Study shows that 350k/year is barely scrapping by as middle class

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you marry a nurse you are condemning yourself to a life of poverty. Same with teacher or cop. I wouldnt consider any of these jobs to be professional- basically they are high level babysitting jobs. Two college-educated married adults with professional jobs easily make$350k.

And the statistics prove it:
https://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2018/data-on-display/education-pays.htm

Median weekly earnings in 2017
Doctorate - $1743/week or $90,636/year
Professional degree - $1836/week or $95,472/year
Masters - $1401/wk or $72,852/year
Bachelors - $1173/wk or 60.996/year
Associate - $836/wk or $43,472/year
High school - $712/wk or $37,024/year
Less than high school - $520/wk or $27,040/year

And.... the average salary of a registered nurse in DC is $92,000. https://nightingale.edu/blog/nurse-salary-by-state/

But you go ahead and conclude that it’s not a professional job. Your whole “high level babysitting” comment makes you sound more like a snide adolescent than a professional yourself.

[Anonymous]

In dc area with a professional degree easily $350k

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you marry a nurse you are condemning yourself to a life of poverty. Same with teacher or cop. I wouldnt consider any of these jobs to be professional- basically they are high level babysitting jobs. Two college-educated married adults with professional jobs easily make$350k.

I had another career and went back to school to be a nurse. I love it. No we are not poor. No nurses are not babysitters. Comments like these always make me wonder if it’s a troll vs. people are really that ignorant. If it’s the later, I guess it’s true that money doesn’t buy class and common sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you marry a nurse you are condemning yourself to a life of poverty. Same with teacher or cop. I wouldnt consider any of these jobs to be professional- basically they are high level babysitting jobs. Two college-educated married adults with professional jobs easily make$350k.

You are so offensive. My child was in the NICU for a long time. The nurses, not the doctors, literally kept him alive. They were the ones who took care of him and noticed subtle changes that were problematic because they were with him around the clock. I honestly have a hard time thinking of a more important career. Babysitters may a$$.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Middle class people do not own $1.8m houses. Nor do they spend $24,000 on preschool. Or $2,000 a month on food.

What a stupid article.

I think the spreadsheet is realistic--whether you call it middle-class or not. COL in DC is high and 24,000$ for two-working parents is the norm here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Middle class people do not own $1.8m houses. Nor do they spend $24,000 on preschool. Or $2,000 a month on food.

What a stupid article.

I think the spreadsheet is realistic--whether you call it middle-class or not. COL in DC is high and 24,000$ for two-working parents is the norm here.

The spreadsheet is realistic for a couple living in a very nice neighborhood in a high COL area, understanding that a high income like that almost certainly comes with some high-end tastes and expectations. I'm not going to use the word "rich" here, bit these people are not "middle class." Take the $24k preschool bill. Thats solidly on the high end for preschool even in a HCOL area. Is it common? Sure, but only because you have a lot of upper class people in those areas.

Having a neighborhood of all upper-class people doesn't shift the meaning of middle class...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Middle class people do not own $1.8m houses. Nor do they spend $24,000 on preschool. Or $2,000 a month on food.

What a stupid article.

I think the spreadsheet is realistic--whether you call it middle-class or not. COL in DC is high and 24,000$ for two-working parents is the norm here.

The spreadsheet is realistic for a couple living in a very nice neighborhood in a high COL area, understanding that a high income like that almost certainly comes with some high-end tastes and expectations. I'm not going to use the word "rich" here, bit these people are not "middle class." Take the $24k preschool bill. Thats solidly on the high end for preschool even in a HCOL area. Is it common? Sure, but only because you have a lot of upper class people in those areas.

Having a neighborhood of all upper-class people doesn't shift the meaning of middle class...

So you’re saying the DC metro area is all upper-class?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Middle class people do not own $1.8m houses. Nor do they spend $24,000 on preschool. Or $2,000 a month on food.

What a stupid article.

I think the spreadsheet is realistic--whether you call it middle-class or not. COL in DC is high and 24,000$ for two-working parents is the norm here.

The spreadsheet is realistic for a couple living in a very nice neighborhood in a high COL area, understanding that a high income like that almost certainly comes with some high-end tastes and expectations. I'm not going to use the word "rich" here, bit these people are not "middle class." Take the $24k preschool bill. Thats solidly on the high end for preschool even in a HCOL area. Is it common? Sure, but only because you have a lot of upper class people in those areas.

Having a neighborhood of all upper-class people doesn't shift the meaning of middle class...

So you’re saying the DC metro area is all upper-class?

PP here.

No, I wouldn't say that. But I would say large swaths of it are.

I'm not going to say this is an easy thing to quantify. I certainly agree that high-income and/or high-assets alone don't tell the whole story. Nor can't you simply dismiss those things by saying you're in a HCOL area.

I'm saying you should be looking at how others the metro area live, and the tradeoffs they're forced to make (*not* just your neighbors). Someone living in Bethesda/Chevy Chase might feel the financial troubles of a middle-class life, but you do have to consider that they've bought their way into a nicer neighborhood, with nicer schools and a shorter commute than someone in, say, Wheaton or Germantown. For a lot of people, living in those expensive neighborhoods simply isn't an option. Someone is getting an extremely skewed view of reality if they live in those areas and are only comparing themselves to their neighbors.

It's fine to drop $1.8M on a home and $24k/year on preschool, but surely you know those aren't viable choices for most in the area- not even most people with good white-collar jobs. For example, that's beyond the means of two maxed-out career feds making ~$330k.

[Anonymous]

We are wealthy on 350K with a SAHM. Feel very fortunate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Middle class people do not own $1.8m houses. Nor do they spend $24,000 on preschool. Or $2,000 a month on food.

What a stupid article.

I think the spreadsheet is realistic--whether you call it middle-class or not. COL in DC is high and 24,000$ for two-working parents is the norm here.

The spreadsheet is realistic for a couple living in a very nice neighborhood in a high COL area, understanding that a high income like that almost certainly comes with some high-end tastes and expectations. I'm not going to use the word "rich" here, bit these people are not "middle class." Take the $24k preschool bill. Thats solidly on the high end for preschool even in a HCOL area. Is it common? Sure, but only because you have a lot of upper class people in those areas.

Having a neighborhood of all upper-class people doesn't shift the meaning of middle class...

So you’re saying the DC metro area is all upper-class?

PP here.

No, I wouldn't say that. But I would say large swaths of it are.

I'm not going to say this is an easy thing to quantify. I certainly agree that high-income and/or high-assets alone don't tell the whole story. Nor can't you simply dismiss those things by saying you're in a HCOL area.

I'm saying you should be looking at how others the metro area live, and the tradeoffs they're forced to make (*not* just your neighbors). Someone living in Bethesda/Chevy Chase might feel the financial troubles of a middle-class life, but you do have to consider that they've bought their way into a nicer neighborhood, with nicer schools and a shorter commute than someone in, say, Wheaton or Germantown. For a lot of people, living in those expensive neighborhoods simply isn't an option. Someone is getting an extremely skewed view of reality if they live in those areas and are only comparing themselves to their neighbors.

It's fine to drop $1.8M on a home and $24k/year on preschool, but surely you know those aren't viable choices for most in the area- not even most people with good white-collar jobs. For example, that's beyond the means of two maxed-out career feds making ~$330k.

The original point of the article was that family feels the pinch of middle class at 350k HHI, it sounds like you agree but there are a lot of posters quite strongly arguing that cannot be called middle class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are wealthy on 350K with a SAHM. Feel very fortunate.

This point was also made earlier, 350k single earner household with a SAHM is a different story than 2 working parents earning 350k combined.

[Anonymous]

From cnbc a week ago:

According to a 2018 report from the Pew Research Center, 19% of American adults live in “upper-income households.” The median income of that group was $187,872 in 2016.

Pew defines the upper class as adults whose annual household income is more than double the national median. That’s after incomes have been adjusted for household size, since smaller households require less money to support the same lifestyle as larger ones.

The share of U.S. adults considered upper-class varies depending on where you live, Pew noted: In affluent metropolitan areas, it’s much higher than 19%.

About half of American households, 52%, were considered middle-class, while 29% were lower-class. The median income of middle-class households was $78,442 in 2016.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/14/how-many-americans-are-considered-upper-class.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where is everyone living with such inexpensive houses? Not in DC (?)

I posted above with lower cost home -- its a townhouse in gaithersburg.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Middle class people do not own $1.8m houses. Nor do they spend $24,000 on preschool. Or $2,000 a month on food.

What a stupid article.

I think the spreadsheet is realistic--whether you call it middle-class or not. COL in DC is high and 24,000$ for two-working parents is the norm here.

The spreadsheet is realistic for a couple living in a very nice neighborhood in a high COL area, understanding that a high income like that almost certainly comes with some high-end tastes and expectations. I'm not going to use the word "rich" here, bit these people are not "middle class." Take the $24k preschool bill. Thats solidly on the high end for preschool even in a HCOL area. Is it common? Sure, but only because you have a lot of upper class people in those areas.

Having a neighborhood of all upper-class people doesn't shift the meaning of middle class...

So you’re saying the DC metro area is all upper-class?

PP here.

No, I wouldn't say that. But I would say large swaths of it are.

I'm not going to say this is an easy thing to quantify. I certainly agree that high-income and/or high-assets alone don't tell the whole story. Nor can't you simply dismiss those things by saying you're in a HCOL area.

I'm saying you should be looking at how others the metro area live, and the tradeoffs they're forced to make (*not* just your neighbors). Someone living in Bethesda/Chevy Chase might feel the financial troubles of a middle-class life, but you do have to consider that they've bought their way into a nicer neighborhood, with nicer schools and a shorter commute than someone in, say, Wheaton or Germantown. For a lot of people, living in those expensive neighborhoods simply isn't an option. Someone is getting an extremely skewed view of reality if they live in those areas and are only comparing themselves to their neighbors.

It's fine to drop $1.8M on a home and $24k/year on preschool, but surely you know those aren't viable choices for most in the area- not even most people with good white-collar jobs. For example, that's beyond the means of two maxed-out career feds making ~$330k.

The original point of the article was that family feels the pinch of middle class at 350k HHI, it sounds like you agree but there are a lot of posters quite strongly arguing that cannot be called middle class.

I said they might feel middle class. I didn't say they were middle class.

You can't spend your way down to middle class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Middle class people do not own $1.8m houses. Nor do they spend $24,000 on preschool. Or $2,000 a month on food.

What a stupid article.

I think the spreadsheet is realistic--whether you call it middle-class or not. COL in DC is high and 24,000$ for two-working parents is the norm here.

The spreadsheet is realistic for a couple living in a very nice neighborhood in a high COL area, understanding that a high income like that almost certainly comes with some high-end tastes and expectations. I'm not going to use the word "rich" here, bit these people are not "middle class." Take the $24k preschool bill. Thats solidly on the high end for preschool even in a HCOL area. Is it common? Sure, but only because you have a lot of upper class people in those areas.

Having a neighborhood of all upper-class people doesn't shift the meaning of middle class...

So you’re saying the DC metro area is all upper-class?

PP here.

No, I wouldn't say that. But I would say large swaths of it are.

I'm not going to say this is an easy thing to quantify. I certainly agree that high-income and/or high-assets alone don't tell the whole story. Nor can't you simply dismiss those things by saying you're in a HCOL area.

I'm saying you should be looking at how others the metro area live, and the tradeoffs they're forced to make (*not* just your neighbors). Someone living in Bethesda/Chevy Chase might feel the financial troubles of a middle-class life, but you do have to consider that they've bought their way into a nicer neighborhood, with nicer schools and a shorter commute than someone in, say, Wheaton or Germantown. For a lot of people, living in those expensive neighborhoods simply isn't an option. Someone is getting an extremely skewed view of reality if they live in those areas and are only comparing themselves to their neighbors.

It's fine to drop $1.8M on a home and $24k/year on preschool, but surely you know those aren't viable choices for most in the area- not even most people with good white-collar jobs. For example, that's beyond the means of two maxed-out career feds making ~$330k.

The original point of the article was that family feels the pinch of middle class at 350k HHI, it sounds like you agree but there are a lot of posters quite strongly arguing that cannot be called middle class.

I challenge you to find any economist who says $350k is middle class. Spending so much that you then “feel” middle class doesn’t count.