This Is What the Middle Class Looks Like Now in America

Added: 2026-05-19

[00:00:00]I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but I feel like being middle class is the worst because you can't afford life basically. Like you can only afford to survive and then you make too much to get any assistance from the state. I don't like it.

[00:00:15]>> You know, when I think about it, middle class is probably the worst financial place to be in. I mean, if you need any type of assistance, you make too much money. If you want to invest, you don't make enough money. I mean, you're kind of stuck in a hole with no ladder to get up out of. You're constantly robbing Peter to pay Paul. I mean, middle class is probably the last position you want to be in. So, you're kind of better off being poor. I mean, or being rich, but middle class, that ain't the place to be.

[00:00:38]>> I realize how privileged this is going to sound, but I have never had to worry about gas like this. Like, I never had to worry about if filling up the gas tank was going to like break the bank for me. Gas where I live is consistently over $4. Recently, I've seen it being over $4.50. 50. And it's not even about the gas. But let's talk about grocery prices because why am I in a store and I look over to the Doritos and it's $6. $6 for a regular bag of Doritos. And I know what some people are going to say. Oh, well, just eat fresh, you know, eat vegetables, whatever. Vegetables are expensive. They're expensive.

[00:01:22]Everything's expensive. It doesn't matter anymore.

[00:01:26]Honestly, going to Taco Bell is cheaper than going out and grocery shopping.

[00:01:34]And don't even get me started on the price of beef and chicken and whatever.

[00:01:40]It's bad. It's all bad. In this video, we're going to be going over what exactly middle class life looks like nowadays. Because as you all have seen, pretty much the middle class doesn't exist. Things have gotten so expensive.

[00:01:57]Taxes are extremely high on middle class earners that they pretty much are being pushed into lower class or even poverty.

[00:02:05]A lot of these people can't even afford their bills. They try to have kids, but daycare is ridiculously expensive. And all of the medical costs associated with child care is just way too high. And we're seeing a lot of people grow up in this day and age where they have a quote unquote middle class income, but the prices of everything has increased way too high that they can't even afford their own cars. They had to take out a loan to be able to afford their cars.

[00:02:38]And don't even get me started about the cost of houses.

[00:02:43]No one these days can pretty much afford a house on a middle class income. And you really had to have multiple jobs just to be able to live comfortably in this economy right now.

[00:02:56]Now, let me know in the comments below what you think about this and take a look at the rest of these clips. For the last couple years, I did not have vision insurance, so I would just go to Walmart and get my contact lens and regular lens appointment done. $100, real quick and easy. And this year I said, "Wow, I have vision insurance." You know, I can just go I read up on the little details of what the insurance covers. Okay, I can just go in an in network provider and then get pay a little co-ay and boom, I'm done. Why did I leave and end up spending $100?

[00:03:27]Mind you, I'm looking at the receipt like I'm looking at the receipt and I'm not really understanding intermediate exam insurance discount is $40.

[00:03:41]And the thing about it is, you know, I'm realizing the insurance covers providers that charge more. Therefore, it comes out to the same price. Whereas, if I went to the place that doesn't cover my insurance, which would be Walmart or, you know, my insurance doesn't cover vice versa, you guys get it. And then it would be the same exact price because the base price would have been lower.

[00:04:01]So, if you guys are just going to charge a premium to offset the the insurance benefit that I'm getting, this is why the this is why the middle class is always suffering. Like, what I got to do, >> you guys, I know it's not funny, but like [ __ ] is so bad I have to laugh. I got a Snapchat memory the other day of like 5ish years ago when I got a job offer for like 60k a year and I was boasting like I was like, "Oh my god."

[00:04:26]Like, I thought that I made it. Okay. I thought that I made because back then 60k salary like a year like you damn near like we're making 100k. Okay. It was the equivalent of making like 100k now. And I just remember feeling like victory. Like this little girl made it.

[00:04:46]And now just to think about like that that is breadcrumbs. Like you cannot survive off of that salary especially not in a city. And then I was thinking about how I used to fill half of my tank when I was living in LA for $40. And I remember thinking, damn, this [ __ ] is expensive. Because I grew up in Wisconsin and $40 is what it would take to fill my entire tank. Now living back in, but [ __ ] nowhere Wisconsin, it takes $40 to fill half my tank. I was I'm paying Los Angeles prices in but [ __ ] nowhere Wisconsin. Like it's just it's cra it's just crazy like thinking about how things were so different. like you could survive working a part-time job a couple years ago. Now, like you need three jobs just to like maintain like if you want to actually like do things um or you have to be making like over 100k or close to it honestly.

[00:05:41]>> Okay. So, when exactly did middle class just become pure survival mode? I'm talking like the hunter gatherer stage of humanity because think about it like this. just one mistake, one minute mistake away from sleeping under a [ __ ] bridge. I'm not talking about a major mistake like, you know, deciding today I'm going to wake up and rob a [ __ ] liquor store, go to jail for a few days, get out, not have a job, be [ __ ] homeless type of mistake. I'm talking about just a simple simple mistake. too many, I don't know, parking tickets, speeding tickets. Well, hell, even your maybe your employer just decides they don't want you anymore and you just can't qu find find a job fast enough and you weren't able to [ __ ] save up to survive for a month and you're [ __ ] homeless. Like, that's how close the middle class is to essentially what what wasn't that long ago pure [ __ ] poverty. like one simple mistake away from being completely homeless and having nothing.

[00:06:42]That's how close to that's that's the line, guys. That's the [ __ ] line. And yes, I know it's all by design. And yeah, I've done plenty of content on that. I'm I'm well awake and well aware of those situations. And this is a plan that's been in place for hundreds of years. I [ __ ] get it. But we're right there. Like the middle class right now is about to become completely [ __ ] extinct.

[00:07:06]like the dinosaurs that didn't exist by the way.

[00:07:12]>> Okay, so let's talk about this because this is disgusting. I was living in Texas. I brought in a little more than $50,000 a year as a mother of five. There were only four children at the time, but we were a family of five. I didn't qualify for any food stamps because I quote unquote made too much. even though I literally had about 20 to $40 to my name left after I was done paying all of my bills. And I showed them that being a middle class sucks completely. We don't make enough to survive, but we make too much to qualify for any help. But people are bashing people that's on section 8. No, they're the smart ones. So, when I moved into my three-bedroom, the rental requirements were you only had to make two and a half times the rent, which I qualified for. When it came time for me to renew my lease, I had to make three times the rent. Plus, they were going up in rent as well. So, even if I did somehow use a fake payub to qualify myself to make the three times the rent, the rent was going up. And those apartment complexes go off of what you make before taxes. I still have to pay my taxes. So, you're going off of what I make before taxes, but that's not even the money that I have once the government takes the money. So, truly, how am I able to pay this rent? The ones that's on section A is the smart ones.

[00:08:43]And you kind of got me considering I might just have to uh quit my job and just be a bum for a little bit so I can get me some good old section 8 because it seems like that's that's the best scam going right now. I don't know what to do. I wouldn't wish being middle class on nobody.

[00:08:59]I'm just super thankful that I was able to come back home to finish paying my car off so I am able to buy a house for my children. I'm so thankful for that opportunity because honestly, if I was not able to come back home, I don't know what me and my children would have did because like I said, we didn't qualify for anything.

[00:09:18]>> Yeah, this economy is bad. You want to know who's affected the most? It's the low class, the middle class, the younger population, the less educated population, and generally small business owners are really taking a hit.

[00:09:37]Okay. And also it would be certain industries.

[00:09:44]Mhm. Yes. But we know that the people that are wealthy, this is just another day to them. Like they're fine. Like the people that was rich when they was in their mama's womb, like born into generational we fine. This is just another day to them. I swear if y'all don't start looking around and realize that these billionaires do not give a flying you know what about you, I'mma lose my mind. They are prepared to let you starve. Look around. Look at the money coming out of your checking account every week when you buy groceries. Look at how much it costs when you swipe at the pump. Look at the fact that you're getting an email stating that the streaming services are all raising their prices. Look at the fact that you're going to pay $9 for coffee if you're dumb. Wake up.

[00:10:37]>> Now, the wealth gap has gotten so drastic that they effectively got rid of the middle class. Now, there are a small percentage of people still in the middle class, but a lot of people who were in the middle class have been reduced to lower class. And this is making people give up on the American dream and give up on their lifestyles. And it's really hurting a lot of people. People are falling further and further behind because as the cost of everything continues to climb, they're going to be able to save less and less money.

[00:11:14]Whereas a lot of people can't even save money nowadays. And the only way to survive is going to be either multiple jobs or doing extreme budgeting measures as we've seen in previous videos. But you can only extreme budget so far before you're cutting out necessities from your life. I think for the middle class to feel like they're thriving again, we we often look to two things.

[00:11:35]Cost of living coming down and wages going up. And that's a really interesting place to start because if everything became cheaper, the money that we're making would feel like it would go further because prices really should be cheaper. But in order for us to see a meaningful drop in cost of living, that would almost be a crash and that would mean a lot of people would lose their jobs. A lot of people would be hurting. So are we really going to see the cost of living decrease enough where we feel like we're thriving in?

[00:11:55]Probably not. We need to root for the prices to come down a little bit, but to have like a 30 50% drop would be a complete and utter disaster. And the second option would be wages going up.

[00:12:03]But wages going up 5% great, but that's not really going to help. I'm talking 30 40 50%. And our business is just going to automatically say, "Yeah, shit's expensive. Let's raise everyone's income across the board in America by 50%.

[00:12:14]Probably not. So, where does that leave us moving forward? What should we be fighting for? Of course, cost of living going down a little bit. Of course, wages going up, but what else? I think it's changing the tax code. I think at this point, the only way to put money into people's hands, especially folks making $200,000 and less, is changing the tax code. We have to give people, not give, let people keep the money that they're actually earning. We cannot keep being taxed what we're being taxed. I put together a new tax plan that I think is actually passable and I'm really curious to get your feedback on it. I did it in a long form video. I have a short form here too, but I did it in a long form video so I could go through it in detail. And I'm just really curious if you think these four ideas and what I'm eliminating would actually work. So curious to hear your thoughts.

[00:12:53]>> I get this question a lot. People are like, "Ty, how are you able to survive on one income, a teacher salary at that one income, no child support, nobody, just me, myself, and I. How are you able to survive? girl, I'm not I'm not surviving. I'm barely getting by. And when I say barely, I mean like I'm not getting by. I promise you, I'm really not. Um, in fact, I am thinking about taking on a summer job for some extra income while I'm in school because I I I can't.

[00:13:33]So, I keep seeing videos of people in the food bank lines and the comments are all, "Look at all those nice cars. Look at all those fancy cars." Yeah. It's almost like the middle class is struggling. It's almost like something happened in January that kind of [ __ ] everyone over and now even people in the middle class are joining the food bank lines. It's not like the big gotcha moment. You think >> middle class sucks and nobody talks about that. Nobody talks about how middle class is the worst way to do to be. The poor get help like the poor get options. They get medical, they get food stamps, they get government assistance and different different ways. Um the rich, they have options. They can get loans or um advances or whatever the case may be. But the middle class, if you make between $50,000 a year and $100,000 a year, you're just stuck.

[00:14:33]Like, you have to work that 50 60 hours a week just to survive, to pay your bills. You don't get any of the government assistance or rental assistance or food stamps or any of that. You get nothing. So, in order to survive and to stay exactly how you are, you have to make sure that you still work that 50, 60 hours a [ __ ] week for that pitily paycheck that literally just keeps you above float.

[00:14:58]You're working your ass off. And for what? For what? To stay exactly where you are because you're poor, too poor to buy [ __ ] property, invest in anything, or take any chances or anything. And you're not rich enough to, you know, have more options. and you're not poor enough to get any [ __ ] assistance. What the [ __ ] is going on right now? How is the middle class having such the hardest time? And I'm sorry that I'm freaking out right now, but when I'm getting $500 taken out of my [ __ ] paycheck just in taxes and then I live in a state that also taxes you just to pay your bills or to buy something else, like I'm getting double triple tax on different things and I it makes no sense. The middle class [ __ ] sucks. It sucks.

[00:15:46]I don't know if we can change this. I doubt it because of [ __ ] us, right? But I just had to put it out there. It [ __ ] sucks for us. The middle class [ __ ] sucks. As I'm sitting here waiting to cash my [ __ ] check, calculating in my head all the bills that are going out and me staying exactly where the [ __ ] I am. I'm done.

[00:16:08]I'm tired, [ __ ] I'm tired >> than them and we were middle class.

[00:16:12]Like, babe, I don't think you realize you guys were not middle class. Most people who will confidently tell you that they're middle class are not. Most people are actually working poor. I say this as someone whose family went from working poor through lower class and ended solidly in middle class. What people fail to realize is it's not about the salary you make, it's about what that salary buys you. Let me tell you about this family. Two parents, three kids. They live in a three-bedroom, two- bath house that they owned on a halfacre of land. They have two cars. They have an RV that they use to take on a two week long vacation where they travel across the country on a road trip, one end to the other. Now, what class do you think that family is in? owning their house, having two cars, having an additional vehicle that they can use specifically for recreation, and being able to gas it up, take the time off, drive across the country, and have a vacation every year with three kids.

[00:17:20]And all of this off 40 hours of work, probably only one parent. Today, in most places in America, you'd have to make six figures for that to even begin to be a dream, begin to be accessible. But that was the normal life of not the middle class, but everyday working poor in the '90s. In the '9s, it was very regular, very normal for poor people to have houses, for poor people to have cars. They might not be super super nice houses. They might not be the newest, most up-to-date cars, but they had them.

[00:17:54]That road trip that is so inattainably expensive now thanks to gas and the price of RVs and the price of well everything. That was some kid's lame summer trip that he's super bummed that he had to talk about. It was a poor person vacation. When you're middle class, yes, you have worries. Yes, you have stresses. But the worries and stresses are different. You're not worried about missing a bill because not only are all your bills on autopay, you've got a 1520$20,000 cushion. Again, that's not rich, that's middle class.

[00:18:27]It's like this. Everybody knows Disney World. Everybody knows Disney World's pretty pricey, right? So, a working poor family might have to save up for 2 or 3 years to be able to afford to take their whole family to Disney World. A lower class family might save up for six months to a year to take their family to Disney World. A middle-class family, they're just gonna go. They're just going to go because they want to go. Or maybe they save up for a few months because there's some really pricey things that they want to do, but a trip to Disney World is not unattainable for them. When you're middle class, the problems that can be solved with moderate amounts of money are gone. Your phone broke and it's going to be $400 to get another one. Okay, that's fine. ran over something and you need three new tires.

[00:19:13]It's like 1,200 bucks, but like doable.

[00:19:16]Now, these days, a lot of what you're going to see is fake. Actually, the majority of the people that you think are middle class are just tied up in tons and tons of debt. They might look the part. They might have the stuff.

[00:19:29]They might live in the nice house and have it all mortgaged up to their eyeballs. You know what? Just because I put on a shirt that says Harvard doesn't make me a Harvard grad.