What is middle class in California?

Asked by: Mrs. Elena Crooks  |  Last update: January 19, 2026
Score: 4.9/5 (19 votes)

Using the Pew Research definition of middle class, GOBankingRates calculated that households must earn between $61,269 and $183,810 to be considered middle class in California. The median household income in California is $91,905 and falls squarely within the middle-class range, both nationally and state wide.

What salary is middle class in California?

In California, the median income is higher than the nationwide average. A study from the personal finance site SmartAsset earlier this year found that the middle-income range for the state falls between $61,269 and $183,810, with the median household income at $91,905. Check to see where you fall in your metro area.

What is considered upper class in California?

Your household would need to earn at least $64,224 to be considered middle class in the Garden State, and earning more than $192,692 would put you in the upper class.

What salary is upper-middle class?

While an income of $106,000 to $150,000 lands you in the upper middle class based on national averages, this isn't the case if you live somewhere with a much higher cost of living or need to adjust for household size, cost and property taxes. California, for example, has a threshold of $159,302 to be considered upper ...

Is 100k considered low income in California?

In five California cities, a $100,000 median household income is considered lower-middle class, according to a Feb. 13 analysis from GoBankingRates.

Who are the "middle class" in Southern California?

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Am I low class or middle class?

Middle-income households – those with an income that is two-thirds to double the U.S. median household income – had incomes ranging from about $56,600 to $169,800 in 2022. Lower-income households had incomes less than $56,600, and upper-income households had incomes greater than $169,800.

What are the five income classes?

For the purposes of this article, those with an income in the bottom 20 percentile will be identified as lower class, followed by lower-middle class (up to 40th percentile), middle class (up to 60th percentile), upper-middle class (up to 80th percentile) with the remainder considered upper class.

What salary is considered wealthy?

In 2021, it reported that you're in the top 1% if you earned $819,324 or more each year. And the top 5% of income earners made $335,891 per year. A 2019 survey from the IRS, however, places top 1% earners at a much lower income level with $540,009. And top 10% at $151,935.

Is $100,000 a year considered middle class?

Is $100,000 Salary a Middle Class Income? This depends on your household size and location. For a single individual, $100,000 would actually put you in the upper-income level in most places. For household sizes between two and four, $100,000 a year would put you squarely in the middle class.

What percent of Californians make over 100k?

In California, 17.1% of households earn incomes of $100,000 to $149,999, with 15.3% earning $50,000 to $74,999 and 13.3% earning $200,000 or more.

What is considered rich in CA?

How rich is rich in California? As of 2022, the top 5% of earners in the state made $613,602 a year on average, according to a recent analysis from personal finance site GoBankingRates. That's roughly a 37% increase from 2017, when top earners raked in an average annual income of $447,207.

Is 75k salary good in California?

California ranks number 50 out of 50 states nationwide for $75000 salaries.

What income is middle class in 2024?

According to the data, the middle-class household income averages across the U.S. ranged between $52,000 and $98,500 in 2024. But the study also found that the income levels required to be considered middle-class varied significantly depending on where a person lived.

What salary is considered high class in California?

As of Jan 16, 2025, the average annual pay for the Upper Class jobs category in California is $58,459 a year. Just in case you need a simple salary calculator, that works out to be approximately $28.11 an hour. This is the equivalent of $1,124/week or $4,871/month.

At what salary do you feel rich?

$520,000. That's how much income Americans think they would need, on average, to feel rich, according to Bankrate's Financial Freedom Survey published in July. That salary would put you comfortably among the top 2% of American earners, according to Census data.

Is $1500 a week good money?

A 1500 Week in your area makes on average $20 per hour, or $0.59 (30.141%) more than the national average hourly salary of $19.56.

What salary is upper class?

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median household income in 2022 was $74,580. To reach the upper class in 2024, you'd typically need an income exceeding $153,000 – more than double the national median. Don't Miss: Are you rich?

Is 160K a good salary in California?

160K Salary in California. $136,112 is the 25th percentile. Salaries below this are outliers. $154,228 is the 75th percentile.

What is the average income in California 2024?

You may wonder how much you can expect to earn. While pay depends on a number of factors, the average annual salary in California is $73,220. That's according to a 2024 analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data conducted by Forbes.

What is middle class income in California?

Using the Pew Research definition of middle class, GOBankingRates calculated that households must earn between $61,269 and $183,810 to be considered middle class in California. The median household income in California is $91,905 and falls squarely within the middle-class range, both nationally and state wide.

Do I count as middle class?

That means on a national level, the middle class includes households earning between $53,740 and $161,220 a year.

How do you become classed as middle class?

According to the OECD, the middle class refers to households with income between 75% and 200% of the median national income.