Some viewers feel showcased homes look more affluent than their own reality, prompting debate over whether the poster is truly middle class or, as one commenter put it, “upper class hiding behind modest decor.” Posts that offer relatable glimpses of chipped baseboards, mismatched furniture, and paper window shades are championed by those who feel social media is otherwise awash in unattainable luxury. Others point out that the middle class can’t be defined solely by appearances, given regional cost differences and inflation.

Itʼs a vivid new window into just how confused people are about class in 2025. Many Americans seem genuinely unsure what distinguishes the different class gradations, or where their own household falls. The confusion is heightened by cost-of-living differences across the country and shifting economic benchmarks caused by persistent inflation and wage stagnation.

No consensus on income

Many Americans now argue that the income thresholds associated with middle-class status no longer match reality. While the Pew Research Center defines middle class as falling between two-thirds and double the median household income—which can vary in U.S. metro areas from about $53,000 to $161,000 annually—a viral TikTok recently featured one creator asserting, “$50 an hour is the new middle class,” reflecting how rising living costs have shifted public perceptions. ​With the median household income coming to roughly $83,000 as of September 2025, and steadily climbing as inflation has pushed up household costs, any resident of California or Massachusetts will tell you that the threshold for middle class status is even higher, and a home that looks upper class in one state could count as only middle class in another.

​As more Americans take to TikTok to share—and comment on—their version of middle-class life, opinions remain divided. Some users argue that “middle class” is aspirational and increasingly out of reach, a sentiment strengthened by home tours that seem far from attainable for many families. Others believe the label should adapt to reflect a comfort and stability, even as incomes stagnate and home ownership feels elusive.

The ‘average home tour’ trend

A wave of content creators are responding to the pressure to show off spotless homes by filming unvarnished “average” or “normal” house tours. These videos highlight the mundane details and minor imperfections of a lived-in space—pantry doors left unfinished, creative workarounds for broken blinds, and evidence of daily chaos in the form of junk drawers and cluttered countertops. The creators’ message is clear: Being middle class is less about perfection and more about making do, sharing moments of love and memory, and managing the squeeze of costs that leave little room for luxury.

Despite some relief in headline inflation rates, the cost of daily living is still climbing, and cumulative price increases have become a permanent burden for many households. Wages havenʼt kept up, with the JPMorgan Chase Institute recently finding real income growth stagnating to its slowest rate since the Great Recession. Meanwhile, the wealthiest Americans have seen net worth rise owing to asset appreciation. While the top 10% can absorb higher housing costs and continue discretionary spending, many in the so-called middle class are scaling back, feeling squeezed by rising grocery, utility, and housing costs.

Fortune’s recent story profiling author and Ritholtz Wealth COO Nick Maggiulli emphasizes that asset mix (businesses and stocks versus cars and homes); a broken housing market with record numbers of millionaire renters; and an aging-driven wealth transfer are reshaping what wealth means in practical and psychological terms. Maggiulli highlights his “Wealth Ladder” framework and “the new economic classes” of the U.S. He divides Americans into six wealth levels and spotlights the rapid rise—and growing angst—of what he calls “level 4”: the upper-middle-class person who is wealthy on paper but not in their feelings. UBS calls this the “everyday millionaire.”

Maggiulli argued that “something weird’s going on” because people who are objectively very successful seem to be struggling to enjoy the fruits of their labor. “They’ve done well in life … but on a relative basis in the United States, the competition for these higher-end goods is very high, so now it feels like we’re all canceling each other out with all this extra wealth.” An economy that wasn’t built for so many affluent households is straining under intensified competition for scarce high-end goods, housing, and lifestyle perks, leaving many statistically rich families feeling squeezed rather than secure. In the contemporary U.S., he added, “the poor own cars, the middle class own homes, and the rich own businesses.” The average-home tours of TikTok are revealing that middle-class homes seem to look and feel different from what many people expect.

Maggiulli’s generalization assumes that the middle class can even afford to buy a home, and some top housing CEOs say that’s no sure thing these days. CEO Sean Dobson of the Amherst Group, one of America’s biggest institutional landlords, recently told the ResiDay conference in New York that “we’ve probably made housing unaffordable for a whole generation of Americans” with our recent economic policies. The math suggests to Amherst that, with the median homebuyer now 40 years old and the median home price around $400,000, affordability would require home prices to fall by more than a third, interest rates by around 4.6%, or income to increase by about 55%.

“What are our goals?” Dobson asked Fortune hypothetically, on the sidelines of the conference. “Is our goal to get everyone long real estate? Or is our goal to get everybody to live where their kids can go [to a good school] and be successful?” He said there’s a big, glaring problem for the traditional driver of middle-class wealth: “In reality, the problem is that homeownership is too difficult to reach, and there aren’t enough homes—across all types and price points—to meet consumer needs.”