Middle Class Calculator: Which Income Class Are You In?

What income class are you in? Understanding the Middle Class?

The concept of social classes and one’s place within it is not simply defined by income, but it may include education level, type of work, amount of assets, and other aspects of life. Many of them try to define whether they belong to the lower, middle, or upper class by assessing the flow of money within their household against the flow of money thresholds set in each of the above classes. This can help you compare your standard of living and socioeconomic status with other people in your region for reference. But, this has not been the full story because income does not define the individual completely.

Defining the Middle Class

It is quite impossible to fix a standard income bracket that can be attached to the middle class across countries and even at other more localized levels at the national level. According to the Pew Research Center, the middle-income tier is defined as two-thirds to double the national median household income and this is what defines middle-income Americans. For a three-person household, that was considered to be in the range of $48,500 to $145,500 in 2018. On the other hand, the U. S. Census Bureau uses household income quintiles with the middle three being middle class.

These thresholds vary depending on factors like the cost of living and the number of individuals in a household. The quality of life of a person making $100,000 is different depending on whether that person is in Mississippi or San Francisco. Moreover, a 30-year-old bachelor earning $60000 a year will surely have more money left after paying his bills than a family of five earning the same amount.

For this reason, there are such things as ‘middle-class calculators,’ which allow people to determine their ICR with such factors taken into consideration. The Pew Research Center has an interactive tool that allows you to input your household income the size of your household, and whether you live in a metropolitan area to see where you stand in terms of the income distribution in the United States. The Tax Policy Center on the other hand goes further and aligns income brackets according to detailed geographical information. When giving information on the household, it is possible to know the position of your income in the United States, whether it is low, average, or high income.

The Middle-Class Lifestyle

Income class boundaries seek to depict the average standard of living and economic status that correspond to bracketed earnings. The middle class is described as having the ability to meet its needs comfortably and not having to worry about its savings or debts regularly. At a minimum, those in the middle-income bracket.

• Can even buy a home, car, healthcare, and insurance
• Possess the ability to pay all the bills at the correct time
• Ensure that you have some amount of money remaining every month to spend on other items as well as to save.
• Have the ability for a vacation and other small pleasures in life.
• Can handle minor emergency expenses and brief periods of joblessness without getting into significant levels of debt
• Slightly secure present financial situations and mostly optimistic about the future financial status.

Of course, a middle-class lifestyle can range beyond the absolute basic comfort level depending on the income level, particularly the upper-middle income earners. The middle class as a social category is not monolithic. Further, beliefs regarding economic stability are not always as straightforward as being placed into a statistical category. Some people feel middle class at lower income levels because they can comfortably feed and pay bills, while others earning much more do not feel so because of certain spending habits, debts, concerns with the ability to sustain certain standards of living, and so on.

This means that it becomes a challenge for the population to determine their income class.

The income levels and lifestyle descriptors above are presented with the hope of giving approximate guidelines on where the various classes lie. However, most calculators that tell you your income class employ several factors, which may be rather challenging to figure out why you are in a specific bracket. You may be a chief executive, but there is no way you can justify your status without transparency.

The most precise form of it takes into account your particular situation in its entirety rather than relying on the use of calculators. Here are some questions to ask when assessing your income class and economic well-being.

• How many people are in my household, where do I live, and what is the cost of living in that area?
• Based on the selected area, what is the realistic annual household income required for the necessities?
• How much income is available to cover some discretionary expenses and savings without much of a problem?
• How does financial stability or struggle or security feel in my circumstances?
• Can I apply my income to save, invest, and pursue other financial objectives?
• How can I rate my lifestyle and expenditure to others who have similar income levels?
• In what way I am thinking about my future and present state of financial status?

Your answers to these questions will give more light than any calculator as to whether you are indeed part of the lower, middle, or upper class. The point is not to use the social class labels but to learn and identify your situational financial capabilities. This knowledge finally assists you in making the right decisions regarding careers, the amount of money to save and spend, and the necessary lifestyle adjustments to achieve economic stability and prosperity at any level of income.

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