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[MaxMahem]

Once upon a time I recall reading that Shadowrun's Nuyen is worth approximatly $5 US. I think it was in one of the neo-anarchist guides or something. By now of course this reference is outdated both from the time in Shadowrun it referenced (some 20 years in the past now I think). And the time in our world which it referenced (also 20 years) hence. A couple of SR editions have come and gone since then as well. In any case the 6th world is so far removed from our own that potentially any exchange rate is believable.

So I don't follow that rate in my games. Instead I use the simple conversion of 1:nuyen: = $1 dollar. Mainly for the sake of simplicity, but I believe it is justifiable in game. Going by the gauge I think is best to use is lifestyle. Admittedly lifestyles are odd in Shadowrun. As they are one of the things most arbitrarily defined into a few small categories, which in real life vary by a huge amount, not based just upon you style of life, but also upon your location. But regardless I think they are a fair scale by witch to 'scale' the nuyen to the dollar. I do this by assuming that for most people (ie not runners), payments for their lifestyle are mostly equal to their income.

Thus, according to the lifestyle section, someone living a 'low' lifestyle pays 2,000:nuyen: which by my assumtions means he has an income of about 24,000:nuyen: a year. If that was equivalent to dollars it would be a fairly reasonable lifestyle for a low class person. In the US today this (depending upon your location) is a fair-to-decent wage for a factory or clerical worker of some sort, it's equivalent to ~$10/hr. Its just under the amount a person would have to make to be eligible as an 'exempt' employee. A single person making this wage can make ends meet, but is in the lower class.

A middle lifestyle equates to an income of ~$60,000 a year. Which is a good salary for many 'professional' people. Including some kinds of engineers, experienced teachers, and low level managers. A single person making this level of income is pretty solidly middle class by today's standards.

A high lifestyle equates to an income of ~$120,000 a year. This within the range you could expect for higher class professionals such as doctors, lawyers, senior engineers, ect. A single person making this much income is doing pretty well for them selves and can afford most of the reasonable luxuries today's world has to offer.

A luxury lifestyle equates to an income of $1.2 million a year, but as the book says this can go up. As you can see in shadowrun (as in reality) there is often quite a gap between high class professionals, and the true upper-crust. Actors, Executive officers of large coporations have incomes at or above this level.

So I think the $1=1:nuyen: scale is pretty reasonable, at least when based off of lifestyle. If there is a problem with it, its that lifestyle is to discrete, while in reality people incomes spread over a larger range. If we used the 1:nuyen:=$5 ration I've heard earlier, wages would be much to high.

Car prices are also more or less in line for this ration (maybe a little low).

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Only partially related to this point is answer to a question my players sometimes ask me. How does the common person afford cyberware/other crap. Or who is the market for unusual item x? In reality the answer is pretty simple. They have either saved a portion of their income, or are in debt. In the corp dominated world of Shadowrun I would not expect it to be uncommon for even a low income person to have debt equal to their yearly income or even greater. No doubt consumers are encouraged to take-on nearly crippling levels of debt by the corporations for their profit and to boost consumer spending.

This assumption means most gear/cyberware is available to an interested party. Even a ganger living a squatter level lifestyle could reasonable be assumed to own a bike and/or some cheap mods like a smartlink or claws. A security guard living a low class lifestyle could reasonably afford pretty at least the base level of pretty much any cyberaugmentation in the book, and might decided to invest in it given his occupation (what kind of price can you put on your life?). A security professional pulling down at least medium lifestyle (such as a HTR team member) could afford multiple cyber-augmentations or some bioware if they wished. With the increase in the use of the matrix and telcomunication I don't think it would necessarily be that unusual for someone pulling a middle lifestyle who was interested in some of the more exotic cyber-mods. They are your market for your 'kid-stealth cyberlegs' and other weird shit.