What is Middle Class in the U.S.

[Maneo]

Ok with all this talk of the middle class in the news lately, I decided to do some research. The middle class seems to be between 38000-49000 (45% to 55% respectively) for a household.

However if you talk to households that make more then that they see themselves as middle class.. So I will ask MMO peoples what do you think constitutes middle class?

This is where I came up with my numbers

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2011/...rcent-are-you/

[Reeve]

Ok with all this talk of the middle class in the news lately, I decided to do some research. The middle class seems to be between 38000-49000 (45% to 55% respectively) for a household.

However if you talk to households that make more then that they see themselves as middle class.. So I will ask MMO peoples what do you think constitutes middle class?

This is where I came up with my numbers

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2011/...rcent-are-you/

I'd put lower middle class to upper middle class being between $40,000/year and $200,000/year total household income. Making a six figure salary doesn't make you upper class anymore, really.

[Theinquisition]

Not sure, maybe its realitive.

I think you also have to take into account the cost of certain benefits as well I.E. medical insurance. How much does your place of employment cover for example, thats something you have to add in as well

[Jackmoves]

It's more about lifestyle then income imo. A young person living in a single household might be able to afford more things then a family with children despite earning less then the working adults in said family.

[bals]

Ok with all this talk of the middle class in the news lately, I decided to do some research. The middle class seems to be between 38000-49000 (45% to 55% respectively) for a household.

However if you talk to households that make more then that they see themselves as middle class.. So I will ask MMO peoples what do you think constitutes middle class?

This is where I came up with my numbers

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2011/...rcent-are-you/

almost everyone is considered middle class now-a-days in the US.
if you're making 7+ figures you say you're middle class (when in reality you're not, you just say you are). Look at almost all high level politicians. they're millionaires but they say they're middle class. Look at high level tv personalities, they always say they're middle class even though they're making millions.
lower and upper class seem to have a negative stigma attached to them.

[Maneo]

I'd put lower middle class to upper middle class being between $40,000/year and $200,000/year total household income. Making a six figure salary doesn't make you upper class anymore, really.

200k a year puts you in the top 6% in the country so just by that number you would be wealthy.

On Jacks point I would have to agree .. I had more liquid income when I was single renting a apartment on minimum wage then I do now being married, son, mortgage and renting a house to boot.

[Xeones]

Middle class is a shrinking range of 40-60k. Technically up to 100k could be considered "upper middle" as they don't really qualify as rich.

---------- Post added 2012-05-23 at 11:37 AM ----------

I'd put lower middle class to upper middle class being between $40,000/year and $200,000/year total household income. Making a six figure salary doesn't make you upper class anymore, really.

You mean relative to the greedy elite? Making six figures still puts you at less than 10% of the population...

[Static Transit]

In my Sociology classes, I've always heard middle class defined as between $35,000 and a little above $100,000.

Also, it depends entirely on where you place the "middle class." By this, I mean, what percent of the population is middle class? There are actually different arguments for this in the academic world. OP seems to place the "middle class" as the 10% in the middle, but it's definitely larger than that. I would put it at somewhere between 40-50% of the population. And this doesn't include "working class."

[AlamarAtMMOC]

Ok with all this talk of the middle class in the news lately, I decided to do some research. The middle class seems to be between 38000-49000 (45% to 55% respectively) for a household.

However if you talk to households that make more then that they see themselves as middle class.. So I will ask MMO peoples what do you think constitutes middle class?

This is where I came up with my numbers

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2011/...rcent-are-you/

Labels disable... : )

People like them, because they're easy, but they never tell (enough of) the full picture... It's like in all those badly written shows/movies... 'He can't afford that <insert nice car> on that salary'... Bullshit... Learn how to not waste money : ) Statistics of a whole (millions of people) are handy, but when applied to individuals, it's just ignorant...

And to generalize, most people also live at (or above, sorta) their means... Making 40k, they'll spend 40k (minus taxes)... Give em a whopping 10k raise, and guess what; they spend 10k more...

-Alamar

[Clevername]

I'd put lower middle class to upper middle class being between $40,000/year and $200,000/year total household income. Making a six figure salary doesn't make you upper class anymore, really.

This 100 percent, I remember when I was in high school thinking if I made 6 figures I could do whatever I wanted really and live like a boss... not so much. I think most of this question really boils down into where you live. If you live in the NE like Mass or RI for example the cost of living is exponentially higher than say living in SC or MS.

[pimpeddakota]

It's dependent on your lifestyle like others have said. Do you "need" a $50k car, a house you don't fully use, a storage space to store all those "must haves"? That is the stuff that makes you dependent on your total income. I'm in the military and I think I live the lifestyle of upper class because I go on vacation when I want and buy the items that I want when I want them. But let's be honest, I'm not out buying $300K houses, $60k cars, or spending $300 on a pair of jeans because that stuff doesn't make me happy.

[Reeve]

Well if you have 2 parents in a household each generating $99,000/year, they probably aren't living lavishly. They're upper middle class, but not truly upper class.

For example, my parents both earned over $100k/year when I was in High School. We had a 1500 square foot house in a mediocre neighborhood, and both me and my sister went to public schools. They didn't drive fancy cars (a Mercury Sable and a GMC Safari) or have lots of expensive toys, and they were living on a budget most of the time. My sister and I both had to buy our own first cars with money we got from working after school. In my case, I was a Barnes and Noble Cafe Barista. That $200k/year didn't exactly have us living high on the hog.

When I think of the American upper class, I think of the family that lives in a 2400 square foot home, and drives a couple BMWs or Mercedes, and often has their children in private schools. $200k/year household income won't let you do that.

[Xeones]

Well if you have 2 parents in a household each generating $99,000/year, they probably aren't living lavishly. They're upper middle class, but not truly upper class.

For example, my parents both earned over $100k/year when I was in High School. We had a 1500 square foot house in a mediocre neighborhood, and both me and my sister went to public schools. They didn't drive fancy cars (a Mercury Sable and a GMC Safari) or have lots of expensive toys, and they were living on a budget most of the time. My sister and I both had to buy our own first cars with money we got from working after school. In my case, I was a Barnes and Noble Cafe Barista. That $200k/year didn't exactly have us living high on the hog.

When I think of the American upper class, I think of the family that lives in a 2400 square foot home, and drives a couple BMWs or Mercedes, and often has their children in private schools. $200k/year household income won't let you do that.

Did you live in California or something? I lived in Florida where property was incredibly expensive and people who made 150k could live in mini-mansions.

[Maneo]

Labels disable... : )

People like them, because they're easy, but they never tell (enough of) the full picture... It's like in all those badly written shows/movies... 'He can't afford that <insert nice car> on that salary'... Bullshit... Learn how to not waste money : ) Statistics of a whole (millions of people) are handy, but when applied to individuals, it's just ignorant...

And to generalize, most people also live at (or above, sorta) their means... Making 40k, they'll spend 40k (minus taxes)... Give em a whopping 10k raise, and guess what; they spend 10k more...

-Alamar

Agree labels are horrible. However with the class warfare that is going on in politics I wanted to try and figure out what middle class is.

On a side not I remember reading a study that 65k a year, is where most people are happiest. Don't have time to look up the source need to make dinner.

[Reeve]

Did you live in California or something? I lived in Florida where property was incredibly expensive and people who made 150k could live in mini-mansions.

Yeah, I grew up in San Jose, CA. Our 1500 sqft house was $350k when we bought it, and it sold for $600k when we left.

[bals]

However with the class warfare that is going on in politics I wanted to try and figure out what middle class is.

for the purposes of politics, unless you are homeless or living on welfare you're middle class. see what i said above

[Deatheryn]

I would put middle class in the $60,000-100k range easily! 20 years ago, middle class was considered to be in the income bracket of roughly $38,000-75,000 a year, but that's when you could buy gas for less than $1/gallon. Since, everything has inflated except compensation! So, $60k-100k is right on if not needing to be higher to be middle class.

Doesn't really matter though, almost every bracket is living beyond their means. The wealthier income brackets just have more shit they have to pay for or higher payments they have to make, and are still just as broke as anyone else!

[Reeve]

I would put middle class in the $60,000-100k range easily! 20 years ago, middle class was considered to be in the income bracket of roughly $38,000-75,000 a year, but that's when you could buy gas for less than $1/gallon. Since, everything has inflated except compensation! So, $60k-100k is right on if not needing to be higher to be middle class.

Doesn't really matter though, almost every bracket is living beyond their means. The wealthier income brackets just have more shit they have to pay for or higher payments they have to make, and are still just as broke as anyone else!

Household or individual? Because if that's household, and I married someone in my income bracket, you'd have me in the upper class. Yet I live in an 800 sqft 1 bedroom apartment, drive a Ford Focus, and don't have much money left over to save each month. That's without even having kids to pay for.

[Faloestin]

Ok with all this talk of the middle class in the news lately, I decided to do some research. The middle class seems to be between 38000-49000 (45% to 55% respectively) for a household.

However if you talk to households that make more then that they see themselves as middle class.. So I will ask MMO peoples what do you think constitutes middle class?

This is where I came up with my numbers

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2011/...rcent-are-you/

This is harder than it might seem, because "middle class" doesn't have a universal definition, and it's easy to get income and wealth mixed up. Income is pretty straightforward - you can see where you sit in relation to everyone else. For example, 2010 U.S. mean (average) household income was $67,530, while median (middle point) household income was $49,445. The mean and median are different because there are a lot more households making less than the average than make more. That's national data, but regional and state-level data is also available.

Wealth and class are relative, and much harder to talk about. Your household's $75k income may be above average nationally, but it won't get you very far in New York City. As a result you get interview pieces in the WSJ with investment bankers struggling to get by on $750,000 a year. That sounds crazy outside NYC, but comparing wealth in NYC and Peoria is like apples and oranges. A Pew study a while ago found that over 90% of people asked identified themselves as some kind of middle-class. That doesn't make any sense in light of the income data, except that class and wealth turn out to be more about social identification and aspirations than actual income.

[Maneo]

I would put middle class in the $60,000-100k range easily! 20 years ago, middle class was considered to be in the income bracket of roughly $38,000-75,000 a year, but that's when you could buy gas for less than $1/gallon. Since, everything has inflated except compensation! So, $60k-100k is right on if not needing to be higher to be middle class.

Doesn't really matter though, almost every bracket is living beyond their means. The wealthier income brackets just have more shit they have to pay for or higher payments they have to make, and are still just as broke as anyone else!

Yeah I see that even on a personal level. My Aunt makes less then 20k a year working at a retail store. She receives no aid from the govt although she is eligible.

I would honestly say that she has a lower middle class life style, she lives in a nice modular home, has basic cable, and all other utilities. She doesn't own a cell phone, and uses a dial up for her lap top computer. She has never had to struggle to put food on her table, is able to go out to eat a couple times a week, able to buy movies and such that interest her.

Only once has she ever asked for help when her car was in desperate need of repairs (I gladly did help of course)

She is well below the poverty level.

Living just outside of Augusta GA, where the poverty level is like 17% or so. I find it frustrating that these "poor" people are standing in line at Walmart chatting on there new IPhone, getting into there car that came off the assembly line no more then 8 years ago, going home to watch Netflix with there high speed internet connection on a flat screen TV.

I guess more importantly then what is middle class, I should ask what is poor then. To me poor is not knowing where your next meal is coming from, and if your lucky enough to have a place to live, not being able to heat or cool it etc. Poor isn't not having a cell phone, high speed internet, driving a old car, and heaven forbid using a old school tube TV for entertainment.