What is the definition of middle class??

[Angry Dragon]

[Skittles]

1. you have to work for a living, but you can still take a vacation once in a while

[Angry Dragon]

2. thanks for the answer but no help

[maveric]

3. Debt

[Angry Dragon]

4. that is no help

[taught_me_patience]

5. Depends where you live

For most of America - household income of 40-200k
For expensive areas of America - household income of 60-350k

[Angry Dragon]

7. 200,000 would put you in the top 10%

[taught_me_patience]

9. So what... that's a household of two middle-managers

or one professional. That's middle class.

[BainsBane]

11. $350k is a nearly the 1%

Aka, fucking rich.

[taught_me_patience]

12. 350k in very expensive cities is not fucking rich n/t

[BainsBane]

14. The 1% starts in the low $400s

People don’t often see themselves as wealthy, but the fact is that income is higher than at least 98% of Americans. Low and middle income people do live in cities like NY and LA. How they live, however, is very different from those in the upper incomes.

A household income of $100k is the top 99.7% of global incomes and top 23% of US incomes. People in the upper 20-1% may not feel affluent, but in comparative terms they are.

[JI7]

21. it certainly is fucking rich, i'm in Los Angeles and could live VERY WELL with that amount

better than most people who live here if i had that much.

[Kirk Lover]

6. To me it means you may own a home...you earn a good living and have disposable

income. You have a savings account that covers expenses for 6 months or so. You probably also have investments going.

[Angry Dragon]

8. sounds like at least the top 10%

[BainsBane]

10. My definition

Is a household income somewhere around the median, which in 2016 was $59K, up from $47k a couple of years ago.

[left-of-center2012]

13. "Are You in America's Middle Class?"

What Is Considered Middle Class?

"Middle-class income is between 67 percent and 200 percent of the average median income.
The U.S. Census Bureau reported that the average median income was $59,036 per household in 2016."

You do the math.

[Angry Dragon]

16. say from $42,000 to $120,000

according to the article

Using the Pew Research percentages, that means households making less than $39,554 are low income. Households earning at least $118,072 are high income.

[Tatiana]

17. It's very hard to use that definition in major cities like LA, NY, or Chicago.

$120,000/yr. barely gets you food and decent housing in Chicago. Our housing payment alone was $40K /yr. And that is before all the taxes.

[Angry Dragon]

18. that just seems insane

[Tatiana]

19. It is.

We gave up a vehicle and many other things and still struggled to make ends meet with 2 children. Eventually decided to move. Now I have to offer financial support to my mother with the increased City of Chicago property and county taxes.

However, the same amount of money in many regions of Texas will allow you purchase a home and have a very decent standard of living.

[Pachamama]

15. What my family used to be....

[ProudLib72]

20. Are you seriously asking the question

Or are you trying to make the point that the middle class is disappearing?

[Angry Dragon]

22. The point I was trying to make is that no one really knows what the middle class is

especially our elected officials
I do not know if the middle class is disappearing but it is harder to find
In my youth it seemed that middle class was defined by a union job

[Thor_MN]

23. Everyone from a very little bit above you to the people one thinks are in poverty.

No matter how little people have, some think they are on the upper side of middle class, about to bust into the big time. And they want them their tax cuts. Fuck them lazy poor bastards and those richy riches, Trump's gonna give me more money!!1!