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| Middle-Class Income Ranges | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Household Size: | Single Male | Single Female | Married Couples | Family Households |
| Income Range | $33,287 – $99,860 | $29,913 – $89,740 | $85,800 – $257,400 | $72,400 – $217,200 |
| Median Income | $49,930 | $44,870 | $128,700 | $108,600 |
Lowest and Highest Bracket Growth
The Pew report found that the middle class is shrinking, not only because of greater poverty but also because more people are rich. The percentage of lowest-income earners—those earning less than two-thirds of the median income—had grown three percentage points, from 27% to 30% of the population, between 1971 and 2023. Over that same period, though, the percentage of Americans in the highest-income households also rose by eight points, from 11% to 19% of the population.
The shrinking middle class is not just an indication that people are falling out of the middle class into the lower class. They are also rising into the upper class, albeit in smaller numbers.
Demographic Changes
Note that the state of the U.S. economy is changing with—and because of—demographic changes in American society. On average, according to reports by the U.S. Census Bureau, the American population has grown older. This aging makes a big difference to the median income because retirees typically live off savings and generate little income. Also, the country is significantly more diverse than it was in the 1970s. Increases in the number of immigrants, for example, push down median incomes because immigrants, on average, make less money.
See the chart from the report below for these later figures on how the class composition has changed since the 1970s.
The Racial Wealth Gap
As a growing body of research is demonstrating in ever greater detail, there is a substantial racial wealth gap in the United States. The Pew report shows that in 2022, 27% of Asian households and 21% of white households were in the upper class, compared to just 9% of Black households and 8% of Hispanic households. (Note that Pew researchers, like the U.S. Census Bureau, use the term Hispanic.)
The share of Black and Hispanic households in the upper class has fallen since earlier Pew data from 2015. At that time, 12% of Black households and 10% of Hispanic households were in the upper income category. The percentages of Black and Hispanic households in the upper class based on 2022 data are the same, respectively, as those from Pew data in 2001. This suggests that an increase in income status between 2001 and 2015 was then reversed from 2015 to 2022. The U.S. Census Bureau found that, from 2023 to 2024, while Asian households saw median income increase by 5.1% and Hispanic households by 5.5%, Black households experienced a 3.3% decline.
The percentage of lower-income white households stayed roughly the same, with increases at the top and a shrinking middle-income group. Asian households experienced increases at both the top and the bottom of the income scale.
The Top 1%
When we look at the top 1%, it’s clear which group has profited the most. According to a recent report from the Economic Policy Institute, the top 1% of U.S. wage earners took home 12.4% of all U.S. income as of 2023. While this inequality fell for that year thanks to a strong labor market, it remains a persistent issue: Wages for the top 1% have close to tripled since 1979, while those for the bottom 90% of earners have climbed by only 44%.
According to a July 2025 study, the median income of the top 1% of the population was more than $731,000, although incomes vary considerably by state.
Where Do You Fall?
So where does that leave you? Income data released by the U.S. Census Bureau shows that the 2024 median household income was the highest on record at $83,730. Pew defines the middle class as those earning from two-thirds to double the median household income. Based on Pew’s classification, the middle class consists of people making somewhere between $55,820 and $167,460.
This is a rough estimate and doesn’t account for family size or location. But, as a quick calculation, those earning less than $55,820 make up the lower-income bracket, while those earning more than $167,460 make up the upper-income bracket.
If you want to know exactly how you fit into the income class matrix, the Pew Research Center has a recently updated income calculator. You can break down your class status first by state, metropolitan area, income before taxes, and members of the household, then by education level, age, race, and marital status.
Location Matters
The problem is that your money probably does not buy you the same kind of lifestyle when you live in a big coastal city versus a rural town in the middle of the country. The lives of families making the median income look very different, given the varied cost of living across the U.S.
This lived experience can make it difficult to determine your income class status. In a report for the Urban Institute titled “The Growing Size and Incomes of the Upper Middle Class,” nonresident fellow Stephen Rose wrote:
Because people tend to live in communities with similar incomes, they view themselves as being near the middle because their neighbors’ circumstances are similar to their own, even if their incomes are significantly below or above the U.S. median.
People in the aggregate tend to live, work, and socialize with people of similar income levels. For this reason, we often do not have accurate reference points that would help us gauge our actual class status.
Is the Middle Class Shrinking?
According to a report from the Pew Research Center, half of the U.S. population (51%) was in the middle class in 2023. While that represents a small increase over a 2015 Pew report, which found only 50% of the population was in the middle class, the percentage has actually been shrinking since the 1970s. In 2001, 54% lived in middle-income households, down from 59% in 1981, which was a drop from 61% in 1971. And the share of the income pie going to middle-income households also dropped, falling from 62% in 1970 to 43% in 2014.
Which Income Classes Are Growing?
Both poorer and richer income classes have increased in size in recent decades. From 1971 to 2023, the number of the lowest-income earners, who make less than two-thirds of the U.S. median income, grew from 27% to 30% of the population. At the same time, the percentage of Americans in the highest-income households also rose—from 11% to 19% of the population.
How Do I Figure Out Which Income Class I’m In?
One way is simply to look at the range of incomes considered middle class. The Pew Research Center defines the middle class as households that earn between two-thirds and double the median U.S. household income, which was $83,730 in 2024. Using Pew’s yardstick, middle income is made up of people who make between $55,820 and $167,460. This is a simplistic calculation, however, as it does not account for household size or location.
If you want to know exactly how you fit into the income class matrix, the Pew Research Center has a recently updated income calculator. You can break down your class status first by state, metropolitan area, income before taxes, and members of the household, then by education level, age, race, and marital status.
Is $100,000 Salary a Middle Class Income?
This depends on your household size and location. For a single individual, $100,000 would actually put you in the upper-income level in most places. For household sizes between two and four, $100,000 a year would put you squarely in the middle class.
The Bottom Line
Class status is complicated. It involves more than just income. It involves the cost of living, lifestyle choices, and lived experiences. It consists of social and cultural capital. While the Pew income calculator may tell us where we stand, the experience of class is entirely relative. People deduce their class standing from the cues in their immediate surroundings—their neighborhood, their workplace, and their social circles.
The middle class has stabilized in size, but it is losing income share, mostly to the top 20% and especially to the top 1% amid increasing class inequality and immobility.
