Posted on 01/27/2019 5:41:47 AM PST by Gamecock
Who are America’s rich?
“Not me” is the answer from a surprising segment of the population, including many people making six figures and above. Some 87% of people who make at least $90,000 a year said they weren’t rich or poor, according to new findings from polling company YouGov. (The survey asked 1,163 Americans how much money someone needs to be rich or poor.)
When it comes to who’s poor, most respondents (68%) thought people who make the equivalent of the federal minimum wage ($7.25 an hour, or $15,080 a year) fell into that category. “The point at which most Americans think you’ve escaped being poor comes at around $30,000,” wrote YouGov’s lead data journalist Matthew Smith.
People start to be considered “rich” when they make at least $90,000, the survey found. But only 44% of poll participants said someone making $90,000 a year was rich. Meanwhile, hitting those six figures seems to make all the difference: 56% of those surveyed said they considered people who earn $100,000 a year rich.
Josh Bivens, research director at the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think tank, said the findings relate to the growing gap between the rich and poor, and middle class and everyone else. The average annual income of America’s top 1% was $1.8 million in 2015, Bivens noted. That was a far cry from the $100,000 a year deemed rich in the survey he said.
But many people seemed to feel they exist in a middle zone between poverty and affluence, likely influenced by the cost of living in their respective towns and cities: 64% of the participants said they weren’t rich or poor. The survey sheds light on attitudes about poverty and affluence, and how they align with official calculations surrounding “haves” and “have nots.”
There are clear definitions of poverty in the U.S. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, for example, draws the 2019 poverty line at $25,750 per year for a four-person family. Some 12.3% of Americans lived in poverty in 2017, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau figures. The median household income was $61,372 in 2017, according to the Census.
YouGov’s survey on “rich” and “poor” labels arrives as income inequality has become a growing concern for many observers and policymakers. Lawmakers across the country are weighing whether to increase minimum hourly wages to $15. The District of Columbia and three states are planning to make $15 the minimum; cities including New York City, N.Y., San Francisco, Calif. and Seattle, Wash. are already there.
Being somewhere between rich and poor doesn’t necessarily mean living comfortably. Costs of living can vary widely across the country and many households have heavy debts and costs to contend with, like student-loan obligations or child-care bills. Likewise, a lack of savings for emergencies and retirement also make people feel financially unstable.
There are probably two things going on with the survey: An underestimation of how much more the top 1% earned and a broadening of what it means to be rich, Bivens said. “It mostly means something being less than yachts and mansions, free from economic anxiety about paying next month’s bills,” he added. That’s sadly something lots of people aspire to, but don’t experience.”
It may not be surprising that people making at least $90,000 didn’t view themselves as rich. With the nation’s highest earners so high above and the cost of housing in cities like New York and San Francisco and Seattle, it takes a lot of money to not be housing insecure, experts say. People earning $90,000 a year compare themselves to others, just like someone earning $180,000 a year.
“I think that’s a very human thing,” Bivens said.
I don’t care if someone makes 90k an hour.
Hope they are enjoying it.
Ok, I make more than $90,000 and certainly don’t consider $90k as being “rich.”
I suspect this is Dems priming the pumps to raise taxes on those earning above $90k.
$90k is sure as hell not rich, and in some areas, won’t pay for housing.
Would help to know where these people lived. $90k is not “rich” no matter where you live but it’s especially not if you reside in NY Mass Cali etc.
Depends on life style. An 18 year old with no real financial responsibilities a 90k job would feel rich. Anybody with a mortgage, cars, kids etc may be paying the bills, but doesn’t feel rich. And they’re likely not saving much if anything.
After 44 years of working I reached that level. At that point I was socking it away for retirement so I wouldn’t be a burden on society.
Envy use to be considered a sin...now it’s a SJW thing.
because the more you make the more you find ways to spend it, most of which are unnecssary and so it seems you really aren’t rich because you squandered a chunk of money on unnecessary things you just thought you had to have to enrich your experience in this life.
the problem isn’t money, it’s ways of thinking and actions taken relating to money.
if those not feeling rich with 90k/yr made 200k/yr they still would not feel rich after a few months. they have a poor, never enough, mentality.
If I was making 90 I would be wealthy.
As it is I’m rich at making 25.
I have a roof over my head, a vehicle, food enough
for my dog and myself.
Everything else is gravy.
When the Democrats talk about the rich they use extreme examples like Gates and Bezos, but in practice, they hammer the middle class. That’s where the money is and why the income gap is widening.
Does anyone notice a theme occuring already with the 250 dims running for president in 2020?
Raising taxes =wealth redistribtion and class envy.
I am sure the 60 million illegal occupiers are all in.
There is a semantic problem here. It is one that happens constantly in society.
To most people RICH means that they have a lot of wealth.... ie savings, assets, etc.
But yearly income is a totally different measure. I know plenty of high cash flow people that live paycheck to paycheck. My brother in law, before he died, was blowing through 500k per year. High cash flow. When he died he had a negative net worth. Not rich.
The $90k is relative. $90k in New York City will not get you much in terms of a lifestyle or apartment. $90k in Fargo, ND....will get you into the top 20-percent of residents. $90k in the Huntsville, Ala area will only do well if you live outside of the city.
There is a difference between high income and rich. While I make a nice income i am far from rich
I have never seen $1.8 million listed anywhere (including IRS stats.)
Always somewhere around $350K
A frugal single man or childless couple earning 90k can be legitimately thought of as “rich,” in Mississippi.
You can be very comfortable at that amount, depending on your level of debt, and the area where you live. But rich? Hardly.
Tell me about it—I live in Orange County.
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