Where wages are worth the most and least in the U.S.
How the true value of your paycheck is affected by where you live.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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Shared, Collaborative and On Demand: The New Digital Economy
The sharing economy and on-demand services are weaving their way into the lives of many Americans, raising difficult issues around jobs, regulation and the potential emergence of a new digital divide.
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Are you in the American middle class?
Our new calculator allows you to see which group you fit in, first compared with all American adults, and then compared with other adults similar to you in education, age, race or ethnicity, and marital status.
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Smaller Share of Women Ages 65 and Older Are Living Alone
After rising steadily for nearly a century, the share of older Americans who live alone has fallen since 1990, largely because women ages 65 to 84 are increasingly likely to live with their spouse or their children.
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Most Americans Say Government Doesn’t Do Enough to Help Middle Class
As Americans begin casting the first ballots in the 2016 presidential election, neither political party is widely viewed as supportive of the middle class in this country.
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The American Middle Class Is Losing Ground
After more than four decades of serving as the nation’s economic majority, the U.S. middle class is now matched in size by those in the economic tiers above and below it.
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How Americans compare with the global middle class
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.
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Free Trade Agreements Seen as Good for U.S., But Concerns Persist
As Congress considers a major new trade pact with Asia, there is broad public agreement that international free trade agreements are good for the United States. But fewer Americans express positive views of the impact of trade deals on their personal finances.
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Family Support in Graying Societies
America is turning gray, with the share of people ages 65 and older expected to rise more than 50% by 2050 – a trend that may burden more families. But Germany and Italy are already there, with a fifth of their population in that age range.
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The Politics of Financial Insecurity
While the least financially secure Americans are more likely to back Democrats, that support is undercut by low political participation. Those who are financially insecure are far more likely to opt out of the political system altogether.
