Pew Research Center has released a report documenting the state of the American middle class and how it has changed over the past 50 years.
The total share of Americans in the middle class has dropped from 61 percent of all households in 1971 to 51 percent in 2023. In comparison, the share of lower-income households has increased from 27 percent to 30 percent and the share of upper-income Americans increased from 11 percent to 19 percent over the same time period. While all households have higher, inflation-adjusted incomes today than the 1970s, the American upper-class has notably increased their incomes by 78 percent, compared to a 60 percent increase for the middle-class and a 55 percent increase for the lower-class.
Despite America’s growing economic divide, the gender gap among lower, middle, and upper-income American households is very small. About 53 percent of men live in middle-income houses compared to 51 percent of women. The same gap was found among upper-income houses with 18 percent of American men and 16 percent of American women falling into this category. In contrast, women are slightly more likely than men to live in low-income households at 32 percent and 28 percent, respectively.