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Pew Research Center’s free calculator places your household in a lower, middle, or upper income tier. It adjusts your pretax household income for household size and local cost of living, then compares the result with a distribution built from 2022 American Community Survey (ACS) data. It is an income-tier estimate. It is not an official designation, and it does not measure savings, debt, or overall financial security.
How to run the calculator
Pew’s tool is published on its September 16, 2024 article, “Are you in the U.S. middle class? Try our income calculator.” To get a result:
- Choose your location. Select your state or metropolitan area. The calculator covers 254 of the 387 metropolitan areas it identifies. If you live outside those metros, it reports a state estimate instead of a metro comparison.
- Enter pretax household income. The tool asks for household income, not just one person’s salary. If several adults share expenses and income, the figure should reflect everyone’s pretax income combined.
- Enter the number of people in the household. Household size changes the dollar thresholds, so a single person and a family of four with the same income can land in different tiers.
- Read the tier and the comparisons. You receive a tier placement, a comparison with adults in your metro area (or state) and with adults across the U.S., and an optional comparison with adults who share selected demographic characteristics.
The demographic comparison is context only. Pew states that these characteristics do not recalculate your income tier.
How the middle-income band is set
Pew defines middle-income Americans as people in households whose annual income falls between two-thirds and double the national median, after adjusting for household size. The calculator then adjusts for local cost of living. Because of both steps, there is no single dollar figure that marks the middle class for everyone.
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Pew’s calculator page gives these examples, all in 2022 dollars:
| Scenario | Lower threshold | Upper threshold | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Three-person household, national, before local adjustment | About $56,600 | About $169,800 | Pew’s national range for 2022 |
| Jackson, Tennessee (local price level 13.0% below the national average) | About $49,200 | Not stated | Lower threshold only is given in the source |
| San Francisco–Oakland–Berkeley (local price level 17.9% above the national average) | About $66,700 | Not stated | Lower threshold only is given in the source |
The gap between the two local examples shows how cost of living moves the line. The lower threshold in San Francisco–Oakland–Berkeley is about $17,500 higher than in Jackson, so the same household income can sit in a different tier depending on where you live.
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What the tier result can and cannot tell you
It is not an official classification
The U.S. Census Bureau states that it “does not have an official definition of the ‘middle class.'” Its income FAQ is the source for that statement. A Pew tier placement is an estimate from one calculator, not a government status.
Income is only one meaning of “middle class”
Pew’s 2024 report on the American middle class notes that the term can refer to education, occupation, economic security, home ownership, social or political values, or self-identification, as well as income. A household can fall in the middle-income band and still differ from the others on those dimensions, and the reverse is also true.
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It does not measure financial security
The calculator’s inputs are location, pretax household income, and household size. It does not ask about savings, debt, assets, or monthly expenses. A middle-income result therefore says where your income sits in a distribution. It does not say whether you can cover a large unexpected bill or are on track for retirement.
Two Pew percentages, two different analyses
Pew reports two figures for how many U.S. adults lived in middle-income households. They come from separate analyses and should not be treated as interchangeable.
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| Figure | Year | Source | Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| 52% of U.S. adults | 2022 | Pew calculator article, September 16, 2024, link | Pew’s analysis of government data behind the calculator |
| 51% of U.S. adults | 2023 | Pew middle-class report, May 31, 2024, link | A separate analysis using a different data source and method from the calculator |
When you compare your result with a Pew statistic, check the year and the method first. A one-point difference between these figures is not a trend.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Check the data year before relying on the result
Pew’s September 2024 article describes the calculator as based on 2022 ACS data, with ranges in 2022 dollars. Your result therefore shows where your household stands against that 2022 distribution, adjusted for local prices as they were measured then. It is not a live reading of current incomes or prices. Look at the calculator page for any update to its data year before using the result for a current decision.
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If you live outside the 254 covered metro areas, the state estimate is the closest comparison the tool provides. Treat it as a broader benchmark than a metro result.
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