If you make $100K–$200K and still feel like you’re barely keeping your head above water… you’re not imagining it. You’re not bad with money. You’re not alone.
Two brand-new reports dropped in mid-November 2025 that finally put numbers to what most of us in this income bracket have been feeling for the last 18–24 months:
- A Harris Poll conducted for USA Today (Nov 14, 2025) found that one in three six-figure earners now describe themselves as in outright “survival mode.”
- A separate USA Today analysis (Nov 15, 2025) showed two-thirds of us no longer consider six figures a sign of wealth at all.
Let that sink in. The same income bracket that used to mean “you’ve made it” now mostly means “you can pay the bills… most months.”
Even worse: More than half of $100K+ households say they’d need to literally double their income to feel financially secure. And three-quarters of us have whipped out a credit card in the past month simply because we ran out of cash before the next paycheck.
If you’ve ever looked at your bank account on a Thursday and thought, “How is this possible?” — this is why.
The Real Reasons $100K–$200K Doesn’t Feel “Rich” Anymore (2025 Edition)
- Cumulative inflation has quietly stolen 24%+ of your purchasing power since 2020 Prices are up at least 24% across the board since the pandemic began. Groceries, insurance, utilities, childcare — everything compounded. A $100K salary in 2025 buys what roughly $78K bought in early 2020.
- We live where the jobs are — and those places are insanely expensive Most six-figure jobs are clustered in the top 20 most expensive metro areas (SF, NYC, Boston, Seattle, DC, San Diego, etc.). As Comerica Bank’s chief economist put it: “$200K in Manhattan vs $200K in Toledo are two completely different lifestyles.” In many of these cities, $150K household income is basically the new middle class. → Related: 150K in 2025: Where You Rank Among Six-Figure Earners
- Lifestyle creep + “necessity” creep is real Childcare now routinely costs $2,000–$3,500/month per kid in urban areas. Health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket maximums keep climbing. Property taxes and homeowners faced 15–30% reassessments in the last two years. These aren’t “lifestyle” expenses anymore — they’re survival expenses that eat 70–90% of take-home pay for many of us.
- Wages haven’t kept up for the upper-middle Lower-wage workers actually saw strong real wage growth 2022–2024. But for $100K–$200K professionals? Raises have been 3–6% while true cost-of-living in HCOL/VHCOL areas rose 8–12% annually in some categories.
- Higher earners actually developed worse money habits than lower earners I broke this down in detail here: Why Higher Income Can Lead to Worse Money Management for $100K-$200K Earners.
The Proof in the Numbers (November 2025)
| Metric (Nov 2025 data) | Six-Figure Earners ($100K+) |
|---|---|
| Describe themselves in “survival mode” | 33% |
| Say six figures = wealth | Only 33% (67% disagree) |
| Used credit card because they ran out of cash | 75% |
| Would need to double income to feel secure | >50% |
| Living paycheck-to-paycheck (Harris Poll) | ~75% |
(Sources: Harris Poll Income Paradox Survey, Nov 14 2025; Bank of America Institute; USA Today reporting)
How to Stop Surviving and Start Building Real Wealth on a Six-Figure Salary
The good news? Once you acknowledge you’re in survival mode, you can switch to offense ridiculously fast. Here are the exact moves that are working for me and my readers right now (late 2025):
- Run the “Survival Ratio” test Add up all non-discretionary expenses (housing, taxes, insurance, childcare, minimum debt payments, groceries, utilities, transportation). If it’s >65% of your take-home pay → you’re in survival mode. Target: get it under 50% within 24 months.
- Geo-arbitrage lite (you don’t have to move to Kansas) Medium-COL cities with strong tech/consulting/finance scenes (Austin, Denver, Raleigh, Charlotte, Nashville, Salt Lake) can cut your cost of living 25–40% while keeping 80–100% of your salary if you negotiate remote or hybrid.
- Aggressively refinance/restructure every liability → Student loans (if any) → PSLF or new income-driven plans → Mortgage → Mortgage recast or refi if you bought 2022–2024 at 6–8% → Car loans → sell/trade down if payment >6% of take-home
- Tax-rate arbitrage Max HSA, backdoor Roth, mega backdoor Roth if your 401(k) allows it, bunch charitable donations, consider opportunity zones or QSBS if you have startup equity.
- Create a “Freedom Fund” that pays your survival expenses Goal: 12–18 months of core survival expenses in ultra-safe assets (HYSA @ 4.5–5.0%, short Treasuries, I-bonds). Once that’s funded, every extra dollar can go to offense (index funds, real estate, side business).
You’re not crazy. A six-figure income in late 2025 America — especially in a high-cost area — really has become the new “just getting by.”
But the same income that barely covers survival today can create legitimate, multi-seven-figure wealth in 10–15 years if you treat this moment as the wake-up call it is.
You just have to stop spending like someone who feels rich and start spending like someone who wants to become rich.
My favorite way to earn passive income right now
I’m building passive real-estate income right now with Fundrise. It’s the closest thing to owning rental property without dealing with tenants or toilets.
If you sign up and invest with this link, Fundrise will give you $25 in shares →
