Is a family of 5 making 150K rich or middle/upper middle class?

[East Coast Republican]

In response to the stupid let's bash anyone making 200K thread, I've decided to start a thread that makes for a more honest approach to earned incomes in the United States.  Also, this was started by snowguy calling me out of touch-as if he'd know since he probably thinks the healthcare plan is supported by more people than opposed(lol cheap shot couldn't help it-he likes taking cheap shots anyway).  I'm taking it down to 150K...it's only 50K away from 200K.

I'm voting Middle/Upper Middle Class.  Let's not forget the taxes, clothes, food and shelter which must be provided for a family of 5. I'm not one to stoke class discussions since that really isn't a huge point of tension in the United States...unless, of course, you're a leftist liberal who enjoys adding fuel to the small fire of hating those who work hard for what they earn and advocating higher taxes to make those richies pay! Those jerks making 150K a year with their families...pssh who do they think they are! You can live comfortably but can you live like a celebrity aka RICH?  That's what rich really is.  

Discuss.

[Brittain33]

Where do they live?

Can we rule out those living in the wealthiest 1% of precincts in the country? (Mid-town Manhattan, Park Slope, parts of San Francisco, Beverly Hills.) To be fair, we can also rule out those living in the poorest 1% of precincts, too.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

See, as a Britisher I don't think there's any contradiction between someone being 'rich' and someone being 'middle class' as over here the latter term equates (fairly) neatly with 'bourgeois'.

[memphis]

In the top 10% of households. Enough said.

[Guderian]

In the top 10% of households. Enough said.

This is completely irrelevant. Percentage gap between a family of 5 earning 150k may be bigger when compared to a family of 5 earning 80k than the gap with a family earning 5 million, but difference in lifestyle is much bigger when compared to a family that earns 5 million.

[Lief 🗽]

In the top 10% of households. Enough said.

This is completely irrelevant. Percentage gap between a family of 5 earning 150k may be bigger when compared to a family of 5 earning 80k than the gap with a family earning 5 million, but difference in lifestyle is much bigger when compared to a family that earns 5 million.

80k family: upper middle class
150k family: rich
5 million family: very rich

[Ban my account ffs!]

I can see where $150,000 might not seem all that much if you're living in an oversized house and you have three closely aged children in private universities at $40,000/year (good luck with financial aid!).

But, if you were smart, you would have been saving up for their college from early on.  $150,000/year offers plenty of opportunity for that.  Even if you have to live in a 4000 sq. ft. house instead of a 6000 sq. ft. one and two of your kids have to *horror* share a bathroom.

[Sbane]

A family making 150k is upper middle class, but not middle class. I would say an individual with no kids making over 100k is rich. For a family of five, the cutoff for rich should be somewhere around 200-250k.

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

Middle Class. Not even upper middle class.

[Bo]

Rich

[memphis]

Middle Class. Not even upper middle class.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/middle

[East Coast Republican]

I can see where $150,000 might not seem all that much if you're living in an oversized house and you have three closely aged children in private universities at $40,000/year (good luck with financial aid!).

But, if you were smart, you would have been saving up for their college from early on.  $150,000/year offers plenty of opportunity for that.  Even if you have to live in a 4000 sq. ft. house instead of a 6000 sq. ft. one and two of your kids have to *horror* share a bathroom.

Yeah, these families will definitely be upset that their kids are sharing a bathroom.  Right.  You know that most families earning this income arent living in 4K sq ft homes and that the best and brightest students representing a diversity of incomes strive to go to the best colleges which usually just *happen* to be expensive.

You like to *use* many *stars* in your so-called *posts.*  Can you give me an *explanation* for why you do *this?*

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

I can see where $150,000 might not seem all that much if you're living in an oversized house and you have three closely aged children in private universities at $40,000/year (good luck with financial aid!).

But, if you were smart, you would have been saving up for their college from early on.  $150,000/year offers plenty of opportunity for that.  Even if you have to live in a 4000 sq. ft. house instead of a 6000 sq. ft. one and two of your kids have to *horror* share a bathroom.

go back a few years and you have a family making 50-80k, maybe paying off some student loans

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Rich.

I simply don't understand how someone could think otherwise... what planet are you people living on?

[Ban my account ffs!]

Go back a few more years and you have a public university system where people can pay their tuition with a part time job.  But we are now doing the honors of making college less affordable and out of reach for poorer Americans all while telling them "YOU NEED TO GO TO COLLEGE TO LEARN NEW SKILLS AND COMPETE AND LIFT YOURSELF UP"

It's a cruel joke.  It's like the tall kid holding a piece of candy just out of reach for the short kid and saying "you can have it if you can get it!"...

It kinda makes me sick that we've had Republicans in these threads so concerned with the plight of these "poor" people only making a measly $150-200k/year.

It's ridiculous and it proves just how out of touch many Republicans are with normal, everyday Americans.  Try accepting the real world as the real world once, instead of just lying to yourself until you believe it.

[bgwah]

Upper middle class. Probably close to what my family was when I was in high school.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Upper middle class. Probably close to what my family was when I was in high school.

just because it happened to you doesn't make it any less rich

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Roughly on the cusp between upper & upper-middle. Either way, a family in that position should not be suffering any hardship.

[Vepres]

In the top 10% of households. Enough said.

This is completely irrelevant. Percentage gap between a family of 5 earning 150k may be bigger when compared to a family of 5 earning 80k than the gap with a family earning 5 million, but difference in lifestyle is much bigger when compared to a family that earns 5 million.

80k family: upper middle class
150k family: rich
5 million family: very rich

In fairness, I know a family with five kids that has that yearly income, and they live the lifestyle of one making half that.