The United States is home to some of the most expensive cities in the world, and middle-class residents are struggling to afford a decent life for themselves and their families. According to our latest analysis of the middle class's struggle with affordability, one-third of the American middle class cannot afford the cost of basic necessities as of 2023.

Using cost-of-living estimates from the Economic Policy Institute and demographic data from the U.S. Census Bureau, this report examines the affordability of 160 U.S. metro areas for middle-class households. Middle-class households are those with incomes within the middle 60% of income earners. Our analysis finds that in each metro area, at least 20% of the middle class cannot afford to live in that place, even after adjusting income ranges to account for local price variations.

This report also examines the state of affordability for middle-class families across racial groups, finding that affordability across the country is often further out of reach for families of color. Even within the middle class, proven historical income disparities by race and ethnicity permeate: The median income for middle-class families overall is $79,000, compared to $70,000 for Black families; $73,000 for Latino or Hispanic families; $75,000 for Native American families; $81,000 for white families; and $81,200 for Asian American families.

Who Is in the Middle Class, and What Is Affordability?

People may consider themselves “middle class” because of the house they grew up in, the education they attained, or a comparison of themselves to the people around them—concluding that they’re in the middle of the pack. These social indicators are important measures, but for the sake of consistency, most economists rely on income-based definitions of the middle class: typically, the middle 60% of income earners. The argument is that this middle segment of earners should be able to afford to live a comfortable life, to varying degrees.

Our definition of the middle class follows this economic assumption while also adjusting for geographic variation, following the methodology from Brookings’ Future of the Middle Class Initiative. We start with the Tax Policy Center’s income quintiles, which place the national middle class between the annual incomes of $30,000 and $153,000. We then shift these ranges up or down for all metro areas, following previous methodology that considers regional price parity (price differences across place) and average family size.1 This adjustment is based on academic and common knowledge that different cities are more expensive to live in than others, and that a family’s necessary income to be comfortably middle class will also change with the number of people in the household. For example, these adjustments shift middle-class income ranges in Youngstown, Ohio (at the lowest end) to between $24,454 and $124,716, while the income range for Los Angeles (at the highest end) shifts to between $36,561 and $186,459.

Read the full article about the middle class's struggle with affordability by Hannah Stephens and Andre M. Perry at Brookings.