Sustaining a center class standing in Houston solely will get more durable because the years go on, and the revenue ceiling to even be labeled as such has simply risen even larger. So says SmartAsset’s annual “What It Takes to Be Center Class in America” report for 2025.
Based on the newest findings, a Houston family would want to make a minimal of $41,754 however not more than $125,274 to be thought-about “center class.” For added context, the median revenue of a Houston family was $62,637 in 2023.
Final 12 months, the mandatory wage vary to keep up a center class designation in Houston was between $40,280 and $120,852 a 12 months.
The report used a variation of Pew Analysis’s definition of a center class family, stating the wage vary is “two-thirds to double the median U.S. wage.” To find out revenue limits, the report analyzed knowledge from the Census Bureau’s 2023 one-year American Neighborhood Survey, the place the latest knowledge was obtainable. New to the 2025 version, SmartAsset additionally decided the center class revenue thresholds for all 50 states.
Arlington, Virginia has the very best center class revenue vary within the nation, with households needing to make between $93,470 and $280,438 a 12 months to be labeled “center class.”
In a shift from the 2024 report, SmartAsset determined to solely analyze the highest 100 most populous U.S. cities, after beforehand rating 345 cities. Meaning Houston-area suburbs like The Woodlands and Sugar Land – which had been among the many high 15 cities with the very best center class revenue threshold nationwide in 2024 – had been excluded on this 12 months’s evaluation.
Houston ranked seventy fifth within the nationwide comparability of U.S. cities with the very best center class revenue ranges, after rating No. 254 in 2024.
Center class wage ranges in throughout the 50 states
SmartAsset says Texas has the twenty third largest center class revenue vary. Texas households would want to make between $50,515 and $151,560 to be labeled “center class,” and the median family revenue within the state was $75,780 in 2023.
The No. 1 state with the very best revenue vary required is Massachusetts, with center class households needing to make between $66,565 and $199,716 yearly in 2025.
The examine says price of residing adjustments, rising inflation charges, and shifting wages nationwide have made it harder for Individuals to keep up their “center class” standing.
“For middle-class Individuals, the dream has lengthy been a lifetime of cheap consolation — a steady house, the flexibility to avoid wasting sufficient cash to retire, and sufficient left over for periodic splurges like household holidays, up to date automobiles, or house enhancements,” the report’s creator wrote. “However with residing prices surging over the previous few years, that dream is getting pricier.”
Center class revenue thresholds elsewhere in Texas
Plano is the Texas metropolis that has the very best revenue vary to be designated “center class” within the state, and ranked No. 7 nationwide. Plano households have to make between $72,389 and $217,188 in 2025 to keep up their center class standing, the report discovered.
On the other finish of the dimensions, center class earners in Lubbock have the smallest revenue vary essential to be labeled center class: Between $36,297 and $108,902 a 12 months. Town ranked 92nd nationwide.
Right here’s what it takes to be a center class earner in different Texas cities:
- No. 18 – Austin: $60,995 to $183,002 yearly
- No. 43 – Irving: $52,885 to $158,670 yearly
- No. 46 – Fort Price: $51,383 to $154,164 yearly
- No. 55 – Garland: $47,815 to $143,458 yearly
- No. 59 – Dallas: $46,743 to $140,242 yearly
- No. 61 – Arlington: $46,134 to $138,416 yearly
- No. 73 – Corpus Christi: $43,421 to $130,276 yearly
- No. 78 – San Antonio: $41,544 to $124,644 yearly
- No. 82 – Laredo: $40,476 to $121,440 yearly
- No. 86 – El Paso: $38,208 to $114,634 yearly
