This is a useless semantic game: do you define middle-class as however median-income earners live locally, or do you define middle-class as an objective standard of living (based on national norms) and then check what income is necessary to obtain it?

Housing is also sticky. Many (not all) $78k earners locked in mortgages or rent control back when that was a lot of money, and live much better than any newcomer could on 2x that today.

i'm seeing some different information.

on wikipedia- it says $78k, but that data is apparently from 2010-2014.

https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/community_...

newer data suggests it is at least $87k, with some sources suggesting $92k+

>California Association of Realtors also estimates that the minimum qualifying income to buy in San Francisco is $254,000 annually.

i think being in the 'middle class' should mean you have some hope of escaping rent and actually own something reasonable.

Lower/middle/upper class is not equally populated, so a median income is useless when trying to define a "middle class" income; going by that would put folks in poverty in the "middle class" in a lot of the world.