A new study tracking the upper and lower thresholds for middle class households across the nation's largest cities has revealed that San Antonians have to make at least a few grand more than last year to maintain their middle class status this year.

According to SmartAsset's just-released annual report, "What It Takes to Be Middle Class in America – 2026 Study," San Antonio households need to make anywhere from $44,117 to $132,352 to qualify as middle-class earners this year.

Compared to 2025, San Antonians need to make $2,573 more per year to meet the minimum threshold for a middle-class status, whereas the upper bound has stretched $7,708 higher. The median income for a San Antonio household in 2024 was $66,176, the study added.

SmartAsset's experts used 2024 Census Bureau median household income data for the 100 biggest U.S. cities and all 50 states and determined middle-class income ranges by using a variation of Pew Research's definition of a middle-class household, stating the salary range is "two-thirds to double the median U.S. salary."

In the report's ranking of the U.S. cities with the highest household incomes needed to maintain a middle class status, San Antonio ranked No. 77.

What it takes to be middle-class elsewhere in Texas
In the report's state-by-state comparison, Texas has the 24th largest middle class income range. Overall, Texas households need to make between $53,147 and $159,442 to be labeled "middle-class" in 2026. For additional context, the median income for a Texas household in 2024 came out to $79,721.

"Often, the expectations that come with the term 'middle class' include reaching home ownership, raising kids, the comfort of modest emergency funds and retirement savings, and the occasional splurge or vacation," the report said. "And as the median household income varies widely across the U.S. depending on the local job market, housing market, infrastructure, and other factors, so does it swing the bounds on what constitutes a middle-class income in America."

Two Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs – Frisco and Plano – have some of the highest middle-class income ranges in the country for 2026, SmartAsset found.

Frisco households need to make between $96,963 and $290,888 to qualify as middle class this year, which is the third-highest middle class income range nationwide.

Plano's middle-class income range is the eighth highest nationally, with households needing to make between $77,267 and $231,802 for the designation.

This is the salary it takes to be a middle-class earner in other Texas cities for 2026:

• No. 28 – Austin: between $60,287 and $180,860
• No. 40 – Irving: between $56,566 and $169,698
• No. 44 – Fort Worth: between $55,002 and $165,006
• No. 57 – Garland: between $50,531 and $151,594
• No. 60 – Arlington: between $49,592 and $148,77
• No. 61 – Dallas: between $49,549 and $148,646
• No. 73 – Corpus Christi: between $44,645 and $133,934
• No. 80 – Houston: between $42,907 and $128,722
• No. 83 – Lubbock: between $41,573 and $124,720
• No. 84 – Laredo: between $41,013 and $123,038
• No. 89 – El Paso: between $39,955 and $119,864