'd be.
ReplyDeleteYAY MONEYS.
ReplyDeleteOkay, first off, this is *amazing* - you rock. And secondly...
ReplyDeleteThe question is, why is Danny's apartment such a shithole? In Honolulu, according to Craigslist, you could get a pretty decent 1BR or maybe even 2BR for under $1,000/mo - well under the 30%-of-income level of "affordable housing".
isn't exactly correct - I checked out some of those links, and I'd have to say that the very lowest of them are scams to pull you in, and the higher of them are probably in really sketch neighborhoods... I'm in Honolulu, and before I bought my place, I was renting a studio in town for $1,100 a month. You also have to consider that technically, the whole island is "Honolulu," so some of the lower-priced units might be quite a bit out of town, with those selling them hoping the low rents will keep at least a few of the people who click on them thinking they're in town.