If you're working toward earning a salary that will deem you "rich" in your city, it may take some time.

One benchmark you can use on your way to wealth: Making it into the top 50% of earners.

If you're earning at least $75,368 in New York City, you make more money than half the population there. You're also technically middle class. To make it into the top 50% of earners in Los Angeles, you need to bring in $69,992 annually.

Here, we've highlighted the annual household income required to be in the top 50% in 50 major US metro areas, ranked from lowest to highest.

All data comes from the US Census Bureau's 2017 American Community Survey 1-year estimates.