Middle Class

short readsFeb 4, 2015

America’s ‘middle’ holds its ground after the Great Recession

The share of Americans who live in middle-income households has held steady since 2010 – a flat trend that might actually be good news.
short readsApr 25, 2014

Chart of the Week: U.S. middle class no longer the world’s richest

A New York Times chart illustrates disparities in income growth between the U.S. and other advanced economies.
short readsJan 27, 2014

Despite recovery, fewer Americans identify as middle class

Today about as many Americans identify themselves as lower or lower-middle class (40%) as say they are in the middle class (44%).
short readsAug 9, 2013

Having a secure job replaces homeownership as the key to being middle-class

Nearly nine-in-ten Americans now say having a secure job is essential to being in the middle-class; in 1991, it was homeownership.
short readsJul 24, 2013

Obama returns focus to America’s struggling middle class

As President Obama prepares to make a “major” speech on the economy today, our past reports describe the challenges the middle class has faced in the past decades.
reportJul 18, 2013

Welcome to the Global Middle-Class Surge

By Alan Murray, President, Pew Research Center This op-ed was published in The Wall Street Journal on July 18, 2013. The mass uprisings this summer in Egypt, Turkey and Brazil are powerful reminders that the middle classes drive history. What remains unclear, however, is where they are driving it. The world today is witnessing its third great […]
reportMay 8, 2013

Resilient American Values

Optimism in an Era of Growing Inequality and Economic Difficulty Despite an extended period of economic difficulty, Pew Research Center pollsters Andrew Kohut and Michael Dimock show that Americans’ core values and beliefs about economic opportunity, and the nation’s economic outlook, remain largely optimistic and unchanged. There is also little evidence that economic class is […]
reportApr 23, 2013

A Rise in Wealth for the Wealthy; Declines for the Lower 93%

During the first two years of the nation’s economic recovery, the mean net worth of households in the upper 7% of the wealth distribution rose by an estimated 28%, while the mean net worth of households in the lower 93% dropped by 4%, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of newly released Census Bureau […]
reportSep 10, 2012

A Third of Americans Now Say They Are in the Lower Classes

The percentage of Americans who say they are in the lower-middle or lower class has risen from a quarter of the adult population to about a third in the past four years, according to a national survey of 2,508 adults by the Pew Research Center. Not only has the lower class grown, but its demographic […]
reportAug 31, 2012

Public Says a Secure Job Is the Ticket to the Middle Class

Americans believe that having a secure job is by far the most important requirement for being in the middle class, easily trumping homeownership and a college education, according to a new nationwide Pew Research Center survey of 2,508 adults. Nearly nine-in-ten adults (86%) say a person needs a secure job to be considered part of […]