I think it's some definition of 'middle class' coming from the 1970s and never inflation-adjusted since then. A person making $35K is anything but a middle class in every place i seen, let alone Silicon Valley. Maybe, a lower middle in totally clapped out East European countries like Ukraine.
Middle class leaving San Francisco, census says
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Re: Middle class leaving San Francisco, census says
#22Once again, the income range quoted in the article seems to correspond to the Thompson & Hickey 2005 definition of "Lower middle class". Mostly likely the people moving in to replace the displayed Lower-middle-classers are Upper-middle-classers making $75,000-$250,000, with only a sprinkling of Upper-classers (aka the 1%). So once again pitting the middle against itself... ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lower_middle_…
$75k in San Fran isn't upper middle class.
That's for sure. Pulling a figure out of thin air, but with an understanding of the cost of living (I live in the area), I'd say upper-middle begins at around $150+.
Re: Middle class leaving San Francisco, census says
#23I think it's some definition of 'middle class' coming from the 1970s and never inflation-adjusted since then. A person making $35K is anything but a middle class in every place i seen, let alone Silicon Valley. Maybe, a lower middle in totally clapped out East European countries like Ukraine.
$35k is solidly middle class in Japan (corresponds pretty much exactly to the expected income of a salaryman and his wife during their family's formative years) and in wide swathes of the US, particularly non-metro areas. Representative occupations would include, e.g., early-career public school teachers, public servants, car salesmen, police officers, etc, etc.
Re: Middle class leaving San Francisco, census says
#24I think it's some definition of 'middle class' coming from the 1970s and never inflation-adjusted since then. A person making $35K is anything but a middle class in every place i seen, let alone Silicon Valley. Maybe, a lower middle in totally clapped out East European countries like Ukraine.
$35K is doing just fine in Cleveland, OH.
Re: Middle class leaving San Francisco, census says
#25I think it's some definition of 'middle class' coming from the 1970s and never inflation-adjusted since then. A person making $35K is anything but a middle class in every place i seen, let alone Silicon Valley. Maybe, a lower middle in totally clapped out East European countries like Ukraine.
You can live middle-classly on 40-60k in most of America still.
Techies seem to be anxious to claim middle-class status, but if you're in a 6-figure household family, you're still pushing upper class compared to nearly anywhere.
And the statistical fact is that if you're $250 k in the US in household income, you are in fact the 1%.
Re: Middle class leaving San Francisco, census says
#26I think it's some definition of 'middle class' coming from the 1970s and never inflation-adjusted since then. A person making $35K is anything but a middle class in every place i seen, let alone Silicon Valley. Maybe, a lower middle in totally clapped out East European countries like Ukraine.
You can live middle-classly on 40-60k in most of America still. Techies seem to be anxious to claim middle-class status, but if you're in a 6-figure household family, you're still pushing upper class compared to nearly anywhere. And the statistical fact is that if you're $250 k in the US in household income, you are in fact the 1%.
About $400k, actually.
Re: Middle class leaving San Francisco, census says
#27It's amazing how, in a city full of so many supposedly socially conscious people, the government has been able to allow things to get so bad for the middle class.
The government is elected by the people, so really it's the people to be blamed.
Elected representatives are not legally bound to follow through with campaign promises or actually represent the desires of their constituents.
Re: Middle class leaving San Francisco, census says
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can live middle-classly on 40-60k in most of America still. Techies seem to be anxious to claim middle-class status, but if you're in a 6-figure household family, you're still pushing upper class compared to nearly anywhere. And the statistical fact is that if you're $250 k in the US in household income, you are in fact the 1%.
About $400k, actually.
Yeah, you're right. $250 k would only put you in the top 2.32% in 2011.
Let's be absolutely clear here. A six figure household income puts you in the top 20% of the US. You are not middle class. You are in fact upper class.
Re: Middle class leaving San Francisco, census says
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
About $400k, actually.
Yeah, you're right. $250 k would only put you in the top 2.32% in 2011. Let's be absolutely clear here. A six figure household income puts you in the top 20% of the US. You are not middle class. You are in fact upper class.
It was 350K in 2009, in the midst of a crisis (incomes of people like that have a lot to do with performance-based bonuses, stock appreciation and the like, so they dipped a lot in the crisis, much more than oridinary people's). In 2012 it was already $560K.
And the definition for upper class as being top 1% is arbitrary, it is in fact invented by Obama during his first presidential campaign, solely for finger-pointing (he could safely say 1% is not many people so they won't impact election results enough and safe to be finger-pointed).
Upper class are ought to be people who don't derive their income from work, but from their property - business profits, stock dividends, rent etc. - in all societies upper class are those who DON'T depend on salary, and many of them don't work at all. So it is natural to define upper class income threshold as a point above which less than 50% of income comes from employment. In the present United States, this is about 3-4 million bucks a year per household. This will be economically defined upper class, not just some 'people rich enough to hate them'. So McCain was closer to reality back in 2008 is his upper class definition.
I personally don't know anyone making that much, but i can safely say that all people i know making 150-1000k a year will be broke months or at most, a year or two if they stop working, with one exception (a guy living in East Asia with about 400k of annual income, who never married or had kids). So they are not upper class. And i am speaking of the places which are cheaper and have lower living standards than USA.
Re: Middle class leaving San Francisco, census says
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, you're right. $250 k would only put you in the top 2.32% in 2011. Let's be absolutely clear here. A six figure household income puts you in the top 20% of the US. You are not middle class. You are in fact upper class.
It was 350K in 2009, in the midst of a crisis (incomes of people like that have a lot to do with performance-based bonuses, stock appreciation and the like, so they dipped a lot in the crisis, much more than oridinary people's). In 2012 it was already $560K. And the definition for upper class as being top 1% is arbitrary, it is in fact invented by Obama during his first presidential campaign, solely for finger-pointi…
"Upper class is people other than us."
Go ahead, enter your household income here, find out where you really fall.
http://politicalcalculations.blogspot.com/2013/09/what-is-yo...
Hint- if you're a techie in SF, you're reaaaaallll near the top.