[Brian23024]

After speaking with friends who live in Chicago and Maryland, it’s become obvious to me that incomes range from place to place, sometimes depending greatly on the cost of living. For instance, $40,000 a year in Chicago does not seem to be middle class, yet it is in north-central Indiana. The same home one might buy here for $60,000 would cost at least $150,000 in Chicago, and according to an article in USA Today, possibly $600,000 in some parts of California. For people across America, what do you consider lower-class, middle-class and upper-class? For example, I would define an individual making less than $25,000 to be in the lower bracket, between $30,000 and $65,000 to be middle and anything greater than $100,000 to be wealthy. There’s obviously some leeway because of the age of the individual and number of dependents. I’m curious to see how that might change depending on the region.

User Detail :  

Name : Brian23024, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Methodist, Age : 25, City : Peru, State : IN, Country : United States, Occupation : journalist, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Lucy22414]

I live in San Jose, California where that house you mentioned would most likely go for $600,000. No kidding. There are some condos going up around the corner from where I work. They are nice, but not luxurious. They are in a decent area, but by no means in a ‘fashionable neighborhood’. They have 3 bedrooms, 1.5 ba, 2 car garage. The livingroom, kitchen and dinning room are all basically 1 room. These condos (no yard) start at $500,000. I have checked the real estate ads to find out what I can afford to buy on my salary – I’m an engineer. I can afford a mobile home, or maybe a 1br condo in a questionable part of town – and that’s it. So, given the cost of living in my area, I would not consider a person with an annual salary of $100K to be wealthy by any means. In this area I think you would have to make at least $300K a year to be wealthy. I think a family of 4 with an annual income of up to $45K can qualify for food stamps here.

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Name : Lucy22414, Gender : F, Race : Hispanic/Latino (may be any race), Age : 26, City : San Jose, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : 4 Years of College, 

[JerryS]

Rather than concentrating on particular numbers, which as you pointed out mean different things in different places (and times), I think class definitions are fruitfully based on standard of living. That doesn’t make it easy, of course: what is the classification of a family which has a bedroom for each child, vs. a family where the kids have to share a room, especially if the number of children varies? But that’s probably the better way to go.

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Name : JerryS, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 52, City : New Britain, State : CT, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[TR24200]

I think one’s class is tied into both income and the type of work they do. As a graduate student living on a very meager fellowship, I make the same as a full-time fast-food employee, and yet I wouldn’t say we were in the same class. The difference between us hinges on the fact that our type of labor is different: mine is more cerebral and independent, and my responsibilities are greater than the fast-food worker’s. But our disposable income is the same, so I guess, technically, we’re in the same class. Where I live, I would consider a single person living on $15,000 or less low income.

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Name : TR24200, Race : Black/African American, Age : 23, City : Newark, State : NJ, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, 

[Patricia]

One of my favorite books – an excellent and hilarious (if not sometimes painful if you are class-sensitive) take on this subject – is Class: A Guide Through the American Status System, by Paul Fussell. As an American, I know very well how touchy this subject is. I believe Fussell is correct when he explains that one’s class is revealed by everything we do, say and own, and that one’s class is not entirely dependent on how much money one earns. For example, every time you open your mouth and speak, you unwillingly proclaim the class to which you belong. Also, such distinguishing traits as the type of dwelling you live in, your car, your job, how your front yard appears and is maintained, what you eat, what you drink, your leisure activities, weight, how many televisions you own and how much you watch them, what you wear, what you read, where you travel, your posture, how much you worry about what others think of you, your education, attitudes and beliefs, even where you live in the United States, etc. – these all clue others into where you fit in the complicated American class system. So it’s not entirely a matter of how much money you make, and you cannot simply earn yourself up or down into another class, because class is mainly a system of learned behaviors, speech and thoughts that are not easily shed. Attempting to move into another class is especially difficult because the classes do not mix well and often seem as though they are from different planets. Many people (especially the middle class, which is very afraid of slipping down from its tightly held perch but secretly yearns to climb higher) are upset by the notion of class in America because the United States is supposed to be a ‘free country’ open to the advancement (social climbing?) of all, but let’s face it, the class distinctions and barriers are there, whether we like it or not. And there is not just a lower, middle and upper class – there is a complex spectrum of class levels ranging from bottom-out-of-sight to top-out-of-sight, with many intervals in between. Fussell does offer a suggestion for relief from the anxiety of social classes, however: to join the alternative ‘X Class’ way out – a class for anyone who has the intelligence and courage to learn to think for himself or herself.

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Name : Patricia, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 27, City : Antalya, State : NA, Country : Turkey, Occupation : tour operator, Education level : 4 Years of College, 

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