Well these are numbers of people, not numbers of households, so its definitely $100k per year. I don't know about the US but in England: A small Aston Martin = £90,000 A 3 bed house in a good commuter town = £300,000 Average wage = £24,500 (ish) By my books £100k is wealthy, its what my dad made and he managed to put two kids through school, teach me to fly, drive and sail. Its not rich but its wealthy. Riches buy you gold and land, wealth buys you meals in restaurants and a nice car every 3 years.