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

VIRGINIA — About half of Americans are part of the middle class, but what it takes to be considered middle class isn’t the same in Virginia 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 Virginia, where the median household income is $87,249, middle-class incomes range from $58,165 to $174,498.

That’s less than you need in neighboring Maryland, where middle-class incomes range from $65,640 to $196,922, but more than you need in West Virginia, where middle-class incomes range from $36,811 to $110,434

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

It shows that 49.1 percent of Washington, D.C. metro residents have middle-class incomes, compared to 52 percent of U.S. residents, 55.1 percent of Richmond metro residents and 57.8 percent of Roanoke residents.