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Personal Finance
Personal finance website GOBankingRates cited the high cost of housing, childcare and transportation as contributing factors.
Anna Schier, Patch Staff
Anna Schier, Patch Staff
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There are three U.S. cities where people making a $150,000 income qualify as lower middle class and two of them are in California, according to recent research from GOBankingRates.
San Francisco and San Jose ranked second and third on the personal finance website’s list of cities with the highest lower-middle-class incomes. Arlington, Virginia, was first.
“In these high-cost cities, the exorbitant price of basics like housing, childcare and transportation means that middle-class families find themselves stretched thin financially even on relatively high household incomes,” according to GOBankingRates.
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Irvine ranked fourth on the website's list. San Diego was 11th and Oakland was 13th.
In San Francisco, the lower-middle-class income range is $91,126 to $151,877, GOBankingRates reported. In San Jose, it is $90,673 to $151,122.
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“In San Francisco, the median home price hit $1.2 million in December 2023. If you’re making $150K a year before taxes, that puts you in a tough spot for buying a home,” Alliance Wealth Management Founder Jeff Rose told GOBankingRates.
San Francisco’s cost of living is 79 percent above the national average and its cost of housing is 207 percent higher, the website reported, citing Payscale.
Things are only marginally better in Southern California.
The lower-middle-class income range for Irvine is $81,965 to $136,609, with a living cost that’s 51 percent over the national average, according to GOBankingRates. In San Diego, the lower-middle-class range is $65,771 to $109,619 and the cost of living is 44 percent higher than average, the website reported.
