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Home Research Topics Economy & Work Income, Wealth & Poverty Middle Class
Pew Research CenterDecember 8, 2015
The American Middle Class Is Losing Ground

Despite gains in income status, older adults are most likely to be lower income

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Despite gains in income status, older adults are most likely to be lower income

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The American Middle Class Is Losing Ground
The middle class is losing ground
Who is “middle income” and “upper income”?
Share of adults living in middle-income households is falling
Growth in income for middle-income households is less than the growth for upper-income households since 1970
The wealth gap between upper- and middle-income families is growing
Older people, married couples and black adults improved their income status more than other groups from 1971 to 2015
Who is middle income?
Share of adults living in middle-income households is in steady decline, and share in lower- and upper-income households is rising
Adults in middle-income households are now fewer in number than adults in other households
Income range for middle-income households and households in other income tiers
Share of adults living in lowest- and highest-income households has risen the most
Older people, married couples and black adults improved their income status more than other groups from 1971 to 2015
Married adults are more likely to be upper income than unmarried adults
Unmarried women with children are more likely than other groups to be lower income
Among American adults, there are large differences in income status by race and ethnicity
U.S.-born adults are higher up in income status than immigrants, except for black adults
Despite gains in income status, older adults are most likely to be lower income
College-educated adults are more likely than others to be upper income
From 1971 to 2014, higher-skilled occupations were among those that rose in income status
Teachers and salespeople slid down in income status from 2001 to 2014, while other job categories rose
Big income status gains in some industries contrast with losses in others from 1971 to 2014
Income status gains in most industry sectors from 2001 to 2014
Demographics of middle-income adults look like those of U.S. adults overall
On work-related measures, U.S. middle-income adults rank between lower- and upper-income adults
Median household income in the U.S. rises faster when adjusted for the decrease in household size since 1970
Median income of upper-income households has risen more than the median income of middle- and lower-income households from 1970 to 2014
Incomes rose for all households in each decade from 1970 to 2000, but have languished from 2000 to 2014
The share of aggregate income held by middle-income households plunged from 1970 to 2014 and is now less than the share held by upper-income households
The wealth of U.S. families increased from 1983 to 2007, fell sharply since
There is a large gap in the wealth of upper-income families and other families
Families in all income tiers lost wealth since 2007, but only upper-income families have started to recover
The asset portfolios of upper-income families are more diversified
Families reduced debt in the wake of the Great Recession of 2007-09, but losses in asset values cut deeper
Families in all income tiers accumulated debt at a rapid pace from 1983 to 2007

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