Are You Middle Class? A Look at Income Brackets of Major Florida Cities

While some people have varying ideas of what it takes to be considered "middle class," Pew Research Center breaks it down for 20 major U.S. metros.

In the South Florida metro of Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, the low-end middle-class income is $43,000, while the high-end middle-class income is $128,000.

Additionally, in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater, the low-end middle-class income is $42,000, while the high-end middle-class income is $126,000.

What is the average middle-class income in the U.S.?

Pew defines the American middle class as anyone earning between two-thirds and twice the country's median household income, which was $70,784 in 2021, according to the United States Census Bureau.

This means that American households earning between $47,189 and $141,568 are technically in the country's middle class. However, other factors like family size and location can change what the middle class looks like.

According to Pew, the middle class has been shrinking throughout the last five decades as more Americans have entered either the upper or lower income brackets.

The latest data from 2021 shows the share of the population in the middle class continues to hover around 50% — roughly where it has been since 2011. Prior to that, the percentage of middle-class Americans had been consistently shrinking since a peak of 61% in 1971.

Here are the income thresholds for the middle class in the 20 most populous U.S. metros:

What does being middle class mean?

Because there is no official way to determine class, this breakdown is based on just one of many statistical-based definitions of the middle class.

Generally speaking, anyone who isn't living "paycheck-to-paycheck," but couldn't necessarily stop working tomorrow and be financially secure for the long term, might consider themselves to be in the middle class.

At least half of the U.S. adult population has consistently identified as middle- or upper-middle class since 2002, according to Gallup polling. The poll does not define "middle class" for respondents but simply asks how they identify.

As of April 2022, 52% of adults consider themselves to be middle- or upper-middle class. And statistically speaking, they could all be correct. But given different life situations and perceptions of wealth, there's a good chance not everyone who feels middle class actually is, and vice-versa.