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What's upper middle class in the DC metro area?
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Anonymous
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Given the costs of living in the DC metro area (more moderate than SF and NY but steeper than other professional hubs), what household income would you say characterizes an upper middle class household in the region. My perception is 175k+
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Anonymous
| Wouldn't we need to define what upper middle class consists of? Can you afford private school tuition? Do you need to be able to afford a second home? Or are those things only the "wealthy" in this area can afford. Given the amorphous concept of upper middle class and the already high cost of living here, I think this answer can vary anywhere between $150k and $300k |
Anonymous
| Depends on where you live really. In DC, I'd say at least $250k (private school costs) in the exburbs $150k. |
Anonymous
Agree - that's the better question since it also depends hugely on housing costs which are very heavily driven by when a family bought. So is part of the equation: either a) has a larger/new house within a 1 hour commute or b) has a non-condo home within a .5 hr commute? (So for instance, Germantown vs. Bethesda depending on what a family can afford and tolerate re: commute.) There are many government workers who live in Bethesda because they bought quite some time ago but those of us who may make more cannot afford to live there now and have to live in areas with worse school options. My vote for the contours of an upper middle class life: 1. Home in a good school zone or else can pay for private school (This drives SO much in terms of the cost. And "good" is relative, but for instance, I would not say that all parts of MoCo are "good" - and neither would most people living in the west - espeically SW - part of MoCo. Having bought in 2005, I live in a "not very good" zone and not in a fancy McMansion either.) 2. Commute under 45 minutes 3. Single family home or a row house in a very upscale area 4. enough for at least a modest vacation like the beach. 5. Money devoted to 401K 6. Money devoted to college funds 7. At least 1 car |
Anonymous
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Interesting- my take is a range between $150k-$300k. Essentially, upper-middle class generally defines professional income earners with advanced degrees of some kind, in the mid-to-high/mid range of their professional earning potential. The majority of households with doctors, lawyers etc. would fall into these ranges. Though you might still be a professional, when you pass the $300k-$400k bump, you are really entering into the realm of the lower ends of the wealthy, though things are all relative!
Based on stats, the DC metro area (the Census Metro Area) has the highest media household income in the country: In 2009 families in the region earned a median income of $102,340 according to US Census Bureau data. So that means 50% earn more, and 50% earn less. So it would be safe to say about $150k/$175k likely starts pushing towards to the top quartile of households, which would make sense as the 'upper middle-class'. |
Anonymous
I'm the pp, and I 100% agree with your thinking here. The home/school factor is such a huge variable in this area - we live in MoCo too (although east - did you mean to say some of the east parts of the county are not the very good zones?) and because of when we bought our house, we flunk your first factor. But we do otherwise lead a pretty upper middle class lifestyle. |
Anonymous
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Hehe, DH and I just hit $165K HHI, and I feel like a poor grad student. We have $100K saved up for a downpayment and can't afford anything "good." We live in a 1-bedroom (in a great neighborhood!), and bank serious savings (over $5K a month in addition to maxing out retirement), but at this rate it'll be years before we can afford a nice house.
I think the range for comfortably upper middle class is higher for young people who didn't buy before the bubble. THAT EFFING BUBBLE. Seriously, those of you who have a $1000-$1500/month mortgage on a nice house are not even in the same category as those of us who are looking to a $2500-$3000/month mortgage for a crappy "starter home" close-in 
So maybe $150K-$300K if you owned before the bubble, and $250-$400K if you're young/unlucky and didn't buy before then. |
Anonymous
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PP - Honestly, with your income, I wouldn't buy anything for over $550k anyways, so your $100k is pretty on the money for a down payment.
I think you should reevaluate what you consider "nice"... |
Anonymous
Anybody who thinks $400k is still middle class (albeit upper middle class) REGARDLESS of the housing bubble needs a serious reality check... |
Anonymous
| $300,000 - two working professional parents. |
Anonymous
LOL, I'm the PP you're responding to. I come from a rural area and my parents never broke $50K each in salary (when they retired -- their salaries when I was in high school were around $25-$30K each). They were able to buy a great house at the age of 30, put three kids through college (fully paid), and have big retirement accounts, buy new cars, an in-ground pool, and no debt (they also paid off their house in 15 years). The only way I can do all that in the DC metro area is to significantly increase our HHI. So, I don't think it's middle class everywhere, but in DC, with the still-insane real estate market and the crazy cut-throat competition for resources, I'd feel upper-middle with $250K for sure, but feel pretty strapped for the nicer trappings of upper-middle now. |
Anonymous
I know, bummer, huh? "Nice" is anything that's not a dump, has more than 2 bedrooms, and is in a good hood in DC or Arlington. It's a unicorn. I guess we'll settle for a shack or the exurbs. |
Anonymous
yes. I'm in Kennedy's zone, not Blair's, so not good and not cheap: need to either move to somewhere more expensive or else do private school.
Anyone who thinks that timing of a purchase around the housing bubble isn't one of THE core criteria in how you live needs a reality check. Let me guess - bought in the 90s? Decent home in Bethesda that cost you less than my crappy TH in northern SS area in 2005? Also what's ignored from the debate is that not all jobs are as stable as government ones. I work for a trade association and so make the same amt each year. DH is in sales and one year we might make a lot (and save) and other years he won't, but each year it's the possibility of earning much less than before - kind of limits your options in terms of long-term fixed expenses like a mortgage. |
Anonymous
So true! I think someone with a stable gov't job who bought before the bubble is going to feel pretty good about themselves on half the income of someone who bought during or after with less stable work. ...then again, who knows what the GOP is going to do with gov't employees? Probably not fire the old-timers with big salaries, but people just now going into gov't work may no longer have the benefit of stability either. Wow, hate to be generationalist, but some of the "comfortable" baby boomers really screwed the pooch for us Xers and Millenials, huh?
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Anonymous
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Here is 2009 income data for Fairfax County: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/demogrph/gendemo.htm#inc
Median income is $102K. And a full 30% of residents make more than 150K. Nationally, the median income for 2009 was $49.7K. And only 20% of the population makes more than $100K. http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/income.html |