The shrinking middle class in U.S. metropolitan areas: 6 key findings
The American middle class is losing ground in metropolitan areas across the country, affecting communities from Boston to Seattle and from Dallas to Milwaukee.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
The American middle class is losing ground in metropolitan areas across the country, affecting communities from Boston to Seattle and from Dallas to Milwaukee.
The middle class has long been the country’s economic majority, but our new analysis finds that’s no longer true.
On a global scale, the vast majority of Americans are either upper-middle income or high income. And many Americans who are classified as “poor” by the U.S. government would be middle income globally.
China and India both succeeded in slashing poverty from 2001 to 2011. But while that contributed to a rapidly growing middle class in China, it did little to increase the number of Indians who could be considered middle income.
The share of Americans who live in middle-income households has held steady since 2010 – a flat trend that might actually be good news.
The gap between America’s upper-income and middle-income families has reached its highest level on record. In 2013, the median wealth of the nation’s upper-income families ($639,400) was nearly seven times the median wealth of middle-income families ($96,500).
Today about as many Americans identify themselves as lower or lower-middle class (40%) as say they are in the middle class (44%).
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