The Minimum Salary To Be Upper-Middle Class
To be part of the top 20% of the middle class, you need to earn $106,092 and $149,160, — depending on your geographic location — according to a recent study by GOBankingRates.
If you make between $106,000 and $150,000, then you would probably be considered upper middle class in most states. However, the actual amount of income you need depends on various factors, such as household size and the affordability of your residential location.
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.
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.
Middle class is defined as income that is two-thirds to double the national median income, or $47,189 and $141,568. By that definition, $100,000 is considered middle class. Keep in mind that those figures are for the nation. Each state has a different range of numbers to be considered middle class.
Probably 1 in every 20 families have a net worth exceeding $3 Million, but most people's net worth is their homes, cars, boats, and only 10% is in savings, so you would typically have to have a net worth of $30 million, which is 1 in every 1000 families.
The top 10% of earners have an average net worth of $2.65 million. Even if you're squeaking into the upper class (the 80-90% range), you're looking at about $793,000. Moving down to the middle class, things get a bit more varied. The upper-middle class folks have an average net worth of around $300,800.
How much do you need to earn to be in the top 10% income bracket? A 2022 study by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) found that the top 10% of earners nationally received an average income of $167,639 in 2021.
$150k a year would afford you a decent LA lifestyle. You should be able to secure comfortable living accommodations and live reasonably well. Buying a house would be your major investment along with a vehicle.
Many have graduate degrees with educational attainment serving as the main distinguishing feature of this class. Household incomes commonly exceed $100,000, with some smaller one-income earners household having incomes in the high 5-figure range. "The upper middle class has grown...and its composition has changed.
Upper-Class: With an upper middle class net worth between $500,000 and $1 million, upper-class retirees enjoy a comfortable lifestyle. They have sufficient savings and investments to cover their needs without financial strain. Rich: Those who retire wealthy have a net worth exceeding $1 million.
$300,000 is a top 10% income. But unfortunately, making $300,000 will provide you a very middle class lifestyle in a big expensive city, especially if you have children. To make $300,000 usually means having to live in a more expensive city.
In 2022, the national middle-income range was about $56,600 to $169,800 annually for a household of three. Lower-income households had incomes less than $56,600, and upper-income households had incomes greater than $169,800. (Incomes are calculated in 2022 dollars.)
These are the upper-middle-class people. The upper-middle-class usually evolves out of people from the middle-class tier who are particularly resourceful or who achieve higher levels of education than the rest of the middle class. Examples of these people in today's society are doctors and lawyers.
While there's no definitive line, households in the top 20% of earners are generally considered 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.
Only 18% of individual Americans make more than $100,000 a year, according to 2023 data from careers website Zippia. About 34% of U.S. households earn more than $100,000 a year, according to Zippia.
Top earners across the United States earn at least six figures, with an average income of over $160,000 for those in the top 10% in 2021. Earners in the top 1% need to make $1 million annually in states like California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Washington.
For the second year in a row, petroleum engineering holds the top spot for highest-paying bachelor's degrees in 2024. Graduates in the field earn just shy of figures starting out and more than $200,000 with 10 or more years of experience.
Your net worth is what you own minus what you owe. It's the total value of all your assets—including your house, cars, investments and cash—minus your liabilities (things like credit card debt, student loans, and what you still owe on your mortgage).
According to estimates based on the Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances, a mere 3.2% of retirees have over $1 million in their retirement accounts. The number of those with $2 million or more is even smaller, falling somewhere between this 3.2% and the 0.1% who have $5 million or more saved.
With this amount of money in your pocket, you could afford to retire even earlier than planned. $3 million could also be enough for you to retire even earlier, at 40 or even 30, depending on the kind of retirement lifestyle you're after and the sorts of expenses you'll face month to month.
But according to Charles Schwab's 2024 Modern Wealth Survey, the general consensus is that a net worth of $778,000 will put most Americans into financial comfort. This survey collected information from 1,000 Americans aged 21-74.