The middle class has had a rough couple of years
Mar 26, 2015, 8:15 AM | Updated: May 12, 2015, 8:52 am
According to a new study released by The Pew Charitable Trusts, the percentage of homes that can claim a “middle-class” income has shrunk significantly since the year 2000.
Pew categorizes “middle-class” as incomes between 67 percent and 200 percent of the state’s median income. The interactive map below tracks how much the middle-class has shrunk (or remained stagnant) by each state since 2000.
The map also shows the percentage of each state that spends at least 30 percent of its income on housing. The fact that the number of families spending more than 30 percent has grown, according to Pew, indicates shrinking incomes and further strain on the middle-class.
Last month, HSH.com released the results from a separate study that looked at the salary necessary to buy a home (one of the most common indicators of a “middle-class lifestyle”) in 27 of the country’s largest metropolitan areas. According to their research, more than half of the 27 cities would require an income of $50,000 or more to buy a house.
According to Pew’s data, 22 states have a median income below $50,000 as of 2013. That’s double the number it was in 2000.
Email: jfeinauer@deseretdigital.com, Twitter: jjfeinauer.
