New data shows what Americans now need to be "middle class" (2024)

FAQs

What percentage of Americans are middle class today? ›

-- Fifty-four percent of Americans identify as part of the middle class, including 39% who say they are “middle class” and 15% “upper-middle class.” Another 31% consider themselves “working class” and 12% “lower class.” Just 2% of U.S. adults characterize themselves as “upper class.”

The middle class is being affected by a variety of factors including inflation, the aging population and remote work, report shows. The middle class is shrinking as a result of several factors including surging inflation, an aging population, and the rise of remote work, according to a new report from ConsumerAffairs.

Key Findings. In a large U.S. city, a middle-class income averages between $52,000 and $155,000. The median household income across all 345 cities is $77,345, making middle-class income limits fall between $51,558 and $154,590.

“Lower-income” households have incomes less than $61,000, and “upper-income” households have incomes greater than $183,000. In the 2022 ACS data, middle-income households with three people have incomes ranging from about $62,000 to $187,000 annually, with incomes also adjusted for the local area cost of living.

How rich is rich in California? As of 2022, the top 5% of earners in the state made $613,602 a year on average, according to a recent analysis from personal finance site GoBankingRates. That's roughly a 37% increase from 2017, when top earners raked in an average annual income of $447,207.

Many have graduate degrees with educational attainment serving as the main distinguishing feature of this class. Household incomes commonly exceed $100,000, with some smaller one-income earners household having incomes in the high 5-figure range. "The upper middle class has grown...and its composition has changed.

In the large poll of 2,500 adults, 65% of people who earn more than 200% of the federal poverty level — that's at least $60,000 for a family of four, often considered middle class — said they are struggling financially. A sizable share of higher-income Americans also feel financially insecure.

The 'new middle class' in India refers to the socio-economic group that emerged in the post-liberalization era of the 1990s, characterized by rapid economic growth, globalization, and the rise of the service sector.

According to the Census Bureau's Income in the United States: 2022 report, the median household income is $74,580 (a 2.3% decline from 2021), while household income levels for each class level are as follows: Lower class: less than or equal to $30,000. Lower-middle class: $30,001 – $58,020.

Across the 10 cities with the lowest middle class range, a household salary of at least $30,000 would be enough to qualify as a middle income earner. The interactive table below shows the 345 cities SmartAsset analyzed, as well as the lower and upper bounds of their middle class.

Is $50000 a year considered middle class? ›

According to the latest Census Bureau data from 2022, the median household income in the U.S. was $74,580. Based on that number, if you earn between $50,000 and $150,000 a year, you qualify as middle class.

A family of four in California needs to earn nearly $70,000 annually to still be considered middle class in 2023, according to a new report by ConsumerAffairs.

One way some researchers divide individuals into economic classes is by looking at their incomes. From that data, they split earners into different classes: poor, lower-middle class, middle class, upper-middle class and wealthy.

Middle class families tend to own their own home (although with a mortgage), own a car (although with a loan or lease), send their kids to college (although with student loans or scholarships), are saving for retirement, and have enough disposable savings to afford certain luxuries like dining out and vacations.

National average income: The national average salary in the U.S. in Q4 of 2023 was $59,384, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Average salary by age: The highest average earners are aged between 35 and 44, earning 13.8% more than the national average salary.

Among Americans, 73% say they belong to the middle or working classes, according to an April 2022 survey from Gallup. Additionally, 14% identify themselves as upper-middle class and 2% categorize themselves as upper class.

White adults are the only group in which more than half (52%) lived in middle-class households in 2021, albeit after declining from 63% in 1971. At the top end, only about one-in-ten Black and Hispanic adults were upper income in 2021, compared with one-in-four or more White and Asian adults.

In percentage terms, 17% of the global population could be considered middle income in 2020.

For 2022, the average wage for working Americans was $61,136. The average wages of those in the top 1 percent of wage earners were $785,968 that year. In the rarefied top 0.1 percent, the average earnings were more than $2.8 million in 2022.