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Concerns Define The Middle Class

Updated on 3/23/2018

I spoke to Zach Shrier of Shrier Wealth Management (who also happens to double as Lauren’s cousin and was my investing teacher my freshman year of high school) about the definition of “Middle Class.” In 2017, about 70% of Americans classified themselves as part of the middle class.

Statistical Definitions of Middle Class

There are many ways of defining middle class. You can simply look at raw data and define each class as a percentage of American households earning incomes within a range. Using three classes, we might get something like this:

  • Upper Class – Top 20% of Population – Earning more than $122,500/year
  • Middle Class – Middle 50% of Population – Earning between $35,000 and $122,500/year
  • Lower Class – Bottom 20% of Population – Earning Less Than $35,000/year

You can play with the data however you’d like and define upper class as the top 5% (earning over $215,000) or even the top 1% (earning over $430,000) of the population. However, it doesn’t help define what it means to be middle class (or upper or lower).

Zach had a very nice idea, that rather than the amount you make, concerns are what define each class. Making $50,000 in Manhattan is very different than making $50,000 in a small town in Texas, so it’s clear that a number itself isn’t a great definition.

New Definitions of The Classes

When we look at what concerns people have, we get a breakdown of each of the classes:

People in the lower class are concerned with having a place to sleep and food to eat. These are people who are struggling to come up with the most basic needs. They may not have to worry about these things every day, but it’s something that’s always looming over their head. Will they be able to afford rent next month? Basic federal benefits are very important to them because they have few alternatives to government help.

People in the lower middle class are definitely concerned with the short-term, but less so than people in lower class. They may have the very basics covered, but government subsidies are still very important. They’re not able to save regularly as almost all income goes towards managing their day-to-day life (getting to and from work, food, housing, and basic “wants”). The people often make big sacrifices to get by, including living in multi-generational homes to keep costs as low as possible.

People in the middle class are concerned with having consistent employment as well as the costs of getting around and being able to save. While they might not be living month to month, they are worried about being able to support their family. They want to save to be able to afford to go on vacation with their family and not have to worry so much about the near future. Changes in gas prices are significant because high gas prices mean less money for the other things in their life.

People in the upper middle class worry not about gas prices, but about the costs of home ownership and the costs of education. They may be cognizant of the changes in gas prices in their area, they do not worry about affording the price. Whether it is $3 a gallon or $4 a gallon, they will pay the price because they have no alternative to getting around.  They may want to send their children to private school or live in an area where the public school system is of high quality. But living in that area likely means houses are more expensive, and they are concerned with being able to handle all of the responsibilities.

People in the upper class are people who have a different set of concerns: passing wealth onto the next generation. They don’t have to worry about money to cover the costs of their needs and wants, but they still want to make sure their children won’t have to worry about the same things.

Concerns Define Us

Everyone worries about money. While people in the upper class may not have to worry about affording things in the short-term, they have other concerns nonetheless. They too may never feel complacent with their wealth, something everyone can identify with.

Every class has a different set of concerns, and while there may be some overlap, it’s clear that higher up the ladder you get, the less you worry about your short-term finances.

What do you think of these new definitions? What class do you consider yourself a part of based ?

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10 COMMENTS

  1. According to the statistical definition, we are in the upper class. I do agree with the concerns for that class also. We are about to buy our next house, and we are mainly thinking about schools. The area that we like is known for rich housing, but REALLY BAD schools, and everyone sends their kids to private school. I guess, it’s also a little different in St. Louis because we are big on private schools here. But do I really want to spend $30,000 a year on sending my future child to private school?

    • @Michelle, $30,000 a year? Maybe now, but 5-10 years down the road it could be a lot more expensive!

      So if you move to that area, the housing will be expensive AND you’ll have to splurge on private school? Sounds like a dangerous combination (though I will be in the same situation one day).

  2. This is a very interesting take on the lower/middle/upper class discussion. I tend to agree more with the statistical definitions as the actual concerns have a lot more to do with a person’s behavior.

    • @Nick @ ayoungpro.com, there’s definitely no one-size fits all definition, but I think overall, these tend to be the things people in each situation worries about.

  3. I don’t know about this ‘concerns’ way of dividing up social classes, though certainly income would have to be adjusted by the local cost-of-living to be useful at all.

    I dunno, I don’t really have any of the concerns you listed, but that’s probably because we rent and have no kids. Our income is right at the median household income for our area. I suppose I could see myself in the upper-middle-class worries later in life, though I don’t know where our income will be at that time so that might change my concerns.

    I agree with Nick that what people are concerned about is heavily influenced by personality, probably more so than social class.

  4. Man,these salaries have to be different in the northeast where I live…6 figures is middle class BIg time.

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