What I think really distorts what people think of as middle class, is the media. Duh. You see these TV-shows, or movies with supposedly “average” people living in fancy homes, and you probably identify with them, so you think only those who spend tens of thousands of dollars in leisure or have multi-million dollar mansions are actually rich. And more importantly, those who are actually middle-class are the ones depicted as dirt-poor.
Or at least that’s what shaped my view of class. Once you see objective statistics, though, it all becomes clear.