What defines ‘middle class?’

Is it income or material possessions? Is it the ability to have a parent raise their children as apposed to a nanny or daycare? Is it being a homeowner or owning your vehicle? Is it a state of mind? These are some of your answers to the question we posed yesterday: What signifies middle class to you?

Yesterday we asked you to tell us what it means to be a middle class American today. Louise Story, Wall Street and finance reporter for The New York Times, responds to your answers.

We also asked what things signify being middle class to you. Here’s what you said.