Nope. It is impossible to live as a middle class person here. Not possible. If you make what a middle class person makes in most US states, here you are struggling. You don’t go out to eat unless it’s a fast food place, and you don’t have any vacations. You sacrifice food and medicine to buy extras like sports equipment or braces or lessons. If you earn middle class income, you live a working class life. Your kids don’t have their own rooms either.
The upper middle class here live like the middle class. There are a lot of them. They don’t feel like they are poor, they take vacations, they can afford nice clothes and restaurants, but not too much and not too often. They are mortgaged and have car payments and they live the typical stressed life of middle class people elsewhere, some fun and lots of work. Their salaries would put them in the upper middle class elsewhere.
The poor and the Illegals have it better than the middle class because they get education, medicine, dental, food, all services, free. It can make a lot of resentment for the actual working middle class.
“If you earn middle class income, you live a working class life”
How do you define middle class?
The MEDIAN (50-50) household income in CA is over $67k.
If you live anywhere off the coast, or on the coast north of the Bay Area, you’re a homeowner and decidedly middle class at $67k.
Remember, half of those under $67k are on welfare, or worse. Median household income for those that actually WORK for a living is likely substantially higher.
Teachers are knocking down as much as $75k and cops over $140k. Nurses over $100k etc.