Gallup has a poll that asks Americans what income strata they belong in.
The results are relatively stable over the past 20+ years:
Most people say middle class while very few people think they are upper class.
The Pew Research Center has a new tool that allows you to enter your income and see where it is you fit both nationally and locally.
Their numbers show the Gallup poll is right on the money as far as middle-class figure goes but not even close on the percentage of people in the upper class:
Just 2% of people feel they are in the upper class but nearly 20% actually reside there.
There used to be a greater share of people in the middle class.
In 1971, 61%of Americans were middle class while just 11% were considered upper class. The lower-income cohort made up 27% of the total back then so we’ve seen a healthy shift from the middle to upper class over the past 50 years or so.
Decreasing the share of lower-income households would be nice, but this is progress.
These are the income breakpoints from Pew:
Lower income = Less than $56,600 Middle income = $56,600 to $169,800 Upper income = More than $169,800
Like all averages, these numbers could use some context. It depends on where you live, the cost of living, job opportunities, etc.
For example, using the Pew middle-class calculator, I entered my metro area in West Michigan to see where we stack up relative to the national averages:
There are more people in the middle class and fewer in the lower and upper classes. That checks out based on my experience.
Now look at the New York City metro area:
Fewer people in the middle-class and a higher-than-average share
