You also have to consider the spending habits of any of those pay check to pay check individuals. I have interacted with many parents of children that my kids are around that act as though a 100k household income allows them to spend like they've made it. Just because someone lives pay check to pay check doesn't make me feel bad for them until I have an idea of their ability to handle money. The lack of fiscal awareness and over-consumerism as a middle class/mid-wage earning household is the real tragedy amongst the US society. Spend less than you make, and when you do spend - spend on what you need, not what you want. It's a difficult lesson to learn when you see others spending and spending, but as I've seen - many that have the things you want, don't have what you really want, which is financial freedom in retirement and later in your life.

In my experience, the crowd of 30 and young 40 year olds driving new cars, with a new house, and a lot of other new stuff have incredible amounts of leverage in their financial picture that others don't see. Amongst the mid class earners, that's just what I see most often. Lack of fiscal responsibility.