The American middle class is shrinking. Find out if you make the cut.
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.
For more details, read Pew's report, or the summary at The Washington Post. —Peter Weber
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