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Use this calculator to find out if you qualify as middle class

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The American middle class has been shrinking over the past few decades, with just over half of U.S. adults considered middle class by the Pew Research Center in 2020, compared to 61% in 1971.

Pew defines "middle class" as a person earning between two-thirds and twice the median American household income, which in 2019 was $68,703, according to the United States Census Bureau. That puts the base salary to be in the middle class just shy of $46,000. The Brookings Institute, meanwhile, considers anyone who falls within the middle three quintiles of income distribution to be middle class.

But income isn't the only factor that is taken into account. The size of your household and where in the country you live also come into play with both Pew and Brookings when determining your economic tier.

To show where you fall economically, the calculator below takes salary, household size and financial data from nearby metropolitan areas into account to determine if you are middle class, according to three different definitions.

It finds the middle class under both Pew's and Brookings' definitions for national and metro area incomes, and uses your income adjusted for a household size of three, since the average American household contains 2.5 people.

The calculator also uses the Urban Institute's definition of middle class, which includes households that earn between 150% and 500% of the federal poverty level.

Simply punch in your information in the box below to run the calculation.

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