How can you tell if Americans are "poor"?

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Like most of us I watch quite a bit of US drama and box sets but remain baffled about the characters based on things like the house they live in etc...

Can American audiences tell that someone is poor or rich (or in between) based on things such as house size, style of house and other things that are part of TV series?

I know (well think I do so not assuming - please correct if wrong!) that middle and working class may mean different things to UK - but can US viewers pick up more based on cultural norms and things that may need explaining to non-American audiences?

An example is I watched some episodes of True Detective and thought the house was lovely and spacious but everything else in the plot pointed to the fact that this was a "poor rundown neighbourhood with substance issues etc..."

Are there any rules of thumb? Do American audiences get confused my things like this when watching UK or European dramas?

They never have any curtains just Venetian blinds

Yes, absolutely! I’ve certainly had to use the nhs more than I’ve input via taxes and I dread to think what the bill would be like for my medication, consultant visits in the USA. Not to mention having a child. It is eye watering.

You wouldn’t see washing hanging out in Celebration!

They live in so called “projects and they rely on welfare food stamps.

I watched a documentary about how heavily linked poverty is with obesity in the states, due to corn syrup (?) in absolutely everything pre-prepared and fresh fruit and veg being astronomical.

It's such a stupid generalisation to say "we are cramped up together on estates". Yes, except for the millions and millions of us who aren't.

If you did that you’d break your contract and would have to move. In some places you are not allowed for the bins to be seen, grass can’t be longer than a certain height, can’t park any dirty old car in front of your house etc etc

😆 Had similar in LA. Stayed with a friend and decided to wander up to some shops in Venice Beach one day when she was at work - was about a mile away, pleasant sunny day. The concierge in her apartment block was astonished that I’d walked there. “Tell me next time and I’ll call you a cab, you don’t have to walk there!” A couple of days later I caught the bus down to Santa Monica… apparently he spoke about that to my friend (and everyone else) for weeks!

a friend lives in Greenwich in the states... - the cheapest house on her road is 20 million dollars - safe today - i think she lives among people who are rich 😂

My dh worked in NY for a weei and decided to just catch the bus for once, as he was only going down the road. He said it was one of the scariest thing in his life.

Family friends moved to LA from the Wirral and had the entire neighbourhood up in arms when they put washing out. Very much Not The Done Thing in their area.

This is why I enjoyed The Wire so much. It showed a side of the US I hadn’t really seen much of before. Not just the terrible poverty in The Projects but ordinary houses that the cops lived in etc. See also Maid, the Netflix series.

i have a thing about watching Frasier and/or Everybody Loves Raymond at the weekend when they’re usually on C4 and I love the way the social classes are depicted in those progs.

The Simpsons are not working class. They’re lower middle based on homes earnings

You call it laziness, I call it hayfever. If I dry stuff outside, it spends hours getting covered in allergens to make my life a misery. Especially bedding, as I am then rubbing my face in it all night.

Americans are very weird about line drying washing, something which is perfectly normal for all classes of Europeans.

If anythig I think in the UK having to dry your washing indoors is a signifier of relative poverty as it implies you cannot afford private outdoor space.

Plus some people smell musty because it takes too long for the washing go dry indoors.

Obviously not...

But it proves the point that it's not a 'poor' thing.

What is going on with the not drying washing outside? Why not?

No idea. Maybe some sort left over puritan prudery thing?

I give zero fucks if people see my M&S pants.

I also suspect the various wars in the 20th century and resulting shortages, means that lots of abstemious little habits like conserving fuel, bulking out meals with extra carbs are still part of the culture in Europe in a way they aren't in the US.

I'm surprised no-one has mentioned clothes - on holiday we got stuck behind a party of retired Americans - fresh off a cruise ship so not poverty stricken - but their clothes were universally horrible by European standards - ill fitting, shapeless and cheap looking, horrible shoes and sandals you could have spotted them a mile off even before they spoke.

Their suits are often way too big, like a child dressing up.

Shapeless khaki trousers!

Exactly. Always khaki and an ill fitting long big tie.

It’s considered indecorous. These HOA communities in the suburbs aren’t too different from the Desperate Housewives set. People prize homogeneity, and almost Disney-like utopia. People with washing in the line, their own planting, cars parked on the road, unruly hedges etc all spoil the aesthetic.

In reality, these places are seething, roiling hotbeds of gossip, drama, disputes, people trying to wield power. I couldn’t live like that. My in laws love it! I feel they think it protects them from the horrors of the real world, makes them feel protected and superior and stress-free. To each their own, I suppose.