The State of the American Middle Class
As the financial divide has grown, a smaller share of Americans now live in middle-class households. Here are key facts about this group.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Read our research on:
Search results for: “middle class”
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data essay
The United States at 250: How the Country Has Changed in the Past 50 Years
As America turns 250, explore how demographics, work, family and economics have shifted since 1976, based on 50 years of Census data.
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report
The State of the Asian American Middle Class
The share of Asian Americans in the U.S. middle class has held steady since 2010, while the share in the upper-income tier has grown.
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short reads
Are you in the American middle class? Find out with our income calculator
About half of U.S. adults (52%) lived in middle-income households in 2022, according to our new analysis of government data.
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2. Factors seen as contributing to economic inequality
People around the world see various factors as contributing to economic inequality in their country: Rich people’s political influence A median of 60% across 36 countries say that rich people having too much political influence leads to economic inequality a great deal in their country. Majorities hold this opinion in 31 nations and in at […]
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Acknowledgments
This report was written by Rakesh Kochhar, senior researcher. Editorial guidance for the report was provided by Mark Hugo Lopez, director, race and ethnicity research. Guidance on the communications strategy and outreach was provided by Tanya Arditi, senior communications manager. The report was number-checked by Gracie Martinez and Mohamad Moslimani, research assistants. Sara Atske, digital […]
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report
Acknowledgments
This report was written by Rakesh Kochhar, senior researcher. Editorial guidance for the report was provided by Mark Hugo Lopez, director, race and ethnicity research. Guidance on the communications strategy and outreach was provided by Tanya Arditi, senior communications manager. The report was number-checked by Gracie Martinez and Mohamad Moslimani, research assistants. Sara Atske, digital […]
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report
Methodology
The American Trends Panel survey methodology Overview Data in this report comes from Wave 177 of the American Trends Panel (ATP), Pew Research Center’s nationally representative panel of randomly selected U.S. adults. The survey was conducted from Aug. 18 to 24, 2025. A total of 5,153 panelists responded out of 5,525 who were sampled, for […]
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Appendix B: Typology group creation and analysis
Pew Research Center’s 2026 political typology divides the public into nine groups. The assignment of individuals to one of the nine groups is based on their responses to 30 questions about social and political values. The table below lists the items used in the construction of the typology groups. Items included in the typology construction […]
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Methodology
The American Trends Panel survey methodology Overview Data in this report comes from Wave 187 of the American Trends Panel (ATP), Pew Research Center’s nationally representative panel of randomly selected U.S. adults. The survey was conducted Feb. 17-23, 2026. A total of 5,119 panelists responded out of 5,854 who were sampled, for a survey-level response […]
