And while a 2022 Gallup poll indicated 52% of U.S.
While these income ranges vary widely and are still technically considered “middle class,” the U.S. You can reach her on Twitter.(Information from U.S. Michelle Shen is a Money & Tech Digital Reporter for USA TODAY. They're criteria that can't be measured as precisely as an income threshold, but reveal whether you feel a sense of economic safety and security in your daily life. It means that you get to make choices about what you want to eat for dinner, and having the funds to dine out if you feel like it. To Zaber, it means if your car breaks down, you have the funds to get it fixed.It means you can choose between different apartments or homes rather than choosing the cheapest possible option. Zaber connects the feeling of being middle class with the "concept of choice." According to Pew Research studies, the vast majority ( nearly 90%) of people say they are middle class. The most direct way that researchers figure out if someone is middle class is simply by asking them. 'The One': LA megamansion with 42 bathrooms once listed for $500 million is still empty How people define themselves For example, someone may earn a high salary but be saddled with student debt, delaying potential homeownership and other milestones in their transition to the middle class. It paints a fuller picture than income alone by taking into account the qualities that make up a middle-class lifestyle. The report defines middle class aspirations as owning a home owning a car affording college education for your children health and retirement security and occasional family vacations. ► Household income: This is what it takes to be middle class in each state A house, a car and vacationsĪ 2010 report by the White House Task Force on the Middle Class - which Biden chaired when he was vice president - said, "Middle-class families are defined by their aspirations more than their income." Pew Research Center has developed tools to determine if you are part of the American middle class or global middle class based on your geographic location and household size. The state and metropolitan area you're living in also play a role in whether you're middle class.
Kochhar estimates the median American household income for 2020 lies closer to $51,200 to $153,000 for a three-person household. ► The 2020 Census: Census shows US more diverse than ever, but many people of color likely went uncounted because of COVID-19, Trump, experts say However, the figures above don't take into account the number of people within a household, which can play a big role in deciding whether someone is middle class, Wenger says.Īdditionally, census gatherers had a particularly difficult time collecting data from all households because of the pandemic, so their collection rates went from more than 90% of households historically to around 70%, according to Rakesh Kochhar, senior researcher at the Pew Research Center. This kind of estimate is typically calculated by taking two-thirds of the median household income for the lower bound and twice the median for the upper bound. In the simplest sense, if your median household income for 2020 was from $50,641 to $135,042, you are considered middle class, according to estimates from Wenger. The most straightforward way of defining someone as middle class is based on income thresholds. Here are a few ways experts determine the middle class, and whether you are part of it. All kinds of things make you middle class."Īs a result, researchers have been working for decades on different definitions of the middle class, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. It's a certain amount of of engagement in your community. "It's a sense of security," says Jeffrey Wenger, senior policy researcher at the RAND Corp. It depends on how you define "middle class." It seems like a simple question, but it actually has a complicated answer. Watch Video: COVID-19 and the wealth gap: How the pandemic has increased wealth disparities
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