The Changing Definition of Middle Class in American Cities.

A new study by SmartAsset has found that the income required to be considered middle class varies greatly across the United States, with San Francisco requiring $82,000, Seattle requiring $74,000, and Washington, D.C. requiring $60,000, while Cleveland only requires $24,000. The study used the Pew Research Center's definition of middle class, which ranges from two-thirds to two times the median household income. The report provides a gauge of how far one's salary might go and how relatively prosperous one might feel in different cities. Pew's analysis shows that the share of American adults who populate the middle class shrank from 61% in 1971 to 50% in 2021.