I'm middle, which is predictable for a single 30 something year old professional in the nonprofit hospital world in NYC. I was upper when I was married though. Damnit.
My husband's salary makes us upper. Without him I'd be...in trouble.
This doesn't work for me (obviously as I don't live in the US!) but i found it interesting to play with. What this doesn't take into account is any assets - so while my salary may not put me into one category (single mum with 2 kids), the fact that I have a house that is fully paid off and some investments (from DH's life insurance) means that I acknowledge that I am actually higher than that.
I think that we often need to think about some of these things in relation to class and its multi-generational nature. While ones income alone may not be the highest, a lot of us often have advantages that other people don't (family financial backing for example). ANd it's some of these intangible things that make inter-generational poverty so hard for so many people to escape
Post by AdaraMarie on Sept 13, 2019 16:18:03 GMT -5
I thought I would be upper because I am a single mom, two kids, no child support, and work part time (75%). I assumed I would have to be upper class to make that work. However the calculator put me solidly middle. Even at my full time salary I would be middle. In my metro it looks like you have to be over $150k for a family of 3 to be upper class.
Post by notsocreepylurker on Sept 13, 2019 17:11:55 GMT -5
I am middle here in Houston metro area. I played with the numbers and shocked that only making 30K a year was still middle for a household of 1. I thought that was a lower salary for this area but I was wrong. Makes me feel more privileged.
Yep, nope, never have I ever been annoyed when H gets a bonus. I say SHOW ME THE MONEY!!! I’m not in a field where bonuses are a thing, not even a holiday ham.
I got a good holiday bonus at my old job and it's the only thing I miss. H is government so no bonuses there.
I'm upper, but I feel middle, and after I pay for my mortgage, daycare, car loans, student loans, and groceries, then I'm lower. So I'll split the difference and say lower-middle. That's how this works, right?
Post by lexxasaurus on Sept 13, 2019 18:30:54 GMT -5
They didnt have my metro area, which is expensive but we are middle in all the ones I chose. We (I) have a LOT of debt so we basically live paycheck to paycheck. This OT I'm working has definitely helped us out, to get money back in savings for the next whatever-the-fuck it is happens.
Upper. I know it, I feel it, I appreciate it. I grew up with a single mom on welfare so I know what low income life is like and how very different my life is now (even subtracting mortgage, significant student loans, daycare, etc).
See, the thing is that everyone thinks upper class is living like the Monopoly man because so few people truly understand what it's like to be poor (and I'm not saying I'm one of them) and the availability of credit (at insane, usurious interest rates) means the difference is masked if you look at stuff. If you look at anything other than "do you have a tv and a smartphone", the differences are really fucking acute.
Once I sold Park Lane and invested my monopoly bucks with the Shoe maker, I was able to move from middle to solidly upper class!
Post by cinnamoncox0 on Sept 13, 2019 20:05:07 GMT -5
54% middle class. Interesting. I live in a close northern suburb of Boston. Cost of living for housing is bonkers. We do ok, have an annual vacation for free at in laws place (available anytime) and a few long weekends here and there. Two car household (mine is electric so hopefully that’s helping something). I could make more $ but choose to work with my local school so I can have the time off my younger two have vs when I worked elsewhere and made more $ but worried constantly about snow days and school vacation and 12 week summers etc.
We are doing just fine and know we could save more but we are lazy in some regards. I recognize how fortunate we are.
Based on your household income and the number of people in your household, YOU are in the MIDDLE income tier, along with 50% of adults in BOSTON-CAMBRIDGE-NEWTON.
So, I had to pick none of the above but I’m like 7 miles north of Boston so I feel the $$ is the same? Such weird choices for Ma. 54% middle anyway..
I’m upper according to that site but I feel like more upper middle because I can’t afford all the things and go on all the expensive vacations I want to
I am middle here in Houston metro area. I played with the numbers and shocked that only making 30K a year was still middle for a household of 1. I thought that was a lower salary for this area but I was wrong. Makes me feel more privileged.
I am currently middle but when I first got married my husband and I both worked full time and our annual income was less than 24k so it does not surprise me that 30k is considered middle. His income from work was 14k. This is one reason that I will argue with anyone vehemently who thinks that people are just lazy wanting a higher minimum wage. I do not miss those days at all, even though I would like to be more diligent and save so I can take a vacation or at least a few day trips.
We're middle along with 52% of the residents in my city. My area didn't have upper middle and lower middle.Our household income in a LCOL hit over 100k a couple of years ago and we feel damn near rich. I expected to be in the upper range because my state is very poor and I work with a population that is primarily poor and working class. However, we live in a metro area where most of the wealthy in the state live so that likely kept us in the middle.
I am curious at the salary ranges in the groups for this. Say for city X upper starts at $150k for a family of 4. I do imagine there would be a large lifestyle difference between $150k and $400k for example
Same for middle and lower. Compare 2 families of the size size, one at the bottom and one at the top of the ranges? Probably very different lifestyles.
I separated upper since there’s no income cap.
I guess I just wish there were more break-downs in the 3 groups, would maybe be easier for all to relate to.
Yeah. Seattle is 25% upper which is a pretty big chunk.
Post by mrsukyankee on Sept 14, 2019 1:50:13 GMT -5
I didn't use any of the cities in the US as England is so different. Salaries are WAY below what you typically earn in the States, so with both our salaries, our savings and half a house with no mortgage (thanks to my H inheriting his half from my FIL who passed 4 years ago), we're definitely upper. Before that, I'd say we were upper-middle and before that middle (income has changed a lot). I grew up lower class and really struggled in my early adulthood (probably until about 28) so I'm actually shocked a lot of the time about what we can afford to do. My brother and I talk about it all the time (because he ended up doing well too - he's probably upper middle class now). We feel blessed and fortunate.
LA-Long Beach-Anaheim is like 20 million people and a huge swath of land. It’s kinda weird to lump it all together.
We’re pretty middle. Also, I was looking at the range and it seems like middle is somewhere between 35k and 135k for 2 people. That’s a huge range to me.
Post by SusanBAnthony on Sept 14, 2019 5:54:44 GMT -5
We are upper which I expected.
The thing that always amazes me is that we bought a very "middle class" "starter home" (I actually think it is super nice and fancy!) type house- 1600 sq ft ranch with no updates, and we feel we certainly wouldn't want a bigger mortgage. So who the hell is buying all the big newer houses, if we are top 20% and can't imagine doubling our mortgage?
We definitely feel upper with both us working. When I was at home we felt middle but obviously me not working was a privilege and we were probably still upper. And even just me being able to hop back in the workforce for a high salary is a privilege.
I'm sorry, but I don't see how this survey is really accurate. I played with the numbers there was a $142k spread that accounted for Middle. That's a pretty big difference between a HHI of $58k and $200k. There was no Upper Middle for my area. Those numbers were true regardless of whether you inputted a family of 4 or a family of 5. The spread was also the same when I chose the major metropolitan area that included Miami (hihger COL) and then when I chose the counties north of mine which are a much lower COL.
Post by cabbagecabbage on Sept 14, 2019 8:33:41 GMT -5
Middle class. If I never had children or their dumb expenses we could be upper middle class. That really feels more like my true vibe. So I'm going to say I self-identity as upper-middle class and child-free. In my heart I also have Michelle Obama arms and perfect golden highlights and I'm at brunch right now and I'm also very humble. So that's what I pick.