Middle Class? How much income needed to live modestly and adequately?

[LuFins Dad]

I think the disagreement has a lot to do with our own definitions of "Middle Class" as Ax described it or "modest yet adequate" as expressed by EPI. This isn't perfect, but it's light years ahead of the Federal guidelines used in legislation...

My wife grew up in Brown County, Ohio. These are the numbers from EPI:

Brown County, OH
HOUSING $738
FOOD $725
CHILD CARE $1,131
TRANSPORTATION $1,215
HEALTH CARE $1,068
OTHER NECESSITIES $530
TAXES $517
MONTHLY TOTAL $5,924
ANNUAL TOTAL $71,090

So let's start with housing since that's likely to be the biggest variable...

I used $750 just to make things easier calculations. Most online calculators using $750 as a base payment with 20% down came up with a housing price of between $165K to $190K as being in that budget. $180K gets me - https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1205-S-2nd-St-Ripley-OH-45167/78963340_zpid/

I'd say that's modest but adequate.

[Jolly]

I would agree.

[LuFins Dad]

@Jolly said in Middle Class? How much income needed to live modestly and adequately?:

I would agree.

Picked at random - Beauregard Parish, LA
MONTHLY COSTS
2 adults and 2 children
Beauregard Parish, LA
HOUSING $725
FOOD $787
CHILD CARE $643
TRANSPORTATION $1,272
HEALTH CARE $1,545
OTHER NECESSITIES $548
TAXES $603
MONTHLY TOTAL $6,122
ANNUAL TOTAL $73,462

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/107-N-Division-St-Deridder-LA-70634/106017626_zpid/ That's actually pretty nice...

[Axtremus]

@LuFins-Dad said in Middle Class? How much income needed to live modestly and adequately?:

I think the disagreement has a lot to do with our own definitions of "Middle Class" as Ax described it or "modest yet adequate" as expressed by EPI. This isn't perfect, but it's light years ahead of the Federal guidelines used in legislation...

Exactly, the primary reason I share it here is because I think the EPI's method is more useful than the Federal guidelines.

[Jolly]

Hey, D'Evereaux is for sale... Comes with 12 acres...

https://www.trulia.com/p/ms/natchez/160-devereaux-dr-natchez-ms-39120--2155767171

[George K]

$1.9M?

That's more than I earn in 6 months.

[Jolly]

Yeah, but it's bigger than your condo...

[George K]

@Jolly said in Middle Class? How much income needed to live modestly and adequately?:

Yeah, but it's bigger than your condo...

Taxes are probably lower, LOL.

ETA: They are!

[Klaus]

@George-K said in Middle Class? How much income needed to live modestly and adequately?:

@Jolly said in Middle Class? How much income needed to live modestly and adequately?:

Yeah, but it's bigger than your condo...

Taxes are probably lower, LOL.

ETA: They are!

And you would have space for a workshop!

[George K]

@Klaus said in Middle Class? How much income needed to live modestly and adequately?:

And you would have space for a workshop!

Yup!

But...

It's Mississippi.

(@klaus probably won't get this)

Q: Why does Alabama exist?

A: To keep Georgia from getting its border dirty.

[Jolly]

@George-K said in Middle Class? How much income needed to live modestly and adequately?:

@Jolly said in Middle Class? How much income needed to live modestly and adequately?:

Yeah, but it's bigger than your condo...

Taxes are probably lower, LOL.

ETA: They are!

You want low taxes? You want character?

https://www.trulia.com/p/la/alexandria/222-florence-ave-alexandria-la-71301--2203390894

[George K]

@Jolly said in Middle Class? How much income needed to live modestly and adequately?:

You want low taxes? You want character?

https://www.trulia.com/p/la/alexandria/222-florence-ave-alexandria-la-71301--2203390894

Wow.

Pour another $250K into that and you'd get something really spectacular!

How far away is the nearest grocery store WalMart?

[Jolly]

Which one?

There's three Super Walmarts and two neighborhood markets within a five mile circle.

[Larry]

@Jolly said in Middle Class? How much income needed to live modestly and adequately?:

@George-K said in Middle Class? How much income needed to live modestly and adequately?:

@Jolly said in Middle Class? How much income needed to live modestly and adequately?:

Yeah, but it's bigger than your condo...

Taxes are probably lower, LOL.

ETA: They are!

You want low taxes? You want character?

https://www.trulia.com/p/la/alexandria/222-florence-ave-alexandria-la-71301--2203390894

Why is that house so cheap?

[George K]

@Larry said in Middle Class? How much income needed to live modestly and adequately?:

Why is that house so cheap?

Because it needs a quarter of a million dollars of work?

Maybe the location sucks?

[Jolly]

I don't know about the inside.

But some things I do know...

1. Bad school zones.
2. The outside needs work. That type of house is never cheap to work on.
3. It doesn't have central air or heat.
4. That house has been in the same family since it was built in 1904. I think they've hit the end of the line.
5. Most importantly, that side of town is going downhill...I know that area of town really well. The closest main thoroughfare is Bolton Avenue. Fifty years ago, Bolton was a busy street. Sears, the Trailways bus station, St. James church, Western Auto, the Don movie theater, Joseph Paint, Acme Glass Company, Gunn Electric, barbershops, beautyshops, and a few doctor's offices. Typical small city business stuff. Two of the largest hospitals in the area within a few blocks.

Now...Most of the businesses are gone, except what you see in the hood. The three nicest buildings on Bolton are the police station (in the old Sears building) , the Red Cross (in a nicely renovated two story bus station and St. James, which is a beautiful Episcopalian church. There is also a pretty new surgery center on Bolton not far from that house, doing over 100 cases/day. The hospitals are still there.

Alley bats stroll Bolton and you can find your drug of choice on parts of Monroe Street.

It's kinda sad. Not far from that house is Prompt Succor on Elliot, which is where my granddaughter goes to school. Surrounded by middle class and upper middle class older homes, some redone very well. Still, only a few blocks from Bolton and will soon go downhill. All that butts up on what they call Midcity, which has some nice homes built in the 50's- mid sixties.

Not to sound racist, but the blacks move in and the whites move out. At least, that's the way it was. Now the poor blacks move in and the whites and middle class blacks move out.

[Jolly]

Now, you want to be in the same town, with much better school districts? Small home, but much, much cheaper...

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/3519-Horseshoe-Dr_Alexandria_LA_71302_M98019-05216

Interesting road. Has some newer homes, some older homes, some smaller homes on the ends of the road and some ollie-knockers every now and then... Horseshoe contains the front of Landmark and here's the smallest home for sale in that subdivision...

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/6417-Landmark-Dr_Alexandria_LA_71301_M91124-36766