word for "upper middle class"?

Question

In the USA, UMC roughly means annual income of $1**000, with enough wealth to own a large house and other comforts, but not enough to own a congressperson.

Some words that don't seem right:

• bourgeoisie
• proletariat, common people - not financially secure.
• wealthy, elite, a-list - upper class.
• gentry, aristocracy - upper class and British.
• establishment - own congresspeople.

Example usage: "No, the {upper middle class} is not 'the establishment'."

A phrase is acceptable if it has fewer characters and syllables than "upper middle class".

Answer 1

One way to describe this class or lifestyle is "well-off." That's a very wide range, but I would say it's above "working class" or "middle class," but not rich or super rich (although many rich people may call themselves simply well-off to downplay their wealth).

Some examples:

"Welfare for the well-off" (Stephen Moore, 1999)

"A total of 67.5 percent of the Block Grant funds of well off communities were directed at these national objectives...." (The Housing Authorization Act of 1976: Hearings Before the United States Congress. 1976)

"First, that almost two-thirds of well-off respondents are gratified seems appropriate, since in the aggregate their class is thriving. ("Facing Up to the American Dream: Race, Class, and the Soul," Jennifer L. Hochschild - 1996)