{"id":8189,"date":"2026-09-01T19:15:17","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T19:15:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8189"},"modified":"2026-09-01T19:15:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T19:15:17","slug":"study-how-much-income-is-considered-middle-class-in-the-bay-area","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8189","title":{"rendered":"Study: How much income is considered middle-class in the Bay Area?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A new study looks at how much annual household income it takes to be considered middle-class in the most expensive cities in the U.S. Not surprisingly, Bay Area cities took up eight spots in the list of the 10 most expensive cities with a population over 100,000, compiled by MoneyLion, a mobile banking company.<\/p>\n

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The most affluent city on the list was Sunnyvale, with a median household income of $186,170 in 2024. However, to be considered upper-middle-class in the city, you will have to make in the range of $289,600 to $372,340, according to the study. In fact, in Sunnyvale, Fremont, Santa Clara and San Mateo, a household has to make in the $300K-plus range to be considered upper middle class.<\/p>\n

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The middle-class range in the study had a lower and upper limit. It used Pew Research\u2019s definition of middle class: two-thirds of the median household income on the lower end to double the median number on the upper end. Therefore, you could still be considered middle-class in Sunnyvale if your household made $124,113 a year, according to the data. Here are the results from the top 10 list:<\/p>\n

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1. Sunnyvale, California<\/strong><\/p>\n