Just looked into how much you actually need to earn to be considered upper middle class in different Southern states, and the numbers are wild. Apparently there's no one-size-fits-all number - it really depends on where you live. In Georgia, for example, upper middle class income starts around $116k, but that's way different from Mississippi where it kicks in closer to $85k. The whole upper middle class income threshold in the South averages out to about $108k, but that's just a baseline. Maryland's sitting at like $158k to hit that bracket, while West Virginia's only $90k. What's crazy is how the median household income shapes everything - states with higher median incomes naturally push that upper middle class line way higher. So if you're earning $110k in Georgia, you might feel pretty solid, but the actual purchasing power and what counts as 'upper middle class' varies so much across the region. Makes you realize why people talk so much about cost of living differences. The whole thing really shows how relative wealth is - your salary means something totally different depending on which Southern state you're in.