Class in the United States (2024)

Learning Outcomes

  • Describe social classes in the United States
Below, we will explore the major divisions of social class in the United States and their key subcategories.

Upper Class

Class in the United States (1)

Figure 1.Members of the upper class can afford to live, work, and play in exclusive places designed for luxury and comfort. (Photo courtesy of PrimeImageMedia.com/flickr)

The upper class is considered the top, and only the elite get to see the view from there.Money provides not just access to material goods, but also access to power and status, as Max Weber described. As corporate leaders, members of the upper class make decisions that affect the job status and security of millions of people. As media owners, they influence the collective identity of the nation. They run the major network television stations, radio broadcasts, newspapers, magazines, multi-media publishing companies, and sports franchises. As board members of the most prestigious colleges and universities, they influence cultural attitudes and values. As philanthropists, they establish foundations to support social causes. As campaign contributors, they sway politicians, sometimes to protect their own economic interests.

The “Middle” Class

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Figure 2. These members of a club likely consider themselves middle class. (Photo courtesy of United Way Canada-Centraide Canada/flickr)

Many people, including a majority of Americans, consider themselves middle class, but there are differing ideas about what that means. People with annual incomes of $150,000 call themselves middle class, as do people who annually earn $30,000. That helps explain why, in the United States, the middle class is broken into upper and lower subcategories.

The Upper Middle Class

Upper-middle-class people tend to hold bachelor’s and postgraduate degrees. They’ve studied subjects such as business, management, law, or medicine.

Comfort is a key concept for this group, as they work hard and live materially secure lives. Upper-middle-class people tend to pursue careers that earn higher incomes. They provide their families with large homes and nice cars. They may go skiing or boating on vacation, and their children receive high-quality education and healthcare (Gilbert 2010).

The Average Middle Class

In the average middle class, people hold jobs supervised by members of the upper middle class. They fill administrative support positions, or work as teachers, as office or bank clerks and assistants, and are often in lower-level “white collar” jobs. Average middle class members generally hold bachelor’s degrees from four-year colleges or associate’s degrees from two-year community or technical colleges.

Compared to lower class work, average middle class jobs carry more prestige and come with slightly higher paychecks. With these incomes, people can afford a decent, mainstream lifestyle, but may struggle to maintain it. They generally don’t have enough income to build significant savings. In addition, their grip on class status is more precarious than in the upper tiers of the class system. They tend to own their own homes but the mortgages are often more cumbersome, leaving less money for travel, investments, and private schools.

Watch It

Watch this video to learn about how the middle class in America has shrunk in recent years.

TheLower Middle Class orWorkingClass

Working-class people often hold jobs in manual labor, or so called “blue collar” work. These jobs are often hands-on and might include physically demanding occupations such asfactory work, machine maintenance,or construction.These people work jobs that may initially require little prior skill or experience and they often perform routine tasks under close supervision. At the more advanced level, these workers may hold certifications and be qualified as better paid “skilled” workers. These jobs are sensitive to recessions and other economic downturns, as well as to global movement of production overseas and the automation of factory work.When budgets are tight, this group is often the most likely to lose their jobs.

Most often working class people have less formal education and earn less money compared to the average middle class individual.

Class in the United States (3)

Figure 3. Bike messengers and bike delivery people are often considered members of the working class. They endure difficult and dangerous conditions to do their work, and they are not always well represented by government agencies and in regulations designed for safety or fairness. (Credit: edwardhblake/flickr)

The Lower Class

The lower class is comprised of the working poor. Like some members of the working class, they often have unskilled, low-paying employment with hourly wages. However, their jobs rarely offer benefits such as healthcare or retirement planning, and their positions are often seasonal or temporary. They work as sharecroppers, migrant farm workers, housecleaners, entry-level retail and service staff, and day laborers. Some are high school dropouts. Some are illiterate, unable to read job ads.

How can people work full-time and still be poor? Even working full-time, millions of the working poor earn incomes too meager to support a family. The government requires employers pay a minimum wage that varies from state to state, and often leave individuals and families below the poverty line. In addition to low wages, the value of the wage has not kept pace with inflation. “The real value of the federal minimum wage has dropped 17% since 2009 and 31% since 1968 (Cooper, Gould, & Zipperer, 2019). Furthermore, the living wage, the amount necessary to meet minimum standards, differs across the country because the cost of living differs. Therefore, the amount of income necessary to survive in an area such as New York City differs dramatically from small town in Oklahoma (Glasmeier, 2020).

The underclass is the United States’ lowest tier. Members of the underclass live mainly in inner cities and many are unemployed or underemployed. Those who do hold jobs typically perform menial tasks (i.e., picking up plastic bottles) for little pay. Some of the underclass are homeless. For many, welfare systems provide a much-needed support through food assistance, medical care, housing, and the like.

Class Traits

Does a person’s appearance indicate class? Can you tell a person’s education level based on their clothing? Do you know a person’s income by the car they drive?Class traits, also called class markers, are the typical behaviors, customs, and norms that define each class. Class traits indicate the level of exposure a person has to a wide range of cultures. Class traits also indicate the amount of resources a person has to spend on items like hobbies, vacations, and leisure activities.

People may associate the upper class with enjoyment of costly, refined, or highly cultivated tastes—expensive clothing, luxury cars, high-end fund-raisers, and frequent or expensive vacations. People may also believe that the middle and lower classes are more likely to enjoy camping, fishing, or hunting, shopping at large retailers, and participating in community activities. While these descriptions may identify class traits, they are stereotypes. Moreover, just as class distinctions have blurred in recent decades, so too have class traits. A factory worker could be a skilled French cook. A billionaire might dress in ripped jeans, and a low-income student might own designer shoes.

For famous wealthy people, making choices that do not seem to align with their economic status can often lead to public commentary. Jennifer Lopez being spotted in a dress that cost less than $30 and Zac Efron shopping at thrift stores have made the news. Others, like Halle Berry and Keanu Reeves, are known for frequent use of public transportation and relatively modest living (at least when considering to their net worth). When questioned, most point to nothing more than practicality. Lady Gaga tweeted ” why do people look at me like I’m crazy when i use coupons at grocery or try bargaining at retail…” (2012). And in dense, crowded cities such as Washington, Chicago, and New York, riding the trains is often faster and easier than taking a car.

Watch It

Watch the selected clip from this CrashCourse video to review the social classes in the United States:upper class, upper middle class, average middle class, working class, and lower class.

Status Consistency

Social stratification systems determine social position based on factors like income, education, and occupation. Sociologists use the term status consistency to describe the consistency, or lack thereof, of an individual’s rank across these factors. Caste systems correlate with high status consistency, whereas the more flexible meritocracy class system has lower status consistency.

To illustrate, let’s consider Susan. Susan earned her high school degree but did not go to college. That factor is a trait of the lower-middle class. She began doing landscaping work, which as manual labor is also a trait of the lower-middle class or even of the lower class. However, over time, Susan started her own company. She hired employees. She won larger contracts. She became a business owner and earned a lot of money. Those traits represent the upper-middle class. There are inconsistencies between Susan’s educational level, her occupation, and her income. In a class system, a person can work hard and have little education and still be middle or upper class, whereas in a caste system that mobility would not be possible. In a class system, low status consistency correlates with having more choices and opportunities.

Leaving Royalty Behind

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Figure 4. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle with other members of the Royal family, in 2017. One year later, the couple would wed and the American-born actress and fashion-designer would immediately become Her Royal Highness The duch*ess of Sussex, a position and title that bestows significant benefits of social class (Credit: Mark Jones/Wikimedia Commons)

Meghan Markle, who married a member of the British royal family, for years endured unceasing negative media attention, invasion of privacy, and racially abusive comments. She and her husband–Prince Harry, grandson to Queen Elizabeth–undertook a series of legal actions to push back against overly aggressive media outlets. But because of the continued harassment and disagreements with others in the royal family, Meghan and Harry decided to step down from their royal obligations and begin a disassociation from the British monarchy. In doing so, they gave up honorary positions, titles, and financial support. For Meghan, who had been born in the U.S. and had earned her wealth through a successful career, these changes may not be so jarring. Prince Harry, however, had been “His Royal Highness” since he was born; by nature of his ancestry, he was entitled to vast sums of money, property, and cultural-political positions such as Honorary Air Commandant, Commodore-in-Chief, and President of the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust. Harry would also lose the military rank he had earned through almost ten years of military service, including two combat deployments to Afghanistan. Would Megxit work for him? What gave him those honors in the first place?

Britain’s monarchy arose during the Middle Ages. Its social hierarchy placed royalty at the top and commoners on the bottom. This was generally a closed system, with people born into positions of nobility. Wealth was passed from generation to generation throughprimogeniture, a law stating that all property would be inherited by the firstborn son. If the family had no son, the land went to the next closest male relation. Women could not inherit property, and their social standing was primarily determined through marriage.

The arrival of the Industrial Revolution changed Britain’s social structure. Commoners moved to cities, got jobs, and made better livings. Gradually, people found new opportunities to increase their wealth and power. Today, the government is a constitutional monarchy with the prime minister and other ministers elected to their positions, and with the royal family’s role being largely ceremonial. The long-ago differences between nobility and commoners have blurred, and the modern class system in Britain is similar to that of the United States (McKee 1996).

Today, the royal family still commands wealth, power, and a great deal of attention. When Queen Elizabeth II retires or passes away, Prince Charles will be first in line to ascend the throne. If he abdicates (chooses not to become king) or dies, the position will go to Prince William, Prince Harry’s older brother.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, meanwhile, moved to Los Angeles and signed a voiceover deal with Disney while also joining Netflix in a series production. They founded an organization focusing on non-profit activities and media ventures. Living in LA and working to some extent in entertainment, they will likely be considered a different type of royalty.

Try It

Think It Over

  • Why do you think so many Americans describe themselves “middle class”?
  • What could be problematic with the way middle class status is calculated? In the documentary, the range for middle class inclusion for a single person is $24,000-$73,000. What factors are not being taken into account?

glossary

status consistency:
the consistency, or lack thereof, of an individual’s rank across social categories like income, education, and occupation
Class in the United States (2024)

FAQs

What are the classes in the United States? ›

It has assigned the quintiles from lowest to highest as lower class, lower middle class, middle class, upper middle class, and upper class. These definitions equate class with income, permitting people to move from class to class as their income changes.

What is the class system in the United States? ›

In summary, the American class system of social stratification is broadly divided into three main layers - upper class, middle class, and lower class - that are mostly based on socioeconomic conditions. It's important to recognize the difference between income and wealth when discussing our class system.

How is a person's class determined in the United States? ›

Most sociologists define social class as a grouping based on similar social factors like wealth, income, education, and occupation.

What is the smallest class in the United States? ›

Final answer: The working poor class is the smallest class among the options given.

What does class of mean in USA? ›

“Class of” generally refers to the graduating year. So “Class of 2019” would mean the graduating class of 2019. Most of which would have graduated last May or June, as formal graduations are usually held after the spring semester is over.

What is your social class? ›

In common parlance, the term social class is usually synonymous with socioeconomic class, defined as "people having the same social, economic, cultural, political or educational status", e.g. the working class, "an emerging professional class" etc.

How do you tell what class you are? ›

Area median income (AMI) is a much better indicator of which class you fall into because it's specific to where you live. The Fannie Mae AMI Lookup Tool can show which income percentile you belong to relative to your location. It's also important to note that there isn't a universal standard of socioeconomic status.

How does the class system work? ›

A class system categorises people into different social classes based on wealth, occupation, education, and prestige. The class system is utilised directly or indirectly across the world by societies, and each place might have a different variation of it.

How many classes are there in society? ›

Characteristics of the principal classes

Sociologists generally posit three classes: upper, working (or lower), and middle. The upper class in modern capitalist societies is often distinguished by the possession of largely inherited wealth.

What is the largest social class in America? ›

In the US today, the working class comprises some 45 percent of the population.
  • The largest social class defined in terms of capitalist relations of production is the working class, the “collective worker”.
  • By this definition, the working class consists of those who:
Jun 7, 2020

Why is social class important? ›

A person's social class has a significant impact on their physical health, their ability to receive adequate medical care and nutrition, and their life expectancy.

What determines if a person has class? ›

Having class involves good manners, politeness, pride without showboating, empathy, humility, and an abundance of self-control. The actions of class-act people speak louder than their words. You can see it in their body language and the way they carry themselves. Class always shows without being announced.

What class is most Americans? ›

Despite the decrease, the American middle class still accounts for the largest share of the U.S. population (51%). However, it generates only 43% of the overall income as of 2022, down from 62% in 1970.

Are doctors middle class? ›

The lower middle class is often made up of less educated people with lower incomes, such as managers, small business owners, teachers, and secretaries. The upper middle class is often made up of highly educated business and professional people with high incomes, such as doctors, lawyers, stockbrokers, and CEOs.

What makes you upper class? ›

While there's no definitive line, households in the top 20% of earners are generally considered upper class. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median household income in 2022 was $74,580. To reach the upper class in 2024, you'd typically need an income exceeding $153,000 – more than double the national median.

Is there class 12 in USA? ›

K-12 Schools in the United States

Generally, elementary and secondary school grades kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) are required, after which a student may choose to attend college or university. There are two types of kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) schools in the United States: public and private.

What classes exist in America today? ›

The United States has roughly six social classes:
  • Upper class.
  • New money.
  • Middle class.
  • Working class.
  • Working poor.
  • Poverty level.

What is the hierarchy of classes in the United States? ›

Sociologists disagree on the number of social classes in the United States, but a common view is that the United States has four classes: upper, middle, working, and lower.

How many classes are in the US school? ›

Students take six, seven, eight, or sometimes nine classes per day all year long. Six classes are around 50–60 minutes in length.

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