I don’t think 175K is rich at all. If I made that, the extra money would go into my bank account, not much of a lifestyle change at all. I think rich would be making over a million which isn’t going to happen with just salary. But maybe with stock options and RSUs. I think people should concentrate on that instead of salary.

Oops, I misread your post, you mean well off. Yes, 175K is well off but I’d think most engineers making less than 175K is well off as well.