Pew Research CenterPosted on 03/05/2015 7:23:46 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Very few people in America are willing to identify as upper class, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
About 94% of people in that income bracket (over $100,000) identified as middle class, upper middle class, or lower middle class while only 6% called themselves upper class.
Here are the results of the survey:
Pew Research Center
While a family of three with an income of up to $122,000 is still considered "middle income," the over-$100,000 range also includes families with much higher salaries than that.
Pew Research Center
And although only 6% of survey respondents identified as upper class, Pew's data shows that 20% of American adults are in the "upper income" bracket.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
If you make $100k in the DC Area that’s only about $70k nationwide - excluding San Fran, Hawaii, and Boston, and NYc.
I know couples living in the San Francisco bay area who clear $175,000 combined income between the 2 of them, and I can tell you they are NOT upper class. The cost of living is so high and taxes are so high, they are comfortable but they are definitely not upper class. No fancy cars. No fancy vacations. They are not living large on $175,000 in the San Francisco bay area. Not even close.
For example, both of them are self employed, so they both pay the full Social Security amount for themselves rather than having an employer to pay half of it for each of them. Just one example. But mostly it is just such high home costs, transportation costs, food costs, parking, fees, local taxes, etc.
That is why politicians love to use the term “middle-class” and never define it. Just about everyone who has a job thinks they are talking to them. Everyone from the carper cleaner to the doctor will say they are middle-class.
Sodom and Gomorrah are expensive places to live.
Agreed. The article does not take into account after taxes dollars. It is the difference between Revenue and Margin. A couple that is making 175k takes home about 120 to 125. That is solidly middle class.
We have hundreds of public sector retirees in this state collecting twice that in pensions.
It also depends on where you live.A hundred thousand goes a lot further in Des Moines than in NYC.
$100K per year ain’t sh1t after taxes and Obummer Kare. Sadly, things will be going downhill from here.
A household earning $100-$150k per year is NOT “upper-class”.
If you have kids, a home that’s bigger than a shoebox, pay taxes, buy groceries, and have a couple of vehicles; that income will keep you comfortable. At the end of the day, you won’t be saving much either.
You also have the pleasure of watching 70% of the other people around you getting their groceries for ‘free’ at the store, while you’re PAYING for yours. (you’re actually paying for their’s too) Your kids see the same thing at school too. Most kids get ‘free’ lunches, while you have to send your kids to school with a check to pay for their lunches.(that aren’t fit for a stray dog to eat)
I made well over $100k when I lived in the seattle area. I could not have made the monthly payments on the home I rented if I were to have bought it. It was in a solidly middle class neighborhood.
Cute house! Built in the late 40s or very early 50s?
I am a sucker for homes of that time frame.
$100K here in northern NJ is not a lot of money; your property taxes alone will take 10% of that (and there are refunds on that), and after state and federal income taxes, social security and Medicare taxes, mortgage/rents payments, etc. - there simply isn’t a whole lot left over.
The days of fancy cars and fancy vacations are over; while the Jersey shore still points to Hurricane Sandy as the source of their woes, the closing of several Atlantic City casinos exposed the truth: There is little discretionary spending, and there has been no economic recovery, here in the northeast.
That’s early TBYofOL.
Sorry, there are NO refunds on property taxes.
I make over that magic number, but as a single parent with two college age kids, I am so far from rich. I couldn’t afford a house around where I live. A coop with >$1400 maintenance (and no ammenities) is the best I could do. I’m not struggling, but no big vacations and no big savings.
I was contacted by a headhunter looking for someone to fill an open position in Honolulu. Since we had snow on the ground here, on a lark I thought I’d answer her ‘fishing’ questions honestly - so did the research on a cost of living comparison between here and Honolulu. The factor was over 2.0. When I told here the salary I would require, that was the end of the conversation. ROTFLMAO!
That is probably because of a similar situation here in NJ; many older owners of homes in suburbs bought them for much less decades ago, and their children could never buy them at the current prices. As “suburban sprawl” spread, formerly low-cost (almost rural) areas became very expensive suburbs where people could avoid the urban menace.
If you live in California, NYC, D.C....a hundred thou affords you a moderately comfortable lifestyle. Nothing more.
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