How Much You Need To Earn To Be Rich In Boston

BOSTON, MA — A new report has crunched numbers to determine how much money you need to make to be considered “rich” in Boston. Spoiler alert: most journalists don't come close. Business Insider looked at several factors in 42 of the countries largest cities to determine what income residents need to be considered above-middle-class.

About one in five Americans is considered upper-income, meaning they earned at least twice the national median household income of $59,039 in 2016, according to the Pew Research Center. Business Insider says that overall in the U.S., you’d have to earn $118,080 to be rich.

But that isn’t true for many cities, including Boston, where that number is actually (you guessed it) higher. Boston's median income is higher than New York and Seattle, but just under that of San Francisco.

Here's how Boston stacks up against those a few of those cities we think of as pretty expensive:

Boston

• Money it takes to be considered rich in Boston: $164,760
• Money it takes to be in the top 1 percent in MA: $ 539,055
• Median income in Boston: $82,380
• Metro-area population: 4.8 million

Compared to Memphis, Tennessee, where residents must earn at least $99,618 to be rich, that might seem steep. But at least we’re not San Jose, California.

In San Jose, residents have to earn a whopping $220,080 or more to be considered rich.

Here are some other cities on the list:

New York City

• Income needed to be considered rich: $143,794
• Money it takes to be in the top 1 percent in New York: $517,557
• Median income in New York City: $71,897
• Metro-area population: 20.2 million

Seattle

• Income needed to be considered rich: $157,224
• Money it takes to be in the top 1 percent in Washington: $387,854
• Median income in Seattle: $78,612
• Metro-area population: 3.8 million

San Francisco

• Income needed to be considered rich: $193,354
• Money it takes to be in the top 1 percent in California: $453,772
• Median income in San Francisco: $96,677
• Metro-area population: 4.7 million

Click here to read the full report.

Patch reporter Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

Photo credit: Jenna Fisher/Patch