Reply to What is Middle Class....Really?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]There have been some amazing posts recently that seem to show that many DCUMers do not realize what a "good" income is, not only here in the DC area but in cities throughout the country, and that their perspective is skewed. I thought this could make for an interesting discussion.

Three examples pop immediately to mind:

1) Someone claimed that people with incomes only slightly more than $100,000 are considered LOWER CLASS in San Francisco. (Yes, really.)
2) Another poster told a college-educated professional earning $100,000 that she is "way below average" and was sorry that she was unsuccessful in her career.
3) A couple in their 40s with a guaranteed income in retirement of $11,000 a month (pensions and SS) was concerned that the $3 million they had saved thus far (in addition to the guaranteed income) would not be sufficient once they reach retirement.

Others have made attempts to explain that once you cross the six-figure threshold (especially when you are talking about an individual salary as opposed to HHI), you are actually well above average....that the poverty line for a family of 3 is something like $35,000 and that an income of $85,000 is squarely middle-class....or that studies of cities across the country show that the median family income in all but two of them is less than $100K. These statements to show how middle-class people live are often met with disdain and cursing, for what reason I don't know. (Maybe some sort of weird humblebrag.)

Linked below is a report from NPR showing that the median income (and that's for households, not individuals) range from a low of $30K in Detroit to a high of $103K in Seattle. In ALL instances, a family income of $250,000 or more was considered upper income. The chart uses data from 2013, but inflation has been pretty flat the past four years.

http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/03/19/394057221/how-much-or-little-the-middle-class-makes-in-30-u-s-cities[/quote]

The question is not what income or even net worth is middle class, it's the amount of education and work history compared to the income.  I would not be surprised by a person who has a GED being middle or lower middle class. Someone with a graduate degree is likely firmly middle class, if not upper middle based on non-income SES factors.

The other issue is that most middle class retirees I know subsist to a very large degree on Social Security. I do not deny this is reality, but for many on DCUM, it's not a reality we can imagine or want.[/quote]

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