The lowest quintile of U.S. households have incomes in the $0-$20,000 range. The second quintile is approximately $20,000-$38,000; the third $38,000-$61,000; the fourth, $61,000 to $100,000; and "the rich" -- i.e. the top quintile -- start at $100,000. The top 5% starts at $180,000. Remember, that's household income, so the married schoolteacher couples, each with a $60,000 income, are well into the top quintile. I don't think the teechurs onions tell 'em that, though.
This has been a pet peeve of mine for years. A lot of people with perfectly good upper middle class incomes think they're earning chump change. Somehow, between the press, the democrats, and images of effortless affluence on tv, a substantial portion of the public has been convinced that there's some mysterious army of people out there making middle- to high six figures who can be taxed at will.
It is frustrating to argue politics with a GS-15 federal worker who is earning $130,000, married to a husband earning about the same, who simply cannot process the fact that she is in the top 2% or so of the household income distribution. Not a hypothetical example.
You make a very good point.
People tend to compare themselves to their neighbors and coworkers. Yet those are a function of how much they earn. Everyone feels average because they are near the average of their friends.
Also, government workers feel very confident that the next paycheck is a certain thing. Then they tend to live paycheck to paycheck and never build wealth.