The middle-class lifestyle is defined by economic stability, affording necessities like stable housing, healthcare, and education, plus discretionary spending for extras like vacations, dining out, and saving for retirement, often with a focus on family and upward mobility through education and good jobs, though it's increasingly characterized by rising costs and the challenge of maintaining this standard without significant debt. It's a balance between comfort and financial strain, marked by owning assets (homes, cars) and pursuing leisure, but often requiring careful budgeting and navigating debt.
Middle-class persons commonly have a comfortable standard of living, significant economic security, considerable work autonomy and rely on their expertise to sustain themselves. Members of the middle class belong to diverse groups which overlap with each other.
The middle class falls in-between. In 2022 the median income in Australia was $65,000 a year according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Anyone making less than this amount would be considered working class. Anyone making more than $137,000 falls in the top 10% which is considered upper class.
According to the OECD, the middle class refers to households with income between 75% and 200% of the median national income.
The Pew Research Center defines the middle class as households that earn between two-thirds and double the median U.S. household income, which was $83,730 in 2024. 2 Using Pew's yardstick, middle income is made up of people who make between $55,820 and $167,460.
There is no official financial standard that defines the middle class, but there are certain benchmarks that seem to attest to that classification. Owning a home and a car, as well as being able to pay for your children to go to college are among the milestones.
The World Bank classifies economies for analytical purposes into four income groups: low, lower-middle, upper-middle, and high income.
The Middle-Class Mindset:
The middle class often prioritizes stability and security. They might save for retirement or emergencies, but their focus is often on earning a steady income. Here are some characteristics: Savings focus: Saving for specific events like retirement or college is prioritized.
Here's a wealth class framework described by Bo Hanson, CFA, CFP® that breaks out 5 groups by net worth: the bottom 25%, the lower middle class, upper middle class, upper class, and the wealthiest 10%.
Key takeaways: The working class is described as those who work hourly, wage-based, and sometimes manual jobs. The middle class means people who work in professional positions that may require a college education or other advanced skills.
Yes, $70k is a fair salary in Australia, often near the median income, making it a decent living for a single person, especially outside major cities, but it can be tight in expensive areas or for those with high living costs like mortgages, with full-time averages now closer to $90k-$100k.
The nation's affordability crisis has not spared middle-class families, one-third of which struggle to afford basic necessities such as food, housing, and child care.
They named these classes (1) an established affluent class, (2) an emergent affluent class, (3) a mobile middle class, (4) an established middle class, and (5) an established working class. A snapshot of these five classes shows the difference in these classes' economic, social and cultural capital.
Today's middle-class families tend to own their own homes (although with a mortgage), own a car (with a loan or lease), send their kids to college (although with student loans or scholarships), are saving to retire, and have enough disposable income to enjoy some luxuries like dining out and vacations.
We use your size-adjusted household income and the cost of living in your area to determine your income tier. Middle-income households – those with an income that is two-thirds to double the U.S. median household income – had incomes ranging from about $56,600 to $169,800 in 2022.
Middle-class stereotypes often depict this group as valuing education, hard work, and home ownership, reinforcing the idea of the 'American Dream. '
In fact, Americans now think it takes an average of $2.3 million to be considered wealthy, according to a Charles Schwab report. The financial services firm surveyed 2,200 adults between the ages of 21 to 75 from April 24 to May 23, so a variety of generations offered their input.
According to Credit Suisse's Global Wealth Report, the average wealth of Australian households was $628,000 per adult in 2020, the fourth highest in the world behind Switzerland, the United States and Hong Kong (North America as shown on the graph refers to the region, as does Asia-Pacific and Europe).
There are more than five stages of money's evolution. Still, five notable stages include: commodity money (i.e., grains, livestock), metallic money (i.e., coins), paper money, credit and plastic forms of currency, and digital money.
Key Takeaways. Having more money is associated with greater happiness, even well beyond incomes of $500,000 a year. The happiness gap between the wealthy and middle-income earners is much bigger than the gap between middle- and low-income earners.
The 70/20/10 money rule is a simple budgeting guideline that splits your after-tax income into three main categories: 70% for needs (housing, groceries, utilities, transport), 20% for savings and investments, and 10% for debt repayment or discretionary spending/wants, though sometimes it's 10% for debt and 10% for wants, with 20% for savings. It helps manage essential costs, build wealth, and control debt by providing clear targets for your money, preventing lifestyle creep as income grows.
"The 3 Ms of Money" typically refers to the core principles of Making, Managing, and Multiplying (or Maintaining) your income and wealth, a framework used in personal finance books and coaching for achieving financial success, stability, and independence. It's about understanding how to earn income, control spending, and grow your assets through saving, investing, and strategic planning to build long-term prosperity.
Participants' reported wellbeing did, in fact, increase along with income, up to and well beyond earning $75,000 a year. What's more, the researchers found that happiness really only plateaus as income increases — above roughly $100,000 a year — for people who were already somewhat unhappy to begin with.
By 2050, China is projected to be the world's richest country by total GDP, leading a significant shift where emerging economies like India, Indonesia, Brazil, and Russia rise to challenge traditional giants, with the U.S. potentially falling to third, while Singapore might become the richest per capita (PPP), though these predictions depend heavily on technological progress, political stability, and growth rates.
There are four kinds of poverty typically discussed: absolute, relative, situational, and generational.