{"id":187041,"date":"2026-03-02T17:59:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T17:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/187041\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T17:59:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T17:59:07","slug":"how-much-income-it-takes-to-be-middle-class-in-sa-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/187041\/","title":{"rendered":"How much income it takes to be middle class in SA in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A new study tracking the upper and lower thresholds for middle class households across the nation&#8217;s largest cities has revealed that San Antonians have to make at least a few grand more than last year to maintain their middle class status this year.<\/p>\n<p>According to SmartAsset&#8217;s just-released annual <a href=\"https:\/\/smartasset.com\/data-studies\/middle-class-2026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">report<\/a>, &#8220;What It Takes to Be Middle Class in America \u2013 2026 Study,&#8221; San Antonio households need to make anywhere from $44,117 to $132,352 to qualify as middle-class earners this year. <\/p>\n<p>Compared to <a href=\"https:\/\/sanantonio.culturemap.com\/news\/city-life\/middle-class-income-range-2025\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">2025<\/a>, San Antonians need to make $2,573 more per year to meet the minimum threshold for a middle-class status, whereas the upper bound has stretched $7,708 higher. The median income for a San Antonio household in 2024 was $66,176, the study added.<\/p>\n<p>SmartAsset&#8217;s experts used 2024 Census Bureau median household income data for the 100 biggest U.S. cities and all 50 states and determined middle-class income ranges by using a variation of Pew Research&#8217;s definition of a middle-class household, stating the salary range is &#8220;two-thirds to double the median U.S. salary.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In the report&#8217;s ranking of the U.S. cities with the highest household incomes needed to maintain a middle class status, San Antonio ranked No. 77.<\/p>\n<p>What it takes to be middle-class elsewhere in Texas<br \/>In the report&#8217;s state-by-state comparison, Texas has the 24th largest middle class income range. Overall, Texas households need to make between $53,147 and $159,442 to be labeled &#8220;middle-class&#8221; in 2026. For additional context, the median income for a Texas household in 2024 came out to $79,721.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Often, the expectations that come with the term &#8216;middle class&#8217; include reaching home ownership, raising kids, the comfort of modest emergency funds and retirement savings, and the occasional splurge or vacation,&#8221; the report said. &#8220;And as the median household income varies widely across the U.S. depending on the local job market, housing market, infrastructure, and other factors, so does it swing the bounds on what constitutes a middle-class income in America.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Two Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs \u2013 Frisco and Plano \u2013 have some of the highest middle-class income ranges in the country for 2026, SmartAsset found.<\/p>\n<p>Frisco households need to make between $96,963 and $290,888 to qualify as middle class this year, which is the third-highest middle class income range nationwide.<\/p>\n<p>Plano&#8217;s middle-class income range is the eighth highest nationally, with households needing to make between $77,267 and $231,802 for the designation.<\/p>\n<p>This is the salary it takes to be a middle-class earner in other Texas cities for 2026:<\/p>\n<p>No. 28 \u2013 Austin: between $60,287 and $180,860No. 40 \u2013 Irving: between $56,566 and $169,698No. 44 \u2013 Fort Worth: between $55,002 and $165,006No. 57 \u2013 Garland: between $50,531 and $151,594No. 60 \u2013 Arlington: between $49,592 and $148,77No. 61 \u2013 Dallas: between $49,549 and $148,646No. 73 \u2013 Corpus Christi: between $44,645 and $133,934No. 80 \u2013 Houston: between $42,907 and $128,722No. 83 \u2013 Lubbock: between $41,573 and $124,720No. 84 \u2013 Laredo: between $41,013 and $123,038No. 89 \u2013 El Paso: between $39,955 and $119,864<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new study tracking the upper and lower thresholds for middle class households across the nation&#8217;s largest cities&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":187042,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[919,38186,542,72798,82,84,83,38187],"class_list":{"0":"post-187041","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-finance","9":"tag-income","10":"tag-reports","11":"tag-salaries","12":"tag-san-antonio","13":"tag-san-antonio-headlines","14":"tag-san-antonio-news","15":"tag-smartasset"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187041"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187041\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}