Just looked into what is considered lower middle class across the US and honestly the gap between states is wild. Like if you're making $67k in Maryland you're barely lower-middle class, but that same income in Mississippi puts you solidly in that bracket. That's literally double the threshold depending on where you live.

The research breaks down the middle class into thirds based on household median income, and what's crazy is Maryland tops the list at $67,768 minimum to hit lower-middle class status. Massachusetts and New Jersey aren't far behind at $67,561 and $67,367. All those high cost-of-living states cluster at the top - Hawaii, California, New Hampshire too.

On the flip side, if you're wondering what is considered lower middle class in cheaper states, Mississippi is the lowest at $36,610. West Virginia, Arkansas, Louisiana all hover around $38-40k range. It's basically half of what you'd need in Maryland.

The data also shows some interesting patterns - states with expensive housing like Massachusetts (average home $642k) and Hawaii ($967k) naturally have higher income thresholds. Meanwhile Texas and Pennsylvania have way lower home values but still need you to earn $50-76k to be considered lower-middle class.

So yeah, what is considered lower middle class really depends on your zip code. The methodology here used Census data and defined middle class as two-thirds to double the median household income for each state. Pretty interesting way to see how economic tiers actually break down regionally rather than using one national number that doesn't make sense everywhere.