US Question - Are You Middle Class?
 

So what is the right definition of middle class? $250,000? $500,000? $1 million? Not even close. Try $50,000 or so.

Strictly by the Numbers:

According to the Census Bureau, median household income in 2009 was $49,084. Before any coastal dwellers start yelping, let?s take a look at regional differences:

Median Household Income:

West: $53,833
Northeast: $53,073
Midwest: $48,877
South: $45,615

Full article here...

http://moneywatch.bnet.com/economic-...tionContent.10

you're doing it wrong.

median income does not equal middle class.

dismissed.

What does it matter?

Who walks around saying "I'm part of the middle class"?

And here I thought we were trying to get away from that centuries ago.

Focus on improving your own life instead of worrying about what you don't have versus what the guy next door does have.

I didn't think you had a class system in the us. i thought it was just us in the UK and India. :D

I have no class

haves...havenots..

Why is it that class warfare is always the staple of liberal politics?

Agreed.
Say you have a guy who makes $1billion a year, and 500 people on unemployment making $0, and that gives you a median income of just under $20k per person.

I would say middle class probably is 30-40k

For a family? Are you talking about in the USA?

dont let yourself get fooled by all the GFY millionaires - on here everyone makes at least a million per year, has 3 cars and works less than 10 hours per week

Wiki says the middle class is $25k-$100k a year depending on factors. I assume that also means net wealth, a person earning low money can have a high net wealth, and isn't really middle class simply because of income.

LOL. Exactly.

In some areas of the country, you can actually get by fine on 40k with a small family and have a pretty decent life. In those areas, you might be considered "middle-class." In other areas, 40k is barely enough for one person. Eating ramen and generic soda... is that "middle-class"?

Self-defined classes are stupid. Just another way for people to pit themselves against one another.

Actually it would be 2 millions a head... lol

You're confusing median with mean. In your example median would be $0.

we're trying desperately to catch up :thumbsup

well, over here, it's not based just on money. A working class man can become middle class but a middle class man cannot become upper class (you have to be born into it) also it's not easy to drop a class, even a broke middle class person remains middle class.

But we do have a new development - The underclass, who are basically working class people who've decided that working class is too good for them and spend their time being cunts to everyone around them.

the article referenced is on CBS news, which we all know is simply a gotcha "news" organization, so all information from them is make believe.

Yeah, but you have all kinds of it :Graucho

because liberals fail when it comes to stepping up and accepting responsibility for themselves.
They actually believe someone else should pay for what they can't pay for themselves.

QFTT


And I think middle class starts at about 100k now.

how the hell am i living so damn comfortably on 19,500 a year?

Class warfare sucks and is driven by bigotry.

It is just another tool used by politicians to divide us so that they can continue to get elected. The liberals play games with class warfare and the conservatives do the same with cultural warfare.

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

Q:

Is there a standard, accepted definition of what constitutes the "middle class"?

Politicians are fond of talking about how the middle class will be affected by policies and laws, but rarely do they define who is actually part of that group.

A:

No, there isn't. "Middle class" means different things to different people - and politicians. There is no standard definition, and in fact, an overwhelming majority of Americans say they are "middle class" or "upper-middle class" or "working class" in public opinion polls. Hardly anybody considers themselves "lower class" or "upper class" in America.

It's possible to come up with a definition of what constitutes "middle income," but it will depend on how large a slice of the middle one prefers. If we look at U.S. Census Bureau statistics, which divide household income into quintiles, we could say that the "middle" quintile, or 20 percent, might be the "middle" class. In 2006, the average income for households in that middle group was $48,561 and the upper limit was $60,224. But we could just as reasonably use another Census figure, median family income. In 2006, the median ? or "middle" ? income for a family of four was $70,354. Half of all four-person families made more; half made less.

FactCheck.org



Growing up, I considered our family to be middle class. We grew up in a "blue collar" neighborhood. No one struggled but we weren't driving Beemers to our McMansions either. My father worked for Ma Bell and mother worked as a "secretary" ( I know.. I'm dating myself )


In many ways I would still consider myself living middle class .... by choice ... as I continue to invest in the future of the company(s) and toward my own retirement.

the only good war is class war

lol ... I love it Juicy!

In NYC you would be almost homeless with that salary. :1orglaugh