Do mostly poor people file bankruptcy? Nope.
Do mostly rich people file bankruptcy? Negative.
Do mostly middle class people file bankruptcy? Absolutely not.
So who filed bankruptcy? Literally everyone. All walks of life, for a lot of different reasons. I think of it as some sort of health problem that can suddenly happen to anyone. Anyone can get cancer, for example, some are born with it, some develop it through no fault of their own, some develop it through their bad decisions, but I think of bankruptcy as the ones who get it through now fault of their own mostly.
That being said, what is middle class anyway? I wanted to clear that up before discussing this so you don't think that mostly middle class people file bankruptcy, that is not the purpose of this blog. This blog entry is just here ot answer a question I get as a bankruptcy lawyer by many people that are interested in knowing, regardless of their bankruptcy, where they stand on the so-called class definitions.
First, you need to know what median income is, and how much the median income is.
Median means the middle. The halfway point. The middle of the road. The median of the road. That is what median means. Your on the internet, if you still don't understand what it means, google it.
Now that you know what median is, what is the median income in Houston? Before I tell you, know that that does not mean if you are below the median you are low class, or if you are above the median you are upper class. That is not how middle class is defined.
So, for one person in Houston, the median income is currently $44,178, according to the 2010 Census and the IRS and the Department of Justice. That is for a household of 1. For two, it is $59,296. For three, it is $62,636, for four, it is $72,612, for five and above, just add $8,100 per each additional person. Ok, now that is the median income, again, if you are one person and make less than $44,178, it does not mean you are not middle class, I will explain what middle class is right now.
The definition of middle class I am use is if you make between 67 and 200 percent of the median income, then you are middle class. That is the definition used by the reputable Pew Charitable Trust, founded in 1948, with $5 billion in assets, so I believe they are reputable with their research, you may have heard of Pew, if not, look it up.
So now we know that if you make between 67 to 200 percent of the median income based on your household size, you are middle class, now how do we calculate that? Easy, I use this website http://www.percentagecalculator.net/
In the first box, I put it, 67, to see what 67% is, then I put $44,178, the median income for a household of 1, and it tells me $29,599. So that means if you make at least $29,599, you are middle class. On the upper end of middle class for one person, the 200% of $44,178, the answer is $88,356. So if you are one person, and don't live with anyone else, no wife, husband, or kids, and you make between $44,178 to $88,356 in Houston, you are middle class in Houston. For a household of 2, just do the path using these instructions and example above and you will figure it out.
If you are in debt and think you might need to file bankruptcy in Houston, please call the Rashid Law Firm at 832-209-8833. We practice exclusively bankruptcy law in Houston. We are here to help.
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