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Where in the U.S. Does Middle-Class Income Stretch the Furthest? (upgradedpoints.com)
9 points by vanburen 15 days ago | hide | past | favorite | 8 comments



These are mostly cities in large metro areas where the lower-middle and middle-middle class is priced out of living in the central areas, causing them to be excluded from income percentiles and such when examining cities-proper


Does median income in a city == middle-class? I think that would be pretty skewed in cities with a lot of people commuting in to work because they can't afford to live near their job.


There is a good reason young people go into so much debt for degrees in spite of the insistence by pundits of college being a bubble: the pay bump is worth it, and not just tech jobs. VHCOL areas also have the highest paying jobs, and rapid home appreciation is another tailwind too. Many people who bought homes in Bay Area even as recently as before Covid are sitting on large gains.


Average couple pays $34k a year for housing.. That's $2800 a month folks.. Guess we all need to move to San Jose


I'm very surprised at these claims of what constitutes the median income.


Yeah, they seem very wrong. Checking a couple: What they say for Washington $153,000 what the US census says $94,952

What they say for Kansas $126,270 what the US census says $72,639

What they say for North Dakota $133,770 what the US census says $75,949


That state median average of $95K makes sense for Washington state, but the Seattle median (which they say is actually $189K) just seems way too high by comparison. It'd imply people on the other side of the state are making much less than $95k per household. That may be true, I grew up over there and there is plenty of poverty. But, it's especially weird considering how much of the state's high-earning population lives within commuting distance of the city, but not in it, which would further drive down the median income in, say, Yakima or Spokane. My guess is those numbers are wacky.


> Available income estimates exclude taxes owed on leftover income, as investing in pretax retirement accounts can significantly impact tax amounts.

lol. Makes San Jose a ridiculous #1 for this list




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