https://youtu.be/_MMKZSQaKxU

If there's one thing the presidential candidates agree on it's the need to support and grow America's dwindling middle class.

How to do that, though, is where the agreement ends.

In a recent economic analysis, Pew Research found that the middle class has declined considerably since the 1970s, when good-paying manufacturing jobs were still relatively abundant. For the first time in four decades, middle-income earners no longer make up the nation's economic majority group; more American households now fall into the upper and lower classes, indicating a widening gap between the nation's rich and poor.

According to the report: "In early 2015, 120.8 million adults were in middle-income households, compared with 121.3 million in lower- and upper-income households combined, a demographic shift that could signal a tipping point."

[ad fullwidth]

Using data from U.S. Census Bureau and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, the report defines “middle-income” Americans as "adults whose annual household income is two-thirds to double the national median, about $42,000 to $126,000 annually in 2014 dollars for a household of three."

[If the income calculator does not show up in your browser, you can view it here]

[Methodology explained here]

middle classmiddle class

Labor Day's Violent Roots: The Hard-Won Fight for Your Long Weekend

Are You In The Middle Class? Find Out With This Interactive Income Calculator