About one in three Americans making six-figure salaries are worried about paying their bills, according to a new survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
The parts of the state(s) where nobody lives are driving down the number. For Missouri that number is accurate if you live 3 hours from any city with more than one zip code.
That's bullshit. Look up what rent costs in southern and mid coast Maine and then tell me $51,000 would come even close to paying your bills. It's not just rent here either, everything is more expensive. You might be able to live semi comfortably if you live up north, but all the decent jobs are in and around Portland.
It's just an average. Same reason why $111k won't get you a house in San Fran, LA, or San Diego even though that's the average middle class salary for CA. There are lots of rural areas that bring that average down.
I get that. I'm just venting at how stupid that is. 1 bedroom apartments are now going for $1800 plus in and around southern and midcoast maine, and the state has rural state wages because there's no real industry here outside of fishing and tourism. Everything costs more than other states because no one wants to ship here and the state is massive.
So no you aren't middle class at $51,000. Everyone I know making up to that has been pushed up north towards Canada or out of the state unless they're lucky enough to have parents with property they can move in with.