By your argument, two cops, nurse, teacher, firefighters will be consider upper class since they’re making 2x more than the median income. What kind of world are you living in, where you basic civil servants are considered not middle class?
If the couple who are cops/teachers/firefighters etc earn $250k, then yes, IMO, they no longer qualify as middle class. But with the exception of nursing (where there is currently a large market demand, driving wages up) those fields would make it hard to earn that much.
I go back to the last paragraph of the original post in this thread. The statement is that $250k is middle class. My argument that seems to be missed, is that 250k is not middle class.
And for the record, I’m not underpaid – I think I’ve said several times that I feel fortunate to make a good living. Which is why I look at my salary as an engineer, and my husbands salary as an architect, to put is in UPPER middle class – if not bordering on wealthy by national standards and San Diego standards. And we’re far below the $250k.
What has been said about debt is an interesting point. We were fortunate enough to buy houses (not in San Diego) when we were younger and single. When we married, merged, and moved back to my hometown, we sold our houses and had a nice bit of equity to put down. It was also just before the bubble (2003).
Hypothetical.
Family A makes $200k/year.
Family B makes $200k/year.
Family A and Family B both own identical models in the same development. But Family A bought pre-bubble, and Family B bought at the peak. Who’s richer?
Obviously, family B has more debt. But it comes down to choices, fate, timing, etc. But they both have the same income.
