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10 Best States for the Middle Class To Buy Property in Over the Next Decade

July 21, 2024

4 min Read

Written by Vance Cariaga

Edited by Cory Dudak

Beautiful young woman standing in front of her new house, taking a selfie using smart phone with the keys of her newly purchased property.

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It’s not nearly as easy to get by with a middle-class income now than it was in the past, nor is it as easy to even determine who even qualifies as “middle class.” The Pew Research Center defines the middle class, or “middle-income households,” as those with incomes that are two-thirds to double the U.S. median household income.

But because living costs and average incomes vary so much from one state to the next, the income needed to be “middle class” in one state could be much more or less than what it takes to be middle class in another. Similarly, buying property on a middle-class income is a lot easier in some states than others.

Understanding What Middle Class Means In Each State

Using Pew’s definition of the middle class, GOBankingRates analyzed data from the 2022 American Community Survey (conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau) and then found the middle-class income for every state. There was a great variation between how different states define middle class.

For example, here’s a look at the state with the highest required income, the state that lands near the middle, and the state with the lowest required income:

Hawaii (Highest)

Median household income: $94,814
Lowest end of middle-class income: $63,209
Highest end of middle-class income: $189,628

Georgia (Middle)

Median household income: $71,355
Lowest end of middle-class income: $47,570
Highest end of middle-class income: $142,710

Mississippi (lowest)

Median household income: $52,985
Lowest end of middle-class income: $35,323
Highest end of middle-class income: $105,970

Another Pew Research Center report found that as of 2021, only half of U.S. households fell into the middle class. That share has been dropping for at least 50 years. Meanwhile, research cited by CNBC found that there are only 14 states where residents who earn less than $75,000 can afford a median-priced home – down from 36 as recently as four years ago.

If you want to know where middle-class incomes go the furthest in terms of buying property, focus on the middle of the country. A recent study from BestBrokers looked at housing data from Redfin and income data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis to determine home affordability by state. Nearly all of the most affordable states are located in the Midwest or Prairie states.

Here are the 10 best states for the middle class to buy property in the next decade, based on current affordability measures: