The middle class earning between $30,000 and 100,000 is shrinking because more people are earning more than $100,000 There is a split into the regular middle class and a mass affluent class.
Economist Stephen Rose, defining the middle class as households with annual incomes between $30,000 and $100,000, says a smaller percentage of Americans are in that category than in 1979 — because the percentage of Americans earning more than $100,000 has doubled from 12 to 24, while the percentage earning less than $30,000 is unchanged.
Census data on income shows this effect.
Lower
limit of
Upper limit of each fifth (dollars) top 5
Number __________________________________________ percent
Year (thous.) Lowest Second Third Fourth (dollars)
______________________________________________________________________________
Current Dollars
2006 116,011 $20,035 $37,774 $60,000 $97,032 $174,012
In 2006, almost 20% of the people earned over $100,000. The 79 percentile level was $97,032.
1992 22/ 96,426 12,600 24,140 37,900 58,007 99,020
In 1992, only the top 5% earned over $100,000.
1979 18/ 80,776 7,000 13,000 20,001 29,000 46,860
In 1979, About 0.6% earned over $100,000.
FURTHER READING
Household income in the USA at wikipedia
The 2006 distribution of income up to $250,000
10% of those earning over $100,000 per year earned over $250,000. (Out of about 22 million earning over $100,000, 2.24 million earned over $250,000)
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