[refurb]

One of the reasons, I assume, is that plenty of those making >$145,000 live in HCOL areas and after paying for housing, childcare expenses, etc, they don't feel very "rich". So they likely agree the rich should pay more, they just think they are one of them.

[MiroF]

> So they likely agree the rich should pay more, they just think they are one of them.

1. Pew adjusts for COL in its income distribution, so no. 2. HCOL are HCOL because they are desirable. It's not just a higher cost of living for the exact same quality of life.

> they don't feel very "rich"

I think the point is that there is a psychological phenomenon where objectively very high-income people don't "feel" rich. Even after "housing, childcare expenses, etc," six figures is relatively affluent in my book. Also this was $145,000 for a single person, so I'm not sure childcare would factor in for most people.

[refurb]

Well shit, that's what I get for skimming the report.

I don't disagree with you at all. It's not reasonable to say "the middle class have a single family home in the mid-west, so if I don't have a single family home in SF, then I don't even have a middle class lifestyle".

And yes, a single person in a HCOL area making >$145,000 per year, is well off. It's just that well off in a HCOL area means owning living in a 2-bedroom apartment, rather than a 3,000 sq ft home.