Ofcourse this depends on your area, but I’d like to know what upper middle class looks like in 2023.
How does it differ from middle class and upper class? Do you think the number of people who identify as upper middle class is declining or do you think they will always be an upper middle class demograph?
What cars do they drive, what kind of homes do they have, how many kids do they have, dual homed or single homed, what kind of jobs do they have, and what schools do they go to amongst other things?
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I don’t think it has changed much, if at all. You’re talking about a group of people who are among the most successful and privileged in the history of the world. If you want like, data, the US Census has extensive information available.
It’s hard to generalize because it varies so much across the country.
An upper-middle-class family in New England that has a Subaru and a Volvo, lives in a 30-50 year old house, and sends their kids to public schools probably wouldn’t be recognizable as “upper-middle-class” to someone from Florida.
>What does upper middle class look like in 2023?
The ability to fill your car up without having to calculate what you’ve got to drop off your grocery list.
In south-east PA, I’d stereotype upper middle class families as having a paid-off or unstressed mortgage on a standalone suburban house, probably more than one car (perhaps one for each parent or one for the older children), a child or two in school for whom the parents have saved a college nest-egg. Both parents work, both are white collar professionals in medicine, law, technology, or finance. They’d have enough money to enjoy a family vacation each year, and may entertain ambitions to do something like build a swimming pool or renovate the house.
The middle class has such totemic significance in American politics that there’s always going to be anxiety about its perceived decline. I do think it’s getting harder to join the upper middle class’ ranks, but its existence doesn’t seem remotely imperiled to me. I’d say it’s the lower middle class which is really suffering and shrinking.
My wife and I recently retired as a professor and a lawyer. We can accurately be described as upper middle class.
We live in a spacious house in a prosperous suburb. We have no debt. We own only one car, which is seven years old. We can afford what we need, with enough for non-extravagant luxuries. Most of our travel is to see family. I have wealthy friends who visit fancy resorts that are beyond our means.
Into our mid-30s, we rented and stretched our few dollars. At the risk of sounding smug, it feels good not to have money worries.
Seattle area:
– $300k+ household income
– lives in an okay neighborhood if they bought before the pandemic (nothing too fancy, 1,500 sqft 3 bed 1.5 bath, built in 1930) otherwise they are in a 900 sqft apartment
– car can range from an older Prius to a Tesla
– shops at Whole Food occasionally but not always
– if they don’t have kids then international vacations are posted on instagram.
– if they bought a home prior to the pandemic they might have kids, otherwise the household income would need to be closer to $400k+
in the nyc metro area (suburbs) its probably something like this.
* 2 working parents, both making six figures. Combined HHI 250-500k
* $500k – $1million dollar house in the suburbs
* 2 cars, nothing that flashy
* yearly vacations.
* kids go to public school or maybe a catholic school. Super fancy private schools are out of reach.
Probably lots of debt defines the upper middle class more than in the past. People are paying for 3000+ square foot houses with loans on swimming pools and patios to be installed. In their driveways are BMWs, Mercedes Benz, Porsche, etc. cars. They buy designer name clothes, but might be likely to get them at outlet stores. All of that, their expensive home theater systems, their gym memberships and other subscriptions, etc. all go to their credit cards. Their kids will have a good amount of money saved up for college, but will also burn through that quickly and get loans. Lots and lots of debt define being part of the upper middle class despite having two high income salaries.
Their jobs are often office workers, medical professionals, corporate accounting, management, sales for high tech stuff, etc.
Another factor you asked about is schools. In a lot of ways, the areas where housing is expensive and there’s a lot of upper middle class folks is because they have really good schools that only kids that live in their neighborhood go to. Some will go to private schools, usually for religious reasons, but the public schools in those areas will blow away the quality of education even at most private schools.
As far as whether the upper middle class is declining, I kind of don’t think so. I haven’t looked at specific statistics (and I feel like it would be cheating if I looked now before typing out my opinion) but we’re in one of the strongest periods of time of economic growth in decades, so despite all the whining you see people are making more money now. I suspect a lot of people have been able to move up in their careers after the pandemic and that factors into the post-pandemic recovery. However, a lot of boomers have retired and are still retiring, and they might be the first group of people in recent history to retire while being responsible for their own savings (401k, IRA, etc.) so we’ll see what impact they have on the economy as they cash in their stocks and sell their real estate.
In the Phoenix area it’s basically any family with an income of over 200k.
It’s like Middle Class but with living above your means and more debt.
I would classify upper middle class as “not having to worry about money, but not quite rich enough to buy whatever you want *all* the time”.
In my area in the Midwest, an average income is somewhere in the $40-50k range.
I would consider upper middle class to be over $150k for an individual and over $250k for a family.
My brother makes over $150k as a single guy, and he bought two nice cars (paid cash), goes on several trips a month, absolutely maxed out his retirement accounts, and just bought a house that he’s already dropped $40k into… none of that has phased him.
Middle class is being ok, but having to be fairly mindful of spending/budgeting (if you don’t want to go into debt).
I consider upper middle class to be ~$4-$6 million in net worth with no more than $1m of that being equity in their primary residence. A $3 million investment portfolio will generate >$200k/yr in investment returns and that gives most people plenty of room to live.
That sort of income won’t buy a jetset life or yachts, but you can live comfortably in most places with that kind of money. And most people still need to work even when reaching this goal, so they push off their use of investment until retirement. It just keeps building.
That’s upper middle class, to me. Basically, anyone who can live a comfortable middle class life on their investments but chooses to keep working anyway.
Upper middle class here (for our area) with a household income just shy of $250k, husband and wife, one pet, no kids.
Highlights of our lifestyle:
No credit card debt carried over. We put everything on a card but we pay it off before it accrues interest – we like the points, perks, protections, etc.
Two, fully funded 401ks. Sets us up for retirement and gives us a nice tax break.
Two cars in the house – a 3 year old top trim Outback and a 10 year old Porsche 911.
Several “long weekend” trips per year and one “big” vacation – this year we’re splitting a month between the Everglades and the Keys.
In addition to the 401ks we have extra money every month for both cash savings (if we want/need to – just “top off” the funds. I don’t like to keep a ton of “liquid cash” around) along with funding additional investments – mostly index funds, but I play with some individual stocks and we both have IRAs as well.
Our only debt is the house and one of the cars – the house is on a 2.74% 15 year mortgage and the car is on a 3.24% 5 year loan. I see no reason to pay these off in a hurry since our investments vastly out pace the interest.
We have a joint account for the house, bills, etc but we each divert 5% of our pay to our “private” accounts. This gives us the freedom to just buy something we want without having to “check” first. I just (finally) bought a new Xbox to get ready for Starfield, for example, and my wife buys a lot of clothes and such – all from money that we just pay ourselves to have fun with.
We eat most of our meals at home and we cook them ourselves, but we do eat one once a week somewhere pretty modest and then we usually do a fancier higher end dinner once a month, in addition to nice meals out for birthdays, anniversary, valentines, etc.
We’re both remote jobs that are tech adjacent. Both went to normal, state schools for college.
I think of myself more as middle class, but our household income puts us just barely into upper middle class territory. I think we’re lower upper middle class lol. We don’t have prestigious jobs. We definitely aren’t anywhere near rich, but we don’t worry money either. We’re able to save a good amount for a comfortable retirement. We always have money to cover any big expenses that come up with plenty leftover (paid cash for a car, new roof, new furnace, etc). We have a modest house (1500 sq ft) I bought over 10 years ago when prices were lower in an affluent suburb. We never plan to “trade up” because we love it here. We have 2 cars, but they aren’t fancy- a Toyota and a Subaru. I’ll probably get my first luxury car next time because the mortgage will be paid off by then. We don’t have kids, so we have a lot of disposable income. We go on 1 or 2 vacations a year and are able to stay at 5 star hotels. We’re going to Paris next month. I buy the occasional designer bag, about one per year. I don’t have to pay attention to the price of anything I buy unless it’s in a very expensive store. We have a beautiful life and we often talk about how lucky and grateful we are to be comfortable. I lived on much less when I was in my 20s and I could easily do it again, but it feels so nice not to stress anymore. We’re in our mid 30s and our only debt is a mortgage that will be paid off in 6 years.
Upper-middle class is people who are generally quite comfortable but still have to work for a living. They probably own or rent a house in a nice area, work in a prestigious profession like doctor, lawyer or engineer and have 2+ cars. Most have 1-2 kids like the average American. To get a decent imagine of how the upper-middle class lives, just imagine the average middle class family but add 100k to their annual income.
What is upper middle class and what looks like upper middle class can be two different things. I discovered this when I worked in a financial branch. A plumber could come in, and have $20 million in their accounts, in the same way someone could drive in, in a Mercedes wearing designer and their debt was super high for their income and networth.
Location and age definitely make a big difference. I’m in a VHCOL area (Bay Area) and I’d categorize most of my friends (late 20s/early 30s) as middle or upper middle class.
Based off my friends that I’d categorize as upper middle, their life looks something like this on average:
– 1-2 luxury cars per couple (most commonly a Benz, BMW, Tesla, or Porsche)
– Either own a condo that they bought in their twenties, a SFH that they bought at a low rate pre-Covid, or rent a luxury high rise apartment. The median house price in the more desirable places around here is $2mil (very average older 3 bedroom house), so those that own are likely remodeling their place slowly.
– 2+ international vacations a year and probably several more domestic ones. Winters are for ski trips.
– Most likely working in tech (or at least a business role in tech), investment banking, private equity, or law. I’m sure medical professionals will be up here too, but none of the doctor friends I know live around here for me to compare to.
– Probably went to a prestigious university. Majority went to Berkeley or Stanford for either undergrad or grad school, or sometimes even for both. A few are transplants from Ivies or other well known schools.
– They are financially savvy and know how to invest their money in the proper vehicles. They’ll also have a bit of fun money set aside for more speculative stocks to buy for fun, and the topic will come up in conversation pretty often.
– Very few of the couples have kids yet. Most of us just don’t really like kids and are holding off until mid thirties. Some have decided to never have kids at all. Many of the couples are also not even married yet and there is no rush to. When/if kids come into the picture, the couples will either move to a different city in the Bay Area with good public schools or send their kids to a private school.
I also know a few couples that can live this lifestyle, but they are purposely being frugal to pursue FIRE (financial independence/retire early). In those cases, they are actively doing real estate investments in other emerging markets.
In general, I think the main difference between my middle class and upper middle class friends is that my upper middle class friends are able to make intentional decisions regarding their lifestyle rather than doing things out of necessity. For example, if they’re still renting, it’s because they prefer their apartment with lots of conveniences and amenities in the middle of the city over paying twice as much for an average house in the suburbs. They likely have enough for a down payment and can make the monthly mortgage, but they don’t want to yet. Whereas my middle class friends don’t really have any other options but to rent. Likewise, they can afford to have a wedding or kids, but those things aren’t important to them right now.
In my suburban community, an upper middle class household TYPICALLY consists of two working adults and a child or two. Rarely does an upper middle class family have more than three kids. At least one of the adults is in a STEM field, and, since the pandemic, works from a home office. They may have one, two or even three cars, depending on needs, and one of them is likely an SUV. Their house is older (50+ years), very well-maintained, and renovated but not showy. The kids most likely attend the excellent local public schools, although a few are enrolled at the nearby Catholic school. Mom volunteers a lot for school activities, even if she otherwise works full-time.
Both parents are avid exercisers, and the kids are involved in sports and/or performing arts. Neither parent ever misses a game or performance, and Dad has probably coached at one point or another. If the kids’ smiles are anything less than perfect, they will have orthodontic treatment. The kids are slim, as are most of the parents. The family eats out a lot due to the kids’ schedules, and Mom feels guilty about it. The refrigerator and pantry are stocked with healthy snacks to make up for it.
Vacations run the gamut, but there is often some type of enrichment activity involved to help the kids build a solid college résumé. They’re not necessarily aiming for an Ivy, but the expectation will be a well-regarded state school at the very least, and the kids will live on campus rather than at home, even if the school is commutable. There will be a 529 and possibly contributions from grandparents to mitigate the need for college loans. Families are almost singularly focused on ensuring a good education for their children. It boils down to class anxiety. They’re financially comfortable, but they don’t have enough to pass on significant generational wealth, so education is the only way to ensure their children’s success. Upper class parents don’t care if their kid wants to major in theater; upper middle class parents freak out.
Most of these families value diversity, even if they don’t live in place that has much, if any, to offer. They might go to church or synagogue out of a sense of tradition, but religion doesn’t otherwise play a big part in their lives. The family probably doesn’t have much of a social network outside of their jobs and their kids’ sports teams, the result of moving too often in search of the next promotion. They have a pleasant passing acquaintance with their neighbors, but deep friendships elude them. They drink more than they should, and they question whether or not they’re living lives of consequence.
The upper middle class routinely say they don’t care about keeping up with the Joneses, but they absolutely do! Appearances are extremely important. They don’t want to stick out, so they’ll dial up or, paradoxically, even dial down their consumption habits accordingly. Politically, they can be either Republicans or Democrats, but they don’t advertise it, and they’re probably registered as unaffiliated voters.
What income is required for an upper middle class lifestyle? Right now, probably $250k+, but the numbers will vary depending on the age and size of the household. How does the upper middle differ from the upper? The upper middle still has to work for a living. I’ll add, too, that while the coffers are full, there is a deep-seated sense of vulnerability. They know they’re incredibly fortunate, but they fear it could all disappear…because it could given the right set of circumstances.
These are my quiet observations after years of living among them. A few apply to my own family, while others do not. Overall, it’s a mixture of good and bad.
Idk, kinda hard to see from down here.
I don’t know that there is a huge visual difference. I feel like i went from middle class to upper middle class about 7 years ago when I got a significant pay bump. My retirement savings and emergency savings went up..nobody but me sees that. My vacations went to the same destinations but I stayed in nicer accommodations and went to better restaurants.
I still drive the same car (a beat up 15 year old Honda civic covered in surf wax). My kids still go to public school..though it’s looking more and more like I’ll be able to pay for them to go to college with cash.
I would say that my partner and I fit comfortably into “upper middle class” but not “rich”.
Our dual income is in the low-6-figures. We own a nice-but-older home on about 3/4 acre in a suburban area and a rental townhouse nearby (my old home before we moved in together). We both max out our retirement savings. We take a big vacation once a year and multiple small trips throughout the rest of the year. We own and drive 2 late-model vehicles (one bought new, one bought used). He has a daughter who is in college but lives with her mom. He pays her tuition & fees, contributes to her car payment, and helps with insurance (car and health).
We can pretty much buy what we want/need w/out having to make a special budget for it or worry about it.
However, we’re not able to make BIG purchases without some planning/thought/budgeting. For example, our HVAC will need to be replaced in the next 12-18 months and we’re having to specifically set aside money for that. (And also, we are able to easily set aside money for it and will be able to pay cash for the work when the time comes rather than having to finance it.)
I would say the difference between us and “middle class” folks in the same area is that we’re less cash strapped than they are, we have more wiggle room or flexibility in our spending, and we’re less affected by fluctuations in costs of things like fuel, groceries, utilities, etc.
I know middle class families who own their home, live frugally but comfortably and are doing pretty well. I know upper middle class families that are living paycheck to paycheck and barely hanging on. It has more to do with people’s relationship with money than salary.
I thought I was upper middle class but after reading these comments I feel poor 🤣
Having more assets than debt, tbh
People keep telling me I’m upper middle class when I didn’t think I was. I thought I was just middle class. But every time I share about my life I get shamed for it and people telling me to “check my privilege” and “oh isn’t that nice to have”. Like when did it become a bad thing to become successful for yourself and have money? Seems like the trend is to be able to complain about being poor and if you have things you’re shamed and told to stay quiet.
So my life looks like- I’m single by choice. No kids. I’m an independent contractor, commission only in the digital advertising space. Income around $85K I have a master’s degree for what I do. I own a small 2 bedroom townhome in a city in a middle class neighborhood next to a city park. I drive a 2023 Bronco Sport that I just bought in Feb. I buy a new car every 6 years or so and I’ve been in my house for 9 years. I’m in my early 40s and was 34 when I bought my house. I go on an international trip every 5 years maybe. And domestic travel every 2 years. But my state is super fun so a lot of the hiking/beach/camping I do several times a year is in my own state.
No I am not a “trust fund kid” as people keep seeming to accuse me of. I’m the first in my family to go to college. My dad grew up poor and abused and even homeless at times. My parents just worked hard and made good decisions. Which helped me work hard and make good decisions. I definitely paid my dues. In my 20s I rented rooms and worked 2-3 jobs and worked my way up.
What is that? /S
Most average middle class cannot afford to buy a home nowadays in most places. Upper middle class will be able to.
I feel quite upper middle class these days. Collectively my wife and I are in the 92nd percentile of U.S. household income. Probably lower for the area, which is somewhat higher income than the national average. But still good enough to be upper middle, I’d surmise.
We live in a large fancy house in a pretty wealthy neighborhood that everyone oohs and ahhs over when they visit (as we did the first time we saw it). That applies to both the house and the neighborhood. We just had our first (and only!) child together, and I have an older kid who’s here sometimes and who I pay child support for. We’ll be paying for daycare when we both go back to work. The kid will go to the local public schools, which are zoned mostly for neighborhoods substantially less affluent than this one. The elementary school gets good ratings, the middle and high schools less so, but we consider them good enough. I don’t really see us being able to afford private school.
We drive modest cars. My 10-year-old Prius, which was literally falling apart, just stopped working, and I replaced it with a used 2019 Hyundai Sonata with about 50,000 miles on it. My wife drives a 2019 Hyundai Kona that she leased new, then bought, and intends to drive into the ground. Could I buy a Mercedes? I guess, but that’s a difference between “upper middle class” and “upper class.” We can have nice things but we have to prioritize, and I don’t care much about cars. I’d rather buy good food and live in a showstopper house.
I’m very frugal about some things, significantly less so about others. That’s the balance you strike at this income level. I buy years-old Android phones and my service plan costs $20 a month. I think the pair of shoes I bought a month ago to replace a worn-out pair was the first article of clothing I’d bought in a year and a half. I really don’t feel like owning a second home is something I’m able to do; I even feel like lavish vacations are out of reach and while I do travel, it tends to be more modest. Instead I eat well and don’t worry so much about filling up the gas tank or buying some furniture that I think the house needs.
I’m a senior product manager in the tech industry, my wife is a civil engineer.
I’d sum it up like this: The difference between me and someone who’s middle class is that I can have nicer things. The difference between me and someone who’s upper class is that I can’t have *all* the nicer things.
Not me lol. They somehow have millions in assets when all the jobs I see pay 50-80k. Magical people who discovered a secret
Lower middle: drops 1-300 in a night out without it mattering.
Middle: drops 3-600 in a night out without it mattering.
Upper middle: drops a grand in a night out without it mattering.