I don't really agree with this premise for a few reasons. $1500 a month is insane for the midwest (Unless you're talking about a huge house on a few acres, or a

I don't really agree with this premise for a few reasons. $1500 a month is insane for the midwest (Unless you're talking about a huge house on a few acres, or a luxury condo in a large midwestern city). You could spend $1000 a month on a mortgage and live comfortably in a nice 3-4 bedroom house in a good neighborhood in most parts of Iowa, for example. Lastly, if you have a family of 4, there is a Federal Child Tax Credit of $2000 per child, your standard deduction goes up significantly if you're married and head of household and the lower tax brackets cover a larger portion of your income. So the overall tax burden is much, much less than a single guy making 100k a year. I did a quick calculation and figured someone making 93k a year in Iowa would be taking home $1,332 a week with 4 allowances. That's 5300/mo - 1200 for insurance (Which seems nuts unless your employer doesn't have good plans), and $1000 for housing, and 1000 for food and 500 for transportation/misc bills, that leaves $1600 a month extra. I wouldn't say that's rich but it is comfortable and even enough to save a for retirement.