Middle Class in America Grows, Not Shrinks

0:00It's April 5th. You're listening to U.S. News today, AI-powered coverage from across America. I'm Cory with the story. The middle-class in America has shrunk over the past four decades, but hold up. It's not from folks falling behind. A recent report from the American Enterprise Institute says it's actually because so many families surged into upper-middle income levels. By 2024, more households sat above the core middle-class line than below it, marking a first in records. A few research backs us up, showing upper-income households jump from 11% in 1971 to 19% in 20. 23. They define upper-income as more than twice the median, around $200,000 or so, for a family of three today. Incomes rose across the board after adjusting for inflation, but the top groups grew way faster. This shift hits everyday life hard, with economists pointing to college grads, white-collar jobs, and more dual-income homes driving the climb.

1:01Wages beat inflation over time, reshaping spending toward pricier goods and services. Still, political fights rage on wages, taxes, and living costs. Critics who say the middles hollowed out often use fixed median benchmarks that miss the full picture, but median-family income still climbed over 50% when adjusted for inflation and family size. Bottom line, these trends paint a story of broad upward mobility, even with rising bills for housing, school, and health care, pulling at budgets.