What is Middle Class?

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by 724Skinsfan

As cpayne noted, if I were single and making 85K here in SW Virginia, I would be living like a king easily. Now if I were stupid enough to buy a 50K+ car and a 500K home and eat out at high dollar restaurants everynight then I would probably have very little spending cash (savings) thus I may think that I'm not doing so well.

It's all boils down to how you decide to spend your money and where you live.

It is impossible to be making enough to afford a $50,000 car (if you can't make the car payments without sacrificing other things, then you can't afford it), and not be considered on the upper end of middle class.

I agree that putting a salary on middle class is impossible, because cost of living varies so much from state to state (and sometimes within states). But middle class people, when married, make enough money to:

- Own a modest but satisfactory home
- Own two safe and somewhat reliable cars
- Have medical insurance
- Eat as the FDA recommends on the food pyramid (can afford fruits, veggies, and lean meats)
- Keep up with the phone, electric, and water bills
- Maintain the home to modest but satisfactory levels
- Provide for two or three kids with modest but satisfactory clothes and shoes

If you cut all of your luxury spending, and you still can't afford the above as a married couple, I'd call you below middle class.

By this definition, there are quite a number of people in the US falling below this line. Too many, actually. If you're single, I think the same things apply, but replace own the home with pay rent for a modest but satisfactory 1 bedroom apartment, make it one car instead of two, and make it no kids.