Following up on my earlier post about how achieving socioeconomic mobility seems to be so difficult these days, you might be wondering how your situation compares to other Americans. In general, regardless of whether they make $15,000 a year or $150,000, when asked, most people tend to identify themselves as “middle class.” But what exactly are the boundaries that separate social classes? To try to answer that question, the New York Times has an interactive feature that allows you to input your education, occupation, income, and wealth (the four major factors of social class) and see where you rank with the rest of American society.

My results show that in most cases, I place very close to the top fifth of American society. Either way, I consider myself very socioeconomically privileged in relation to most Americans, and certainly in relation to most people around the world. I enjoy a relatively high standard of living and although I’m not rich, am pretty financially secure. It would be easy to take these things for granted, but in my research as a sociologist, I see many examples of just how lucky I am in comparison to others.