Who Are the "Middle Class"? (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised Sept. 28, 2009 |
| Report Number |
RS22627 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Brian W. Cashell, Specialist in Macroeconomic Policy |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
There is no consensus definition of "middle class," nor is there an official government definition.What constitutes the middle class is relative, subjective, and not easily defined. The mid-point inthe distribution is the median, and in 2008 the median household income was $50,303. How farabove and below that amount the middle stretches remains an open question.The U.S. Census Bureau has published figures for 2008 breaking the income distribution intoquintiles, or fifths. The narrowest view of who might be considered middle class based on thatpresentation would include those in the middle quintile, which includes households with incomebetween $39,000 and $62,750. A more generous definition might be based on the three middlequintiles, those households with income between $20,712 and $100,240.Surveys suggest that from 1% to just over 3% of the population consider themselves to be upperclass. Comparing those figures with the income distribution would put the dividing line betweenmiddle and upper class close to, if not above, $250,000. Similarly, survey responses suggest thatthe lower end of the middle class might be close to $40,000.
