Umm no, 150k US or UK is not rich! look at just rent in these US cities:
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/09/11/how-much-money-you-need-for-...
what I am getting it is not a critique of the UK, its just that housing, cars and alot of other things are wildly expensive compared to what people make(in the US and UK). And in the US alot of folks I know are making at that level or above and are solid blue collar, police and firefighters, and electricians, or nurses(they are based in the bay area so that may skew things)