Fewer Americans Identify as

Middle Class in Recent Years

by Frank Newport
STORY HIGHLIGHTS

51% of Americans say they are in middle or upper-middle class

This is down from the 61% average from 2000 through 2008

48% now say they are in working or lower class

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Americans are considerably less likely now than they were in 2008
and years prior to identify themselves as middle class or upper-middle class, while the
percentage putting themselves in the working or lower class has risen. Currently, 51%
of Americans say they are middle class or upper-middle class, while 48% say they are
lower class or working class. In multiple surveys conducted from 2000 through 2008, an
average of more than 60% of Americans identified as middle or upper-middle class.

Gallup began asking this five-part social class question in 2000. In that year, and at
several points since, a high of 63% of Americans identified as either upper-middle or
middle class. The average percentage placing themselves in the two middle-class
categories between 2000 and 2008 was 61%.
Gallup didn't ask the question between 2009 and 2011, but in 2012 and again this year,
the combined middle-class percentage dropped significantly, to 50% and 51%,
respectively. On the other hand, the percentage of Americans identifying as working and
lower class rose to 47% and 48%, up from a low of 33% in 2000.
There are many ways researchers measure subjective social class. This particular
question gives Americans five categories from which to choose. Just 1% of Americans
say they are upper class, with the rest spread out in Gallup's April 9-12 survey across
upper-middle (13%), middle (38%), working (33%) and lower (15%) class categories.
The detailed trends are displayed at the end of this article. Questions which ask
respondents to choose only between upper, middle and lower class categories find a
larger percentage in the middle-class category than is the case with the five-category
measure.

Across all major demographic and political subgroups, identification as middle class or
upper-middle class has declined since 2008. In particular, the drop in middle-/uppermiddle-class identification by income category has been fairly consistent, between five
and nine percentage points in each income group. Overall, even as middle-class
identification has dropped across the board, Americans' views of their social class have
remained closely tied to their income, as would be expected.

Middle-class identification among those with college degrees has dropped less than it
has among those with less education, and older and younger Americans have seen less
change in their identification with the middle or upper-middle class than Americans
between the ages of 30 and 64. Republicans are more likely to identify as middle class

than Democrats, but both groups have seen roughly even drops in identification with the
middle class across time.
Implications
Americans have become less likely to identify as middle class since 2008 and earlier
years. One possible explanation focuses on changes in the job market. A big downshift
in middle-class identification is found among those with less than a college education,
suggesting that increasingly fewer "middle-class" jobs may be available for those
without college educations. Further, middle-class identification dropped the most among
Americans in their middle-age years, showing that the shifting economy and job market
may be most likely to affect the class perceptions of those who are more anchored in
their careers, rather than those just starting out or those who are at or near retirement.
Similar changes among Republicans and Democrats suggest that politics has not been
a major factor in the shift in self-identified class labels.
The percentage identifying as middle or upper-middle class was almost the same in
2012 as it is in 2015, even though the economy, at least as perceived by the public, is in
much better shape now than it was in 2012. This could suggest that Americans have
shifted into a "new normal" way of looking at their class standing, with the Great
Recession having convinced a number of Americans that they are not now, nor are they
going to be, middle class -- but rather are firmly ensconced in either the working or
lower class.
The term "middle class" still resonates with politicians, many of whom are certainly not
hesitant to use it to describe those voters their policies are designed to benefit. An
exception, however, has been newly announced presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
In her announcement video, she used the term "everyday Americans" to describe her
target market, eschewing, at least for the moment, the term middle class. As she
proclaims on the front page of her campaign webpage: "Everyday Americans need a
champion. I want to be that champion." Perhaps Clinton and her strategists are aware
that fewer Americans these days see themselves as middle class, prompting the use of
more inclusive terminology in their campaign rhetoric.

Survey Methods
Results for the latest Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted April 912, 2015, with a random sample of 527 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S.
states and the District of Columbia. For results based on the total sample of national
adults, the margin of sampling error is 5 percentage points at the 95% confidence
level. Results for the other years represented in this analysis are typically based on
samples of approximately 1,000 national adults, for which the margin of sampling error
is 4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. All reported margins of sampling
error include computed design effects for weighting.
Each sample of national adults includes a minimum quota of 50% cellphone
respondents and 50% landline respondents, with additional minimum quotas by time
zone within region. Landline and cellular telephone numbers are selected using
random-digit-dial methods.