Let put things in perspective:
1) 90+% of households in the US make less than 100K a year (200K is not middle class)
2) The Median hosueholds income in the US is about 40k or 20% of 200K (200K is not middle class)
3) The median average income in MA is about 50K or 25% of 200K (200K is not the middle class)
4) The Median home price in Greater Boston is about 425K in the city itseld about 350K. Lets split the difference and say in one of the most expensive home markets in the US the median home price is about 400K. Standard practice for years has been that a mortgage should be no more than 30% of gross income.
On a home in Boston with 10% down your principle of 360K with a 6.5% mortgage is about 2,200$ which would necessitate a gross monthly income of 88K per year. If you made 200K your monthly income of 16K would mean your mortgage could be as high as 5K per month or a home value of about 800K dollars (200K is *not* middle class)
Who has strange ideas, I gave you national numbers and numbers from his home state... All of which point to 200K being well above the middle class (unless of course youre telling me that only 12% of people in MA are in the middle class or better and if that is the case why the hell would we want the governer of that state screwing up the whole nation?
As wether 200K is middle class or not, I'd say it depends on the region of the country, but in most places it's either upper middle, or lower upper class. If you believe in "class" anyway. I don't, I thought we were all Americans. In most of Texas it would probably be lower upper, but I would observe that as an engineer and my wife a college proffessor, (and a teacher of sewing type stuff on the side), we make about $170, and likely could live better on that than someone making $200K+ in California or much of the Northeast. (We don't only because we have to support two houses, due to employment considerations).
Try buying a house for less than $800K in the SF Bay Area, and see if you want to live there. My guess is that it’ll turn into a rental unit before you memorize your new address and tele number.
Take your socialist class envy somewhere that it fits in; here ain’t it.