The Occupiers of Wall Street have been portrayed as everything from hippies to "hot chicks," from everyday people with friendly dogs to violent anarchists. Now, two surveys offer some actual data about the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators and their sympathizers. Here, a brief guide, by the numbers, to the movement's demographics:
64
Percent of those in the Occupy Wall Street movement who are under the age of 35, according to a survey of 1,619 people that visited OccupyWallSt.org. The survey was conducted by Baruch College professor Hector R. Cordero-Guzman and business analyst Harrison Schultz.
20
Percent over the age of 45, according to the same survey
26.7
Percent who are enrolled in school
More than $75,000
Annual salary that 13 percent of the survey-takers take home, according to Cordero-Guzman and Schultz. "'Tax the rich!' could hit close to home," says Sean Captain at Fast Company.
More than $150,000
Annual salary reported by nearly 2 percent of the survey-takers
$343,927
Adjusted gross income needed to be in the "extolled and excoriated 1 percent of richest Americans"
Slightly less than $50,000
Median income for American families
15
Percent of the demonstrators who are unemployed, according to a different survey, this one conducted by veteran pollster Douglas Schoen via in-person interviews with 198 people at Manhattan's Zuccotti Park
18
Percent of demonstrators who call themselves "part-time employed/underemployed." That's "a combined total of 33 percent who are struggling in the labor market," says Aaron Rutkoff in The Wall Street Journal.
9.1
National rate of unemployment, in percent
53
Percent of demonstrators who say they have previously participated in a political movement, according to Schoen's survey
98
Percent who say they would support civil disobedience to achieve their aims
31
Percent who say they would support violence
8
Percent who say they are unsure of what they would like to see the movement accomplish
44
Percent who say they want to "influence the Democratic Party the way the Tea Party has influenced the GOP" (35 percent) or "energize and mobilize progressives" (9 percent)
32
Percent who consider themselves Democrats; nearly the same amount (33 percent) say they don't affiliate themselves with any political party. "What binds a large majority of the protesters together — regardless of age, socioeconomic status or education — is a deep commitment to left-wing policies: Opposition to free-market capitalism and support for radical redistribution of wealth, intense regulation of the private sector, and protectionist policies to keep American jobs from going overseas," says Douglas Schoen in The Wall Street Journal.
56
Percent of demonstrators who say they voted in 2008
74
Percent of those who voted that say they cast a ballot for Obama in 2008
51
Percent of demonstrators who now say they now disapprove of Obama
At least 25
Percent who says they will not vote in 2012
Sources: Fast Company, Kiplinger, Wall Street Journal (2)
