Five in 10 Americans are middle class; three in 10 are lower-class while two in 10 are upper-class.
These statistics, which are based on 2016 data, is the latest on household incomes from the Pew Research Center. More specifically, Pew's report shows 52 percent of Americans are considered middle-class with a median income of $78,442 in 2016. Another 29 are in the lower-class and these households had a median income of $25,624.
Upper-income households had a median income of $187,872 in 2016. The data is in 2016 dollars and reflect the income of a three-person household.
The percentage of Americans that are part of the middle class in 2016 (52 percent) is down from 61 percent in 1971, according to Pew. The research agency said Americans that have managed to maintain their middle-class status aren't much better off than they were in 2000 due to the 2008 financial crisis and the ensuing Great Recession
Pew defines the upper-class as adults whose annual household income is more than double the national median. All these stats were reached after incomes were adjusted for household size. Smaller households require less money to support the same lifestyle as larger ones.
Pew also released data as to how much an American has to earn every year to be considered upper-class. The classification, however, depends on the size of a family:
* Household of one needs a minimum of $78,281 to be upper-class
* Household of two needs a minimum $110,706 to be upper-class
* Household of three needs a minimum $135,586 to be upper-class
* Household of four needs a minimum $156,561 to be upper-class
* Household of five needs a minimum $175,041 to be upper-class
The same report also shows California as the state with the most number of upper-income households. The California metro with the most number of upper-income households is San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA, where 32 percent of adults were considered as part of the rich.
Pew pointed out that the share of the rich is much higher in affluent metropolitan areas where the percentage stands at 19 percent.
"The metropolitan areas with the largest shares of adults in upper-income households are mostly in the coastal areas of the Northeast and California," according to Pew.
"They tend to be in high-tech corridors, such as Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH, or in financial and commercial centers, such as Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT."
