Gallup Poll: 54 Percent of Americans Identify as Middle Class

A majority of Americans consider themselves middle class, according to a new Gallup Poll.

The poll found 54% of Americans identify as middle class, with 39% saying they are "middle class" and 15% as "upper middle class."

Another 31% consider themselves "working class" and 12% "lower class." Only 2% of adults identify themselves as "upper class."

Gallup said these numbers are in line with those since the Great Recession in 2008. Americans were previously more likely to self-identify as members of the middle or upper-middle class and less likely to say they belonged to the working or lower class.

From 2002 through 2006, 61% of Americans considered themselves middle or upper-middle class; however, that dropped to 56% in 2008, at the start of the Great Recession, Gallup said. Since the Great Recession, the figure has averaged 53%.

The combined percentage of U.S. adults identifying as working or lower class has increased from an average of 37% pre-recession to 45% since, Gallup found. Social class identification has generally been stable since 2019, even as Americans' ratings of the U.S. economy have grown significantly worse, according to Gallup.

Gallup said income and educational levels play a role in social class identification. U.S. adults with higher annual household incomes and those with college and postgraduate degrees are more likely to say they belong to an upper class, Gallup said.

Americans with lower incomes and those with only a high school education are most likely to identify as working or lower class, according to Gallup.

Older Americans, white adults, and Democrats are also more likely than their counterparts to identify as members of the middle class, Gallup found.

Until 2022, Republicans were more likely than Democrats to identify as upper-middle or middle class and less likely to identify as working or lower class, Gallup said. Recently, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to identify as upper-middle or middle class, while Republicans tend to be more working or lower class.

However, in the past two readings, the trend has been reversed, with Democrats more likely than Republicans to identify as upper-middle or middle class. Meanwhile, Republicans now lead in combined identification as working or lower class.

The poll is based on telephone interviews conducted from April 1-22 with a random sample of 1,001 adults living in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

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