Who is ‘working class?’ Pew Research Center unveils surprising survey results

Do you consider yourself working class? A new survey released by the Pew Research Center shows that more than half of Americans do.

The organization said that most Americans across all income and educational groups consider themselves working class.

Overall, 60% of adults in the U.S. said they are working class, according to the Pew Research Center. Half of them have bachelor’s degrees and are in upper income brackets.

But the center pointed out that the term “working class” can mean different things, such as:

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• Whether or not you have a bachelor’s degree
• Earn less than a certain amount of income
• Work in blue-collar, service or manual labor jobs
• Earn a living through any type of work, regardless of income, occupation or education

The percentage of people who said they were working class has gone up in two years. In 2024, about 54% of Americans said they were working class; that percentage rose about six points, and the shift is seen across many demographic, socioeconomic, and political groups.

The numbers shift slightly depending on how the respondents identify politically.

Pew Research said that 82% of Republicans with blue-collar jobs said they were working class, while 72% of Democrats with the same types of jobs said they were. Overall, regardless of job, 68% of Republicans said they were working class, while 55% of Democrats did.

There is also a difference depending on the race of those asked:

• 62% of white adults said they were working class
• 59% of Hispanic adults said they were working class
• 54% of Black Adults said they were working class
• 52% of Asian adults said they were working class

The survey was conducted among 8,512 U.S. adults from Jan. 20 to 26. The adults were part of the Center’s American Trends Panel.

For more on the survey and its methodology, click here.

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