[jvanderbot]

More likely different people are represented in the surveys and general trends are erroneously extrapolated from non-representative populations

[santoshalper]

Much more likely is that self-reporting is notoriously unreliable and "paycheck to paycheck" is a state of mind.

[astrange]

We're better at doing surveys than that.

If you look in the details of the "paycheck to paycheck" surveys, people reporting they make 200k+ a year also say yes to that, so I think it's just unclear what they think it means.