Why do Democrats think $250,000 is middle class?

Both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have tax plans that extend the "middle class" classification up to those earning $250,000 a year — a number that some experts say is arbitrary and false.

According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau statistics reported by CNN Money, those with incomes of $250,000 a year are among the nation's top earners, with households making $206,600 considered within the top 5 percent in 2014. A truly "middle class" American family makes more like $53,700 a year; Pew Research Center defines the middle class as those making two-thirds to two times the median income for one's household size, meaning a truly middle-class family of three would earn between $42,000 and $126,000 a year.

Sanders and Clinton aren't the first to have such a generous definition of the "middle," however. Former President Bill Clinton also campaigned with the number $250,000 in 1992, according to the chief economist of Tax Analysts Martin Sullivan; Clinton's top tax bracket applied to those making over $250,000. Obama also used this earning as a threshold to define "wealthy" and "middle class."

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Sullivan blamed the disconnect between politicians and "true" middle class income on the fact that decision makers in Washington are surrounded by people with above-average salaries. "$250,000 has become enshrined, but it's not based on an economic study. It's a number people have become comfortable with," he said.