It isn't rocket science to be middle class in America. Over my 2.5 years as a truck driver, every single person working the dock with a clean driving record and no recent felonies was put through the in house driving school, instantly becoming middle class with decent benefits. The only trick is finding a field where there isn't a massive oversupply of available help. Everyone would prefer serving coffee over roofing a house, but only one of those jobs leads to running a crew in a few months of hard, timely work.