Posted on 06/24/2016 12:48:21 PM PDT by Lorianne
125,000.00 or more.
In the south or midwest.
Northeast? 150 to 200K.
California, WA or OR coast? 500,000.00
That’s a good breakdown of it. Real Estate and state taxation , operation fees matter a lot too.
“Northeast? 150 to 200K.”
Nonsense-—my kids are in that range and they are hardly UPPER middle class.
.
What I wonder about is how many of those families never get out of debt, with college loans, McMansions, SUVs, pricey vacations, forever credit card debt, Whole-Foods type grocery spending, etc, etc.
But in Columbus Mississippi one could live very, very well.
That’s a good point.
There was a recent article which claimed that if you have $10 in your pocket and no debt you have a higher net worth than 25% of Americans.
A trust fund and an obnoxious attitude.
I think the amount varies widely depending on where you live. It also depends on your lifestyle. If you earn $500,000 per year in some cities, you live in a 1,200 square foot condo and pay half your income in tax. A lot of people wouldn’t consider that a good life. The California real estate market turns everyone but the rich into indentured servants to the bank for their entire lives.
All I’ve got to say is that the very top is moving into the stratosphere and the median of the rest is moving down because few remember that not so long ago the top 5% began at a much higher number.
Almost 20 years ago about $100K was not even in the top 5%.
The bottom has fallen out for the average Joe.
I'm not sure I would count that as upper middle class anywhere in the USA... certainly not in any metropolitan area.
I consider assets more important than income.
If you have $3-5 million in financial assets, then it doesn’t really matter if your income is only $60K, right? If money is required, you can produce plenty. At the same time, you hold the taxman at bay with an average income.
$83K? Nope. Not even close. Certainly solid middle class, but discretionary income for the upper middle exceeds even $83K, meaning they make well past $83K by several factors.
$83k happens to be the median family income in many middle class neighborhoods.
You can live “like a king” on that kind of money up here!
My wife and I are over the $130,000 a year threshold.
Here in Northeast Pennsylvania near the Jersey border that is most definitely NOT upper middle class.
It is barely just middle class.
Specifically COASTAL CA, OR and WA. $250k can get you middle class there, but you may be renting forever. All three are huge states and you can live cheaply in the interior.
100K isn’t upper middle class anymore, other than perhaps in rural areas.
It’s middle class, but not upper middle class.
Its all relative to costs. In NYC, or Silicon Valley, you want to be UPPER middle class, can’t see how anyone with a family and kids could consider themselves there if they aren’t in the upper 300 or 400k a year minimal range.... Same in New York or DC... DC may even be higher these days.
I’d say in Pittsburgh, PA solid Upper Middle Class is upper 100s to 200k to start. You can live comfortably on less here, its a town where housing costs are not insane... but to be the “UPPER MIDDLE CLASS” as traditionally portrayed, generally looking at around upper 100s to 200 range to start having that lifestyle.
Here in northeastern NJ $130K is also barely middle class.
Friends that have sought better positions in the southeast are shocked by the lower salaries; even with the lower cost of living they fear it isn’t really a step up.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.