> A slightly higher than median salary used to mean one is in the middle class.
No, it didn't.
If you are salary-dependent, you are working class.
A slightly higher than non-Hispanic white median salary used to mean you were in a relatively comfortable, but still wage-labor-dependent, segment of the working class. Women entering the work force in mass and some other changes, it takes a slightly higher multiple of a single non-Hispanic White median income (but a fairly similar multiple of a non-Hispanic White household income) to do that for a household, and its been that way for most of the working life of Gen X and later.
No, it didn't.
If you are salary-dependent, you are working class.
A slightly higher than non-Hispanic white median salary used to mean you were in a relatively comfortable, but still wage-labor-dependent, segment of the working class. Women entering the work force in mass and some other changes, it takes a slightly higher multiple of a single non-Hispanic White median income (but a fairly similar multiple of a non-Hispanic White household income) to do that for a household, and its been that way for most of the working life of Gen X and later.