Here’s How Much Money It Takes In GA To Be Middle Class

GEORGIA — About half of Americans are part of the middle class, but what it takes to be considered middle class isn’t the same in Georgia as it is in other places, according to a recent study.

“Middle class” is an inherently nebulous definition. The Pew Research Center defines people in the middle class as those whose incomes are between two-thirds and double the national median household income. Overall, nearly 20 percent of Americans have upper-class incomes, 28 percent have lower-class incomes and the vast majority fall into the middle class.

Because cost of living and average incomes vary so widely from state to state, the income needed to be “middle class” also greatly varies. Using Pew’s definition of the middle class, online banking company GOBanking.com analyzed the most recent American Community Survey data to determine middle-class income for every state in 2025.

In Georgia, where the median household income is $71,355 middle-class incomes range from $47,570 to $142,710.

That’s more than you need in neighboring Florida and Alabama, where middle-class incomes range from $45,278 to $135,834 and $39,739 to $119,218, respectively.

The Pew Research Center’s middle-class income calculator shows differences by metro area and by race or ethnicity, age, gender.

It shows that 53.8 percent of Atlanta metro residents have middle-class incomes, compared to 52 percent of U.S. residents and 53.6 percent of Tampa-St. Pete metro residents.