[Peace-discuss] Who is really middle class in America?

[Szoke, Ron]

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/who-is-really-middle-class-in-america-this-chart-shows-just-how-much-family-size-matters-2018-12-28

Who is really middle class in America? This chart shows just how much family size matters
Maria LaMagna
[cid:DC2EE9BF-971F-4D85-9982-D4F5AF52D4FE at hsd1.il.comcast.net] Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection

Most Americans believe they are in the middle class... but are they?

Studies have shown that as much as 68% of the country defines themselves as middle class<https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/26/how-many-americans-qualify-as-middle-class.html>, but data show that, based on a strict income definition, only about 50% of the country is middle class.

Part of the reason for this is income alone leaves many important factors out of the picture that can affect someone’s finances dramatically -- local cost of living, for one, but equally important: family size.

A new chart from the personal-finance website HowMuch.net<https://howmuch.net/articles/income-classes-in-america> lays out income class, based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Pew Research Center, but takes into account family size in determining someone’s placement along the upper, middle lower scale.

[cid:2E6AC264-FAE2-4327-8C4B-D090E6B05451 at hsd1.il.comcast.net]

As a general rule, according to Pew Research, Americans are considered middle-income<http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/09/06/the-american-middle-class-is-stable-in-size-but-losing-ground-financially-to-upper-income-families/> if they make two-thirds to double the U.S. median household income, or about $45,200 to $135,600 in 2016. That’s for families with three people, the number closest to the average U.S. household size, 2.5 people.

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Lower-income households are those making less than $45,200. And upper-income households have incomes greater than $135,600.

If you’re a single, working adult, with no children, those numbers change drastically.

Check out the chart to see where you line up. And if you want to be a little more exact, Pew Research also has a calculator<http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/09/06/are-you-in-the-american-middle-class/> that lets you select your state, metropolitan area, household income before taxes and number of people in your household.

One takeaway, as always: Don’t put pressure on yourself to “keep up with the Joneses,” especially if you have more children to take care of, the author wrote on HowMuch.

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