How Much Do You Have to Make to Be Middle Class in Louisiana?

Do you know where the geographic center of Louisiana is located? Do you know that one spot on the map that is the exact center of Louisiana? It's right here. And as you just found out it probably wasn't where you guessed it would be. The same can be said for the middle class in Louisiana. A lot of us say we are "middle class" but, are we?

The Washington Post did a study on the middle class in America and discovered that while most of us can agree on what being middle class is barely a third of us actually meet the criteria that would define "middle class in America".

How Do You Define the Middle Class?

A survey of Americans found that about 90% of us agree being "middle class" involves these six elements. They are:

• A secure job
• Ability to save money
• Ability to afford an emergency $1,000 debt without expense
• Ability to pay bills on time without worry
• Health insurance
• Ability to retire comfortably

That information was published in a story presented on Al.com. Of those six items, how many of them accurately describe your financial situation?

How Much Do You Have To Earn in Louisiana to Be Considered MIddle Class?

The Washington Post story suggested that most Americans feel an income of $75,000 to $100,000 annually would qualify you to be "middle class". A similar study by Pew Research suggests the numbers to be more like $67,819 to $203,458 for a family of four. The Pew numbers are based on two-thirds of the U.S. Median income.

Meanwhile the folks at GoBankingRates, that is a financial website, have crunched the numbers even more and found that the minimum income needed to be considered "middle class" in Louisiana is $38,568 annually.  Only Arkansas, West Virginia, and Mississippi have a lower threshold than Louisiana.

Incidentally, a minimum wage worker who works a forty-hour week and has no taxes taken from their paycheck would still need to earn almost $20,000 more annually to reach the lower threshold of "middle class" in Louisiana. Certainly, something to think about when you consider opportunities for employment.