Is $100,000 middle class in America(əˈmerikə)?

Is $100,000 middle class in America(əˈmerikə)?

By Heather Long

There’s a prolonged(-ˈläNGd,prəˈlôNGd) pause(pôz) when I ask Lyft driver Gaby Osegueda if her family is middle class. Her smile(smīl) fades(fād) as she thinks about it for a while.

“Yeah, I think so. I don’t even know what the middle class is anymore,” says Osegueda(ôsigādə), who with her husband(ˈhəzbənd) earns nearly $100,000 a year in the San Francisco area(ˈe(ə)rēə).

The majority(-ˈjär-,məˈjôrətē) of Americans — 62 percent(pərˈsent) — identify(īˈdentəˌfī) as “middle class,” according to a Gallup(galəp) poll conducted in June(jo͞on). It’s the highest percentage(pərˈsentij) of people feeling that way since 2003. But a lot of Americans(əˈmerikən) are like Osegueda: They feel middle class, but they aren’t sure what it means(mēnz).

Just who exactly(igˈzak(t)lē) is middle class is in the national(ˈnaSHənəl) spotlight(ˈspätˌlīt) again as President(ˈprez(ə)dənt,ˈprezəˌdent) Trump and Republicans(riˈpəblikən) in Congress(ˈkäNGgrəs,ˈkän-) craft(kraft) tax(taks) cuts(kət) for individuals(ˌindəˈvijəwəl) and corporations(ˌkôrpəˈrāSHən) that they say will primarily(prīˈme(ə)rəlē) benefit(ˈbenəfit) the middle. Vice(vīs,ˈvīsē,ˈvīsə) President Pence(pans) called the plan(plan), which is still being fleshed out, a “middle class miracle(ˈmirikəl)” this week. But amid(əˈmid) this discussion(disˈkəSHən), the middle class has been defined in different ways. Gary(ˈgarē,ˈge(ə)rē) Cohn, Trump’s top economic(ˌekəˈnämik,ˌēkə-) adviser(ədˈvīzər), recently discussed how a “typical family” making $100,000 a year would benefit. Trump has espoused(əˈspouz) the value of the plan to truckers(ˈtrəkər), who make around $41,000 a year.

There is no exact definition(ˌdefəˈniSHən) of middle class, and a deep look at the data shows a wide(wīd) variety(vəˈrīətē) of individuals could be part of it, depending on where they live(liv) and how big their family is. The middle class in San Francisco, where Osegueda lives, is not the same as it is in Peoria(pēˈôrēə), Ill(il).

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/10/25/is-100000-middle-class-in-america/