Are You Part of the Middle Class?

Richmond Federal Reserve economists William R. Emmons and Bryan J. Noeth describe the parameters:

It is common to define the "middle class" based on a simple ranking of families' incomes or wealth. For example, the middle 50 percent of families in the 2013 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) included all families with annual income between $24,349—the 25th percentile in a ranking from lowest to highest family income—and $89,887—the 75th percentile. According to this definition, every family with an income between about $24,000 and $90,000 in 2013 would be in the middle class. A middle-50-percent definition based on wealth would include all families with between $8,784 and $315,712 of net worth (that is, assets minus liabilities) in 2013.

Here's the negative news:

According to the SCF, the median inflation-adjusted net worth of an American family declined between 1989 and 2013, falling from $85,575 to $81,456.

  -RW