$250K a Year Is Not Middle Class

Re:$250K a Year Is Not Middle Class by ipozgaj on Monday December 28, 2015 @08:13PM (#10804530)

$250k is not the same in, for example, California and Iowa. If your family income is $250k in cities like San Francisco or New York, that definitely doesn't put you in 95-percentile.

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Re:$250K a Year Is Not Middle Class by evanpw on Monday December 28, 2015 @08:15PM (#10804543)

True in San Francisco, but even in NYC $250k is 95th percentile: http://www.businessinsider.com/san-franciscos-top-5-of-earne....

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Re:$250K a Year Is Not Middle Class by harryh on Monday December 28, 2015 @10:01PM (#10804918)

San Francisco incomes statistics are undoubtedly skewed by stock option cash-outs that are one time (or at least relatively rare) events. So if you have a 250k/yr salary you might not be in the top 5% for any given year, but I bet you're in the top 5% for, say, any given 5 year period.

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Re:$250K a Year Is Not Middle Class by tedmiston on Tuesday December 29, 2015 @12:26PM (#10807749)

Not to mention that the top 5% by salary have other forms of compensation not included in the analysis, like stock options.

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Re:$250K a Year Is Not Middle Class by pdex on Tuesday December 29, 2015 @12:07AM (#10805320)

$250k in NYC and San Francisco does NOT offer an "upper-class" quality of life.

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Re:$250K a Year Is Not Middle Class by dogma1138 on Tuesday December 29, 2015 @12:55AM (#10805464)

Really depends on what you call an "upper-class" quality of life. A penthouse with a view of the park and the finest dining isn't affordable on 250K. A house in a great neighborhood (unless you insist on sticking to Manhattan), private school for the kids and not worrying about most financial decisions is quite affordable on 250K even in NYC.

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