(WGHP) — This is how much money you need to make to be considered middle class in the Piedmont Triad, according to the Pew Research Center.
The data is based on the hypothetical annual income of a single person living in the Greensboro-High Point area.
The minimum income that a single person must make to be considered middle class is $25,149 and the maximum income is $75,444.
About 52% of the Triad falls into that middle-income range. That places the Triad in lockstep with the rest of the United States where 52% of the population also resides in the middle-income range.
About 16% of the Triad is considered to be upper class. That is smaller than the national percentage of 19%.
Oppositely, 32% of the Triad falls into the lower-income range. That is higher than the national percentage of 29%.
The cost of living in the Triad is also considerably lower than in many major cities.
For example, if a person living in San Franciso with an income of $40,000 wanted to move to Winston-Salem, they would only need to make $20,148 to maintain the same standard of living they had in San Francisco, according to Forbes. That’s because the cost of living is 99% lower in Winston-Salem than it is in San Francisco.
Here are some more examples comparing the cost of living in prominent cities compared to Winston-Salem.
| Boston | Philadelphia | New Orleans | Los Angeles | |
| Amount needed in Winston-Salem to match each city’s $40,000 standard of living | $24,756 | $35,514 | $33,778 | $24,740 |
| Percentage difference in cost of living | 62% | 13% | 18% | 62% |
