What % of U.S. residents are middle class?

Question

Is it me or is middle class disappearing?

Answer 1

It depends on what is actually defined as middle class. I consider myself middle class, but some might see me as lower class.

Answer 2

Many economists say above 2X the poverty line and below 5X is middle class - the poverty line also being a term of art that changes based on family or household size.

Some use arbitrary real income levels.

It's hard to use wealth because there's less data - you get good surveys but you don't get much granularity - - enough to show there are more rich people than there used to be but you don't know the relative differences among those with below a given level of wealth.

But wealth is just how much income you've accumulated and it's as much a function of outflow as inflow - if you earn $100K a year for ten years but spend it all instead of saving and investing and don't own a home and thus have nothing to show for it you can't blame anyone else for the fact that you're not rich.

Wherever you draw the boundaries in terms of income, the flow is the same:

the % in the middle class is moving down while the % that are poor is staying the same and the % that is affluent has grown. There are more poor people but the % has come down in the last 40 years and has held steady in the last few years even as immigration from destitute countries has grown.

You do the math.

Actually, economists have done the math: the middle class is "shrinking" but 92% of the exodus has been upward.

This is good news but it's bad for politicians who opposed the policies that have allowed this to happen and who also for some reason don't want to admit that they were wrong or whose m.o. is to use government largesse win votes, which is harder the fewer people there are who need that largesse.

That's why those politicians tell you "oh my God, the middle class is shrinking." It's why they say "you're either rich or you're poor." But they conveniently leave the 92/8 breakdown out.

Economists who aren't political hacks are fairly uniform in not leaving it out.

This is why I have links to the BLS and the Fed and the couple of folks below me have no links at all.

Answer 3

There is no middle class cause the media never mentions the millions in poverty. So with that said its either your a have or a have not in terms of money An individual does not START to become a have until their annual incomes are over 100k the rest below over 85% of income earners don't like to admit it but they are part of the have nots! 15% are the haves & out of that 15% less than 1% are the wealthy elite having everything their way while fleecing the rest of the flock! So you spin as many levels of society you want by i draw the line with annual personel income! There are millions of Americans living in poverty losing their health & dying it is being ignored intentionally so! Put things in to perspective consider the consumer price index. For the person who has nothing it takes more money for them to aquire & achieve, yet they generally get paid less! This ia a major flaw with Capitalism creating a much larger population than whats report in the grips of poverty! The wealthy that own everything & the Media want the world to think USA is great & strong it is B/S just look at the majorities actual incomes which SUCKS compared to what it takes to live in USA!

Answer 4

What % of US residents, who were middle class, are now below the poverty line or homeless? What % have become Billionaires?

Answer 5

Probably about 40%.

Answer 6

Less and Less everyday!