FOR RELEASE MAY 31, 2024

The State of the

American Middle Class
Who is in it and key trends from 1970 to 2023
BY Rakesh Kochhar

FOR MEDIA OR OTHER INQUIRIES:

Rakesh Kochhar, Senior Researcher

Mark Lopez, Director, Race and Ethnicity Research
Tanya Arditi, Senior Communications Manager
202.419.4372
www.pewresearch.org

RECOMMENDED CITATION
Pew Research Center, May 2024, “The State of the
American Middle Class”
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About Pew Research Center

Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan, nonadvocacy fact tank that informs the public about the
issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It does not take policy positions. The Center
conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, computational social science research and
other data-driven research. It studies politics and policy; news habits and media; the internet and
technology; religion; race and ethnicity; international affairs; social, demographic and economic
trends; science; research methodology and data science; and immigration and migration. Pew
Research Center is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, its primary funder.

© Pew Research Center 2024

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How we did this

This report examines key changes in the economic status of the American middle class from 1970
to 2023 and its demographic attributes in 2022. The historical analysis is based on U.S. Census
Bureau data from the Annual Social and Economic Supplements (ASEC) of the Current Population
Survey (CPS). The demographic analysis is based on data from the American Community Survey
(ACS). The data is sourced from IPUMS CPS and IPUMS USA, respectively.

The CPS, a survey of about 60,000 households, is the U.S. government’s official source for
monthly estimates of unemployment. The CPS ASEC, conducted in March each year, is the official
source of U.S. government estimates of income and poverty. Our analysis of CPS data starts with
the 1971 CPS ASEC, which records the incomes of households in 1970. It is also the first year for
which data on race and ethnicity is available. The latest available CPS ASEC file is for 2023, which
reports on household incomes in 2022.

The public-use version of the ACS is a 1% sample of the U.S. population, or more than 3 million
people. This allows for a detailed study of the demographic characteristics of the middle class,
including its status in U.S. metropolitan areas. But ACS data is available only from 2005 onward
and is less suitable for long-term historical analyses. The latest available ACS data is for 2022.

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Terminology
Middle-income households are defined as those with an income that is two-thirds to double
that of the U.S. median household income, after incomes have been adjusted for household size.
Lower-income households have incomes less than two-thirds of the median, and upper-
income households have incomes that are more than double the median. When using American
Community Survey (ACS) data, incomes are also adjusted for cost of living in the areas in which
households are located.

Estimates of household income are scaled to reflect a household size of three and expressed in
2023 dollars. In the Current Population Survey (CPS), household income refers to the calendar
year prior to the survey year. Thus, the income data in the report refers to the 1970-2022 period,
and the share of Americans in each income tier from the CPS refers to the 1971-2023 period.

The demographic attributes of Americans living in lower-, middle- or upper-income tiers are
derived from ACS data. Except as noted, estimates pertain to the U.S. household population,
excluding people living in group quarters.

The terms middle class and middle income are used interchangeably in this report.

White, Black, Asian, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian or
Pacific Islander include people who identified with a single major racial group and who are not
Hispanic. Multiracial includes people who identified with more than one major racial group and
are not Hispanic. Hispanics are of any race.

U.S. born refers to individuals who are U.S. citizens at birth, including people born in the 50 U.S.
states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico or other U.S. territories, as well as those born
elsewhere to at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen. The terms foreign born and immigrant
are used interchangeably in this report. They refer to people who are not U.S. citizens at birth.

Occupations describe the broad kinds of work people do on their job. For example, health care
occupations include doctors, nurses, pharmacists and others who are directly engaged in the
provision of health care. Industries describe the broad type of products companies produce.
Each industry encompasses a variety of occupations. For example, the health care and social
assistance industry provides services that are produced by a combination of doctors, managers,
technology and administrative staff, food preparation workers, and workers in other occupations.

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The State of the American Middle Class

Who is in it and key trends from 1970 to 2023
The share of Americans who are in the middle class is smaller than it used to be. In
1971, 61% of Americans lived in middle-class households. By 2023, the share had fallen to 51%,
according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of government data.

As a result, Americans are more apart

Share of Americans in the middle class
than before financially. From 1971 to 2023,
has fallen since 1971
the share of Americans who live in lower-
% of U.S. population in each income tier
income households increased from 27% to 30%,
Lower income Middle income Upper income
and the share in upper-income households
increased from 11% to 19%. 2023 30% 51 19

Notably, the increase in the share who are 1971 27 61 11

upper income was greater than the
increase in the share who are lower Note: People are assigned to income tiers based on their household
incomes in the calendar year prior to the survey year, after incomes
income. In that sense, these changes are also a have been adjusted for the number of people living in each
sign of economic progress overall. household. Shares may not total 100% due to rounding.
Source: Pew Research Center analysis of the Current Population
Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplement (IPUMS), 1971
But the middle class has fallen behind on and 2023.

two key counts. The growth in income for the PEW RESEARCH CENTER
middle class since 1970 has not kept pace with
the growth in income for the upper-income tier. And the share of total U.S. household income held
by the middle class has plunged.

Moreover, many groups still lag in their presence in the middle- and upper-income
tiers. For instance, American Indians or Alaska Natives, Black and Hispanic Americans, and
people who are not married are more likely than average to be in the lower-income tier. Several
metro areas in the U.S. Southwest also have high shares of residents who are in the
lower-income tier, after adjusting for differences in cost of living across areas.

Our report focuses on the current state of the American middle class. First, we examine changes in
the financial well-being of the middle class and other income tiers since 1970. This is based on
data from the Annual Social and Economic Supplements (ASEC) of the Current Population Survey
(CPS), conducted from 1971 to 2023.

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Then, we report on the attributes of people who were more or less likely to be middle class in
2022. Our focus is on their race and ethnicity, age, gender, marital and veteran status, place of
birth, ancestry, education, occupation, industry, and metropolitan area of residence. These
estimates are derived from American Community Survey (ACS) data and differ slightly from the
CPS-based estimates. In part, that is because incomes can be adjusted for the local area cost of
living only with the ACS data. (Refer to the methodology for details on these two data sources.)

This analysis and an accompanying report on the Asian American middle class are part of a series
on the status of America’s racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. middle class and other income tiers.
Forthcoming analyses will focus on White, Black, Hispanic, American Indian or Alaska Native,
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander and multiracial Americans, including subgroups within these
populations. These reports are, in part, updates of previous work by the Center. But they offer
much greater detail on the demographic attributes of the American middle class.

Following are some key facts about the state of the American middle class:

Who is middle income or middle class?

In our analysis, “middle-income” Americans are those living in households with an annual income that is
two-thirds to double the national median household income. The income it takes to be middle income
varies by household size, with smaller households requiring less to support the same lifestyle as larger
households. It also varies by the local cost of living, with households in a more expensive area, such as
Honolulu, needing a higher income than those in a less expensive area, such as Wichita, Kansas.

We don’t always know the area in which a household is located. In our two data sources – the Current
Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC) and the American Community
Survey (ACS) – only the latter provides that information, specifically the metropolitan area of a household.
Thus, we aren’t able to adjust for the local cost of living when using the CPS to track changes in the status
of the middle class over time. But we do adjust for the metropolitan area cost of living when using the ACS
to determine the demographic attributes of the middle class in 2022.

In the 2023 CPS ASEC data, which reports income for 2022, middle-income households with three people
have incomes ranging from about $61,000 to $183,000 annually. “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. (Incomes are
expressed in 2023 dollars.)

The boundaries of the income tiers also vary across years as the national median income changes.

The terms “middle income” and “middle class” are used interchangeably in this report for the sake of
exposition. But being middle class can refer to more than just income, be it education level, type of
profession, economic security, home ownership or social and political values. Class also could simply be a
matter of self-identification.

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1 Households in all income tiers had much higher incomes in 2022 than in 1970, after
adjusting for inflation. But the gains for middle- and lower-income households were less
than the gains for upper-income households.

The median income of middle-class households increased from about $66,400 in 1970 to
$106,100 in 2022, or 60%. Over this period, the median income of upper-income households
increased 78%, from about $144,100 to $256,900. (Incomes are scaled to a three-person
household and expressed in
2023 dollars.) Incomes of upper-income U.S. households increased
the most of any income tier from 1970 to 2022
The median income of lower- Median household income, by income tier, in 2023 dollars and scaled to
income households grew more reflect a three-person household
slowly than that of other
% change
households, increasing from Upper income
2022 $256,920
about $22,800 in 1970 to 78%
$35,300 in 2022, or 55%. 1970 144,068
Middle income
Consequently, there is now a 2022 106,092
60
larger gap between the incomes 1970 66,417
of upper-income households Lower income
and other households. In 2022, 2022 35,318
55
the median income of upper-
1970 22,831
income households was 7.3
times that of lower-income Note: Households are assigned to income tiers based on their incomes in the calendar year
households, up from 6.3 in prior to the survey year, after incomes have been adjusted for the number of people living in
each household.
1970. It was 2.4 times the Source: Pew Research Center analysis of the Current Population Survey, Annual Social and
Economic Supplement (IPUMS), 1971 and 2023.
median income of middle-
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income households in 2022, up
from 2.2 in 1970.

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2 The share of total U.S. household income

held by the middle class has fallen almost Share of total U.S. household income
without fail in each decade since 1970. In held by the middle class has plunged
that year, middle-income households accounted since 1970
for 62% of the aggregate income of all U.S. % of total U.S. household income held by lower-, middle-
and upper-income households
households, about the same as the share of
people who lived in middle-class households. 80 %

62%
By 2022, the middle-class share in overall
60
household income had fallen to 43%, less than Middle income
48
the share of the population in middle-class
households (51%). Not only do a smaller share 40
43
of people live in the middle class today, the 29
Upper income
incomes of middle-class households have also
not risen as quickly as the incomes of upper- 20
10 Lower income
income households. 8

Over the same period, the share of total U.S. 0

1970 1979 1989 1999 2009 2022
household income held by upper-income
households increased from 29% in 1970 to 48% Note: Households are assigned to income tiers based on their
incomes in the calendar year prior to the survey year, after incomes
in 2022. In part, this is because of the increase have been adjusted for the number of people living in each
household. Their unadjusted incomes are then summed to compute
in the share of people who are in the upper- the share of total U.S. household income held by each income tier.
income tier. Shares may not total 100% due to rounding.
Source: Pew Research Center analysis of the Current Population
Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplements (IPUMS), 1971,
The share of overall income held by lower- 1980, 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2023.
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income households edged down from 10% in
1970 to 8% in 2022. This happened even
though the share of people living in lower-income households increased over this period.

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3 The share of people in the U.S. middle class varied from 46% to 55% across racial and
ethnic groups in 2022. Black and Hispanic Americans, Native Hawaiians or Pacific
Islanders, and American Indians or Alaska Natives were more likely than others to be in
lower-income households.

In 2022, 39% to 47% of Americans in these four groups lived in lower-income households. In
contrast, only 24% of White
and Asian Americans and 31%
Black, Hispanic, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander and
of multiracial Americans were
American Indian/Alaska Native people are more likely
in the lower-income tier.
than others to live in lower-income U.S. households
% of U.S. population in each income tier, by race and ethnicity, 2022
At the other end of the
Lower income Middle income Upper income
economic spectrum, 27% of
Asian and 21% of White All Americans 30% 52 17
Americans lived in upper-
Asian 24 48 27
income households in 2022,
compared with about 10% or
White 24 55 21
less of Black and Hispanic
Americans, Native Hawaiians Multiracial 31 52 17
or Pacific Islanders, and
Native Hawaiian or
39 52 9
American Indians or Alaska Pacific Islander
Natives. Black 45 46 9

Not surprisingly, lower- Hispanic 43 49 8

income status is correlated
American Indian or
47 46 8
with the likelihood of living in Alaska Native
poverty. According to the
Note: People are assigned to income tiers based on their household incomes, after incomes
Census Bureau, the poverty have been adjusted for the number of people living in each household and the local area
cost of living. Shares may not total 100% due to rounding. White, Black, Asian, American
rate among Black (17.1%) and Indian or Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander are people who identified
Hispanic (16.9%) Americans with a single major racial group and who are not Hispanic. Multiracial includes people who
identified with more than one major racial group and are not Hispanic. Hispanics are of any
and American Indians or race. Groups are sorted by the share in the upper-income tier.
Alaska Natives (25%) was Source: Pew Research Center analysis of the American Community Survey (IPUMS), 2022.
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greater than the rate among
White and Asian Americans
(8.6% for each). (The Census Bureau did not report the poverty rate for Native Hawaiians or
Pacific Islanders.)

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4 Children and adults 65

and older were more likely Nearly 4 in 10 U.S. children lived in lower-income
to live in lower-income households in 2022, about half in the middle class
households in 2022. Adults % of U.S. population in each income tier, by age, 2022
in the peak of their working Lower income Middle income Upper income
Age
years – ages 30 to 64 –
<18 38% 49 13
were more likely to be upper
income. In 2022, 38% of 18-29 31 56 13
children (including teens) and
35% of adults 65 and older 30-44 26 55 18
were lower income, compared
45-64 23 52 24
with 26% of adults ages 30 to
44 and 23% of adults 45 to 64.
65+ 35 50 15

The share of people living in Note: People are assigned to income tiers based on their household incomes, after incomes
have been adjusted for the number of people living in each household and the local area
upper-income households cost of living. Shares may not total 100% due to rounding.
Source: Pew Research Center analysis of the American Community Survey (IPUMS), 2022.
ranged from 13% among
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children and young adults (up
to age 29) to 24% among those
45 to 64. In each age group, about half or a little more were middle class in 2022.

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5 Men were slightly more

likely than women to live in Men, veterans and married Americans were more
middle-income households likely than their counterparts to live in middle- or
in 2022, 53% vs. 51%. Their upper-income households in 2022
share in upper-income % of U.S. population in each income tier, by gender, marital status and
veteran status, 2022
households (18%) was also
somewhat greater than the Lower income Middle income Upper income
Gender
share of women (16%) in
Men 28% 53 18
upper-income households.

Women 32 51 16
Marriage appears to boost
the economic status of Marital status
Americans. Among those Married, spouse
present or absent 20% 56 24
who were married in 2022,
Separated,
eight-in-ten lived either in divorced, widowed 37 50 13
middle-income households or never married

(56%) or upper-income Veteran status

households (24%). In contrast,
Veteran 24% 57 19
only about six-in-ten of those
who were separated, divorced, Not a veteran 29 53 18
widowed or never married
were either middle class or Note: People are assigned to income tiers based on their household incomes, after incomes
have been adjusted for the number of people living in each household and the local area
upper income, while 37% lived cost of living. Shares may not total 100% due to rounding. Marital status is estimated for
people ages 15 and older, and veteran status is for people 17 and older.
in lower-income households. Source: Pew Research Center analysis of the American Community Survey (IPUMS), 2022.
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Veterans were more likely
than nonveterans to be
middle income in 2022, 57% vs. 53%. Conversely, a higher share of nonveterans (29%) than
veterans (24%) lived in lower-income households.

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6 Immigrants – about 14%

of the U.S. population in Immigrants were more likely than the U.S. born to be
2022 – were less likely than lower income in 2022; people born in Asia, Europe or
the U.S. born to be in the Oceania were most likely to be upper income
middle class and more likely % of U.S. population in each income tier, by nativity and region of birth, 2022

to live in lower-income Lower income Middle income Upper income

households. In 2022, more Nativity

than a third of immigrants U.S. born 29% 53 18

(36%) lived in lower-income
Foreign born 36 48 16
households, compared with
29% of the U.S. born.
Region of birth, including for U.S. born
Immigrants also trailed the
U.S. born in the shares who Asia 27 48 25
were in the middle class, 48%
Europe 26 49 25
vs. 53%.
Oceania 29 46 25
There are large gaps in the North America,
29 53 18
economic status of U.S. territories
American residents by Africa 37 49 14
their region of birth.
Among people born in Asia, South America 36 50 14
Europe or Oceania, 25% lived Central America
& Caribbean 46 48 6
in upper-income households
in 2022. People from these Note: People are assigned to income tiers based on their household incomes, after incomes
regions represented 7% of the have been adjusted for the number of people living in each household and the local area
cost of living. Shares may not total 100% due to rounding.
U.S. population. Source: Pew Research Center analysis of the American Community Survey (IPUMS), 2022.
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By comparison, only 14% of

people born in Africa or South
America and 6% of those born in Central America and the Caribbean were in the upper-income
tier in 2022. Together they accounted for 8% of the U.S. population.

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7 The likelihood of being in

the middle class or the Americans of South Asian origin are the most likely to
upper-income tier varies be upper income; Hispanic origins are the least likely
considerably with the % of U.S. population in each income tier, by ancestry, 2022
ancestry of Americans. In Lower income Middle income Upper income
2022, Americans reporting
South Asian 20% 42 38
South Asian ancestry were
about as likely to be upper Soviet, Eastern 20 53 27
European
income (38%) as they were to
Other Asian 25 51 24
be middle income (42%). Only
20% of Americans of South Western European 21 56 23
Asian origin lived in lower-
Middle Eastern & 35 43 21
income households. South North African
Asians accounted for about 2% Pacific Islander 34 53 13
of the U.S. population of
known origin groups in 2022. North American 38 50 12

Sub-Saharan African 41 47 12
At least with respect to the
share who were lower income, Caribbean 39 49 11
this was about matched by Central & South American,
44 48 7
those with Soviet, Eastern other Hispanic ancestry

European, other Asian or Note: People are assigned to income tiers based on their household incomes, after incomes
have been adjusted for the number of people living in each household and the local area
Western European origins.
cost of living. Shares may not total 100% due to rounding. Ancestry or origin shown is that
These groups represented the which is reported first by respondents in the source data. Estimates include both the U.S.
born and the foreign born. About 25% of respondents in the source data were of unknown
majority (54%) of the ancestry. Caribbean includes non-Hispanic Central and South America. Soviet and Eastern
population of Americans European includes all Europeans not elsewhere classified.
Source: Pew Research Center analysis of the American Community Survey (IPUMS), 2022.
whose ancestry was known in
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2022.

On the other hand, only 7% of Americans with Central and South American or other
Hispanic ancestry were in the upper-income tier, and 44% were lower income. The
economic statuses of Americans with Caribbean, sub-Saharan African or North American ancestry
were not very different from this.

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8 Education matters for

moving into the middle The share of Americans in the middle- or upper-income
class and beyond, and so do tier rises sharply with education and employment
jobs. Among Americans ages % of Americans in each income tier, by education and labor force status, 2022

25 and older in 2022, 52% of Lower income Middle income Upper income
Education level
those with a bachelor’s degree
<HS graduate 54% 42 5
or higher level of education
lived in middle-class HS graduate only 37 54 9
households and another 35%
lived in upper-income Some college 28 58 14
households.
Bachelor's degree+ 12 52 35

In sharp contrast, 42% of

Americans who did not Labor force status
graduate from high school Employed 19% 58 23
were in the middle class, and
only 5% were in the upper- Unemployed 49 42 8
income tier. Further, only 12%
Not in labor force 43 45 12
of college graduates were
lower income, compared with
Note: People are assigned to income tiers based on their household incomes, after incomes
54% of those who did not have been adjusted for the number of people living in each household and the local area
complete high school. cost of living. Shares may not total 100% due to rounding. Education level is estimated for
people ages 25 and older, and labor force status is for people 16 and older.
Source: Pew Research Center analysis of the American Community Survey (IPUMS), 2022.
Not surprisingly, having a PEW RESEARCH CENTER
job is strongly linked to
movement from the
lower-income tier to the middle- and upper-income tiers. Among employed American
workers ages 16 and older, 58% were in the middle-income tier in 2022 and 23% were in the
upper-income tier. Only 19% of employed workers were lower income, compared with 49% of
unemployed Americans.

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9 In some occupations,
More than a third of U.S. workers in technology,
about nine-in-ten U.S.
management, and business and finance occupations
workers are either in the
were in the upper-income tier in 2022
middle class or in the upper-
% of U.S. workers in each income tier, by occupation, 2022
income tier, but in some
other occupations almost Lower income Middle income Upper income

four-in-ten workers are Computer, science

8% 53 39
and engineering
lower income. More than a
third (36% to 39%) of workers Management 11 50 39

in computer, science and Business and

10 54 36
finance operations
engineering, management,
Legal, social services,
and business and finance arts, media and related
16 55 28
occupations lived in upper-
Health care 21 55 24
income households in 2022.
About half or more were in the Education 18 61 21
middle class.
Sales and related 26 53 20

But many workers – about Protective and building 19 62 20

maintenance services
one-third or more – in Office and
25 62 14
construction, transportation, administrative support
food preparation and serving, Armed forces 22 65 14
and personal care and other
Maintenance, repair and 25 64 10
services were in the lower- production
income tier in 2022. Construction,
32 58 10
extraction and farming
Transportation and
About six-in-ten workers or material moving
32 59 9
more in education; protective Food preparation
and serving 39 52 9
and building maintenance
Personal care
services; office and and other services
39 52 9
administrative support; the
armed forces; and Note: People are assigned to income tiers based on their household incomes, after incomes
have been adjusted for the number of people living in each household and the local area
maintenance, repair and cost of living. Shares may not total 100% due to rounding. Estimates are for people ages 16
production were in the middle and older who had worked in the previous five years.
Source: Pew Research Center analysis of the American Community Survey (IPUMS), 2022.
class. PEW RESEARCH CENTER

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10 Depending on the About a third of U.S. workers in the information,

industrial sector, anywhere financial and professional services sectors were in
from half to two-thirds of the upper-income tier in 2022
U.S. workers were in the % of U.S. workers in each income tier, by industry, 2022
middle class, and the share
Lower income Middle income Upper income
who are upper income or
Finance, insurance
lower income varied greatly. and real estate
14% 53 33

Information 15 52 33
About a third of workers in the
finance, insurance and real Professional services 19 50 31
estate, information, and
Public administration 13 61 27
professional services sectors
were in the upper-income tier Wholesale trade 20 58 22
in 2022. Nearly nine-in-ten
workers (87%) in public Education 17 61 22

administration – largely filling Manufacturing 19 59 21

legislative functions and
Health care
providing federal, state or and social assistance
22 56 21
local government services – Arts, entertainment
25 56 19
were either in the middle class and recreation
or the upper-income tier. Agriculture, forestry,
28 55 17
fishing and mining
Transportation,
25 59 16
But nearly four-in-ten workers warehousing and utilities
(38%) in accommodation and Construction 26 59 15
food services were lower
income in 2022, along with Retail trade 30 56 14

three-in-ten workers in the

Other services 30 57 14
retail trade and other services
sectors. Military 21 65 13

Accommodation and
food services 38 52 11

Note: People are assigned to income tiers based on their household incomes, after incomes
have been adjusted for the number of people living in each household and the local area
cost of living. Shares may not total 100% due to rounding. Estimates are for people ages 16
and older who had worked in the previous five years.
Source: Pew Research Center analysis of the American Community Survey (IPUMS), 2022.
PEW RESEARCH CENTER

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11 The share of Americans who are in the middle class or in the upper- or lower-income
tier differs across U.S. metropolitan areas. But a pattern emerges when it comes to which
metro areas have the highest shares of people living in lower-, middle- or upper-income
households. (We first adjust household incomes for differences in the cost of living across areas.)

The 10 metropolitan areas The 10 U.S. metropolitan areas with the largest shares
with the greatest shares of of residents in the middle class in 2022
middle-income residents % of residents in a metropolitan area in each income tier, 2022
are small to midsize in
Lower income Middle income Upper income
population and are
Dover, DE 26% 65 10
located mostly in the
northern half of the U.S. Olympia-Tumwater, WA 25 64 11
About six-in-ten residents in
these metro areas were in the Glens Falls, NY 23 63 14
middle class.
Bismarck, ND 19 63 19

Several of these areas are in Ogden-Clearfield, UT 20 62 18

the so-called Rust Belt,
namely, Wausau and Lancaster, PA 20 62 18
Oshkosh-Neenah, both in
Provo-Orem, UT 28 61 11
Wisconsin; Grand Rapids-
Wyoming, Michigan; and Wausau, WI 20 61 20
Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Two
others – Dover and Olympia- Oshkosh-Neenah, WI 27 61 13

Tumwater – include state

Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI 25 60 15
capitals (Delaware and
Washington, respectively). Note: People are assigned to income tiers based on their household incomes, after incomes
have been adjusted for the number of people living in each household and the local area
cost of living. Shares may not total 100% due to rounding. The ranking of metropolitan areas
is based on 222 areas for which a sample of at least 500 households was available.
In four of these areas – Source: Pew Research Center analysis of the American Community Survey (IPUMS), 2022.
Bismarck, North Dakota, PEW RESEARCH CENTER
Ogden-Clearfield, Utah,
Lancaster and Wausau – the
share of residents in the upper-income tier ranged from 18% to 20%, about on par with the share
nationally.

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The 10 U.S. metropolitan

areas with the highest The 10 U.S. metropolitan areas with the largest shares
shares of residents in the of residents in the upper-income tier in 2022
upper-income tier are % of residents in a metropolitan area in each income tier, 2022
mostly large, coastal
Lower income Middle income Upper income
communities. Topping the
San Jose-Sunnyvale-
list is San Jose-Sunnyvale- Santa Clara, CA 19% 42 40
Santa Clara, California, a San Francisco-
Oakland-Hayward, CA 22 43 34
technology-driven economy, in
which 40% of the population Bridgeport-Stamford-
Norwalk, CT 24 43 33
lived in upper-income
Washington-Arlington-
households in 2022. Other Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV 20 49 31

tech-focused areas on this list Trenton, NJ 25 46 29

include San Francisco-
Oakland-Hayward; Seattle- Austin-Round Rock, TX 22 51 27
Tacoma-Bellevue; and
Raleigh, NC 22 51 27
Raleigh, North Carolina.
Seattle-Tacoma-
Bellevue, WA 22 51 27
Bridgeport-Stamford- Boston-Cambridge-
24 49 26
Norwalk, Connecticut, is a Newton, MA-NH
financial hub. Several areas, Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA 26 48 26
including Washington, D.C.-
Arlington-Alexandria and Note: People are assigned to income tiers based on their household incomes, after incomes
have been adjusted for the number of people living in each household and the local area
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, cost of living. Shares may not total 100% due to rounding. The ranking of metropolitan areas
are home to major is based on 222 areas for which a sample of at least 500 households was available.
Source: Pew Research Center analysis of the American Community Survey (IPUMS), 2022.
universities, leading research PEW RESEARCH CENTER
facilities and the government
sector.

Notably, many of these metro areas also have sizable lower-income populations. For instance,
about a quarter of the populations in Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk; Trenton, New Jersey;
Boston-Cambridge-Newton; and Santa Cruz-Watsonville, California, were in the lower-income tier
in 2022.

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Most of the 10 U.S.

metropolitan areas with The 10 U.S. metropolitan areas with the largest shares
the highest shares of of residents in the lower-income tier in 2022
residents in the lower- % of residents in a metropolitan area in each income tier, 2022

income tier are in the Lower income Middle income Upper income
Southwest, either on the McAllen-Edinburg- 51% 42 7
southern border of Texas or in Mission, TX

California’s Central Valley. Monroe, LA 49 41 10

The shares of people living in
Laredo, TX 48 44 8
lower-income residents were
largely similar across these Brownsville-Harlingen, TX 47 46 7
areas, ranging from about 45%
to 50%. Visalia-Porterville, CA 46 46 8

El Paso, TX 46 45 9
About 40% to 50% of residents
in these metro areas were in Shreveport-Bossier 45 44 11
City, LA
the middle class, and only
Bakersfield, CA 44 47 9
about one-in-ten or fewer lived
in upper-income households. Modesto, CA 44 51 5

Compared with the nation Las Cruces, NM 44 46 10

overall, the lower-income
Note: People are assigned to income tiers based on their household incomes, after incomes
metro areas in Texas and have been adjusted for the number of people living in each household and the local area
California have cost of living. Shares may not total 100% due to rounding. The ranking of metropolitan areas
is based on 222 areas for which a sample of at least 500 households was available.
disproportionately large Source: Pew Research Center analysis of the American Community Survey (IPUMS), 2022.
Hispanic populations. The two PEW RESEARCH CENTER
metro areas in Louisiana –
Monroe and Shreveport-
Bossier City – have disproportionately large Black populations.

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Acknowledgments
This report was written by Rakesh Kochhar, senior researcher.

Editorial guidance for the report was provided by Mark Hugo Lopez, director, race and ethnicity
research.

Guidance on the communications strategy and outreach was provided by Tanya Arditi, senior
communications manager.

The report was number-checked by Gracie Martinez and Mohamad Moslimani, research
assistants. Sara Atske, digital producer, produced the report. David Kent, senior copy editor, copy
edited the report.

Find related reports on our topic page about the middle class.

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Methodology
The data for the historical analysis in this report is derived from the Annual Social and Economic
Supplements (ASEC) of the Current Population Survey (CPS), which are conducted in March of
every year. The specific files used in this report are from March 1971 to March 2023 and contain
data on the annual income of households from 1970 to 2022. Conducted jointly by the U.S. Census
Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the CPS is a monthly survey of about 60,000
households and is the source of the nation’s official statistics on unemployment. The ASEC survey
in March typically features a larger sample size (about 75,000 in recent years) and is the source of
the annual income and poverty estimates reported by the Census Bureau.

The historical analysis for Asian Americans is limited to CPS data for 2010 and 2023. That is
because Asian Americans alone were not identified in the CPS until 2003. Prior to that year, and
starting only in 1988, the CPS reported data for Asians and Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders
(NHPI) combined. But the sample size for the NHPI population is only about 300 households in
2010 and 2023. For that reason, we do not report historical trends for the NHPI population. We
also do not report historical trends for American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) or multiracial
populations. These two populations are not uniquely identified in the CPS.

Methodological and other revisions to the CPS may have an impact on estimated trends. For
example, the 2015 ASEC introduced a redesigned set of income questions, and definitions of key
socioeconomic categories, such as race and educational attainment, have changed over time.

The demographic analysis is principally based on the data from the 2022 American Community
Survey (ACS). The public-use version of the ACS is a 1% sample of the U.S. population, or more
than 3 million people. It is designed to collect the detailed information previously collected in the
long form of the decennial census. But the ACS data are available only from 2005 onwards and are
less suitable for long-run historical analyses.

The ACS is conducted in every month of the year, with data collected from about one-twelfth of the
total sample in each month. The monthly responses are combined to form an annual portrait of
the nation and of smaller geographic units. Because of its large sample size, the ACS is a better
source than the CPS for analyses of subnational or subgroup demographic and income data.
Nonetheless, we do not report the distribution of NHPI workers across income tiers by occupation
and industry because of small sample sizes.

In some instances, the demographic analysis uses data from the 5-year ACS for the period 2018-
2022. This file contains data from the five ACS surveys conducted over this period and represents

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a 5% sample of the U.S. population, or more than 15 million people. We exclude the data for 2020
because the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on data collection in that year. The
resulting file with four years of data – about 12 million people – was used to study smaller
demographic groups, such as Korean Americans or Pakistani Americans. But we are still limited in
the extent to which we can analyze the distribution of the AIAN and NHPI populations across
income tiers in U.S. metropolitan areas.

The CPS and ACS microdata used are the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS)
provided by the University of Minnesota. The IPUMS assigns uniform codes, to the extent
possible, to data collected in the CPS and ACS over the years. More information about the IPUMS,
including variable definition and sampling error, is available at IPUMS CPS and IPUMS USA.

Income
Household income is the sum of incomes earned by all members of the household ages 15 and
older. Income is defined as money income received (exclusive of certain money receipts, such as
capital gains) before payments for such things as personal income taxes, Social Security, union
dues and Medicare deductions. Noncash transfers such as SNAP benefits (food stamps), health
benefits, subsidized housing and energy assistance are not included. More detail on the
measurement and collection of income in government data can be found in the documentation of
the CPS or in the documentation of the ACS.

The CPS collects data on income received by the household in the calendar year preceding the
date of the survey. The ACS is a rolling monthly survey, and the household income data refer to
income received during the 12 months preceding the survey month. In other words, a household
surveyed in January 2022 is expected to report income received from January 2021 to December
2021, a household surveyed in February 2022 is expected to report income received from February
2021 to January 2022, and so on. Households surveyed in December 2022 report income received
from December 2021 to November 2022. Thus, in the 2022 ACS, the income data refer to the
period from January 2021 to November 2022, a span of 23 months.

Because the income data collected in the ACS does not refer to a calendar year, the Census Bureau
provides an adjustment factor that converts reported incomes to the levels they would have been
had they been earned during a calendar year. Although this adjustment factor has its limits, we
apply it to the income data in the 2022 ACS to convert reported incomes to their projected levels in
the 2022 calendar year. In the 5-year ACS files, the reported incomes have already been
standardized by the Census Bureau to dollars as valued in the final year of data included in the file.

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The data on income are adjusted for inflation and reported in 2023 dollars in this report. We use
the price index series published in the Census Bureau’s 2022 income report. From 2000 to 2022,
this series is the same as the Chained Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U)
published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). From 1978 to 1999, this series is the BLS’s
Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers Retroactive Series (R-CPI-U-RS). For years prior
to 1978, the Census Bureau uses an experimental price index series from the BLS known as the
CPI-U-X1. We apply the C-CPI-U from the BLS to extend the Census Bureau’s price index series
from 2022 to 2023.

The choice of a price index does not affect the allocation of households into lower-, middle- or
upper-income categories at a point in time. That is because the same price index applies to the
incomes of all households and does not affect their income-based rank. However, the choice of a
price index does affect measures of absolute progress over time. For example, from 2000 to 2023,
the price level rose either 78% (R-CPI-U-RS) or 67% (C-CPI-U). This means that someone who
earned $10,000 per year in 2000 would need to earn either $17,800 (using the R-CPI-U-RS) or
$16,700 (using the C-CPI-U) in 2023 to be just as well off as in 2000.

Households in census data

The Census Bureau defines a household as the entire group of persons who live in a single dwelling
unit. A household may consist of several persons living together or one person living alone. It
includes the household head and all of their relatives living in the dwelling unit and also any
lodgers, live-in housekeepers, nannies and other residents not related to the head of the
household.

Adjusting income for household size

Household income data reported in this study are adjusted for the number of people in a
household. That is done because a four-person household with an income of, say, $50,000 faces a
tighter budget constraint than a two-person household with the same income. In addition to
comparisons across households at a given point in time, this adjustment is useful for measuring
changes in the income of households over time. That is because average household size in the U.S.
decreased from 3.1 persons in 1970 to 2.5 persons in 2023, a drop of about 20%. Ignoring this
demographic change would mean ignoring a commensurate loosening of the household budget
constraint.

At its simplest, adjusting for household size could mean converting household income into per
capita income. Thus, a two-person household with an income of $50,000 would have a per capita

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income of $25,000, double the per capita income of a four-person household with the same total
income.

A more sophisticated framework for household size adjustment recognizes that there are
economies of scale in consumer expenditures. For example, a two-bedroom apartment may not
cost twice as much to rent as a one-bedroom apartment. Two household members could carpool to
work for the same cost as a single household member, and so on. For that reason, many
researchers make adjustments for household size using the method of “equivalence scales.”

A common equivalence-scale adjustment is defined as follows:

Adjusted household income = Household income / (Household size)N

By this method, household income is divided by household size exponentiated by “N,” where N is a
number between 0 and 1.

Note that if N=0, the denominator equals 1. In that case, no adjustment is made for household
size. If N=1, the denominator equals household size, and that is the same as converting household
income into per capita income. The usual approach is to let N be some number between 0 and 1.
Following other researchers, this study uses N=0.5. In practical terms, this means that household
income is divided by the square root of household size – 1.41 for a two-person household, 1.73 for a
three-person household, 2.00 for a four-person household and so on.

One issue with adjusting for household size is that while demographic data on household
composition pertain to the survey date, income data typically pertain to the preceding calendar
year or the preceding 12-month period. Because household composition can change over time, for
example, through marriage, divorce or death, the household size that is measured at the survey
date may not be the same as that at the time the income was earned and spent.

Once household incomes have been converted to a “uniform” household size, they can be scaled to
reflect any household size. The income data reported in this study are computed for three-person
households, the closest whole number to the average size of a U.S. household since 1970. That is
done as follows:

Three-person household income = Adjusted household income * [(3)0.5]

Adjusting for household size does have an effect on trends in income since 1970. However, it is
important to note that once the adjustment has been made, it is immaterial whether one scales

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incomes to one-, two-, three- or four-person households. Regardless of the choice of household
size, the same results would emerge with respect to the trends in the well-being of lower-, middle-
and upper-income groups.

Adjusting income for the cost of living in metropolitan and other areas
In our analysis of the ACS data, “middle-income” Americans live in households with incomes that
are two-thirds to double the national median, after incomes have been adjusted for household size
and the cost of living in their area. Their area of residence may be in a known metropolitan area,
an unidentified metro area or outside of a metro area.

A metropolitan area consists of at least one urbanized area with a population of 50,000 or more
people, plus neighboring areas that are socially and economically integrated with the core.
Metropolitan areas may cross state boundaries, such as the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria,
DC-VA-MD-WV area.

Our analysis of the state of the middle class for all Americans encompasses 222 of 381
metropolitan areas in the United States, as defined by the Office of Management and Budget in its
2013 classification of metro areas. The 222 metropolitan areas included are the maximum number
of areas that could be identified in the ACS (IPUMS) data that also had a sample of at least 500
households. Together, these areas accounted for 72% of the nation’s population in 2022. Overall,
the 2022 ACS identifies 248 metro areas.

The cost-of-living adjustment for all areas is based on price indexes published by the U.S. Bureau
of Economic Analysis. These indexes, known as Regional Price Parities (RPP), compare the prices
of goods and services in an area with the national average prices for the same goods and services.
The latest available estimates are for 2022.

RPPs are available for three types of areas. The RPPs for metropolitan areas were used to adjust
the incomes of households in metro areas identified in the ACS data. RPPs for the metropolitan
portions of a state were used to adjust the incomes of households known to live in a metro area in
that state but for whom the identity of the metro area was not known. Finally, RPPs for all
nonmetro areas in a state were used to adjust the incomes of households located in nonmetro
areas in that state.

Race, ethnicity, nativity, educational attainment and marital status

In our analyses, White, Black and Asian Americans, American Indians or Alaska Natives, and
Native Hawaiians or Pacific Islanders are people who identified with a single major racial group

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and who are not Hispanic. Asian includes people who identified with more than one Asian race or
origin, e.g., Japanese and Filipino. Native Hawaiians or Pacific Islanders include people
identifying with more than one Micronesian race. Multiracial includes people who identified with
more than one major racial group, e.g., White and Black, Black and Korean, or Chinese and
Hawaiian, and are not Hispanic. Hispanics are of any race.

U.S. born refers to individuals who are U.S. citizens at birth, including people born in the 50 U.S.
states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico or other U.S. territories, as well as those born
elsewhere to at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen. The terms foreign born and immigrant are
used interchangeably in this report. They refer to people who are not U.S. citizens at birth.

High school graduate refers to those who have a high school diploma or its equivalent, such as a
General Education Development (GED) certificate, and those who had completed 12th grade, but
their diploma status was unclear (those who had finished 12th grade but not received a diploma
are excluded). Adults with some college include those with an associate degree and those who
attended college but did not obtain a degree. In the estimates for 1971, adults with a bachelor’s
degree or higher level of education are those who completed at least four years of college.

Unmarried includes never married, divorced, separated and widowed. Married includes those
whose spouse may be absent.

Region of birth and ancestry

Region of birth is defined using traditional geographic boundaries as identified in the IPUMS USA
variable BPL. North America and U.S. territories includes the U.S., American Samoa, Guam,
Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, Canada, and Atlantic Islands. Central America and the
Caribbean includes Mexico, the rest of Central America and Caribbean islands. South America is
all countries in South America, and Europe is all countries in Europe, including Russia. Asia is
geographic Asia, including the Middle East, and Africa refers to all countries on that continent.
Oceania encompasses Australia, New Zealand and various Pacific Islands.

Ancestry refers to a person’s self-reported ancestry or ethnic origin and is based on the IPUMS
USA variable ANCESTR1. Respondents may provide more than one ancestry. We use the first-
reported ancestry in our analysis. North American refers to U.S. or Canadian origins and
American Indian and Alaska Native tribes. Central and South American and other Hispanic
ancestry refers not only to places of origin, such as Mexico, Puerto Rico and Peru, but also to
ethnic origins, such as Mexican American, Spaniard and Hispanic. Caribbean includes the West
Indies and non-Hispanic Central and South America.

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South Asian includes origin groups from Afghanistan, India and neighboring countries, except
Burma. Other Asian encompasses groups from Burma to the countries on the Pacific rim of Asia.
Middle Eastern & North African origin groups are from countries ranging from Morocco to Iran.
Sub-Saharan African groups are from Africa, excluding countries in North Africa. Pacific
Islanders trace their origin to Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands, including Hawaii.
Western European and Soviet or Eastern European ancestries are defined along familiar
geographic classifications of these regions, except that the latter category also includes Europeans
not elsewhere classified in the source data.

Statistical significance
Comparisons between most estimates are tested for statistical significance using the replicate
weights in the source data. These tests for statistical significance are conducted using 95%
confidence intervals. However, replicate weights are not available in the CPS for years prior to
2005. Thus, when comparisons are made between CPS estimates from 1971 and 2023, or in other
instances where replicate weights are not available, the standard errors are determined using the
“pweight” option in Stata, and tests of significance are conducted using 99% confidence intervals.

© Pew Research Center 2024

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