Dec. 08--If Santa were paid for his work, he'd be pulling in almost $140,000 a year.
That's the conclusion of Insure.com, a consumer insurance information website that said it analyzed Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
Insure.com also asked an online panel of 895 adults who said Santa visits their homes how much St. Nick should be making.
The two most common answers, both at 29 percent, were "nothing" and $1.8 billion annually.
The Santa pay analysis is based on a list of tasks and hours matched to occupations from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to find the average wages.
Santa's chief job, Insure.com said, is running the workshop, which is akin to being an industrial engineer. That accounts for $117,000 of his compensation.
About $5,000 of his wages came from being a "labor relations specialist" with the elves, and $4,300 from being a farmworker, or taking care of the reindeer. Insure.com didn't tally elf wages.
The survey of consumers was conducted in September 2014.
byerak@tribpub.com
Twitter @beckyyerak
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