What’s the middle class worth?
|
|
The term “middle class” means different things to different people. Our simple shorthand is to divide the nation’s households into five income brackets. The middle 20% of households is the middle class. How much wealth do you think they own? We have the data about how real estate and retirement savings drive financial stability for millions of people. |
|
- Middle-class wealth has grown, shrunk, and grown again over the years, reaching a record $499,000 in 2022. By Q2 (April, May, and June) of last year, the average middle-class household had $472,000 in wealth. That's $12.5 trillion for the entire middle class, or 8% of all household wealth.
- As of 2022, average middle-class households earned between $58,000 and $96,000 annually.
- Middle-class wealth is primarily tied to real estate (37.8% of average household assets) and retirement savings (19.8%). In comparison, higher-income households have more business equity and financial investments.
- Debt patterns also vary: households in lower-income brackets had more credit debt, while higher-income groups had more mortgage debt.
|
|
GDP: The value of all the US makes and spends
|
|
Gross domestic product, or GDP, is a metric to understand the value of everything produced in the US. And we mean pretty much everything: it’s the sum of consumer and government spending on goods and services, business investments, and net exports. Put together, they provide insight into the size and direction of the nation’s economy.
- The country’s real GDP (that’s GDP adjusted for inflation) was $23.4 trillion in Q3 2024, up 2.7% from the same period in 2023.
- The real estate, rental, and leasing industry contributed $3.8 trillion (13.7%) to GDP in 2023, the most of any industry, followed by professional and business services (13.0%) and government (11.2%).
|
|
- In 2023, the GDP per person was $67,692, up 2.4% from 2022. It exceeded $85,000 per person in New York, Massachusetts, and Washington. It was less than $48,000 in Arkansas, West Virginia, and Mississippi.
|
|
Last week, the governor of New Jersey announced the state was going to build a supply of medication used in abortions. Here’s the data on which states ban such medication.
Wildfire smoke and ash in the Los Angeles air have raised health questions. This article has facts on the air quality index.
|
|
Are wildfires becoming more frequent? In general, no — but they’re burning more and more acres. After adjusting for state size, Nebraska and Oklahoma had the most acres burned per 10,000 acres overall in 2023. |
|
|
|
|
