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Fascinating topic. Interesting how we yanks equate class with $$$.
Just where does that leave those with no manners, limited education and gobs and gobs of cash??? I hardly think of say, most of the NBA, or eeek, Paris Hilton, as "upper class".
Give me gobs of cash and call me trash! I don't care what "class" others think I represent, I care about financial independence and the ability to do (within reason) what I please with multiple options! I just happen to be one who prefers IHOP and Dennys over Maxims or Le Cirque for dining out...a buffet is even better! I prefer Target and Sam's Club over Banana Republic or Abercrombie, and a Toyota Tacoma over a BMW or Lexus. I draw the line at mobile homes though! But truly, the ability to be able to choose is what having money is all about and I honestly don't care what other people think! I think even if I came into millions of $, little would change in my life other than more frequent trips to Paris and staying this time "IN" St. Michel instead of a cheap hotel in Paris' outer ring, and I'd probably keep my current home and build a larger dreamhouse with ultra luxurious, but tasteful, features and hire a weekly cleaning service and a live-in cook. Oh, and I'd drive up to my luxury MoMarksion (still in Missouri) in a new Toyota Tacoma Tundra cab truck I don't like Mercedes...they're ugly in my eyes. I don't care for fancy sports cars. I don't like Rolex watches (though an 18K Cartier panther might work... ), I don't like fancy clothes for the most part, but... I do like a luxurious and high quality home (though I find too many exotic electronic gadgets are tacky) and I like fine art....oops! I might drop by art auctions in New York here and there....
I second that. If someone is rich enough to spend $500k on a house and another $30k on a car and still has money left over to eat out alot and vacation, that most certainly is way above middle class. The typical middle class person can afford around $100k of house and a car costing under $10k. I would probably be considered lower middle class as I cant afford more than about $50k house and im going to spend about $4k on a car.
Uhh...not exactly. $100,000 may be a nice chunk of change but you couldn't buy an outhouse down here for that. Most middle class people can afford more than $100,000 worth of house, it just depends on your location.
As for cars, I'd say it's impossible to judge a person on what they drive. Heck I have 3 cars and each portray a different image ('07 Ford Escape, '86 Porsche 911, '02 Cadillac Eldorado). One of my friends who I consider a spitting-image of middle class (normal 2400 sq ft home, nothing extravagent but nothing junky, very conservative, middle-management type) just turned 40 last year. He decided to splurge and buy his dream car- a brand new Porsche 911 Carrera 4S. He isn't wealthy by any standard but this was going to be his "middle-age crisis" car.
Middle class is a term thrown around quite a bit but when it comes down to it, nobody can really define it.
Well I guess you'd still be middle class but most that have Ph'Ds or a Master's degree will make more than $50,000/ year (at least the ones I know..).
Comparing $50,000 U.S., with U.S. cheaper income taxes, that'd be equivalent to a Canadian income of $70,000-$80,000.
I know plenty of jobs between $60,000-$80,000 Cdn and people hold Master's and sometimes PhD's for these positions.
A co-worker has a wife with a Master's degree and she makes $40-50k per year. That's like getting $30,000 U.S./yr for a position using her skills as a "degreed" (is that a word?) architect.
I don't understand how most people with Master's and Ph'Ds are supposed to be making so much money they aren't middle class. Or is it just a stigma or jealousy because they're smart and maybe tried too hard in school, just to probably make 10-20% higher income than someone with a B.A. or a community college dipolma?
Uhh...not exactly. $100,000 may be a nice chunk of change but you couldn't buy an outhouse down here for that. Most middle class people can afford more than $100,000 worth of house, it just depends on your location.
As for cars, I'd say it's impossible to judge a person on what they drive. Heck I have 3 cars and each portray a different image ('07 Ford Escape, '86 Porsche 911, '02 Cadillac Eldorado). One of my friends who I consider a spitting-image of middle class (normal 2400 sq ft home, nothing extravagent but nothing junky, very conservative, middle-management type) just turned 40 last year. He decided to splurge and buy his dream car- a brand new Porsche 911 Carrera 4S. He isn't wealthy by any standard but this was going to be his "middle-age crisis" car.
Middle class is a term thrown around quite a bit but when it comes down to it, nobody can really define it.
I have no clue about Porsche 911 Carrera 4. Is that a $20k car? $25k?
Here in my neck of the woods, the middle class median salary is $36k per person. A such person can afford up to around $100k of house. That wont get you anything in south Florida but a mobile home or crappy studio. Even if that person lives with another person and combines income, $200k of house is a simple 2 bedroomer in a bad neighboorhood. You cant enjoy life here if your only middle class. This is why im leaving for Oil city where middle class can buy huge 4 bedroom houses for $50k!
Middle class does vary from city to city.. In St. Louis it can vary from suburb to suburb as well.
I try not to look at it from a specific money standpoint though. I don't think that having a 250k house classifies you as "middle class". IMO having money to pay the bills, have food on the table and a reliable car to drive..along with having a little extra to save or spend on something fun.. that's middle class to me. I can have a 250k house in one suburb that is considered low class.. and go 3 miles down the road, and be the richest person in the neighborhood there. You really can't pin point a certian income, housing or car. At least where I am.
What I described previously is a middle class family for my area. The median home price for an older SFH in a decent neighborhood is at least $450K-$500K, so this fits the middle class lifestyle in my eyes. It takes more money in this area to fit into the "middle class."
Look at Crownsville on the city-data main page. Take a look at what the average household income and average home price were 6 years ago (based on 2000 census). It's gone wayyy up since... The average household scenario, including income, in a nice AA County suburb like Crownsville, Davidsonville, or Gambrills in a 2-income family is similar to what I described. As a generalization, "upper middle class" families would live in a more expensive neighborhood like Cranberry Woods or Belvoir Farms with homes in the $850k-$1M range, and "upper class" would be in the Downs, Eastport, or Wardour where the homes can easily exceed $3M.
As for a 2006 Porsche 911 Carrera - you're a little below the range when you ask if it's a $20K car... try multiplying that by 4 or 5... I looked at the Cayman coupes but I would have gone for a 2004 based on price
As for a 2006 Porsche 911 Carrera - you're a little below the range when you ask if it's a $20K car... try multiplying that by 4 or 5... I looked at the Cayman? coupes but I would have gone for a 2004 based on price
Did you mean the Porsche Cayenne? Cayenne is a hot pepper, while Cayman is a nation with a group of islands near Jamaica.
I am choking on my soda reading these salaries!!! Holy cow, no wonder I'm broke!!! I thought middle class was like a combined income of like $50,000. I would "feel as though" I'd be rolling in dough at $50,000 a year. Here, my husband and I make a combined income of... wait for it.... $22,500/ year. We support ourselves along with our 3 kids on that income. I mean we don't go on luxury vacations... heck we NEVER go on vacation... but we have food on the table and a roof over our head! Goodness, how do people make that much??? After my husband and I graduate from college we will be lucky to see a combined income of $48,000. I can't imagine making double that!
I am choking on my soda reading these salaries!!! Holy cow, no wonder I'm broke!!! I thought middle class was like a combined income of like $50,000. I would "feel as though" I'd be rolling in dough at $50,000 a year. Here, my husband and I make a combined income of... wait for it.... $22,500/ year. We support ourselves along with our 3 kids on that income. I mean we don't go on luxury vacations... heck we NEVER go on vacation... but we have food on the table and a roof over our head! Goodness, how do people make that much??? After my husband and I graduate from college we will be lucky to see a combined income of $48,000. I can't imagine making double that!
I am choking on my soda reading these salaries!!! Holy cow, no wonder I'm broke!!! I thought middle class was like a combined income of like $50,000. I would "feel as though" I'd be rolling in dough at $50,000 a year. Here, my husband and I make a combined income of... wait for it.... $22,500/ year. We support ourselves along with our 3 kids on that income. I mean we don't go on luxury vacations... heck we NEVER go on vacation... but we have food on the table and a roof over our head! Goodness, how do people make that much??? After my husband and I graduate from college we will be lucky to see a combined income of $48,000. I can't imagine making double that!
JenM, anyone earning those salaries should be doing well, especially if he or she is single and not supporting a family. The thing is that people who buy expensive toys (read that as cars, boats, vacations, home theaters, etc.) and live in expensive houses and finance everything on credit find themselves buried in payments and are living beyond their means. That's not middle class, that's retarded. If you're making $23,000 a year, not buried in debt, and your family is well cared for and you're making ends meet, you're doing fine!! It's true that $23,000 in one place is a lot different than $23,000 in another as housing costs are the big variant.
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I don't like Mercedes...they're ugly in my eyes. I don't care for fancy sports cars. I don't like Rolex watches (though an 18K Cartier panther might work...
), I don't like fancy clothes for the most part, but... I do like a luxurious and high quality home (though I find too many exotic electronic gadgets are tacky) and I like fine art....oops! I might drop by art auctions in New York here and there.... 
I am choking on my soda reading these salaries!!! Holy cow, no wonder I'm broke!!!
I thought middle class was like a combined income of like $50,000. I would "feel as though" I'd be rolling in dough at $50,000 a year. Here, my husband and I make a combined income of... wait for it.... $22,500/ year. We support ourselves along with our 3 kids on that income. I mean we don't go on luxury vacations... heck we NEVER go on vacation... but we have food on the table and a roof over our head! Goodness, how do people make that much??? After my husband and I graduate from college we will be lucky to see a combined income of $48,000. I can't imagine making double that!
