Black adults and those older or married saw some of the biggest gains in income status from 1971 to 2021

Home Research Topics Economy & Work Income, Wealth & Poverty Economic Inequality

April 14, 2022

How the American middle class has changed in the past five decades

Black adults and those older or married saw some of the biggest gains in income status from 1971 to 2021

Download

Black adults and those older or married saw some of the biggest gains in income status from 1971 to 2021

← Prev Page

1 2 3 4 5 6 … 8

How the American middle class has changed in the past five decades
Share of adults in U.S. middle class has decreased considerably since 1971
Incomes rose the most for upper-income households in U.S. from 1970 to 2020
Share of aggregate income held by U.S. middle class has plunged since 1970
Black adults and those older or married saw some of the biggest gains in income status from 1971 to 2021
U.S. adults who are married or in households with more than one earner are more likely to be upper income
Black and Hispanic adults, women are more likely to be lower income
Despite gains, older adults in the U.S. remain most likely to be lower income
About four-in-ten college-educated adults in the U.S. are in the upper-income tier

901 E St. NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20004
USA
(+1) 202-419-4300 | Main
(+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax
(+1) 202-419-4372 | Media Inquiries

Research Topics

ABOUT PEW RESEARCH CENTER Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan, nonadvocacy fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It does not take policy positions. The Center conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, computational social science research and other data-driven research. Pew Research Center is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, its primary funder.

Topics

Regions & Countries

Formats

How the American middle class has changed in the past five decades

Black adults and those older or married saw some of the biggest gains in income status from 1971 to 2021

Download

Post Infographics

Research Topics

Follow Us