You Need a 6 Figure Salary to Be Considered Middle Class in This U.S. City
Middle-class status is the hardest to attain in tech cities like San Francisco and Seattle.
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Over the past 50 years, the population of Americans living in middle-class households decreased by over 10%, according to , and as the gap between rich and poor grows wider, some American cities are more difficult to attain middle-class status than others.
A by SmartAsset calculated the lower and upper bounds of what it takes to be middle-class in 100 American cities across all 50 states and found that one area particularly dominated the rankings: Five of the top 10 cities with the highest middle-class ceilings were tech cities.
The city with the highest threshold to be considered middle-class was Fremont, CA, with a lower limit of $104,499 and upper-bound of $311,936. Fremont was also the only city in the U.S. with a six-figure salary as the lower limit to be considered middle-class and is nearly $20,000 ahead of its successor, San Jose, which has a lower bound of $84,673 an upper bound of $252,754 for middle-class status.
Other tech cities that dominated the rankings were San Francisco at No. 4, Seattle at No. 5, and Irvine at No. 6.
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The high ceiling for middle-class status in tech cities could largely be attributed to the high-paying tech jobs. In Fremont, for example, nearly of the population works for Tesla.
Furthermore, the foundation of the local economy contributed to nearly all of the cities being among the ranks for highest middle-class ceilings. Arlington, VA came in at No. 3 and is home to a wide range of federal government workers due to its proximity to Washington D.C.
Other places like Piano, TX (No. 9) and Chandler, AZ (No. 10) are supported by a strong presence of big-name banks such as JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo.
Over the past 50 years, the population of Americans living in middle-class households decreased by over 10%, according to , and as the gap between rich and poor grows wider, some American cities are more difficult to attain middle-class status than others.
A by SmartAsset calculated the lower and upper bounds of what it takes to be middle-class in 100 American cities across all 50 states and found that one area particularly dominated the rankings: Five of the top 10 cities with the highest middle-class ceilings were tech cities.
The city with the highest threshold to be considered middle-class was Fremont, CA, with a lower limit of $104,499 and upper-bound of $311,936. Fremont was also the only city in the U.S. with a six-figure salary as the lower limit to be considered middle-class and is nearly $20,000 ahead of its successor, San Jose, which has a lower bound of $84,673 an upper bound of $252,754 for middle-class status.
