What is considered "rich"?

I read with interest a href=”http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/LearnToBudget/are-you-rich-heres-how-to-tell.aspx”an article at MSN/a entitled, “Are you rich? Here’s how to tell.” The so-called “rich” live mainly on the coasts:br /br /blockquoteBy Obama’s definition of rich, the top 20% of households in San Jose, Calif., San Francisco and Washington, D.C., would be targeted for higher taxes. But in 32 other cities with a lower cost of living, households in the same upper quintile would qualify for tax breaks, because they earn less than $200,000, Obama’s cutoff point. In six remaining cities, average incomes for the top 20% are between $200,000 and $250,000; these households, Obama says, would see neither a tax cut nor a tax increase./blockquotebr /br /I don’t think living in these places qualifies one as “rich” on $250,000. As the article points out, a family of four would need $718,989 to be classified as “rich” in NYC. I used to know lawyers and other professionals when I lived in Manhattan who made $100,000 or more in the 1980’s. None of them was living all that well. They mainly had a one bedroom apartment with no doorman and could go buy beer as they pleased. Doesn’t seem all that rich to me. You can do that in Knoxville on $30,000 a year easy. What do you think, is $250,000 rich?