Economic Classes in the USA April 25, 2006
Our family grew up in what I think is an upper class neighborhood. I had friends whose family had huge homes, nice cars (Ferrari, Porsche, Benz), and parents who owned businesses or were executives. Our family was comfortable, but we didn’t own the 6000 sq. ft. mansions, sports cars. In other words, I believed that we were upper middle class family in an upper class neighborhood. Our discussion about class in America prompted me to think about what class I am in. Although I knew that the lower class didn’t have much net worth or did not hold management-type jobs, I never thought about what made a family middle class vs upper class.
According to wikipedia, the US has no legally-recognized social classes. Elites exist, but are numerous and there is no universally recognized hierarchy of people. Generally, sociologists use a five class model:
- Upper class
- Middle class: Upper-middle classs
- Middle class: Middle-middle classs
- Middle class: Lower-middle classs
- Lower class
| Upper class | Upper-middle classs | Middle-middle classs | Lower-middle classs | Lower classs | |
| Proportion | 1% to 3% of the U.S. population | 10% or so of the U.S. population | 40% or so of the U.S. population | 30% or so of the U.S. population | 20% of the U.S. population |
| Net worth (not including home) |
above $500,000 | between $250,000 and $500,000 | between $125,000 and $250,000 | $50,000 to $125,000 | $0 to $50,000 |
There’s a lot of fuzzy borders between the classes, and there are no clear cut answers, but this gives us some idea of the classes in America. It’s said that the wealth of the top 1% in the United States equals the wealth of the lower 95%. I belive that the spreading wealth gap is causing a smaller proportion of middle class in American society. The reason may be downsizing in some industries of the American economy, competition from lower-paid foreign workers and contractors, and the systematic elimination of unionized labor.
There’s also a lot of discussion on Oprah’s message boards about class in America where there’s some interesting perspectives. Do you ever think about what class you’re in? Do you worry about the widening income gap between classes?
Source:
Wikipedia - Social structure of the United States
http://federalreserve.gov/pubs/bulletin/2006/financesurvey.pdf
- Posted in : Economy, Income Gap, Net Worth, Poverty
- Author : Kyle
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