A Middle-Class Income Is $50,000 to $150,000 “The definition of middle income ranges from earning two-thirds to double the median household income,” said CFP and The Ways To Wealth founder R.J. Weiss, who cited the Pew Research Center's widely accepted definition of the term.
According to the Pew Research Center, the middle class includes Americans making between $38,133 and $114,400 in 2023.
One common way to classify the upper middle class is based on income. The upper middle class is often defined as the top 15% to 20% of earners. According to the Social Security Administration's 2022 wage data, the average upper-middle-class income was roughly between $80,000 and $100,000.
In California's Bay Area of San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley, families making between $77,000 and $232,000 are considered middle class. For California's Inland Empire region of Riverside, San Bernardino and Ontario, the range falls between $51,000 and $154,000.
On average, single workers in the US require an annual income of $57,200 to make a living wage in America, according to the analysis by GOBankingRates. That amount is a couple thousand less than the average income of all American workers, regardless of marital status — $59,428, according to Forbes.
Based on that figure, an annual income of $500,000 or more would make you rich. The Economic Policy Institute uses a different baseline to determine who constitutes the top 1% and the top 5%. For 2021, you're in the top 1% if you earn $819,324 or more each year. The top 5% of income earners make $335,891 per year.
What is the top 20 percent income in the U.S.? The top 20% of Americans earn over $130,545 in annual income.
In 2023, households earning at least $844,266 per year are considered among California's top 1%. On average, these high earners are taxed at a rate of 26.95%. In the Garden State, you'll need an annual household income of $817,346 to be in the top 1%.
While people have different qualifications and different ideas of what constitutes a good salary, most would consider $75,000 per year to be good pay.
1) Standard Definition Of Middle Class
$25,000-$100,000 a year is what most would consider as a middle class income.
In some regions with a lower cost of living, a $75,000 salary can provide a comfortable lifestyle and the ability to save for the future, making it a good income for your age. However, in high-cost-of-living areas, this salary might require careful budgeting to maintain the same standard of living.
What percentage of Americans make over 75K? Only 12.2% of Americans make in the $75,000 to $99,999 range. An additional 15.3% make between $100,000 and $149,000.
Statistics vary, but between 55 percent to 63 percent of Americans are likely living paycheck to paycheck.
Some or all studies may require download and/or purchase. U.S. respondents report, on average, a planned base salary increase of 3.8 percent in 2023. Among some industries, however, base salary increases reported by respondents may surpass 4.5 or even 5 percent for their employees.
As of 2023, the average salary in the USA varies largely across industries, job positions, age groups, levels of experience, and educational backgrounds. However, the average salary nationwide in the US, according to Forbes, is $59,428. On the other hand, median household income in the US was $70,784 in 2021.
United States Monthly Earnings stood at 4,702 USD in Dec 2023, compared with the previous figure of 4,695 USD in Nov 2023 See the table below for more data.
“In order to be considered "well off" how much money does one need to make a week in America on average?” The median household income in America is about $60,000/yr. If we take “well off” to mean “above average”, then the 75% percentile of the income distribution is about $110,000/yr. But this varies a lot by location.
An $80,000 annual salary might sound like a decent pile of money — and in fact it's about $10K higher than the national median household income of $70,784. However, a recent Bankrate study found that financial distress can strike even those making $80,000 per year.
The median household income in the U.S. is just under $75,000, so it makes sense that the largest proportion of those surveyed (45%) said that it's possible to be financially stable by earning between $50,000 and $100,000 a year.