Reply #165: well, based on sheer statistics

[northzax]

if income classes are local, and you define 'middle class' as those in the 25th to 75th percentile of income in the area (in this case the District of Columbia) I am very definately middle class, I don't know how else to define it. and in several suburban counties, I would barely reach the median household income, since I am, by definition, a household, I am therefore middle class.

Of course, when you consider that fully 1/3rd of my take home pay goes directly to my landlord, another tenth to the good people at FAFSA, and a tenth to utilities, it's not all that much, when you really think about it.

And anyone who owns a home in the District I guess is out of your range for middle class, my one bedroom basement apartment is worth about $400,000, if it was to go on the market. And it's not that nice (my mom stays in a hotel, ever since my neighbor got stabbed on my front stoop)

so yes, I pay someone $100 a month for two hours of cleaning. It's worth it to me. and it's well below the going rate (I know babysitters who claim $30/hour in this town)

Sure, I'd be well off in Dubuque, but I don't live there, do I?