How Middle-Class Income in 1995 Compares To Now
Written by
Crystal Mayer
Edited by
Rebekah Evans
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It is hard to believe that it has been 30 years since 1995. The hard-to-forget year is forever etched in many people’s minds because of a number of historical events that occurred, including the shocking death of Selena, the tragic Oklahoma City Bombing and the birth of Windows ’95.
It was also a time of economic growth boosted by low inflation, low unemployment and the beginnings of the dot com bubble that wouldn’t burst for years to come. With economic uncertainty looming today, many people wonder just how much things have changed in the past three decades. Here is how middle-class income in 1995 compares to now.
Also here’s how much the definition of middle class has changed in each state.
Middle-Class Income in 1995
According to the United States Census Bureau, 1995 was a year of growth. For the first time in six years, households experienced an annual increase in real median income, growing from $33,178 to $34,076 in a year. Economists at the time had seen improvements in many sectors after a sluggish start to the decade.
In a September 1996 review of the year, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities stated that poverty declined in the previous year and that both low-income and middle-class families were benefitting from a recovering economy. Their data showed that households in the next-to-bottom fifth income group made $20,397, a 3.2% increase from the previous year. Households in the middle fifth income group made $34,106, a 2.4% increase and households in the next-to-top fifth averaged $52,429. Middle-class income therefore was somewhere between $22,000 and $68,000 per year.
Middle-Class Income in 2025
According to U.S. News & World Report, it takes between $41,392 and $124,176 to be considered middle -class in 2025. The middle-class income median for the year is $62,088. As noted in the article, while incomes have increased, the middle class has faced several challenges. High inflation, slowed growth and wages that fail to keep up with increases in costs have all caused the middle class to struggle. In fact, the number of people living paycheck to paycheck has grown and now includes some higher-income households, according to a study by the Bank of America Institute. Half of those surveyed by the bank stated that they were living paycheck to paycheck. The study also found that over 20% of people with an income between $51,000 and $75,000 lived paycheck to paycheck as well.
How Things Have Changed For the Middle Class
To put it in perspective, the median income of $34,076 in 1995 equates to $72,244 in 2025, using the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) CPI inflation calculator. Considering that middle-class income median in 2025 is $62,088, this means that the middle class by at least one indicator was better off in 1995. Multiple factors have influenced the difficulties that the middle class has faced.
A Pew Research Center study found that from 1971 to 2023 the middle class actually shrunk from 61% of Americans to 51%. The growth in income for the middle class during this period has failed to keep pace with the growth in income for the upper class and the share of U.S. household income held by the middle class has lowered. These factors indicate that the middle class may be worse off than before.
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