> The median household income is somewhere north of $60k.
The median personal income is about $36K [0], so $40K is about 10% more. The median full-time worker is about $50K. [1] Households frequently have more than one earner.
If one person is making 75k they aren't middle class. 75k might not go very far with kids but I'm that case their spouse would also likely be working so the household income would be significantly higher than that.
>to Middle America with an average household income of $70K
1) median is a better metric to use than average for this sort of thing
2) an average of 70K with two incomes is not at all impressive. a single person making 6 figures is doing incredibly well, compared to the average household.
Just because it's less than a FAANG doesn't mean it's not a fantastic income. I make less than this, in a HCOL area, and I think I have a pretty fantastic income. $250k/yr is 3.3x the median household income in the US ($74,580 according to the 2022 Census).
> You can either work a middle-class job and not piss away every penny as fast it comes in
"Middle class", using the conventional definition of 67%-200% of median household income, is about $40k to $110k a year. The median within that range is about $65k. Let's say you pay about 25% in taxes, and manage to save 1/3 of what's left. That's about $16k/year, which means it would take that household an entire lifetime to save up a million dollars.
>Working backwords from after tax income, it is about 120K-140K a year median.
But your source says that the median family (aka household, so it factors in both earners) income for non-seniors is only $93k, and with kids it's only $105k? Where are you getting $120k-140k from? Households where both earners are high income professionals?
>If it is reasonable to survive on $51,200 then a family on $100k could reasonably be saving the balance $48,800 a year.
yep, it sure would be possible in theory. Although in practice I don't think that's how it is for most people.
Also in a range of 50 - 150k obviously you have to assume that 50k is in the poorest parts of the country, and of course there is nothing saying that only nuclear families or larger can be middle class so I guess, a young single guy could be middle class.
In the case of Tennessee you might be earning enough at 50k a year to be ok, but it seems unlikely that in your region and class you will be getting the chance to invest in Amazon.
on edit: the money per year, first number middle class income in region, second number median income in region
You are taking home (in California; approximately) net 7.4 times what people with three kids on the median income are taking home.
If you choose to live a median lifestyle, you can save 86% of your net income and therefore retire on it within 4 years.
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