File photo, 1950. (Archive Holdings Inc. via Getty Images)
A new study by Consumer Affairs has figured out the minimum annual income required for a family of four to be considered middle class in each state.
The middle class is capturing a lower share of income than in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, according to Oliver Rust, head of product at independent inflation data aggregator Truflation. During an interview with Consumer Affairs, he said that in the two decades since the mid-2000s, the portion of the country that is middle class has shrunk from roughly 60%.
Instead, there has been a steep increase at the extreme bottom and top of the economic spectrum.
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What causes inflation?
There are three factors that could lead to inflation which include demand-pull inflation, cost-push inflation and built-in inflation.
Inflation has surged in the past few years, peaking at 9% in June 2022. That means some families who were middle class in 2020 may no longer be in that category. The Pew Research Center says the share of adults who live in middle-class households fell from 61% in 1971 to 50% in 2021.
So what is the minimum annual income required in 2023 for a family of four to be middle class in each state? Consumer Affairs found those numbers by using a calculator provided by the Pew Research Center and an inflation calculator provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Minimum annual middle-class income by state
Hawaii tops the list, with an annual income of $82,630 required to be considered middle class. Other states topping the list include the District of Columbia and New York (tied for No. 2), New Jersey and Connecticut (tied for No. 3), and Massachusetts (No. 4). The bottom five include Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, West Virginia and Mississippi.
LINK: See the full list
A different study earlier this year by SmartAsset revealed what $100,000 is actually worth in the largest U.S. cities. Memphis, Tennessee topped the list, though the top 10 included a number of cities in Texas. Perhaps not surprisingly, Honolulu, Hawaii was second-worst, only to New York City.
The nation’s median household income was $70,784 in 2021, according to census data.