Teacher salaries are highly variable based on lots of characteristics -- education level, tenure, location, etc. I'm quite familiar with the wages of teachers in WA state as my husband teaches AP politics and gov't. While I don't want to divulge my husband's salary, I will tell you that my youngest son's kindergarten teacher made $86k last year (it's all public record) with similar credentials.
Of course there is a lot of variability with the definition of middle class. There is obviously a different cost of living based on where you live. So all things considered, it's not always apples to apples.
For tax purposes, I'm considered a "high income earner", so there are many tax credits I don't qualify for (such as child care exemptions, etc) and my employer even subjects me to higher healthcare premiums and deductibles based on my salary.
96% of households make less than $200K, so clearly that is not a good benchmark for middle class just by virtue of the definition. The median household income is $50K.
Anyway, I always find this interesting.
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