The City With the Poorest Middle Class in Every State

"The rising cost of living in the United States in recent years, coupled with longer-term stagnation of wages, have eroded the ranks of the American middle class – which has long been a pillar of stability and driver of growth in the U.S. economy.

Typically, middle class households have disposable income for luxuries such as vacations and eating at restaurants, and are also able to put away money for savings and retirement. But because of economic conditions, households that fall in the middle of the income spectrum in much of the country may no longer meet some of these benchmarks of middle-class status.

Using metro area level data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2021 American Community Survey, 24/7 Wall St. identified the city with the weakest middle class in each state. For the purposes of this story, the middle class is defined as the middle 20% of earners at the household level. For each state, the metro area with the lowest income ceiling for the middle quintile of earners ranks as having the poorest middle class. All data is for 2021.

It is important to note that Delaware, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont are each home to only one metro area. As a result, the city listed for each of these states ranks as having the poorest middle class by default only. And though each metro area on this list ranks as having the weakest middle class in the state, there are several cases in which middle class households in these places earn more than the middle income households across the state as a whole.

Not only are middle class earnings relatively low in most of the cities on this list, but the broader population in general also tends to be poorer. In all but four of the metro areas listed, the typical household earns less than the statewide median household income. Additionally, in all but six metro areas on this list, the median household income is below the national median household income of $69,717."