California Household Needs $63,674 To $191,042 To Be Middle Class

A California household is considered middle class if it earns between $63,674 and $191,042 a year, according to SmartAsset data cited by GoBankingRates. The threshold rises in pricier metros — San Francisco requires about $84,488 and San Jose about $90,810, per Kevin Marshall, a CPA and lead contributor at Smithii Tools.

Elizabeth Rivelli, a personal finance expert at BestMoney, put California's middle-class floor at around $64,000 a year as of 2023, calculated as two-thirds of the state's roughly $95,521 average household income.

Marshall said a California family earning $130,000 a year spends about $29,753 more than comparable households elsewhere once housing, groceries, gas, childcare and healthcare are factored in, on top of a 13.3% state income tax and 8.8% sales tax.