Middle Class? How much income needed to live modestly and adequately?
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The folks at EPI have made this available:
https://www.epi.org/resources/budget/
"EPI's Family Budget Calculator measures the income a family needs in order to attain a modest yet adequate standard of living. The budgets estimate community-specific costs for 10 family types (one or two adults with zero to four children) in all counties and metro areas in the United States. Compared with the federal poverty line and the Supplemental Poverty Measure, EPI's family budgets provide a more accurate and complete measure of economic security in America."
Just plug in your family configuration and your location, and the website shows you how much household income is needed "to attain a modest yet adequate standard of living."
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That’s actually kind of cool. I’d like to see know a bit about what they are defining as standards of living, but that seemed pretty accurate to me.
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That calculator adds a lot of assumptions - it plugs in $30,000 of child-care, which you won't need if there's only one wage-earner in a family of four, $12,000 of health-care which you probably won't need if your employer includes health insurance - I guess that's considered part of your income?
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49k for two people, no children in my area. I assume that's take home pay, after all deductions.
Maybe, but doubtful...
“Cry havoc and let slip the DOGE of war!”
Those who cheered as J-6 American prisoners were locked in solitary for 18 months without trial, now suddenly fight tooth and nail for foreign terrorists’ "due process". — Buck Sexton
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They're saying $136K where we are with two kids, but $30K of it is child-care, and Mrs. Phibes did it for free (God, I hope she doesn't read this)
What does $23K of taxes include? Our property tax is only about $5K - not sure what that number is supposed to reflect.
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49k for two people, no children in my area. I assume that's take home pay, after all deductions.
Maybe, but doubtful...
@Jolly said in Middle Class? How much income needed to live modestly and adequately?:
49k for two people, no children in my area. I assume that's take home pay, after all deductions.
Maybe, but doubtful...
May I ask what county?
The Brad
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49k for two people, no children in my area. I assume that's take home pay, after all deductions.
Maybe, but doubtful...
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@Jolly said in Middle Class? How much income needed to live modestly and adequately?:
49k for two people, no children in my area. I assume that's take home pay, after all deductions.
Maybe, but doubtful...
May I ask what county?
@LuFins-Dad 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?:
49k for two people, no children in my area. I assume that's take home pay, after all deductions.
Maybe, but doubtful...
May I ask what county?
None. We don't have counties.
“Cry havoc and let slip the DOGE of war!”
Those who cheered as J-6 American prisoners were locked in solitary for 18 months without trial, now suddenly fight tooth and nail for foreign terrorists’ "due process". — Buck Sexton
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Modest yet adequate… Those are the key words… Ax titled it as middle class but that phrase is wide open to interpretation…
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@LuFins-Dad 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?:
49k for two people, no children in my area. I assume that's take home pay, after all deductions.
Maybe, but doubtful...
May I ask what county?
None. We don't have counties.
@Jolly said in Middle Class? How much income needed to live modestly and adequately?:
@LuFins-Dad 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?:
49k for two people, no children in my area. I assume that's take home pay, after all deductions.
Maybe, but doubtful...
May I ask what county?
None. We don't have counties.
Okay, Parish, smart ass…
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@LuFins-Dad 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?:
49k for two people, no children in my area. I assume that's take home pay, after all deductions.
Maybe, but doubtful...
May I ask what county?
None. We don't have counties.
@Jolly said in Middle Class? How much income needed to live modestly and adequately?:
@LuFins-Dad 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?:
49k for two people, no children in my area. I assume that's take home pay, after all deductions.
Maybe, but doubtful...
May I ask what county?
None. We don't have counties.
Parish the thought.
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@LuFins-Dad 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?:
49k for two people, no children in my area. I assume that's take home pay, after all deductions.
Maybe, but doubtful...
May I ask what county?
None. We don't have counties.
@Jolly said in Middle Class? How much income needed to live modestly and adequately?:
@LuFins-Dad 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?:
49k for two people, no children in my area. I assume that's take home pay, after all deductions.
Maybe, but doubtful...
May I ask what county?
None. We don't have counties.
Seriously...That would be North and Central Louisiana, or maybe most of the state north of I-10, excluding the metropolitan areas.
I've never figured out why we don't aggressively recruit retirees. We have Homestead Exemption, which keeps property taxes low or nonexistent. We have a state income tax, but it doesn't apply to state pensions, federal (I think) pensions or Social Security. We do have a fairly high sales tax. In the more economically poor areas of the state, you can still find land reasonable...Right now, I know of a 3/2 brick veneer for $650,000...With barn, outbuildings and 80 acres of mixed woodland and improved pasture.
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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 $71,090So 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.
The Brad
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@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 $73,462https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/107-N-Division-St-Deridder-LA-70634/106017626_zpid/ That's actually pretty nice...
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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 $71,090So 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.
@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.
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Hey, D'Evereaux is for sale... Comes with 12 acres...
https://www.trulia.com/p/ms/natchez/160-devereaux-dr-natchez-ms-39120--2155767171
That explains it, then...
