In five California cities, a $100,000 median household income is considered lower-middle class, according to a Feb. 13 analysis from GoBankingRates.
The financial services company used the 2022 American Community Survey to find the 100 largest cities in terms of total households, then identified the median household income in those cities. It isolated a lower-class middle-income range based on Pew Research Center's definition of the middle class: households making two-thirds to double an area's median income.
Six-figure incomes still bring up the back-end of middle class in these 15 American cities, per the analysis:
1. Arlington, Va. — $152,652 is the maximum income considered lower-middle class
2. San Francisco — $151,877
3. San Jose, Calif. — $151,122
4. Irvine, Calif. — $136,609
5. Seattle — $128,964
6. Gilbert, Ariz. — $127,977
7. Plano, Texas — $117,421
8. Scottsdale, Ariz. — $115,774
9. Washington, D.C. — $113,024
10. Chandler, Ariz. — $110,416
11. San Diego, Calif. — $109,619
12. Anchorage, Alaska — $106,368
13. Oakland, Calif. — $104,877
14. Chesapeake, Va. — $103,003
15. Jersey City, N.J. — $101,279
