Here's How Much You Need To Make To Be Middle Class In PA: Report

PENNSYLVANIA — How much does someone in the Keystone State need to earn to be a part of the middle class?

Nearly 40 percent more than what it took to land in the middle class just over a decade ago, according to a new report using U.S. Census Bureau data conducted by GOBankingRules.

While a household income of $35,364 qualified the average American as a member of the middle class in 2012, the threshold number has increased to $50,099 in 2022, according to the report. That’s a 41.6 percent increase over 10 years.

And though the highest household middle class income was considered to be $106,092 in 2012, the national high end of the middle class household marker now stands at $150,298 in 2022, the report added.

However, as the study points out, the middle class requirements for each state vary. In Pennsylvania, the 2012 middle-class income range of $34,845 to $104,534 has increased 39.99 percent to $48,780 to $146,340 in 2022.

Pennsylvania's middle class still proves to be easier to enter than New Jersey, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Washington and even Maryland — the state with the highest household income needed to be middle class at $65,641 to $196,922. Mississippi reports the lowest household income needed to be middle class, with a $35,323 salary considered to be the middle class benchmark in the state in 2022.

Oregon saw the biggest increase in the household income needed to be middle class, with a 53.15 percent increase from 2012 to 2022; Alaska saw the smallest change within the decade, with the household income needed to be middle class in Alaska increasing by just 23.53 percent from 2012 to 2022.

You can read the full report from GOBankingRules here.