$42k for a household of three seems very low to be considered middle-class. I suppose in rural areas that makes sense, but in most population centers that would be fairly impoverished.
I'm pretty surprised how high that number is.
I live in Los Angeles. I have a one bedroom apt and a 10 year old car. I eat in, try to be thrifty, take trips a few times a year but stay in modest accommodations or couch surf.
With tax, I'd need about 55k to support this lifestyle with zero savings.
That's $26/hr fulltime - a number probably out of reach for the majority of the city workforce.
I wonder how most people get by.
I think people should openly discuss these things - you can't create a transparent open market of human capital if we can't culturally speak of how much we charge and get.
Income disclosure is a method of self organizing towards a more equitable society.