Why Most Americans Believe They Are Middle Class

A “middle” is, according to Oxford Languages, “the point or position at an equal distance from the sides, edges, or ends of something.” By definition, then, a middle class consists of those people who are, in socio-economic terms, equally distant from a “lower” class and an “upper” class. That means that at any given time, precisely one-third of Americans should comprise the middle class.

Survey after survey, however, shows that a much higher percentage of Americans believe they are middle class. In fact, in a 2015 Pew survey, only 10 percent of Americans said they considered themselves “lower class” and just 1 percent thought they were “upper class.” It’s clear from such studies that the middle class draws in Americans from both ends of the financial spectrum, with both the rich and the poor consciously or unconsciously underestimating or overestimating their position on the bell curve. Some billionaires see themselves as middle class, as do most of those who live paycheck to paycheck, despite having very different lifestyles.

Why is this so? Based on such findings, it appears that claiming membership in the American middle class provides a powerful and affirmative sense of personal and national identity. Being middle class is more of a state of mind, view of the world, or philosophy than a measure of income or net worth, meaning the concept is detached from actual financial status. The middle class is a very big “club” that most Americans want to be part of regardless of their economic circumstances, as it is symbolic of a host of positive values and attitudes.

To that point, there is a popular belief that it is “average” Americans who make this country great, with hard-working, “real” people who keep its wheels spinning. Those who are outside the boundaries of the middle class, on the other hand, are often viewed with suspicion, considered somehow less “American.” Vast inequalities in income or wealth threaten our idea of what it means to be an American, as they violate our mythology of the “Everyman,” which is central to our national identity.

In short, we like to think of ourselves as somewhere in the middle as it provides the reassuring feeling that we are, in both the statistical and social sense of the word, normal.

Given the number and range of people who say they are middle class, it’s clear that the term is very accommodating, cutting across not just economic divisions but social ones such as race, ethnicity, gender, religion, and sexual orientation. It is one of our very few common denominators that bind us together, with concern for the middle class a uniting force that brings us closer as a people.

While belonging to what might be considered the largest club in the nation is now a source of pride, being middle class was once considered bourgeois—a label that suggested one lacked discrimination and sophistication. Now, however, because we are a consumption-based society, class lines have eroded as Americans of all financial levels display common consumer behavior. Many if not most of us use iPhones or their equivalents, shop at the Gap and Target, drink beverages at Starbucks, and love all things Disney, making us appear to be more similar than we really are. The flattening of the marketplace has encouraged conformity and classnessness, in other words, with easy credit further disguising one’s actual financial status.

On a larger level, membership in the middle class is an important part of being American as it circumvents our discomfort with the idea of class in general. It negates the disagreeable notion of our having economic and social divisions that run contrary to our ideals. Confronting the very real, extremely wide divisions in class reveals the uncomfortable truth that we are not as democratic a nation as we pretend to be. Class runs contrary to myths of egalitarianism and meritocracy, making our myth of classlessness a way to distance ourselves from Old-World aristocracy.

Given all this, should it be any surprise then that aligning with the interests of the middle class is a go-to strategy for politicians looking for votes or a way to boost their popularity? The media frequently frets about the group’s relative health and its prognosis for the future; the middle class is often said to be “shrinking” or “disappearing.” As well, the middle class is immune to criticism; it is anathema to disparage the group in any way, analogous perhaps to desecrating the American flag.

Is it good or bad that, at least according to the Pew study, 89% of us think of ourselves as middle class? A little of each I’d say, being a proud member of the group myself.