AEI says Dual-income 1-kid $133k/yr is "upper middle class"

[Anonymous]

https://www.morningbrew.com/stories/2026/04/08/upper-middle-class-is-us-biggest-income-group

"In 2024, 31% of American families were upper middle class, compared with just 10% in 1979.


The think tank’s report defined the upper middle class as a family of three earning $133k to $400k in 2024 dollars—five to 15 times the federal poverty line."

[Anonymous]

This whole discussion of “middle class” is just missing the mark. We are increasingly a country of haves and have nots, with an increasingly unstable “middle” between the two. It does not represent the “average” but rather truly the in-between. Like it has for almost all of history.

[Anonymous]

LOL. Everyone knows that $300k in the DMV is lower middle class.

[Anonymous]

133k to 400k is a hell of a range. We're on the upper end of that and I feel like UMC is the right descriptor for us, but if we made 133k I don't think we'd own a house. Hard to justify those households being in the same bracket.

[Anonymous]

Fake news.

I live in a MCOL area with three kids, dual income with an HHI of $325 and we are struggling. Between childcare costs, student loan repayments, and credit card debt servicing (we took on cc debt during a spell of unemployment) we do not feel flush.

Yes you can make a lot of money in America but ain’t nothing free or cheap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LOL. Everyone knows that $300k in the DMV is lower middle class.

That’s not “lower middle class.” Give me a break. It’s literally the 88th percentile for household income in the DC Metro Area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fake news.

I live in a MCOL area with three kids, dual income with an HHI of $325 and we are struggling. Between childcare costs, student loan repayments, and credit card debt servicing (we took on cc debt during a spell of unemployment) we do not feel flush.

Yes you can make a lot of money in America but ain’t nothing free or cheap.

Middle class doesn’t mean no financial struggles. If you’re in a MCOL area, your household income is almost certainly in the top 10%. Probably the top 5%.

[Anonymous]

I make $800K+ and my spouse makes about $500K a year and we feel UMC at best. But then again, this is DC. It's expensive to live here. We recently bought a vacation home near Jackson Hole, WY and eventually plan to live there at least 50% of the time. One major benefit other than the natural beauty is WY has no income taxes, low sales taxes, and low property taxes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I make $800K+ and my spouse makes about $500K a year and we feel UMC at best. But then again, this is DC. It's expensive to live here. We recently bought a vacation home near Jackson Hole, WY and eventually plan to live there at least 50% of the time. One major benefit other than the natural beauty is WY has no income taxes, low sales taxes, and low property taxes.

You’re either a troll or egregiously out of touch with reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I make $800K+ and my spouse makes about $500K a year and we feel UMC at best. But then again, this is DC. It's expensive to live here. We recently bought a vacation home near Jackson Hole, WY and eventually plan to live there at least 50% of the time. One major benefit other than the natural beauty is WY has no income taxes, low sales taxes, and low property taxes.

GMAFB with your feelings. You earn over $1 million a year and have a second home. Boo hoo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I make $800K+ and my spouse makes about $500K a year and we feel UMC at best. But then again, this is DC. It's expensive to live here. We recently bought a vacation home near Jackson Hole, WY and eventually plan to live there at least 50% of the time. One major benefit other than the natural beauty is WY has no income taxes, low sales taxes, and low property taxes.

GMAFB with your feelings. You earn over $1 million a year and have a second home. Boo hoo.

+1 a vacation home means UMC wealthy.

Signed someone who used to live in the Bay Area and had a vacation home in Tahoe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.morningbrew.com/stories/2026/04/08/upper-middle-class-is-us-biggest-income-group

"In 2024, 31% of American families were upper middle class, compared with just 10% in 1979.


The think tank’s report defined the upper middle class as a family of three earning $133k to $400k in 2024 dollars—five to 15 times the federal poverty line."

$133K can be MC in some parts of the country. It's a wide range because of the variations in col across the country.

$133K in the DC area is actually MC. Median income around MoCo is about $133K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I make $800K+ and my spouse makes about $500K a year and we feel UMC at best. But then again, this is DC. It's expensive to live here. We recently bought a vacation home near Jackson Hole, WY and eventually plan to live there at least 50% of the time. One major benefit other than the natural beauty is WY has no income taxes, low sales taxes, and low property taxes.

I guess the emphasis is on “near”
Jackson Hole because the median house price in Jackson Hole is like $5MM.

BTW, if you actually live in DC, you can’t just reside in WY for 183 days and not pay DC tax if you own a house in DC. You need to sell your place in DC and then rent in DC for less than 6 months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.morningbrew.com/stories/2026/04/08/upper-middle-class-is-us-biggest-income-group

"In 2024, 31% of American families were upper middle class, compared with just 10% in 1979.


The think tank’s report defined the upper middle class as a family of three earning $133k to $400k in 2024 dollars—five to 15 times the federal poverty line."

$133K can be MC in some parts of the country. It's a wide range because of the variations in col across the country.

$133K in the DC area is actually MC. Median income around MoCo is about $133K.

Housing prices have ballooned every where remotely live-able, and college is expensive for everyone. I assume this index is based upon cheaper housing, college, childcare, and medicine. The CPI of food and clothes and TV is cheaper, that’s true. And meaningless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.morningbrew.com/stories/2026/04/08/upper-middle-class-is-us-biggest-income-group

"In 2024, 31% of American families were upper middle class, compared with just 10% in 1979.


The think tank’s report defined the upper middle class as a family of three earning $133k to $400k in 2024 dollars—five to 15 times the federal poverty line."

$133K can be MC in some parts of the country. It's a wide range because of the variations in col across the country.

$133K in the DC area is actually MC. Median income around MoCo is about $133K.

Rust Belt and Deep South. Basically someplace where it’s a single doctor making $130k and everyone else is living on disability chasing drugs.