Business Insider’s US middle class income charts, done better

How much do you need to make to be middle class in each US state?

An older neighborhood scene in Sanford, Florida. Creative Commons photo by Steven Martin. Click to see the source.

Last week, Business Insider published an article titled How much you have to earn to be considered middle class in every US state. The meat of the article was contained in the chart pictured on the right (you can click on it to see the original article and the chart at full size).

The problem with the chart is that it’s a graphic. All you can do is read it. You can’t copy-and-paste them so that you can do your own math or check Business Insider’s math; if you want to work with the numbers, you have to a fair bit of typing.

I thought I’d fix that. I opened up a new spreadsheet at typed in the states and corresponding median household incomes listed on Business Insider’s chart, and had the spreadsheet do the rest of the math. Better still, I saved the spreadsheet as a .CSV file so you can import them into your favorite number-crunching tool and have at them.

Table 1: What your household needs to earn to be middle class in each U.S. state

State	Median annual household income	Median monthly household income	Middle class lower bound (two-thirds of median)	Middle class upper bound (twice median)
Maryland	$ 72,483	$ 6,040	$ 48,564	$ 144,966
Alaska	$ 72,237	$ 6,020	$ 48,399	$ 144,474
New Jersey	$ 70,165	$ 5,847	$ 47,011	$ 140,330
Hawaii	$ 68,020	$ 5,668	$ 45,573	$ 136,040
D.C.	$ 67,572	$ 5,631	$ 45,273	$ 135,144
Connecticut	$ 67,098	$ 5,592	$ 44,956	$ 134,196
Massachusetts	$ 66,768	$ 5,564	$ 44,735	$ 133,536
New Hampshire	$ 64,230	$ 5,353	$ 43,034	$ 128,460
Virginia	$ 62,666	$ 5,222	$ 41,986	$ 125,332
Minnesota	$ 60,702	$ 5,059	$ 40,670	$ 121,404
California	$ 60,190	$ 5,016	$ 40,327	$ 120,380
Utah	$ 59,770	$ 4,981	$ 40,046	$ 119,540
Colorado	$ 58,823	$ 4,902	$ 39,411	$ 117,646
Wyoming	$ 58,752	$ 4,896	$ 39,364	$ 117,504
Washington	$ 58,405	$ 4,867	$ 39,131	$ 116,810
Delaware	$ 57,846	$ 4,821	$ 38,757	$ 115,692
New York	$ 57,369	$ 4,781	$ 38,437	$ 114,738
Illinois	$ 56,210	$ 4,684	$ 37,661	$ 112,420
Rhode Island	$ 55,902	$ 4,659	$ 37,454	$ 111,804
North Dakota	$ 55,709	$ 4,642	$ 37,325	$ 111,418
Vermont	$ 52,578	$ 4,382	$ 35,227	$ 105,156
Iowa	$ 52,229	$ 4,352	$ 34,993	$ 104,458
Pennsylvania	$ 52,007	$ 4,334	$ 34,845	$ 104,014
Texas	$ 51,704	$ 4,309	$ 34,642	$ 103,408
Wisconsin	$ 51,467	$ 4,289	$ 34,483	$ 102,934
Nebraska	$ 51,440	$ 4,287	$ 34,465	$ 102,880
Nevada	$ 51,230	$ 4,269	$ 34,324	$ 102,460
Kansas	$ 50,972	$ 4,248	$ 34,151	$ 101,944
Oregon	$ 50,251	$ 4,188	$ 33,668	$ 100,502
South Dakota	$ 48,947	$ 4,079	$ 32,794	$ 97,894
Arizona	$ 48,510	$ 4,043	$ 32,502	$ 97,020
Michigan	$ 48,273	$ 4,023	$ 32,343	$ 96,546
Ohio	$ 48,081	$ 4,007	$ 32,214	$ 96,162
Georgia	$ 47,829	$ 3,986	$ 32,045	$ 95,658
Indiana	$ 47,529	$ 3,961	$ 31,844	$ 95,058
Maine	$ 46,974	$ 3,915	$ 31,473	$ 93,948
Montana	$ 46,972	$ 3,914	$ 31,471	$ 93,944
Missouri	$ 46,931	$ 3,911	$ 31,444	$ 93,862
Idaho	$ 46,783	$ 3,899	$ 31,345	$ 93,566
Florida	$ 46,036	$ 3,836	$ 30,844	$ 92,072
North Carolina	$ 45,906	$ 3,826	$ 30,757	$ 91,812
Oklahoma	$ 45,690	$ 3,808	$ 30,612	$ 91,380
Tennessee	$ 44,297	$ 3,691	$ 29,679	$ 88,594
Louisiana	$ 44,164	$ 3,680	$ 29,590	$ 88,328
South Carolina	$ 44,163	$ 3,680	$ 29,589	$ 88,326
New Mexico	$ 43,872	$ 3,656	$ 29,394	$ 87,744
Kentucky	$ 43,399	$ 3,617	$ 29,077	$ 86,798
Alabama	$ 42,849	$ 3,571	$ 28,709	$ 85,698
West Virginia	$ 41,253	$ 3,438	$ 27,640	$ 82,506
Arkansas	$ 40,511	$ 3,376	$ 27,142	$ 81,022
Mississippi	$ 37,963	$ 3,164	$ 25,435	$ 75,926

Want this data? Download it! [3 KB CSV file]

How much do you need to make to be middle class in the 50 biggest US metro areas?

Cass Street Bridge and Downtown Tampa Reflected in the Hillsborough River. Creative Commons photo by Matthew Paulson. Click to see the source.

Yesterday, Business Insider published a similar article, Here’s what you have to earn to be considered middle class in the 50 biggest US cities. Once again, they included a chart, once again, that chart was in graphic format, and once again, I did a little work to make the data more usable. This time, I went straight to their source, the US Census Bureau’s 2013 American Community Survey. After figuring out their crazy user interface, I was able to extract the information I needed and turn it into the table and CSV file below.

Table 2: What your household needs to earn to be middle class in the 50 largest U.S. metropolitan areas

Metropolitan area	Total estimated households	Median estimated annual household income	Middle class lower bound (two-thirds of estimated median)	Middle class upper bound (twice estimated median)
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	7,080,691	$ 65,786	$ 44,077	$ 131,572
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	4,251,495	$ 58,869	$ 39,442	$ 117,738
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	3,450,331	$ 60,564	$ 40,578	$ 121,128
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	2,406,092	$ 57,398	$ 38,457	$ 114,796
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	2,218,312	$ 60,482	$ 40,523	$ 120,964
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX	2,158,139	$ 57,366	$ 38,435	$ 114,732
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	2,133,062	$ 90,149	$ 60,400	$ 180,298
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	2,032,438	$ 46,946	$ 31,454	$ 93,892
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	1,954,348	$ 55,733	$ 37,341	$ 111,466
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	1,763,437	$ 72,907	$ 48,848	$ 145,814
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	1,658,085	$ 51,857	$ 34,744	$ 103,714
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA	1,654,554	$ 79,624	$ 53,348	$ 159,248
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ	1,553,429	$ 51,847	$ 34,737	$ 103,694
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	1,392,337	$ 67,479	$ 45,211	$ 134,958
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	1,332,110	$ 67,194	$ 45,020	$ 134,388
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	1,297,675	$ 53,220	$ 35,657	$ 106,440
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL	1,139,923	$ 45,880	$ 30,740	$ 91,760
St. Louis, MO-IL	1,105,652	$ 54,449	$ 36,481	$ 108,898
San Diego-Carlsbad, CA	1,093,386	$ 61,426	$ 41,155	$ 122,852
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	1,037,921	$ 68,455	$ 45,865	$ 136,910
Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO	1,035,096	$ 62,760	$ 42,049	$ 125,520
Pittsburgh, PA	988,106	$ 51,291	$ 34,365	$ 102,582
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	881,822	$ 59,168	$ 39,643	$ 118,336
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	859,709	$ 51,251	$ 34,338	$ 102,502
Cleveland-Elyria, OH	844,428	$ 49,358	$ 33,070	$ 98,716
Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	822,005	$ 53,378	$ 35,763	$ 106,756
Kansas City, MO-KS	798,618	$ 56,248	$ 37,686	$ 112,496
Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade, CA	792,639	$ 57,027	$ 38,208	$ 114,054
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL	780,174	$ 46,962	$ 31,465	$ 93,924
San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX	778,939	$ 51,716	$ 34,650	$ 103,432
Columbus, OH	750,394	$ 54,079	$ 36,233	$ 108,158
Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN	739,503	$ 51,087	$ 34,228	$ 102,174
Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV	713,577	$ 51,057	$ 34,208	$ 102,114
Austin-Round Rock, TX	688,938	$ 61,750	$ 41,373	$ 123,500
Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN	662,187	$ 51,996	$ 34,837	$ 103,992
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	636,628	$ 91,533	$ 61,327	$ 183,066
Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC	625,540	$ 56,161	$ 37,628	$ 112,322
Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI	622,962	$ 51,957	$ 34,811	$ 103,914
Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	618,975	$ 55,055	$ 36,887	$ 110,110
Jacksonville, FL	516,144	$ 51,495	$ 34,502	$ 102,990
Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN	494,276	$ 50,905	$ 34,106	$ 101,810
Oklahoma City, OK	493,315	$ 50,136	$ 33,591	$ 100,272
Memphis, TN-MS-AR	492,311	$ 46,962	$ 31,465	$ 93,924
New Orleans-Metairie, LA	479,366	$ 45,981	$ 30,807	$ 91,962
Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, NY	469,897	$ 50,548	$ 33,867	$ 101,096
Richmond, VA	467,399	$ 57,286	$ 38,382	$ 114,572
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	464,315	$ 66,356	$ 44,459	$ 132,712
Raleigh, NC	449,589	$ 61,710	$ 41,346	$ 123,420
Birmingham-Hoover, AL	431,462	$ 48,328	$ 32,380	$ 96,656
Rochester, NY	425,603	$ 51,857	$ 34,744	$ 103,714
Tucson, AZ	391,975	$ 43,824	$ 29,362	$ 87,648