The term “middle class” is widely used in American discourse, but few people can clearly define it or know if they truly belong to it, according to Pew Research and Yahoo Finance.
According to the Pew Research Center, just over half of U.S. households—51% as of 2023—qualify as middle income, a noticeable drop from 61% in 1971. This decline suggests that nearly half of Americans no longer fit within what’s traditionally considered the middle class.
Pew defines middle-income households as those earning between two-thirds and double the national median income, which translates to a range of about $56,600 to $169,800, based on 2022 government data. Even among those within that range, many feel financially stretched.
A survey by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling revealed that more than half of U.S. adults say they are unable to make financial progress, while nearly half report that they are constantly just treading water.
