1) Standard Definition Of Middle Class $25,000-$100,000 a year is what most would consider as a middle class income. The $75,000 spread accounts for the wide cost of living differential between places like New York City and Fargo, North Dakota.
A middle class income is all you need to be happy. However, we are a society who always wants more. Even after we reach an arbitrary income level, we aren’t satisfied for very long. This post will go through the various definitions of a middle class income.
A big part of defining a middle class income will depend on where you live, your lifestyle choices, and the size of your family. One person’s middle class might be another person’s champagne lifestyle!
We All Think We’re Middle Class
I have a theory the majority of us, no matter how little or how much we make, consider ourselves part of the middle class. When I worked at McDonald’s for $4 an hour, I was dirt poor, but considered myself middle class because both my parents had jobs and I had a bicycle and a cozy home to come home to.
When I finally graduated from The College Of William & Mary and started making more money, I felt poor because all I did was work in expensive New York City!
For example, I shared a studio with a high school classmate for $2,100 a month and that was in 1999. It was the only way I could attempt to achieve financial independence on a modest income.
It was only after I moved to San Francisco did I feel I was part of the middle class again. Money was more plentiful, a starter home back then was “only” cost about $1,100,000. I also had more free time to explore.
I’ve experienced all three classes to varying degrees and I believe there are wonderful merits to each of them. From the poor Haitian immigrant who goes to college and becomes the first black female mayor in Utah, to the billionaire investor who gives 99% of his net worth to charity, everyone tends to come to center.
My favorite class is the middle class. But first, we must define what middle class means.
Middle Class Income Definitions
Here are the best definitions of a middle class income.
1) Standard Definition Of Middle Class
$25,000-$100,000 a year is what most would consider as a middle class income. The $75,000 spread accounts for the wide cost of living differential between places like New York City and Fargo, North Dakota.
Everybody who lives in NYC or San Francisco will tell you that earning $25,000 a year is poor. There’s just no way to get ahead, support a family, and one day retire with that type of income.
If you’re making $100,000 and live in Des Moines, Iowa, then you’re living large. The last time I was there, I had a fantastic ribeye steak for $20 bucks and saw a 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom, 3,000 square feet houses go for $180,000. When the cost of an entire house is only 80% more than your annual income, you know you’ve got it made!
2) Republican Definition Of Middle Class
Ex-GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney came out and said the middle class is “$200,000 and $250,000 or less.” The $200,000 refers to an individual, and $250,000 refers to a couple. Why $200,000 + $200,000 doesn’t equal $400,000 still baffles me.
The government is sexist and it takes people to really care before math can change. There just aren’t enough individuals who earn $200,000 each and are married. Hence, the rest of us who are not affected let this sexism continue. Hence, the rest of us who are not affected will let sexism continue.
If you live in an expensive coastal city, $250,000 for a household isn’t exactly rich since about $65,000 of your income goes towards taxes. You can afford a car, take a couple weeks of vacation a year, max out your 401K and send your two children to private school.
But if you ask any $250,000 a year couple whether they think they are rich, I’m sure most would privately tell you no. In 2020, it costs $1.8 million here in San Francisco to get a decent house in a decent neighborhood. That’s 7.2X a $250,000 household salary.
A family of four making $200,000 will see a tax hike of almost $4,000 a year under Trump’s plan
Related: How To Make $200,000 A Year And Not Feel Rich
3) Democrat Definition Of Middle Class
President Obama’s middle class is also $250,000 per household or less. He just didn’t say it. Instead, he says “the rich” are those who make $200,000 or more as individuals and $250,000 or more as households.
Strategically, this is a better way of getting more votes because there are mathematically less people to anger. If you say “the middle class is $250,000 or less,” you run the risk of angering a huge portion of the 95% of people who make much less because they might think you’re out of touch with reality.
It is more than likely that Joe Biden will say the same thing, given Joe Biden was Obama’s Vice President for eight years.
The Political Middle Class Epiphany
Republicans and Democrats have the same definitions of what a Middle Class income is, but they say it differently.
In politics, you have to be careful with verbiage. Math always triumphs at the end. If you can get 50% of the 95% of the population who makes $200,000 or less in America to vote for you, it’s much better than getting 100% of the 5% of the population who makes more than $200,000 on your side!
Thankfully, these power-hungry politicians on 1/2/2013 came to a Fiscal Cliff compromise and raised the definition of “rich” to now $400,000 for singles and $450,000 for couples.
Today, we’ve also abolished the marriage penalty tax for income earners up to about $500,000. This is huge progress.
4) Student Loan Debt Forgiveness Definition Of Middle Class
On August 24, 2022, President Biden unveiled his student loan forgiveness plan. For individuals who earn less than $125,000, they are eligible for up to $10,000 in student loan forgiveness. The student loan forgiveness amount goes up to $20,000 for married households making up to $250,000!
Therefore, President Biden and his administration believes the definition of middle class is any individual making up to $125,000 or a household making up to $250,000. Earning more qualifies you for being rich, which President Biden can’t be seen as helping.
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Therefore, if you want to earn the ideal income to live a middle-class lifestyle and earn subsidies, make $124,999.
5) Financial Samurai Definition Of Middle Class Income
Finally, if you make within +/- 50% of your city’s household income for your age, you are middle class. For example, the average household income in San Francisco is ~$100,000. Therefore, a person making $50,000 – $150,000 can comfortably consider himself or herself middle class.
You can also consider yourself middle class if you are renting or own + / – 50% of your city’s median house price. Using San Francisco again, the median house costs $1.8 million. Therefore, if you are renting or own a property worth about $900,000 – $2,700,000, you are also considered middle class.
The cost of living in Des Moines, Iowa is obviously much lower, and incomes and home prices will adjust accordingly. Income is only one part of wealth. I highly recommend people focus more on building net worth over income.
Why Most Of Us Consider Ourselves Middle Class
Now that you know the various definitions of middle class and middle class income, let’s discover why so many of us think we are middle class when we are not. With the wealth gap widening post-pandemic, many rich people are now learning how to convince people they are middle class as well!
1) We adapt very quickly.
Remember how fast the excitement went away after getting into college, getting a promotion, a holiday present or receiving a nice big raise? After about a couple months, we revert back to feeling like our old selves.
We could be very upbeat selves in general, but we no longer feel that high of a big win. I have a friend who makes a million dollars a year, but considers himself middle class. The reason why is his other friend makes tens of millions of dollars a year! The hedonic treadmill gets us all.
2) Nobody likes to feel inferior.
If we so happen to earn below the median household income of $75,000 in America, we should realize we are “below median” and perhaps “below average” in household income generation. But, nobody likes to feel below average in anything which is why the term “lower class” sounds derogatory! Instead, we’ll find a way to justify our below median income by saying we live great, happy lives, and are doing things we love to do.
We’ll tell ourselves making less is a choice, that grades don’t matter, and that money isn’t everything. There are certainly truths to all these reasons. Happiness stays constant above a certain income range, so there’s no reason to justify why we are poorer than average, but we curiously do.
3) We are scared of being murdered.
The more you make above the median household income, the more you need to fear for your life. A lot of wealthy people cannot control the urge to splurge the more they make. It’s just natural to buy fancier cars, wear nicer clothes, and live in bigger homes. You only live once is Gen Y love to say!
All is good until you realize there’s a stranger standing in your living room with a butcher knife ready to splice open your guts unless you give him all your valuables. We are seeing an uprising by the people against anybody who has more.
We also see the government take away more of our income the more we tell them we make. By projecting we are middle class or pretending we are middle class when we are actually rich, we avoid the uprising! We’ll also be able to deflect criticism and get to join in the hunt.
Stealth Wealth is the way of the future! If you are wealthy, your best to blend in with society not stand out. Since the pandemic began, the wealth gap has widened tremendously. As a result, it’s better to keep a low profile.
4) Nobody likes to feel persecuted by the government or the public
Finally, nobody likes to feel like a bad person for making more money than average or having more money than average. If you make above a certain middle-class income, then the government will raise your taxes. Further, politicians and the media, will likely bad mouth the rich for being greedy and “not paying their fair share.”
Therefore, the rich have learned how to carefully convince the public they are middle class. This way, they get to more easily be a part of the best class in the world.
* The above chart is my calculation for the average net worth of the above average person. I use Personal Capital’s free financial software to methodically track my net worth. I also use the app to run my investment portfolios at least twice a year.
Personal Capital also has a great Retirement Calculator. You can run your numbers to see whether you are on course. The above average person takes action and leverages free technology to his or her advantage.
Middle Class Is A Wonderful Class
I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor and I will unequivocally tell you that being right in the middle is wonderful. Earning a middle class income will provide for a comfortable life in any developed country.
When I was poor, I was insecure about my future. I wondered whether I’d ever be able to earn enough to buy a home and raise a family. I worried I’d amount to nothing in my parents’ eyes after spending so many years in school.
Envy, a feeling I despise often entered my body as I saw friends take wonderful vacations and drive new cars. Why them, not me? Protesting big corporations and those who have more made me feel better.
When I was rich, I wondered whether I really was as evil as people painted out rich people out to be. Self-doubt began entering my mind as I questioned whether I really deserved to make what I was making.
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There is so much poverty in the world, I began to feel guilty about my wealth. As a result, I worked harder by getting into work earlier and leaving later. I then spent hours at night working on my online endeavors, so that one day I would no longer have to work and return to the middle.
Now that I’m back in the middle in “retirement,” life is more carefree. I know politicians are now more on my side because they need the middle class vote to remain in power. I no longer fear being ostracized by others for earning an above average wage because I am average.
There is also less insecurity about my future because I have a house, some clothes, and a reliable car to get me around. I now spend time connecting with others online through my sites, sharing my knowledge and learning what I can from all of you.
Middle Class Is A State Of Mind
The income definition of middle class is whatever we want to project! We work hard to provide for ourselves and our families. Saving money is part of our DNA.
We realize the importance of community and rely on each other to flourish. Don’t let anybody ever tell you that being average is not good enough. Being middle class is what makes all our countries great! And feeling rich is often a state of mind.
Finally, one of the best ways to get ahead is to start a business if you believe in your abilities. There’s nothing better than being your own boss and seeing maximum correlation with effort and reward.
Not a day goes by where I don’t give thanks for starting Financial Samurai in 2009. Start something special on the side while you have a job, and work on it until it gains traction. You might surprise yourself and reach a new class!
And if bing middle class isn’t good enough for you, then shoot to be upper middle class! That’s not a bad place to be either. Just make sure your household earns less than $400,000. This way, you don’t have to pay more income taxes under Joe Biden.
Surviving off $400,000 in an expensive city with kids may already be tough enough. Once you add paying more taxes, you might as well downgrade yourself back to the middle class! There’s really no point working so hard if you’re not happy. Never forget that money is a means to an end.
Achieve Financial Freedom Through Real Estate
If you secretly want to get out of the middle class, you need to invest. Real estate is my favorite asset class to build wealth. It is a tangible asset that is less volatile, provides utility, and generates income. With elevated inflation, real estate benefits from higher rents and property prices. Further, the cost of debt gets whittled down while asset values get a nice tailwind.
In 2016, I started diversifying into heartland real estate to take advantage of lower valuations and higher cap rates. I did so by investing $810,000 with real estate crowdfunding platforms. I believe there will be a “spreading out” of America thanks to technology. The pandemic really accelerated the work from home trend too.
Take a look at my two favorite real estate crowdfunding platforms.
Fundrise: A way for accredited and non-accredited investors to diversify into real estate through private eFunds. Fundrise has been around since 2012 and has consistently generated steady returns, no matter what the stock market is doing. For most people, investing in a diversified eREIT is the easiest way to gain exposure.
CrowdStreet: A way for accredited investors to invest in individual real estate opportunities mostly in 18-hour cities. 18-hour cities are secondary cities with lower valuations and higher rental yields. Further, there is potentially higher growth due to strong demographic trends. If you have a lot more capital, you can build you own diversified real estate portfolio.
Both are free to sign up and explore.
Stay On Top Of Your Money
Sign up for Personal Capital, the web’s #1 free wealth management tool to get a better handle on your finances. In addition to better money oversight, run your investments through their award-winning Investment Checkup tool. It will show you exactly how much you are paying in fees. I was paying $1,700 a year in fees I had no idea I was paying.
After you link all your accounts, use their brand new Retirement Planning Calculator. It pulls your real data to give you as pure an estimation of your financial future. I’ve been using Personal Capital since 2012. As a result, I have seen my net worth skyrocket thanks to better money management.
The savvy middle class track their money carefully so it can be optimized.
Click to check out your own retirement forecast using Personal Capital’s FREE financial tools.
The Definitions Of A Middle Class Income is a FS original post. To get more wealth knowledge, join 50,000+ others and subscribe to my free weekly newsletter. I’ve been helping people achieve financial freedom since 2009.
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