Are You Middle Class? Here’s What It Takes in Every U.S. State
67% of Americans consider themselves middle class—yet fewer than half actually are.
You work hard, pay your bills on time, and occasionally splurge on something nice. You’re middle class, right? Maybe not.
The shocking truth is that while most Americans believe they belong to the middle class, the data tells a vastly different story. Depending on where you live, the income threshold to qualify as “middle class” can vary by more than $100,000.
You’re Not Alone in This Middle-Class Identity Crisis
Every day, millions of Americans wake up feeling financially squeezed—caught between rising costs and stagnant paychecks. You’re working harder than ever, yet the middle-class lifestyle seems increasingly out of reach.
You’re not imagining it. The economic goalposts have moved dramatically over the past decade.
According to the latest Pew Research data, to be considered middle class in America today, a family of four needs to earn between 67% and 200% of the median income in their state—a range that has widened substantially since 2010.
Let’s cut through the confusion and show you exactly what it takes to be middle class in 2025, state by state.
The Middle-Class Math: How Economists Define It
Before we dive into the state-by-state breakdown, let’s clarify how economists actually determine middle-class status:
- Income Range: Typically defined as households earning between 67% and 200% of the median income in their area
- Household Size: Thresholds adjust based on how many people live in your home
- Geographic Location: Cost of living variations mean the middle-class threshold in Mississippi is drastically different from that in California
The median household income nationwide sits at approximately $78,000, but that national figure masks enormous regional variations that directly impact your financial reality.
The State-by-State Middle-Class Breakdown
Here’s what it actually takes for a family of four to be considered middle class in every state, based on the latest available data:
| State | Lower Threshold (67%) | Middle Threshold | Upper Threshold (200%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $51,200 | $76,400 | $152,800 |
| Alaska | $65,800 | $98,200 | $196,400 |
| Arizona | $55,700 | $83,100 | $166,200 |
| Arkansas | $48,400 | $72,300 | $144,600 |
| California | $70,500 | $105,300 | $210,600 |
| Colorado | $71,900 | $107,300 | $214,600 |
| Connecticut | $72,200 | $107,800 | $215,600 |
| Delaware | $63,300 | $94,500 | $189,000 |
| Florida | $55,800 | $83,300 | $166,600 |
| Georgia | $56,500 | $84,400 | $168,800 |
| Hawaii | $73,100 | $109,100 | $218,200 |
| Idaho | $56,700 | $84,600 | $169,200 |
| Illinois | $61,600 | $92,000 | $184,000 |
| Indiana | $55,000 | $82,100 | $164,200 |
| Iowa | $57,700 | $86,100 | $172,200 |
| Kansas | $57,900 | $86,400 | $172,800 |
| Kentucky | $51,700 | $77,200 | $154,400 |
| Louisiana | $49,600 | $74,000 | $148,000 |
| Maine | $57,400 | $85,700 | $171,400 |
| Maryland | $75,000 | $112,000 | $224,000 |
| Massachusetts | $74,800 | $111,700 | $223,400 |
| Michigan | $54,900 | $82,000 | $164,000 |
| Minnesota | $67,600 | $100,900 | $201,800 |
| Mississippi | $45,300 | $67,600 | $135,200 |
| Missouri | $54,700 | $81,600 | $163,200 |
| Montana | $55,800 | $83,300 | $166,600 |
| Nebraska | $58,500 | $87,300 | $174,600 |
| Nevada | $57,200 | $85,400 | $170,800 |
| New Hampshire | $70,900 | $105,800 | $211,600 |
| New Jersey | $76,200 | $113,800 | $227,600 |
| New Mexico | $49,500 | $73,900 | $147,800 |
| New York | $67,900 | $101,400 | $202,800 |
| North Carolina | $53,900 | $80,500 | $161,000 |
| North Dakota | $61,700 | $92,100 | $184,200 |
| Ohio | $55,200 | $82,400 | $164,800 |
| Oklahoma | $52,400 | $78,200 | $156,400 |
| Oregon | $62,300 | $93,000 | $186,000 |
| Pennsylvania | $59,300 | $88,500 | $177,000 |
| Rhode Island | $63,600 | $95,000 | $190,000 |
| South Carolina | $52,300 | $78,100 | $156,200 |
| South Dakota | $57,300 | $85,500 | $171,000 |
| Tennessee | $52,600 | $78,500 | $157,000 |
| Texas | $58,700 | $87,600 | $175,200 |
| Utah | $65,500 | $97,800 | $195,600 |
| Vermont | $61,100 | $91,200 | $182,400 |
| Virginia | $69,200 | $103,300 | $206,600 |
| Washington | $70,400 | $105,100 | $210,200 |
| West Virginia | $47,800 | $71,400 | $142,800 |
| Wisconsin | $58,800 | $87,800 | $175,600 |
| Wyoming | $61,500 | $91,800 | $183,600 |
| District of Columbia | $82,900 | $123,800 | $247,600 |
What stands out immediately? The gap between states is staggering. A family earning $140,000 in Mississippi would be considered upper class, while that same income in Washington D.C. would barely qualify as middle class.
The Geographic Middle-Class Paradox
The data reveals a counterintuitive truth: higher income doesn’t always translate to greater financial security.
States with the highest middle-class thresholds tend to have:
- Higher housing costs (often 2-3x the national average)
- More expensive childcare (up to $26,000 annually in places like Massachusetts)
- Higher tax burdens (combined state/local taxes exceeding 13% in places like New York)
This creates what economists call the “high-income, high-cost trap”—where your paycheck looks impressive on paper but delivers less practical purchasing power.
CASE STUDY: The California Middle-Class Squeeze
Mark and Sarah, both tech professionals in San Jose, earn a combined $190,000 annually—placing them well within California’s middle-class range according to the data.
Despite this seemingly substantial income:
- Their monthly mortgage payment consumes 42% of their take-home pay
- Childcare for their two children costs $28,800 annually
- State income tax claims between 8% and 10.3% of their earnings (California has a progressive tax system)
- They save less than 5% of their income annually
The outcome: Despite earning more than 2.5x the national median household income, they report feeling “financially stressed” and “unable to get ahead.”
A 2023 study by the California Budget & Policy Center found that 65% of families earning between $100,000-$200,000 in coastal California metropolitan areas reported being unable to cover a $1,000 emergency expense without borrowing.
The Isolation Technique: Geographic Arbitrage
While most financial advisors focus on increasing income or cutting expenses, they overlook what may be the most powerful middle-class wealth-building strategy: geographic arbitrage.
This approach leverages the dramatic income threshold differences between states to instantly elevate your financial class standing.
According to research published in the Journal of Financial Planning, families who relocated from high-threshold states to moderate-threshold states while maintaining remote employment:
- Increased their discretionary income by an average of 37%
- Boosted their savings rate by 24 percentage points
- Reduced their time to financial independence by 6.5 years
This strategy works because income is increasingly location-independent, while middle-class thresholds remain highly location-dependent.
The Counterintuitive Truth: Higher Income Requirements ≠ Better Quality of Life
Conventional wisdom suggests that states with higher middle-class thresholds offer better living standards. The data tells a different story.
According to the U.S. News & World Report’s Quality of Life Rankings, among the top 10 states for overall quality of life, 7 have middle-class thresholds below the national average.
Multiple studies, including research from Princeton University, suggest that happiness levels plateau or even decrease in areas requiring extremely high incomes to maintain middle-class status, primarily due to longer work hours, longer commutes, and heightened financial stress.
This phenomenon is explained by what researchers call “financial stretching”—the psychological and financial strain of maintaining lifestyle expectations in high-cost areas.
The Content Upgrade: Income-to-Threshold Ratio (ITR)
Instead of focusing solely on raw income numbers, financial planners now recommend calculating your Income-to-Threshold Ratio (ITR):
ITR = Your Household Income ÷ Middle-Class Threshold in Your Area
This single metric provides more actionable insight than income alone:
- ITR < 0.67: Below middle class
- ITR 0.67-2.0: Middle class
- ITR > 2.0: Upper class
- ITR > 3.0: Upper-upper class
The real insight: An ITR of 1.5 in a lower-threshold state often provides greater financial security than an ITR of 0.9 in a high-threshold state.
Rapid Implementation: 5 Steps to Take Today
- Calculate your precise middle-class status using the table above and the ITR formula based on your household size and location
- Run a geographic arbitrage simulation by identifying 3 alternative states where your current income would yield a higher ITR (tools like SmartAsset’s Cost of Living Calculator make this simple)
- Identify your location-based financial drags by calculating what percentage of your income goes to housing, taxes, and other location-dependent expenses
- Perform a middle-class lifestyle audit by determining which “middle-class markers” actually matter to your happiness (homeownership? private schools? multiple vehicles?)
- Create a 90-day action plan that prioritizes either income growth, expense reduction, or geographic flexibility based on your personal ITR gap
The One Thing: Middle-Class Status Is a Geographic Choice
The most powerful insight from this data is that your middle-class status is not merely a function of your income—it’s increasingly a function of your geographic choice.
In today’s remote-work economy, where you earn has been decoupled from where you live for millions of Americans. This creates unprecedented financial leverage for those willing to embrace geographic flexibility.
The middle class isn’t disappearing—it’s redistributing. Those who recognize and act on the dramatic state-by-state variations in middle-class thresholds can achieve financial security that seemed impossible just a generation ago.
Your middle-class status isn’t just about what you earn—it’s about where you earn it.
