Many people associate mainly with people of similar SES, so even incomes that are much higher than typical (but not at the level of worrying about the NIIT or purchasing politicians) do not seem to be that way. Indeed, someone earning $150,000 may seem “poor” in a peer group where most people earn $200,000.
Washington’s in-state financial aid is such that parental income in the range of $48k to $75k resulted in an average net price around $10k, according to https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?id=236948 .