People in the major cities practically live in their own society in America.
$200k is a huge amount of money in most of America based on geography.
In the major cities though it is not just the cost of living but the feeling of being wealthy is all relative to those around you. In the major cities there are people with huge amounts of wealth so $200k year is not going to feel wealthy at all. Of course, no one is actually just scraping by on white bread and ramen noodles making $200k unless they are terrible with money. More like you can only eat out X number of times a week instead of having a personal chef. The person making $200k also probably not much different in ability than the person with the personal chef and private jet so not only do you not feel wealthy but might even feel like you are getting shorted. Of course, if you did have the personal chef and private jet you would face the same problem but at a higher level.
This isnt really accurate. If you want to live in an upper middle class neighborhood, and save money, with kids, 200k is peanuts. Sorry, it is. Upper middle class needs both parents working at 200k, which itself is really a middle class existence.
What do you consider an “upper middle class lifestyle”. In 2020, I was living in the burbs of Atlanta in the good school system with a 3200 square foot house that I had built in 2016, one teenager in the house, three cars making less than $200K combined and we weren’t eating hot pockets everyday
$200k is a huge amount of money in most of America based on geography.
In the major cities though it is not just the cost of living but the feeling of being wealthy is all relative to those around you. In the major cities there are people with huge amounts of wealth so $200k year is not going to feel wealthy at all. Of course, no one is actually just scraping by on white bread and ramen noodles making $200k unless they are terrible with money. More like you can only eat out X number of times a week instead of having a personal chef. The person making $200k also probably not much different in ability than the person with the personal chef and private jet so not only do you not feel wealthy but might even feel like you are getting shorted. Of course, if you did have the personal chef and private jet you would face the same problem but at a higher level.