Middle class is working-age families that make around median income for their age cohort. Median family income of a married-couple family in San Diego is around 80k.

Double-income engineer couples are not middle class. Lawyers are not middle class. Middle class families don’t buy houses in 4S Ranch and Encinitas, don’t shop in Whole Foods Market, and don’t drive luxury cars, they can’t afford that without mortgage equity withdrawals. Their children attend average schools in San Marcos and La Mesa, because they can’t afford to live in areas with top 20th percentile schools. Because, obviously, 2/3 of school-age kids in the city can’t all attend the same 20% of schools.