Unless you live in a city, I'd put lower-middle somewhere around 45k-90k per household. The kind of range where buying and maintaining one or two slightly used

Unless you live in a city, I'd put lower-middle somewhere around 45k-90k per household. The kind of range where buying and maintaining one or two slightly used cars isn't a big deal, and the idea of choosing between rent and groceries is alien. Middle-middle probably kicks in when buying a nice new car every few years isn't a big deal, and your kids all have college funds started. Upper-middle kicks in when buying a nice german car every few years is assumed, and you plan on paying your kids college tuition without much thought.