About half (52 percent) of American adults lived in middle-class households in 2016, according to a recent survey from Pew Research. This is virtually unchanged from the 51 percent who were middle class in 2011. But while the size of the nation’s middle class remained relatively stable, financial gains for middle-income Americans during this period were modest compared with those of higher-income households, causing the income disparity between the groups to grow.

The recent stability in the share of adults living in middle-income households marks a shift from a decades-long downward trend. From 1971 to 2011, the share of adults in the middle class fell by 10 percentage points. But that shift was not all down the economic ladder. Indeed, the increase in the share of adults who are upper income was greater than the increase in the share who are lower income over that period, which is a sign of economic progress overall.

Financially, middle-class households in the U.S. were better off in 2016 than in 2010. The median income of middle-class households increased from $74,015 in 2010 to $78,442 in 2016, by 6 percent. Upper-income households (where 19 percent of American adults live) fared better than the middle class, as their median income increased from $172,152 to $187,872, a gain of 9 percent over this period. Lower-income households (29 percent of adults) experienced an income gain of 5 percent, about the same as the middle class. (Incomes are adjusted for household size, scaled to reflect three-person households, and expressed in 2016 dollars.)

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