I Wonder How Much Money Beggars Make

I have long wondered, how much money do beggars make?

From time to time I hear someone say of streetside beggars, "they make $50k/yr," or "his Lexus is around here somewhere." I have always been pretty skeptical about such statements, and I try to take a more logical route to estimating their income.

Here is my thinking (fully admitting that my assumptions could be very inaccurate):

• Every light cycle is roughly 3 minutes


• One donation will be given every other light cycle


• The average donation will be $1.


• A beggar will work the streets for 8 hours per day, and 20 days per month.


• 20begging days/month x 8begging hrs/day = 160begging hrs/month


• 12months/yr x 160begging hrs/month = 1920begging hrs/yr


• 1light cycle/3mins x 60minutes/hr = 20light cycles/hr


• 1donation/2light cycles x 20light cycles/hr = 10donations/hr


• $1/donation x 10donations/hr = $10/hr


• 1920begging hrs/yr x $10/hr = $19,200/yr

By these assumptions, beggars make $19,200 USD / year.

My personal opinion is that this is a fairly high estimate as I do not believe that the average beggar makes $10/hr, nor do I believe that they beg for 8hrs/day for 20days/month. However, some have told me they do not believe those numbers either... but in the opposite direction. They believe that $10/hr is easily made as one generous donater could easily hand over a $10 or even $20 a few times a day spiking the average. Further, a good point is made that nothing drives work ethic like necessity, and they believe that 8hrs/day and 20days/month are both low estimates.

According to Wikipedia, a study by Bose and Hwang in 2002 put the Toronto beggar's median monthly income at $638CDN, ~$555USD per month, which comes out to roughly $6000 per year. Not exactly Lexus money if you ask me. However, also noted in Wikipedia, there were a number of flaws in the study.

On top of that, what really keeps me wondering is that there are an incredible amount of possible variances which could plausibly drastically affect a beggar's income.

Some of the variables which I think could impact how much money beggars make are:

• Which street corners are the most and least productive? Do area demographics (such as nearby home value) effect the beggar's income?


• Are car values correlated to donations? If so, in which way - do expensive car drivers give more or less than economy car drivers?


• Do certain phrases on signs have correlated impacts on beggars' income? For example, "God Bless," "War Veteran," or "I need a beer."


• Is the beggar's physical appearance correlated to income? If so, do clean and healthy beggars make more or less than haggered and disabled beggars, or any "look" in between?


• Is a beggar's income correlated to the weather? If so, are people sympathetic to extreme weather (ie heat in Phoenix summers or cold in Chicago winters) leading to an increased income, or are they selfish and refuse to lower their windows leading to a decreased income?


• Do beggars away from street corners (ie on Mill Ave in Tempe or near tourist traps) make more or less than those at freeway offramps and the like?

JT-not-so-D and I have long been planning to pursue this study and follow it up with either continued begging (should it be as lucrative as some say) or a book (should it be as interesting to others as it is to J and I). If this study comes to fruition, you'll be the first to know!

Anyone know of any other ideas, factors, questions, or facts?