Continuing an upward trend, middle class income reached its highest level ever despite New York Democratic congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claiming the upper middle class in America doesn’t exist any more.

The median income for a household in the U.S. reached $61,732 in 2017, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report released Wednesday. The level, up 1.8 percent from the prior year, marks the third consecutive annual increase.

Breaking through the $61,000 mark is notable since it indicates the middle class is earning more than it did in 1999, reported The Washington Post. However, the Census Bureau heeds warning that the data point is not statistically different from 1999 and 2017 due to a change in collection methodology. (RELATED: Ocasio-Cortez Laments Diner That Closed … Partly Due To Policy She Promotes)

The Census Bureau released its report only weeks after Ocasio-Cortez announced in August that she doesn’t believe the American middle class even exists.

“Politically, this upper middle class is probably more moderate,” Ocasio-Cortez said on the podcast “Pod Save America.” “But that upper middle class doesn’t exist anymore in America.”

The comment came as Ocasio-Cortez was responding to a question regarding rank-and-file Democrats’ hesitance to embrace socialism. Claiming that the Democratic establishment was stuck in “’90s politics,” she asserted that the middle class hasn’t existed since then.

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