Nobody likes being poor. We all want to be rich. Maybe some of us have a different definition about what that means. Or maybe you don’t necessarily want to be a millionaire, but having enough to cover rent, send the kids to a decent school, and maybe a nice out of town getaway once every year or two wouldn’t be so bad.
Maybe just having enough not to have to check every single store brand’s pricing to save 14¢ on your son’s 5th box of mac n’ cheese this month would be awesome.
In the past, there were differing ideas of what it took to be rich. Some people thought it was about your house, the kind of car you drive, others had their own definitions based upon achievements in life.
To most, however it always came down to yearly salary. If you made 6 figures a year, you were rich. Anything less, and there were diminishing returns. Now there’s the 1%, the poverty line, and hope of entering what most people consider the middle class is all-too-soon shrinking, if not completely eliminated.
Now we take a look at data released by the 2023 US Census. It has highlighted the exact pay ranges that ‘middle class’ lives at in each state. Excuse me a moment while I look into moving.
$100,000 ANNUALLY IS NO LONGER RICH
For any who want the info in raw list format, here is the Middle Class pay ranges, sorted alphabetically:
- Alabama: $41,471 – $124,424
- Alaska: $57,748 – $173,262
- Arizona: $51,538 – $154,630
- Arkansas: $39,129 – $117,400
- California: $63,674 – $191,042
- Colorado: $61,934 – $185,822
- Connecticut: $61,104 – $183,330
- Delaware: $54,235 – $162,722
- Florida: $48,869 – $146,622
- Georgia: $49,750 – $149,264
- Hawaii: $63,542 – $190,644
- Idaho: $49,956 – $149,884
- Illinois: $53,532 – $160,612
- Indiana: $46,313 – $138,954
- Iowa: $47,617 – $142,866
- Kansas: $46,884 – $140,666
- Kentucky: $40,741 – $122,236
- Louisiana: $38,815 – $116,458
- Maine: $49,150 – $147,466
- Maryland: $65,779 – $197,356
- Massachusetts: $66,565 – $199,716
- Michigan: $46,117 – $138,366
- Minnesota: $56,718 – $170,172
- Mississippi: $36,132 – $108,406
- Missouri $45,692 – $137,090
- Montana: $47,198 – $141,608
- Nebraska: $49,722 – $149,180
- Nevada: $50,904 – $152,728
- New Hampshire: $64,552 – $193,676
- New Jersey: $66,514 – $199,562
- New Mexico: $41,508 – $124,536
- New York: $54,725 – $164,190
- North Carolina: $47,198 – $141,608
- North Dakota: $51,012 – $153,050
- Ohio: $45,175 – $135,538
- Oklahoma: $41,421 – $124,276
- Oregon: $53,435 – $160,320
- Pennsylvania: $49,211 – $147,648
- Rhode Island: $56,642 – $169,944
- South Carolina: $45,198 – $135,608
- South Dakota: $47,869 – $143,620
- Tennessee: $45,083 – $135,262
- Texas: $50,515 – $151,560
- Utah: $62,274 – $186,842
- Vermont: $54,135 – $162,422
- Virginia: $59,948 – $179,862
- Washington: $63,064 – $189,210
- West Virginia: $37,295 – $111,896
- Wisconsin: $49,749 – $149,262
- Wyoming: $48,272 – $144,830
For any of you counting at home, there are 23 states where the gap is over $100,000. So if you were, for example, to make around $60,000 a year in the state of Massachusetts, you would be at a lower-class income level. Get a promotion? You now make $70,000 a year, you’ve made it to middle class! That’s got to feel amazing. Except that it would now take $129,716 of another raise to leave middle class and to be what is considered rich. Because that is totally going to happen before eggs are $50 a pack and they move the goal posts on us….. Now its $200k to be rich in some places. How soon will it be 500?
