A few years later Newsweek did a story titled “The Middle Class Poor,” calmly reporting that U.S. citizens earning $58,700, $70,400, or even $90,800 a year felt they were at the edge of poverty.32 One resident of New York City grumbled that “you just can’t live in this city” on $180,000 a year.33 A presidential candidate said in 2012 that Americans making $200,000 to $250,000 were middle class.34
