What is considered middle class in Washington state? See income ranges across the country

A new study found that in Washington state, you can make more than $200,000 and still be considered middle class.

In a study released late February, SmartAsset, which provides consumer-focused financial information, calculated the middle-class income ranges for every state and major city in the United States. In Washington, a household can be considered middle class if it makes between $63,064 and $189,210. However, that range can change at the city level.

The study found that the “upper bounds” of middle-class income in Seattle were $241,216, and in Spokane, it was $130,032.

SmartAsset used U.S. Census Bureau’s 2023 American Community Survey 1-year data and analyzed the median household income in 100 of the largest U.S. cities and all states. SmartAsset used “a variation” of the Pew Research Center’s definition of middle-income households to determine the middle-class income range, “which defines a middle-class salary range by two-thirds to double” the median salary.

The median income in Washington is $94,605, according to SmartAsset.

Washington is the state with the seventh-highest income needed by a household to remain middle class, following Maryland, New Hampshire, California, and Hawaii.

See the top 10 cities in the country with the highest middle-class income ranges, according to SmartAsset

• Arlington, Virginia: $93,470-$280,438
• San Jose, California: $90,810-$272,458
• Irvine, California: $85,317-$255,978
• San Francisco, California: $84,478-$253,460
• Gilbert, Arizona: $81,622-$244,890
• Seattle, Washington: $80,397-$241,216
• Plano, Texas: $72,133-$216,420
• Chula Vista, California: $71,075-$213,246
• Scottsdale, Arizona: $70,698-$212,116

What is upper-middle-class income in Washington?

Meanwhile, a study from GOBankingRates released in March revealed the upper middle-class income ranges in every state in the U.S. The upper middle-class income is “represented by the top third of incomes within the middle-class income range,” according to the study.

In Washington, the upper-middle-class income ranges from $147,704 to $189,904. That’s among the highest upper-middle-class income ranges in America, only beaten by New Hampshire, California, Hawaii, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.

GOBankingRates used the 2023 American Community Survey to determine every state’s median household income to find its middle-class income range (also using a definition where middle-class income is two-thirds to double the income of an area).