The share of adults in the middle class varies considerably across Western Europe, according to a new Pew Research Center report. In 2010, the share was near 80% in Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway – the highest of the 11 Western European countries evaluated – and as low as 64% in Spain.
As part of the study, the Center designed income calculators to help you determine where you fit on the income ladder in Western Europe. To access a calculator, click on the graphic below and select your home country or country of interest.
When prompted, enter an estimate of the total income earned by everyone in your household in 2016, using the country’s local currency. Include income from all sources – such as jobs, pensions, government assistance, and interest received, then deduct all taxes on income, including for social insurance programs. Don’t forget to enter the number of people in your household. (Pew Research Center does not store or share any of the information you enter.)
The calculator estimates your equivalent income in 2010 or 2013 (depending on your country of choice) and reports where you might have stood in the income distribution of the country that year.
As our study defines it, “middle-income” households have disposable (after-tax) incomes ranging from two-thirds to double the national median disposable household income in a country. Lower-income households have incomes less than two-thirds the national median, and upper-income households have incomes that are more than double the median. (Incomes are first adjusted for household size).
