Would you class this family as average, comfortable or well off?

[Greyorcream]

Curious what people would class as “well off” these days?

Couple in late 30s with 2 dc (late primary/early secondary age). Not in London.
Partner A earns £52k and Partner B earns £74k. So fairly average wage. Neither majorly stressful roles. Both work full time. Home by 5 each evening. Both can wfh 2 days a week.

Both get annual bonuses of around 8% and usually salary increases of about 4% each year.

Mortgage outstanding is £339k on a house worth around £500k (5-bedroom house).

Pension contributions (employee + employer combined):

• Partner A: 17% (this will be increasing)
• Partner B: 21%

Savings:
usually save a third of income each month.

• £130k joint savings
• £40k saved separately for the dc.

No inheritance or family help received. No loans, car finance, credit card debt or student loans.
No childcare or private school costs.
Lifestyle-wise, usually one big family holiday a year plus a couple of weekends away.

Would you consider this comfortably well off, average, affluent, or something else? Genuinely interested as perceptions seem wildly different depending on area and social circle.

They’re a supervisor in an office, earn £74k and are back home by 5pm?

Statistically you are way above average in salary, in housing 'wealth', in savings and more.
Whether you feel well off is a totally different subject.
How much of that is genuine cost of living and how much is lifestyle choice only you can know.

Comparison of what you consider as 'peers' is a choice - and comparison is the thief of joy.

It’s 2 steps up in our organisation, I am one step up.

This is no way a ‘bit above average’. Maths and statistics may not be your strong point.

Being able to afford a 5 bedroom house (even mortgaged) and still save a third of salaries every month surely makes you comfortably off.

And LOL at 74k being a 'fairly average wage'.

Only by whoever starts those threads, never by the general posters responding.

Yes finish at 4:30 most days…

I think this is inconsiderate at best and goady at worse to say 'average'. Have you not seen other threads, like ever? Why do you need public opinion on that? You have been banned from Google? Very weird.

Those are very clearly way more than above average salaries, above average savings, and I would consider very well off/affluent. You don’t live in the real world if you think it’s close to average.

Depressing! I work full time and long hours in an incredibly stressful and at times dangerous job. If we didn’t do unpaid overtime, children would be at risk. Salary decrease in real terms. 30 years experience. Partner similar.

No ability to save much, holiday abroad every 3 years, old cars etc. Also two kids.

Consider ourselves MC/ comfortable and luckier than most as can eat well, home owner etc.

Not your fault of course but hate how undervalued and underpaid we are.

To answer your question - wealthy by the standards of those we know. A good friend is a senior FT nurse, single mum of 2 who was married but husband skipped off and no maintenance. She also works a second job in a local chippy, rents a shitty house which she struggles to keep nicely decorated and furnished.

its shit and unfair. Rant over!

That’s exactly what I said. If you afford to pay for a £20k car cash from savings, it’s a WELL above average salary

Very well off!

OP - pop your information in here and tell us the results.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/dvc1802/calculator/index.html

(I am guessing that you are top 10% of UK for most of what you put in there)

Still quite low down in most structures

Why do you think £74k pa is only a bit above average?

Wealthy

Comfortable

Why are you so interested? If it’s not you just concentrate on your own lives and never worry what other people are doing. If it is you then who cares what other people think

Crikey. You think £52k and £74k are average salaries??

These people are very well off.

I would consider them quite comfortable but not ‘affluent’.

We probably don’t earn that much (maybe £100k but as directors, not as employees drawing a normal salary).

We don’t have as much in pension or actual savings (like sitting in a savings account, though we managed to rustle up £60k for building works). Our house is £800k+ and we have probably £400k ish in equity, maybe more.

We have similar age children, no debt or finance other than mortgage. We have lots of expensive hobbies (I have a horse, Dh has vintage vehicles and motorbikes and like 400 different mountain bikes 😂). Kids have lots of sports and activities.

I’d definitely not consider us average. Amongst our social circle, we are definitely not average and I’d consider us quite comfortable. But we aren’t wealthy, not in the private school, 2 weeks in the Maldives, ski trips, £700 pcm car finance sort of way. But I rarely have to worry about money and we live a nice life with a big house, which is definitely not the norm for most people right now.

Clearly a goady thread. As of March 2026, the median annual salary for full-time employees in the UK is approximately £31,188 to £39,039

Rather better than comfortable, but not wealthy. Doing ok. I imagine the tax man takes a lot off them though.

On salaries alone I would've said comfortable, but with your bonuses, pensions and savings I would say well off

Comfortable but not well off

Well it clearly op and her family as no one would have this level of detail about someone else's pensions and savings surely