[vacri]

The median household income in the US is ~$52k. Unless your definition of 'middle class' is 'top quintile', $120k is not 'barely middle class'.

NYC and SF are also notable outliers, and aren't representative of 'any major metropolitan areas'.

[zebraflask]

I'm detecting some cognitive dissonance on the definition of a major metropolitan area.

[vacri]

How either of us defines major metro areas doesn't matter anyway, because the median household income in NYC is in line with the rest of the country, in the low 50s[1]. San Francisco's is around 65k[2]. If you're earning $120k, you're not "barely middle class", you're "doing well".

[1]https://project.wnyc.org/median-income-nabes/

[2]http://citylab.news21.com/data/types/19/