Money

Here's how much you have to earn to be considered middle class in the US

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More and more people are falling out of America's middle class.

In fact, the Pew Research Center reported in 2015 that middle-income Americans no longer make up the majority of the people in the nation: "The American middle class is now matched in number by those in the economic tiers above and below it. In early 2015, 120.8 million adults were in middle-income households, compared with 121.3 million in lower- and upper-income households combined."

The same Pew report highlighted the minimum household income required to qualify as middle class. Pew defined middle class as "those with an income that is 67% to 200% (two-thirds to double) of the overall median household income."

Of course, there's more to class than income — the middle class can also be identified by net worth, education, and occupation, for example — but household income can be a useful tool by which to group people.

The income it takes to be considered middle class varies by household size, Pew noted.

For example, a one-person household needed only $24,000 to $73,000 to be considered middle-income in 2014, while a five-person household needed an income ranging from $54,000 to $162,000 to qualify.

How do you stack up?

Who is “middle income” and “upper income”?