The middle class in the U.S. is shrinking, and not just in Rust Belt communities and Appalachian towns, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. government data. The shrinking middle class is "a pervasive local phenomenon," Pew said, with the percentage of adults in middle-income households falling between 2000 and 2014 in 203 of the 229 metropolitan areas the organization studied. In 172 of those areas, the share of upper-income households grew, in 160, the share of lower-income households expanded, and in 108 of the 229 areas, the percentage of upper- and lower-income households rose while the middle-income tier shrank.
Nationally, 51 percent of households are middle class, 20 percent are upper class, and 29 percent are lower class, Pew found. Pew defined the upper class as a three-person household earning more than $125,000 a year, middle income as $42,000 to $125,000, and lower income as below $42,000. But your economic tier changes based on where you live and how many people live in your household. For example, you enter the middle class with an income of $34,600 in Jackson, Mississippi. You can find out what tier you fall in with Pew's calculator below.
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