Chance of at least middle-class lifestyle in US

[The Don]

I need a definition of middle class.

[tolbiny]

This is very often based upon what class you are actually born into. A person born into the middle class will have more friends/family in positions to help them get jobs at a middle class wage.
If your talking about a person born into a lower class situation then you have to redefine #2 for me. Do you mean never get someone/yourself pregnant untill you reach a middle class lifestyle (my assumption), or do you mean never get preggers before you can afford it - ie having a child wouldn't nessecitate government sponsored programs/charity to meed basic needs and to provide some sort of savings.

Also as others have said, define middle class. As a general definition i would say someone who can afford to buy thier own home (down payment and mortgage) and have a separate savings plan for retirement would be middle class. A couple of distinctions- obviously certain areas this wouldn't work for- extrodinarily high property value like NY and LA and extrodinarily low ones- like high crime areas of Detroit wouldn't count. Here in cleveland- one of the lower cost of living cities in the US- the min for this for a single person is probably 30k per year, totally bare bones. SO i would say that 35k per year in Cl Oh counts as lower middle class. $17.50 an hour. About what a restaurant manager makes starting out- Or what you could probably get after a year or two in construction, or as a fulltime waiter at a place like Applebees.

[lehighguy]

Depends alot on where you live. I think you need minimum 6-figures to be middle class here in NYC.