Three out of the top five cities with the highest income thresholds for the middle class are located in the San Francisco Bay Area in California. Middle class status is hardest to attain in tech cities. While the middle class wage range was middle of the road of all cities examined, the cost of living in Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan are 43%, 70% and 138% higher than the national average, respectively. While other notoriously pricey cities like San Francisco and Seattle have a middle class income that trends closely with the general cost of living, New York City wages lag behind. The middle class in NYC aren’t making enough to keep up with the cost of living. W hile the top-placing Northeastern states cost roughly 50% more to live in that the low-ranking Southern states, the middle class salary range sits about 70% higher 2. Meanwhile, that same middle class bracket falls between about $35,000 to $100,000 in many Southern states. The Northeast dominates the top 10 highest middle class salary ranges, with many middle class salaries between $60,000 to $170,000. Northeastern salaries are about 20% higher than Southern salaries - even after accounting for cost of living differences. If you’re ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to three vetted financial advisors who serve your area, and you can interview your advisor matches at no cost to decide which one is right for you. cities, as well as all 50 states.įinding a financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. To find the true pulse of today’s middle class, SmartAsset calculated the bounds on middle class earnings in 100 of the largest U.S. The percentage of adults living in middle-income households in the United States fell by more than 10 percentage points over the last 50 years 1, indicating an ongoing shrinkage of the middle class. But the American middle class is shrinking. The middle class has long been considered the backbone of the American economy. Ĭlick here to see the income it would take to be considered middle class in every state.Single family houses with city skyscrapers in the background. Click here to see how many children live in poverty in your state. For example, in Mississippi, the middle 60% of earners in the state account for 45.0% of the state’s aggregate income, while the richest 5% of families alone account for 23.4%. In many of these states, income distribution tends to most disproportionately favor the richest people in the state. Generally, states where the middle class by this definition has a lower income range have lower incomes across the board and higher poverty rates. This is the income a family actually needs to avoid poverty in every state. At the other end of the spectrum, the upper range of the middle 60% of earners is as low as $148,210 and as high as $295,250.īecause this income distribution is so wide, it is likely that many households, even after adjusting for cost of living, can technically fall into the middle class in their state yet still be unable to meet the basic comfortable standard of living many associate with a middle class lifestyle. Adjusting for the cost of living, the bottom threshold of the middle class in one state is as low as $15,165 and as high as $41,532 in another. The RPP-adjusted boundaries were defined as the range of income that could be considered middle class in a given state.įrom state to state, the cost of living varies significantly. We adjusted these boundaries for state-level cost of living using regional price parity data for 2018 from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. We reviewed the lower boundary of the second quintile and the upper boundary of the fourth quintile, representing in total 60% of American families. Census Bureau’s 2018 American Community Survey. To determine the income it takes for a family to be considered middle class in every state, using one of the wider definitions, 24/7 Wall St. Other varying definitions include a range of annual household incomes as low as $13,000 and as high as $230,000. One Pew Research Center study defines it as households earning between two-thirds and twice the median household income. For many, this group is important for cultural reasons, signifying “everyday America.” For others, it represents the consumer class that drives the American economy.īut who actually makes up the middle class in the United States? For such a commonly-discussed group, there is surprisingly little consensus on how to define the group. The strength of the American middle class is a common point of focus among politicians and analysts, as it was during this most recent presidential election.
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