$150k is considered 'lower middle class' in these high-cost US cities.

[ua_guy]

True? Or, horsefeathers? Discuss?

https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/making-150k-is-considered-lower-middle-class-in-these-high-cost-us-cities#

[LivingAlmostLarge]

true of course because the average worker in those cities makes a lot. Teachers in those areas make $75-80k easily. My friend with a masters in teaching makes 6 figures in Massachusetts. So the combined total household income with two working people probably each making $50-75k is $100-150k. That is not necessarily college educated or even trades. Trades also make a lot in those cities. Average dental hygienist makes $60/hr which translates to $120k/year working full time, which most do not do where I live. I have two neighbors who are dentists who talk about it.

The average worker is making probably closer to the national average of $75k in high cost cities and most in high cost cities are NOT living on 1 income.

I think I've mentioned a friend who rents and can't buy. Her husband makes $140k plus perks and she's now working. I told her a few years ago to comfortably make it $200k per family and that was assuming a cheap mortgage rate. Now I would say it's more.

We only made it on $150k when DH switched jobs because we were super frugal before and used to living on less but it cut our savings down to zero for retirement to make it. We cut back on a lot of things. And the thing that was sinking us was our house which was too expensive for $150k. But in the grand scheme of things our house was not expensive for having a house. We just weren't making enough to afford it. And honestly at $150k we should have been limiting our mortgage/rent PITI to $3125. Unfortunately at that time our PI was $3100 not including taxes and insurance which was another $1k. Hence the leaness of living. We could make it because we weren't maxing out a 401k, we had no other debts and had paid off our cars, and our savings for Roths and ESAs and 401k that year was precovered by our savings from before. Then in 2022 they readjusted and we went up to $200k it allowed us to save in a 401k, which also became available and gave us buffer on living and I also started making money at my business which while not much $30k allowed us to save more into a solo 401k and get our numbers in better line.

but living at $100k-150k is hard in HCOLA with a family. Even harder with debts. I'm not sure if we had car loans, student loans, private school, etc we would be able to make it.

[bjl584]

Lots of factors to consider. Kids? Debts? Location?

$150K will get you a pretty good life where I live if you have your debts under control. Even with a few kids in the mix, you should still be able to save and invest a good amount.

[ua_guy]

I tend to agree, it's a little on the sensationalist side, but there are grains of truth as well for exceptionally high-cost areas. Even if making $150k requires taking on a little more debt in attempt to own a home. The fact that the realm of a $100k+ household income in a big city is starting to be considered a bit more lower-wage than middle class is surprising and indicative of just how much times have changed.