The mid-management standard is not the same thing as middle class, notes the manual. The standard is for households of two spouses and one child, with both spouses holding college degrees and at least one having “an established professional or managerial career with a record of growing responsibility and authority, and being salaried rather than paid by the hour.”
In most locales the mid-management household annual income will be $70,000 to $100,000, though it may be lower in some places and higher in “traditionally high-cost places like New York, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego metropolitan areas.”
The national average for the cost of living index in 300 urban areas was 100. Manhattan scored 233.5 and Brooklyn 183.4. Queens was sixth with a 151.4 index for the second quarter of 2012.
In the first-quarter report, the council compared grocery costs. Manhattan ranked third most expensive behind Kodiak in Alaska, and Honolulu in Hawaii. Manhattan was the second most expensive place for a T-bone steak ($14.99) behind Minneapolis, Minn. ($15.49)
Comparing Housing
