We used to live near Binghamton, NY. I agree … it is VERY different from NYC. In 1985 we bought a small startedr house for $63K. A relative bought a similar, slightly larger/nicer house in NJ within commuting distance of NYC for about 3x. Property taxes were probably more than 3x.
There are other colleges that set the bar a bit lower but still would include most middle class (non city dwelling) family: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-01/ten-elite-schools-where-middle-class-kids-don-t-pay-tuition This site is a good city to city comparison: http://money.cnn.com/calculator/pf/cost-of-living/
Seeing salaries for the middle is nice but there are many who may earn a lot more but have hopelessly middle class lifestyles and spending habits. Perhaps growing up needing to be frugal and continuing those habits is another socioeconomic pigeonhole. What if you make a lot more but it doesn’t show up in housing or other indicators of wealth?
22 Possibly a sign that you are wise? ;-) You can never be certain what the future will bring.
How posh/frugal u live is a lifestyle choice for rich people. The IRS doesn’t ask if u shop at Walmart.
Re #22
You become the millionaire next door?
^You (we) were able to send your(our) kids to their schools of choice without severe hardship.
Isn’t there another subtle factor in frugal versus spendy living, with respect to college for the kids?
If the kids are raised in a frugal and cost-conscious household, when it comes to college, they may have built-in frugal impulses when it comes to choosing colleges. On the other hand, there have been some student posters who were apparently raised lavishly and have difficulty with the concept that parental money that seemed unlimited when they were growing up is not unlimited when it comes to college costs.
I think the definition of middle class needs clarifying. It is not the same as middle income. It is a lifestyle, an attitude and/or other factors than how much money comes in (and may go into savings instead of being spent). This list states what the middle income is, not what a standard of living is. CLASS is the operative word- it defines a way of life, not a financial situation.
But one might not be “of equal class” in all aspects of their lives. I have some areas of my life where I will invest in the very best quality and others where I will have a frugal, make-do, good-enough-is-enough mindset.
Laughable garbage… Every time I encounter any statistics on internet, I tend to think this way though. $114k - NYC is NOT an upper middle class by any measure and the same is true for $90+ in OH.
It really makes me wonder why poor people stay in NYC
"It really makes me wonder why poor people stay in NYC "
-Easy, they have it free, everything…
Miami…what are you talking about. Someone with an income over the means tested allowable amount is NOT going to get everything for free in NYC.
Oh give me a flippin’ break.
Miami- You might have outdone yourself with that one!
Easy- they can’t move. It takes resources to change. Seriously-how many people are stuck in EVERY place-home/neighborhood-city-state in the US because they can’t afford to move???
The kicker is going to be “with typical assets.” The family with $450K in home equity may end up with a bill they don’t expect because the typical assets are much, much lower. Families also tend to consider income to be their earned income, and not all the other types of income actually considered in the financial aid process.
I honesty don’t see what all the head-scratching is about. Of course, cost of living varies widely within most states, making XYZ amount of income able to go farther in one area over another. But PEW’s definition of “middle-class” (or middle-income, if you’re offended by the semantics) is strictly a numbers game, isn’t it? Regardless as to whether you feel you can comfortably afford to vacation every year, or can barely make ends meet is neither here nor there. You may feel “poor” because you can’t afford what your friends can afford, or what you think you deserve, but that doesn’t mean you don’t earn between 67-200% of the median wage or salary in your state. If in your mind you’re “lower-middle class/lower-class/poor” because you can’t afford a house in the tony zip codes, what does that make people making far below that which you do in the same state? It’s not a matter of “how you feel.”
We are just above the median income range in Va., but I’ve never for a moment thought we were anything but middle-class. No, we can’t afford a lot of things we’d like to have, and a vacation to a tourist destination out of the country would take years of saving and planning, but we can’t get out of paying the IRS and State every year, we live in a relatively safe suburban subdivision, and can pay our bills on time every month. If we tried to live well above our means, or failed to plan and ended up saddled with a mountain of debt, it still wouldn’t take away from the fact that our income is +67% of the state’s median income. What an I missing here?