Who Is A Middle Class American?
Who Is Middle Class In America?
The funny thing is that most of us probably consider ourselves middle class. It is an American concept that is not that easy to define. But a lot of people want to know what is really considered middle class in American, so we thought we would try to define it somehow.
How Much Money Do Middle Class People Make?
The type of people who study such things, like sociologists and economists, have different financial standards. Even recently, it has been defined as anything from an income of $25,000 to $100,000 a year. And yet, I would imagine that most families who have to subsist on $25K a year probably feel poor most of the time. In fact, I know families who make more than $100K a year who feel budget strain.
Is There A Middle Class Living Standard?
If we take some mid-range salary, like $60,000, we would have to look at family size, location, and other factors. For example, a single person in a small town may have a fairly high standard of living on that sixty thousand dollars a year. If that same amount had to support a family in an urban environment, it may not go very far towards luxuries.
It is not always easy to decide who is midde class by their living standards. We have all heard of the millionaire next door by now. Many people with higher incomes do not choose to spend it. On the other hand, many Americans live well beyond their means.
Is There A Middle Class Education Level?
The bare minimum standard seems to be a high school education plus, perhaps, some training. A college education seems to place an individual more firmly in the middle class. Of course, we can all think of exceptions to this too. Some individuals drop out of high school and start a business, and there are lots of stories about self-made millionaires who dropped out of college. On the other hand, we have known college educated people who just never made it economically, and it would be hard to define these people as middle class.
The Lower, Middle, and Upper Middle Class
To make more sense, many categorize the midle class into 3 distinct groups. Professionals and highly educated people may tend towards the upper ranges, while skilled workers may tend towards the lower ranges.
What Do You Consider Middle Class?
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