Up to 65% of workers with these jobs are middle class—and some don't require a bachelor's degree (2024)

FAQs

What types of workers made up the middle class? ›

The middle class is the economic stratum between the working class and the wealthy. In the United States, the middle class occupies about half of the population, mainly consisting of people who work in white-collar professions, run small businesses, or are in skilled trades.

The middle class is often recognized in the US by educational attainment, which is correlated with (but may not cause) income and wealth, especially for white men. Members of the working class commonly have a high school diploma and many have only some college education.

Based on U.S. census data from 2021, here's the median net worth of each class: Lower class: $12,000. Lower-middle class: $61,260. Middle class: $145,200.

The middle class includes: professionals, managers, and senior civil servants. The chief defining characteristic of membership in the middle-class is control of significant human capital while still being under the dominion of the elite upper class, who control much of the financial and legal capital in the world.

The Bottom Line. There is no official financial standard for what constitutes middle class. For most it's more about a standard of living—including owning a home, being able to afford to pay for a college education for your kids, and having enough disposable income to take a family vacation.

The term "lower class" also refers to persons with low income. The working class is sometimes separated into those who are employed but lacking financial security (the "working poor") and an underclass—those who are long-term unemployed and/or homeless, especially those receiving welfare from the state.

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.

With New Jersey ranking as the top state to make the most money to be considered middle class, other states ranking in the top five requiring salaries exceeding $50,000 to be in this category include Maryland ($63,321) and Massachusetts ($62,986), Hawaii ($61,633) and California ($61,028).

What is the highest middle-class salary? ›

In 2022, the national middle-income range was about $56,600 to $169,800 annually for a household of three. Lower-income households had incomes less than $56,600, and upper-income households had incomes greater than $169,800.

Lower class: This is defined as the bottom 20% of earners. Those in the lower class have an income at or below $28,007. Lower middle class: This is defined as individuals in the 20th to 40th percentile of household income. Earnings among this group are between $28,008 and $55,000.

The Pew Research Center defines the middle class as households that earn between two-thirds and double the median U.S. household income, which was $65,000 in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. 21 Using Pew's yardstick, middle income is made up of people who make between $43,350 and $130,000.

“The middle class is typically characterized by having a stable income and some level of financial security. They tend to value education, homeownership and health insurance. The upper-middle class is distinguished by having a higher level of income and wealth compared to the middle class.

Most people in the upper-middle class strata are highly educated white collar professionals such as but not limited to physicians, dentists, lawyers, military officers, economists, business analysts, urban planners, university professors, architects, stockbrokers, psychologists, scientists, managers, accountants, ...

They worked as skilled laborers in cities as blacksmiths and carpenters, for example. Slaves also worked on plantations, ships, and in the growing shipbuilding industry. Indentured servants, on the other hand, effectively met the colonists' growing labor needs.

They included merchants and mid-level bureaucrats, as well as a few skilled laborers whose jobs had not been replaced by industrial machines. The middle class rose in size during this time thanks to new markets and economic opportunities, but was not a dominant feature of European societies.

These are the upper-middle-class people. The upper-middle-class usually evolves out of people from the middle-class tier who are particularly resourceful or who achieve higher levels of education than the rest of the middle class. Examples of these people in today's society are doctors and lawyers.