It's wealthy, but not anywhere near the wealthiest area in the country, or even in Manhattan.

> It's wealthy, but not anywhere near the wealthiest area in the country, or even in Manhattan.

It is, depending on the year, how you measure it, and what you consider "Upper East Side". That last part is important: the UES has three main subneighborhoods with very different demographics and characteristics. It's also adjacent to East Harlem, which is historically not wealthy and brings the mean/median down for any measure that includes part of it.

For example, here the Upper East Side is listed as the wealthiest neighborhood in the entire city, all five boroughs: https://ny.curbed.com/2017/6/27/15881706/nyc-richest-neighbo.... This is using household income, which is one measure. Alternate measures include median rent (skewed due to rent regulations), net worth, property values, etc.

Point is: calling the upper east side an "upper middle class" area is an understatement. If it's not a wealthy neighborhood, then nowhere is.

Bethesda, MD and the surrounding areas, please stand up.

The averages skew things a bit here. Yes, many of the wealthiest people in the world live in the UES, but in between those single-family mansions and full service buildings full of quiet billionaires on the park, there are plenty of unremarkable apartments occupied by white-collar families. Its a more affordable neighborhood to rent in than some other family-oriented parts of Manhattan.

[delayed]