so, what IS middle class income?

[Sasha]

wow, us with one income are super poor =(

 

[kristijoy]

In California most people that I know are heavily in debt, living far beyond their income. So even if their income is $250,000, if they spend more than that and lose their houses or can't put their kids through college because they live too extravagantly, would they still be defined as middle class strictly based on their income? I don't know. But I think the people recognizing the importance of living within their means are the smarter
ones, no matter if they're not considered middle class.

Interesting discussion!

I think living within your means is by far the most important thing! Even in college my DH and I were able to save for a small down payment on our first house (this was in the early 1990's). That made a huge difference in getting into the real estate market for the first time. Then even with the 'debt' of a mortgage we have always tried to save and set a little aside to begin building a nest egg.

My inlaws have been a good role model. My father-in-law makes good money, but they are always super thrifty. THey've built up a nest egg primarily because of that attitude.

 

[Sherri Tierney]

Over all, the cost of living here is very reasonable. Some things are kind of crazy. We pay more for food than a lot of my friends living in larger/more expensive areas. That part always makes me scratch my head. Gasoline is on the high end here too. However, things like preschool we pay quite a bit less for. Housing is pretty reasonable too. It used to be that housing was dirt cheap here. That has changed over the years though. Our first house was bought in '96, a 910 sq foot 2 bedroom, 1 bath. We paid $8K for it (yep, you read that right, $8,000). We bought this house 12 years later. We had a period of roughly 4 years in between where we rented. When we started looking at houses again the ones very much like our first house were going in the $30K range. Big jump. Anything with 3 bedrooms automatically fetched $50K no matter the condition. We were pretty discouraged. Then we found this one, 5 bedrooms, 2 bath, attached garage and bonus room with an asking price in the low $50K range. We got it for less than $50K and 4 years later I still think we got the deal of the decade considering what other houses around here are still going for. However, I had someone tell me that my house would fetch roughly $400K in their area so based on that, housing is cheap here. LOL

DH makes good money. We are blue collar workers. We both went to college but neither are doing anything close to what we went to school for. He works at a printing company. It is, easily, one of the top paying jobs around here without getting in to professional careers. I work for not much over minimum wage (at a school) but we don't count on my income for anything. I do it to get out of the house and I should be paying them to let me go in, I enjoy it so much. Essentially we are a one income household.

 

[Traci Reed]

I can't imagine finding a 2 bedroom house for 50x around here (or even 1 bedroom if such a thing existed) let alone a 5 bedroom. My dad buys houses at auction (the ones that have been foreclosed on and are going dirt cheap) and his last 4 bedroom still cost $250,000 and he had to put $50,000 into it to make it inhabitable.

 

[origami]

It does seem that until a few years ago, a lot of people were financing a middle class lifestyle by heavy debt spending, so it's hard judge what's "real" and what's just living on borrowed time.

Exactly. Too many people in the last few years before the recession hit weren't spending real money.

 

[rach3975]

It used to be that housing was dirt cheap here. That has changed over the years though. Our first house was bought in '96, a 910 sq foot 2 bedroom, 1 bath. We paid $8K for it (yep, you read that right, $8,000). We bought this house 12 years later. We had a period of roughly 4 years in between where we rented. When we started looking at houses again the ones very much like our first house were going in the $30K range. Big jump. Anything with 3 bedrooms automatically fetched $50K no matter the condition. We were pretty discouraged. Then we found this one, 5 bedrooms, 2 bath, attached garage and bonus room with an asking price in the low $50K range. We got it for less than $50K and 4 years later I still think we got the deal of the decade considering what other houses around here are still going for. However, I had someone tell me that my house would fetch roughly $400K in their area so based on that, housing is cheap here. LOL

We live in a suburb of DC. I can't even imagine real estate prices like that! In '99 DH and I bought a 3 bedroom townhouse for $150K. That was just before prices started skyrocketing, and when we left in 2005 it sold for almost $400K. Even now, 3 bedroom townhouses in that community go for $300K+. And that community isn't new or upscale, just average. Your home would probably be $400K or more here.

ETA: I was curious, so I checked listings. Even leaving out new construction and upscale neighborhoods, a single family 4 to 5 bedroom house here could be anywhere from the high $300's to the high $500's.

 

[suze]

They seem high to me too. And by those numbers we are the lowest of the lower class for sure. :blink:

thats what I was thinking. I'm a store manager and I have a working husband.. and we touch NOTHING close to that. My husbands family is very wealthy in my mind and they only break 100,000... those numbers make absolutely no sense of what middle class is.

I see the nobility- upper class/middle class/lower class thing more than I see the dollar signs on class.
upper class- corporates, large business owners, etc.
middle class- professionals, small business owners, etc.
lower class- working/trades/service workers, etc

 

[suze]

We can save some money but we don't necessarily consider college as a route to a better life. Our mechanic makes more money than we do.

I completely agree with this. My entire family both sides have not gone to college (but one sister in law who only breaks 30,000.) We've either went to trade schools stuff like that and we make as much as people with 4 year degrees. Like I said my brother in law and father in law both break the 100,000 marks and I do okay even tho i don't use my trade degree either (even tho I pay 10,000 in student loans I've been paying since 07.) So I do have some issues with college.

 

[crystalbella77]

I always thought of us as middle class until recently and now we are just dirt poor. lol!

 

[Nettio]

As I understand it, the middle class isn't really defined by an income range as much as aspirations: home ownership, higher education, economic stability, etc. Which is why you'll see people with such a wide range of income refer to themselves as "middle class" even though they're technically way above or below the middle income in the US - something like 91% of Americans label themselves as middle class even if income-wise they technically aren't. That $250,000 mark is just the number the politicians have chosen as the line for tax purposes. It does seem high to me but then again, the cost of a true middle class income has increased a ton due to the high costs of housing, education, etc so that number may not be that far off for being the high end of the upper middle class.