Recently, an authoritative institution stated that there are now 33.2 million middle-class households in China, accounting for about 7.8% of the population, which is approximately 100 million people.

At the same time, if you meet any one of the following four standards, you can be considered a middle-class household, which are:
1. Bank savings exceeding 1 million yuan
2. Household monthly income exceeding 20,000 yuan
3. Buying a house with full payment in one go
4. Financial account market value of at least 1.5 million yuan
1️⃣ Bank savings exceeding 1 million yuan
Many people think that having more than 1 million yuan in bank savings qualifies as middle class, but this standard is too low. In reality, most salaried workers find it very difficult to save 1 million yuan in their lifetime.
If a salaried family can save 3,000 yuan per month, they can only save 36,000 yuan in a year. To save up to 1 million yuan, it would take at least 27 years, which shows that 1 million yuan in savings is already the "ceiling" for salaried families.
Data shows that currently, households with savings of over 500,000 yuan account for only 0.37% of the total. As for households with savings of over 1 million yuan, being 0.1% of the total is already quite good.
Therefore, if you have 1 million yuan in savings without any debt, you can be considered middle class.
2️⃣ Household monthly income exceeding 20,000 yuan
China has 750 million workers, and most salaried employees earn between 3,000 and 6,000 yuan per month. So, how many people have a monthly income exceeding 10,000 yuan? Previously, the personal income tax threshold was raised from 3,000 yuan to 5,000 yuan.
As a result, the number of people earning above 5,000 yuan dropped from 180 million to 65.12 million, meaning only 65.12 million people earn more than 5,000 yuan per month.
Further estimates suggest that among these 65.12 million, about one-third earn over 10,000 yuan, which totals just over 20 million people.
Obviously, if both spouses earn 10,000 yuan each, the household monthly income can reach 20,000 yuan. So, this household is definitely considered middle class.
3️⃣ Capable of buying a house with full payment in one go
Currently, housing prices in China remain high, with over 95% of households unable to afford a house and needing to take out bank loans. Even based on the second-hand housing prices in 100 cities in October, to buy a 90-square-meter commercial property in these cities, it would cost at least 1.5 million yuan.
Therefore, if you do not take out a bank loan, have the ability to pay in full at once, or have already paid off your previous mortgage, you can definitely be considered middle class.
It’s important to note that over 200 million households in China still have mortgages, with the total mortgage scale reaching 39 trillion yuan.
4️⃣ Financial account market value exceeding 1.5 million yuan
As domestic investment channels become more diverse, many people prefer not to keep their money in banks, and some like investing in stocks, funds, and bank wealth management products.
Data shows that the number of stock investors in China has reached 220 million, mutual fund investors 720 million, and the number of people purchasing bank wealth management products has already exceeded 100 million.
The reason for requiring a financial account market value of at least 1.5 million yuan to qualify as middle class is mainly because these investment products tend to have large short-term asset value fluctuations and are difficult to liquidate.