Students in Middle and Upper Income Families Are

Virtually half (52%) of American adults lived in middle-class households in 2016. This is near unchanged from the 51% who were heart class in 2011. Merely while the size of the nation's middle form remained relatively stable, financial gains for middle-income Americans during this menses were pocket-sized compared with those of higher-income households, causing the income disparity between the groups to grow.

The recent stability in the share of adults living in eye-income households marks a shift from a decades-long downward tendency. From 1971 to 2011, the share of adults in the middle class brutal past 10 per centum points. But that shift was not all downward the economical ladder. Indeed, the increase in the share of adults who are upper income was greater than the increase in the share who are lower income over that menses, a sign of economic progress overall.

Financially, middle-class households in the U.S. were ameliorate off in 2016 than in 2010. The median income of middle-form households increased from $74,015 in 2010 to $78,442 in 2016, by 6%. Upper-income households (where 19% of American adults live) fared improve than the middle class, as their median income increased from $172,152 to $187,872, a gain of 9% over this period. Lower-income households (29% of adults) experienced an income gain of 5%, most the same as the heart grade. (Incomes are adjusted for household size, scaled to reflect 3-person households, and expressed in 2016 dollars.)

But, contempo gains even so, the median income of middle-grade households in 2016 was about the same every bit in 2000, a reflection of the lingering effects of the Great Recession and an earlier recession in 2001. The median income of lower-income households in 2016 ($25,624) was less than in 2000 ($26,923). Only the incomes of upper-income households increased from 2000 to 2016, from $183,680 to $187,872.

The widening income gap betwixt upper-income households and middle- and lower-income households this century is the continuation of a decades-long trend. In 1970, the first year covered past earlier Pew Research Eye analyses, the median income of upper-income households was 2.2 times the income of middle-income households and 6.3 times the income of lower-income households. These income ratios increased to 2.4 and 7.3 in 2016, respectively.

Are yous in the American centre class?

Discover out with our income reckoner.

Our newly updated calculator lets you find out which grouping you fit in, first compared with other adults in your metro area and amidst American adults overall, and then compared with other adults in the U.S. similar to yous in education, age, race or ethnicity, and marital condition.

A recent Pew Research Center analysis also institute that the wealth gaps between upper-income families and lower- and eye-income families in 2016 were at the highest levels recorded. Although the wealth of upper-income families has more than than recovered from the losses experienced during the Great Recession, the wealth of lower- and centre-income families in 2016 was comparable to 1989 levels. Thus, even as the American middle grade appears not to be shrinking (for now), it continues to fall further behind upper-income households financially, mirroring the long-running rise in income inequality in the U.South. overall.

The menstruation from 2011 to 2016 encompasses much of the economic expansion following the Great Recession of 2007-09. But the recovery has been slow (the slowest in modernistic times) and that may help explicate the lack of movement of adults into upper-income households during this menstruum. The nation's gross domestic production (Gross domestic product) per capita did non return to its pre-recession acme (near the end of 2007) until the latter half of 2013. Likewise, the median income of U.South. households took until 2016 to return to where it stood prior to the commencement of the Great Recession in December 2007.

Download our tables on the centre class in U.Due south. metropolitan areas and states.

The share of adults who are middle class varies widely across U.S. metropolitan areas. The estimated share was highest in Sheboygan, WI, where 65% of adults lived in eye-income households in 2016, and information technology was the lowest in Laredo, TX, where 39% of adults were in center-income households. The 10 areas with the highest concentrations of middle class adults are located in the Midwest or the Northeast, with the exception of Ogden-Clearfield, UT. These areas are also more than reliant on manufacturing than the nation overall. (See our before analysis of U.S. metropolitan areas for more particular on the characteristics of these areas.)

The metropolitan areas with the largest shares of adults in upper-income households are mostly in the coastal areas of the Northeast and California. They tend to be in high-tech corridors, such equally Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH, or in fiscal and commercial centers, such equally Hartford-Westward Hartford-Due east Hartford, CT. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA, where 32% of adults were upper-income, led among all areas in 2016. The area with the smallest share who are upper income is Lewiston-Auburn, ME (8%).

The metropolitan areas with the largest shares of lower-income adults are located primarily in the Southwest, with several on the southern border, such as McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX, and include farming communities in central California, such as Fresno, CA. In Laredo, TX, most one-half of adults (49%) lived in lower-income households in 2016, the highest share in the country. Ogden-Clearfield, UT, amongst the largest middle-course communities, too had the lowest share of lower-income adults (19%) in 2016.

In our analysis, "middle-income" Americans are adults whose annual household income is two-thirds to double the national median, after incomes take been adjusted for household size. In 2016, the national middle-income range was about $45,200 to $135,600 annually for a household of three. Lower-income households had incomes less than $45,200 and upper-income households had incomes greater than $135,600 (incomes in 2016 dollars).

Our interactive reckoner lets you lot notice out which group you are in based on your income, your household size, where yous alive and the toll of living in your area.

Almost this analysis

This analysis encompasses 260 of some 380 metropolitan areas in the Us, as defined by the Part of Management and Budget. The 260 metropolitan areas included are the maximum number of areas that could exist identified in the Census Bureau information used for the analysis (the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, or IPUMS). Together, these areas deemed for 79% of the nation's population in 2016.

A metropolitan area consists of at least one urbanized area with a population of fifty,000 or more people, plus neighboring areas that are socially and economically integrated with the cadre. Metropolitan areas may cantankerous state boundaries, such every bit the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, area.

"Middle-income" Americans are adults whose annual household income is two-thirds to double the national median, later on incomes accept been adjusted for household size. In 2016, the national centre-income range was almost $45,200 to $135,600 annually for a household of 3 (incomes in 2016 dollars). The same standard is used to make up one's mind the status of households in all metropolitan areas after their incomes take been adapted for the cost of living in the area.

The cost-of-living aligning for an area was calculated as follows: Jackson, Tennessee, is a relatively inexpensive expanse, with a price level that is 17.9% less than the national average. The Hawaii metropolitan area known as Urban Honolulu is one of the most expensive areas, with a price level that is 24.iv% higher than the national average. Thus, to stride over the national center-class threshold of $45,200, a household in Jackson needs an income of only about $37,150, or 17.9% less than the national standard. But a household in Urban Honolulu needs a reported income of about $56,250, or 24.iv% more than than the U.Due south. norm, to join the middle form.

The metropolitan area cost-of-living aligning is based on price indexes published past the U.Due south. Bureau of Economic Analysis. These indexes, known as Regional Price Parities, compare the prices of goods and services in a metropolitan area with the national average prices for the aforementioned goods and services.

The national estimates presented in the analysis comprehend the U.Southward. adult population, including people outside of the sample of 260 metropolitan areas.

The Census Agency'south 2016 American Community Survey was conducted from January 2016 to December 2016. Respondents were asked to report their income received in the 12 months earlier the survey date. In principle, the 2016 ACS includes income data from a total of 24 months, from January 2015 to December 2016. Estimates for earlier years are from the Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplements. The income data in these surveys pertain to the preceding calendar year. Thus, the assignment of adults to an income tier in, say, 2011 is based on their household income in 2010.

Differences between numbers or percentages are computed before the underlying estimates are rounded. Estimates may not sum to 100% due to rounding. Additional details on the methodology are available in our earlier analyses.

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Source: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/09/06/the-american-middle-class-is-stable-in-size-but-losing-ground-financially-to-upper-income-families/