This how much you really need to earn to be considered middle class in America

There’s a nearly $100,000 difference between the household incomes it takes to be considered middle class in cities across the United States, new data shows.

Households in Cleveland, Ohio, must earn at least $23,827 a year to be considered middle class, while nationwide in tech cities like Fremont, California, the lower threshold to break into the middle class is $104,499.

The gap between the top of middle-class household incomes in those cities was even wider — peaking at $71,124 in Cleveland and $311,936 in Fremont.

Data was collected by SmartAsset using the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey and combined with statistics from Per Research Center, according to Diggand compared the upper and lower middle class thresholds in 100 cities, along with those in all fifty states.

By state, Maryland came in as the richest state to be middle class with a median household income of $180,406, followed closely by Washington DC and then New Hampshire. The states with the lowest wealth for the middle class were Mississippi with a median household income of $32,640, followed closely by Louisiana and West Virginia.

The West Coast dominated the list of wealthiest cities for the middle class, with California cities taking four of the top 10 spots, three cities in Arizona and Washington one.

That data also indicated that those cities were hardest to become middle class — with six-figure incomes, while households in most cities across the country needed five-figure incomes as low as $30,000.

Fremont, California, was the richest middle-class city of all 100 surveyed, with a household income of $104,499, a median income of $155,968, and an upper limit of $311,936. San Jose, California landed at number two with a bottom of $84,673, a median of $126,377 and a top of $252,754.

Arlington, Virginia ranked number three with a middle-class household income of $84,186 per year, a median of $125,651, and an upper limit of $251,302 per year. At number four, San Francisco’s bottom of the middle class was $81,623, the median was $121,826, and the top was $243,652.

In fourth place was Seattle with a bottom of $74,223, a median of $110,781 and a top of $221,562. Number five was Irvine, California with the bottom of the middle class incomes at $70,869, the medians at $105,774 and the top at $211,548.

Gilbert, Arizona was number seven with a middle-class household income of $70,217, a median of $104,802, and a high-end of $209,604. Also in Arizona, Scottsdale was eight with a starting income of $66,395, a median of $99,097 and an upper limit of $198,194.

Ninth spot was Plano, Texas, with a lower middle class threshold of $63,651 per year, a median of $95,002 and a cap of $190,004. Chandler, Arizona was the tenth richest city for the middle class with entry income of $63,391, median of $94,613 and high end of $189,226.

Cleveland, Ohio had the lowest affluent middle class of any major city in the United States

Fremont, California had the richest middle class of any city in the United States

Ohio dominated the bottom ten cities for middle-class wealth, with Cleveland at number one, Cincinatti at number four, and Toledo at six.

Detroit had the second lowest wealth in the middle class with a bottom of $24,214, a median of $36,140, ​​and a top of $72,280. Buffalo had a starting income of $27,248, a median of $40,669 and an upper limit of $81,338.

At the state level, the Northeast dominated the rest of the country, with middle-class household incomes 20 percent higher than the South.

Maryland and New Hampshire took the top spots – with average incomes of $180, 406 and $180,176, followed by New Hampshire, Massachusetts and New Jersey with incomes of $176,930, $179,290 and $178,592.

Following those states were California with a middle class income of $169,814, Washington with $168,494, Connecticut with $167,542, and Colorado with $164,508.

It comes after other data from SmartAsset, which found that a $100,000 salary goes furthest in Memphis, Tennessee, while New York City is the worst city in the US to live on the sum.

In Memphis, the carry-over value of the six-figure salary combined with the local cost of living equates to about $86,000, while in New York City it equates to only about $35,000.

Seven of the 10 cheapest cities — where $100,000 went the farthest — were in Texas, while six of the most expensive cities were in California and on the West Coast.

The surprising data took into account state and local taxes, local costs of living and the effects of recent inflation to determine which cities were the cheapest and most expensive to live in.

Faced with rising inflation, Americans have become nostalgic for prices from just two years ago — when the cost of basic groceries was nearly half their price.

In the past, people may have cynically remembered how the cost of everyday items had risen in recent decades, but now people are seeing prices escalate before their very eyes, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Avocados averaged $1 each in early 2021, but had risen to $2.50 just a year later.

“There’s an element of whiplash,” a 41-year-old marketing consultant told the newspaper. “Was that a bygone era of my childhood, or was that just last year?”

But according to finance professors, psychology also plays a role. On average, people exaggerate the rate of inflation and remember that prices were lower than they actually were.