How Much You Need To Be Middle Class in These 5 West Coast States

The five states bordering the Pacific Ocean are popular with many people for their unique characteristics, such as climate, economic opportunities, scenery and more. Despite their vast differences, the states have one thing in common: the middle class pays more to live here than in many other states.

But how expensive is it to live along the West Coast? According to the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center, these five states along the Pacific are among the costliest to live in the United States.

GOBankingRates set out to find how much money you need to be considered middle class on the West Coast by using data from the U.S. Census American Community Survey and Pew Research. The average monthly mortgage payments in each state, plus payments for monthly car, student loan and credit card payments then were calculated and figured in.

Read on to see how much you need to live a middle-class life in these five West Coast states.

• Middle income (low end): $57,580 
• Middle income (high end): $172,740 
• Monthly mortgage payment for average home: $2,103

Residents of some parts of the 49th state enjoy almost around-the-clock sunshine from late May to late July. Ideal for those who love the outdoors, Alaska has some of the best hiking and fishing in the country in the summer and some of the best snow for winter sports. On top of that, Alaska residents don’t pay state income tax or a state sales tax.

• Middle income (low end): $61,270 
• Middle income (high end): $183,810 
• Monthly mortgage payment for average home: $4,465

The cost to live in California only continues to rise steeply, but that isn’t keeping people away from the Golden State. In fact, 2023 U.S. Census figures show that California has about 38.9 million residents, which is a significant chunk of the 335.9 million people who live in the United States.

• Middle income (low end): $63,209 
• Middle income (high end): $189,628 
• Monthly mortgage payment for average home: $5,607

It’s even more expensive to live in Hawaii than it is in California. In fact, you’ll need to bring home a significant paycheck to afford your monthly payments for your basic expenses, with the mortgage being on its way to $6,000 per month.

• Middle income (low end): $51,088 
• Middle income (high end): $153,264 
• Monthly mortgage payment for average home: $2,853

Though Oregon is also a costly place for the middle class, there’s no state sales tax, which saves you some cash. The state also has an extensive collection of scenic bikeways that will take bicyclists through forests, on bike trails or along the coastline.

• Middle income (low end): $60,217 
• Middle income (high end): $180,650 
• Monthly mortgage payment for average home: $3,370

Whether you want access to jobs or the great outdoors, you’ll find it in Washington. The state is the home of the corporate headquarters of a number of major corporations. On your days off, drink in Washington’s famed coffee and food scene or hit one of the parks, such as Mount Rainier National Park or Olympic National Park. There’s no state income tax in Washington, either.

Jami Farkas contributed to the reporting for this article.

Methodology: For this study, GOBankingRates analyzed states across a variety of factors to find out how much you need to be middle class. GOBankingRates started by analyzing [1] monthly car debt, costs for car repairs, gas cost, loan payment, and insurance cost, as sourced from Forbes’ Most Expensive States to Own a Car; [2] monthly credit card debt costs from January 2024, as sourced from TransUnion’s Monthly Snapshot Credit Card Balance; [3] student loan payments by state, as sourced from LendEDU for school year 2022 to 2023; [4] mortgage costs for an average single family home in December 2023, and using a 10% down payment and using the [5] 30-year national average fixed mortgage rate, as sourced from the Federal Reserve Economic Research, the average monthly mortgage was calculated. The [6] total households and [7] median household income were sourced from the U.S. Census American Community Survey. Using that data and the rates from Pew Research Center, which says that the middle-class income range is two-thirds to twice the median income, the middle-class range was calculated for each state. The states were filtered to only show the west coast states, which are: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington. All data was collected and is up to date as of Feb. 19, 2024.