Middle Households People Class Americans United Lower Upper

Most Americans think that there are three "classes" (groups of people with similar wealth, education, and types of jobs) in the United States: the poor (or lower class), the middle class, and the rich (or upper class). However, many Americans believe that the United States should have a "classless society," or that all people should be equal. Americans also believe in "class mobility," or the idea that people should be able to move from one class to another through their hard work.

Many newspapers and magazines talk about the "shrinking middle class," or the idea that the middle class is getting smaller while the upper class and lower class are growing. It is difficult to find "data" (information) about it, because the classes are not "strictly" (exactly; precisely) defined. However, the U.S. "Census Bureau" (the government agency that surveys the population) reports on the "income distribution" of "households" (a group of related people who live together), showing how many households earn different amounts of money. The middle group (currently households making between $25,000 and $75,000) can be considered to be the middle class. Households that make less are in the lower class, and households that make more are in the upper class.

In the past 20 years, the percentage of U.S. households in the middle of the income distribution has decreased from 48.2% to 44.3%. Some people fear that if this "trend" (something that changes over time) continues, the United States will have many households that are very poor and very rich, but few that have average wealth. This would create a very "polarized" (with extremes) society.