Even Americans earning more than $155,000 now call themselves 'working class'—a sign of how far the affordability crisis has spread

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Sixty percent of Americans identify as “working class”—including millions of top earners who believe their economic struggles now match a term long reserved for low-income workers.

A new Pew Research Center analysis, based on a survey conducted in January 2026, found that 60% of U.S. adults say the term describes them well, and half of college graduates agree.