<p>I guess it really depends on your definition of middle-class as there is no set definition. To me, middle-class describes the people in the middle income bracket of a given area. By my definition, those with incomes between 150,000 and 250,000 are, generally, upper-class (upper-income). Even in Northern Virginia.</p>
<p>By the way: you described a family with two incomes, and both parents pulling in 70-75k a year but this isn’t all that common, especially in the suburbs. There are a number of families with a stay-at-home parent that rely solely on one income, not to mention the number of families who are just starting their professional careers and the retired, as you mentioned. Assuming, as you said, the middle-incomes of those few families with two parents working, both at the peaks of their income potential is 150-250k (which, I agree, it probably is), it is too small a group to be considered typical. </p>
<p>But, as I said, it really just depends on your definition of middle-class.</p>