It takes much less to be part of the middle class in Philadelphia than for the majority of the 100 largest U.S. cities, writes Patrick Villanova for SmartAsset.

The middle class is considered to be a backbone of the American economy, but it has been continuing to shrink. In the past 50 years, the percentage of adults who are living in middle-income households fell by over ten percentage points.

To determine the true pluses of the middle class of today, SmartAsset calculated middle-class earning bounds in the nation’s largest cities.

According to these findings, Philadelphia ranked at No. 18 among the cities in which it takes less to be a member of the middle class.

The City of Brotherly Love has a middle income lower limit of $35,442 and a middle income upper limit of $105,798. The median household income is $52,899.

Meanwhile, Fremont, California, is the city where it is hardest to be in the middle class, since the middle income lower limit is $104,499, almost as high as Philadelphia’s upper limit.

Read more about what it takes to be middle class in America’s largest cities in SmartAsset.

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Jay Fairbrother explores what income you need to be middle class in America.