POLL: In the US, is a $250,000 household income middle class?

[Possum577]

There was an article recently (link below) where someone says their family, who lives in Silicon Valley and has a household income of $250,000, is middle class. I'm familiar with this geographic area, how much it costs to live in the area, and how much people are paid and I believe that income level IS middle class for that area. But this person received a ton of negative response from people regarding the dollar amount of the income (and seemingly disregarding the cost of living in the Bay Area of California).

Do you think a household income of $250,000 is middle class for the San Francisco area? For California? For major cities in the US?

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/university-michigan-student-insists-earning-183000778.html

[lyth0s]

My old textbook in high school defined the Upper class as those who have at least a gross annual income of $1,000,000 per year. Using that definition, yes $250,000 is definitely middle class.

I define middle class as anyone who depends their job salary for income rather than their asset sheet. In which case that would still define that 250K person as middle class.

Homes in any nice area of California easily run for $400,000 to 1-2 million dollars. If you live in rich cities like Beverly Hills then obviously much more than that. If you live in a poor city in Southern california you're looking at maybe 250,000-300,000 for a house and these figures don't even include any other liabilities that a person may have.

Usually if you make 100-150K+ a year in California you would be referred to as Upper Middle Class.

[oblivi]

Most people have enough money to pay the bills and that's that. The middle class is slowly disappearing, at the end we'll have only lower and upper (then the mega elite rich 1% that live off everyone else doing shit nothing while pretending they are doing something).

[Possum577]

Most people have enough money to pay the bills and that's that. The middle class is slowly disappearing, at the end we'll have only lower and upper (then the mega elite rich 1% that live off everyone else doing shit nothing while pretending they are doing something).

You don't think there's a way for the middle class to survive?

[PenguinFire]

Most would not agree with the idea but my textbook would describe this amount as "upper middle class".

[thejaytiesto]

If you are making more than 20K after taxes these days, you can consider yourself LUCKY.

[ajareselde]

There was an article recently (link below) where someone says their family, who lives in Silicon Valley and has a household income of $250,000, is middle class. I'm familiar with this geographic area, how much it costs to live in the area, and how much people are paid and I believe that income level IS middle class for that area. But this person received a ton of negative response from people regarding the dollar amount of the income (and seemingly disregarding the cost of living in the Bay Area of California).

Do you think a household income of $250,000 is middle class for the San Francisco area? For California? For major cities in the US?

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/university-michigan-student-insists-earning-183000778.html

~20 000 $ a month, definetly middle class if you ask me, no matter what the cost of living is, i doubt it can impact on this family's budget to that extent to move them under middle class.
It would make a difference also, if family owns their home or not, since that would lower their spending ability..

cheers

[Possum577]

If you are making more than 20K after taxes these days, you can consider yourself LUCKY.

What part of the country do you live in?

[bitgeek]

250000 a year and considered a middle class?   WOW you Americans must be rolling in cash.

[Possum577]

250000 a year and considered a middle class?   WOW you Americans must be rolling in cash.

Did you read the article? Sounds like your missing the point.

$250,000 is NOT middle class in the US, but in some cities (e.g., New York and San Francisco) $250,000 only buys a middle class lifestyle, modest house, regular cars, etc. It's crazy, rent for a 2 bedroom 1000 sq foot home is $3000 or more a month. There's so much business in these cities and so many people that want to live in these cities that the price of everything goes ski high. This, in turn, raises incomes because people can't work in the area of they can't afford to live there.

Check out the cost of living in Tokyo, Singapore, and Hong Kong. You'll find the same thing going on.

[Possum577]

http://money.cnn.com/infographic/real_estate/what-you-need-to-earn-to-afford-a-home/

An article showing how much salary is needed to buy a home in different cities around the US. Perhaps a bit of perspective.

[KaChingCoinDev]

I think 250,000 income is where upper class starts, except for silicon valley, and other rich areas.

[MCHouston]

I would say $250k is probably middle class for Silicon Valley, Seattle, NYC etc.  In most of the US $250k would be upper middle class. I would think most middle classes are $90K-$225K depending on area and how many salaries are bringing in the cash.  If you and your wife both have six figure salaries that shoots up the household income but it is two people as where a single guy is making $250k he is definitely well off.

[Razick]

Most people have enough money to pay the bills and that's that. The middle class is slowly disappearing, at the end we'll have only lower and upper (then the mega elite rich 1% that live off everyone else doing shit nothing while pretending they are doing something).

You know, income inequality is a problem, but I don't know a single person, including those who are upper class, who fit into this category. My network is full of hard working people across the income spectrum.

I currently work for a little more than minimum wage myself, but you know what? That's okay. I am young and have few marketable skills, I will keep building those, and chances are, I have a good shot long term just as almost any non-lazy, able bodied person does.

Maybe all of the 500+ people I know who are hard working members of the middle class are just lucky, or maybe people should spend less time complaining and more time working hard to build skills and provide value to their clients and/or employers. If I was a manager or business owner, the guy moping around complaining about how poorly paid he is would be the last to receive a raise.

Most wealthy people are hard working, and I know several who you wouldn't even know are high-income because they bust their backs and live modest lifestyles (they are also kind, generous people). Now, thanks to the Federal Reserve, there are people who sit around making millions from the artificially high stock market, but that's the exception (and you can take advantage of the stock market too).

[bitgeek]

http://money.cnn.com/infographic/real_estate/what-you-need-to-earn-to-afford-a-home/

And article showing how much salary is needed to buy a home in different cities around the US. Perhaps a bit of perspective.

That's why I was amazed by the prices and salaries. If I needed to earn $31,716 a year to afford the cheapest house on your list I'd never get it, nor would anyone I know.
 

[Possum577]

http://money.cnn.com/infographic/real_estate/what-you-need-to-earn-to-afford-a-home/

And article showing how much salary is needed to buy a home in different cities around the US. Perhaps a bit of perspective.

That's why I was amazed by the prices and salaries. If I needed to earn $31,716 a year to afford the cheapest house on your list I'd never get it, nor would anyone I know.
 

Where do you live?

[Razick]

Yes, and that's also why a federal minimum wage is an even worse idea than a state minimum wage. A wage of $10.10 in Texas would equate to something like $12.50 based on the nationwide PPP (purchase price parity) while in California it might only be $8.50 or so.

If I remember correctly, the current $7.25 rate is equivalent to around $6.70 in California and $9.50 in Texas.

[viboracecata]

250000 a year and considered a middle class?   WOW you Americans must be rolling in cash.

Did you read the article? Sounds like your missing the point.

$250,000 is NOT middle class in the US, but in some cities (e.g., New York and San Francisco) $250,000 only buys a middle class lifestyle, modest house, regular cars, etc. It's crazy, rent for a 2 bedroom 1000 sq foot home is $3000 or more a month. There's so much business in these cities and so many people that want to live in these cities that the price of everything goes ski high. This, in turn, raises incomes because people can't work in the area of they can't afford to live there.

Check out the cost of living in Tokyo, Singapore, and Hong Kong. You'll find the same thing going on.

That's crazy, the income can give one person a life like emperor in most of the world

[bitgeek]

http://money.cnn.com/infographic/real_estate/what-you-need-to-earn-to-afford-a-home/

And article showing how much salary is needed to buy a home in different cities around the US. Perhaps a bit of perspective.

That's why I was amazed by the prices and salaries. If I needed to earn $31,716 a year to afford the cheapest house on your list I'd never get it, nor would anyone I know.
 

Where do you live?

In Poland. Minimum net wage here is a bit over $2.2 per hour and income tax threshold is $830, go figure...
If I earned over $30k I'd be rollin' in it and probably have my own business and own a few apartments in the city in the next 10 years

[d0om]

For those who are attempting to neatly cut out a small American demographic and transplant it into their own society... Just stop, you can't compare an income and class in one nation to another nation, with a completely different government, laws, populations, and so on.

The cost of living in California is greater, yes, but 250k is pushing Middle-Upper class. Several generations ago, both of my families were firmly middle-upper/upper class - both of my grandpas were doctors. My moms side had all girls, and my dads side only had one go beyond a bachelors degree. Before I moved out, our family was spending the last of what was left in savings, with my dad nearing retirement making ~33k + benefits per year as the only household income. His previous company bit the dust around 6 years ago...

Why do I say this? I guess it's anecdotal evidence to support the disappearing middle class. In addition, 250k with higher costs is probably more like 150k-200k, depending on benefits and so on. Although that's very good, it won't last through several less prosperous generations. You'd need at least a steady 500k - 1,000,000 level income that is secured and invested properly to have "family staying power" wealth.