Just looked at some income data across the Midwest and it's interesting how much the upper-middle class threshold varies by state. Like in Michigan, you're looking at around $110k to cross into that upper-middle class territory, while over in Minnesota it's closer to $136k. That's a pretty significant gap.

The median household income in Michigan sits at about $71k, which means middle class there runs roughly $47k to $142k depending on how you calculate it. Compare that to somewhere like Illinois at $81k median, and suddenly the threshold jumps to $127k for upper-middle class status.

What's wild is how these numbers show you can have pretty different financial situations across the region. A $110k salary in Michigan puts you in a different bracket than the same income in Minnesota. Makes you think about whether these definitions even matter that much when cost of living varies so much too.