In sociology, the upper middle class of the United States is the social group constituted by higher-status members of the middle class in American society. This is in contrast to the term lower middle class, which refers to the group at the opposite end of the middle class scale. There is considerable debate as to how the upper middle class might be defined. According to Max Weber, the upper middle class consists of well-educated professionals with graduate degrees and comfortable incomes.
The American upper middle class is defined using income, education, occupation and the associated values as main indicators. In the United States, the upper middle class is defined as consisting of white-collar professionals who have above-average personal incomes, advanced educational degrees and a high degree of autonomy in their work, leading to higher job satisfaction. The main occupational tasks of upper middle class individuals tend to center on conceptualizing, consulting, and instruction.
Professions
Certain professions can be categorized as "upper middle class," though any such measurement must be considered subjective because of people's differing perception of class. Most people in the upper-middle class strata are highly educated white collar professionals such as physicians, dentists, lawyers, accountants, engineers, military officers, economists, urban planners, university professors, architects, stockbrokers, psychologists, scientists, actuaries, optometrists, physical therapists, pharmacists, veterinarians, high-level civil servants and the intelligentsia. Other common professions include corporate executives and CEOs, and successful business owners. Generally, people in these professions have an advanced post-secondary education and a comfortable standard of living.
Values
Education is probably the most important part of middle-class childrearing as they prepare their children to be successful in school. Upper middle-class parents expect their children to attend college. Along with hard work, these parents view educational performance and attainment as necessary components of financial success. Consequently, the majority of upper middle-class children assume they will attend college. For these children, college is not optional—it's essential. This thought can be seen even more so from parents with higher education, whose greater appreciation for autonomy leads them to want the same for their children. Most people encompassing this station in life have a high regard for higher education, particularly towards Ivy League colleges and other top tier schools throughout the United States. They probably, more than any other socio-economic class, strive for themselves and their children to obtain graduate or at least four-year undergraduate degrees, further reflecting the importance placed on education by middle-class families.
Members of the upper middle class tend to place a high value on high culture and foreign travel. This is in line with the emphasis placed on education, as foreign travel increases one's understanding of other cultures and helps create a global perspective.
Most mass affluent households and college-educated professionals tend to be center-right or conservative on fiscal issues, but moderate to liberal on social issues. Prior to 1992, these professionals heavily favored the Republican Party, but began slowly drifting toward the Democratic Party due to the increasing rightward shift of Republican leadership on social and cultural issues such as abortion, gay rights, race, and immigration. By 2003, a slight majority of college-educated professionals, who compose 15% of the population and 20% of the electorate, favored Democrats. Among those with six figure household incomes, a slight majority favored the Republican Party in 1998. Per exit polls conducted by the television network CNN following the 2004 and 2006 U.S. elections, academia and those with postgraduate degrees (e.g., to include PhD and J.D.) especially favor the Democratic Party.
In 2005, 72% of full-time faculty members at four-year institutions, the majority of whom are upper middle class, identified as liberal.
