{{Short description|Social class}} {{About|socio-economic studies|the musical work|Upper Middle Class White Trash}} {{multiple issues|{{Globalize|article|USA|United Kingdom|France|date=February 2016}} {{Page numbers needed|date=October 2017}}}} [[File:University of Chicago, Harper Library.jpg|thumb|Higher education is not a sufficient condition for the upper-middle class, and is a characteristic shared with many members of the lower-middle class.]]
In sociology, the '''upper-middle class''' is the social group constituted by higher status members of the middle class, in contrast to the ''lower middle class''. The definition is debated. Max Weber controversially defined it as the group of professionals with postgraduate degrees, but most Americans and Europeans identify income as the primary determiner of class.
The American upper-middle class is primarily defined by using income, occupation, cultural privilege, and education; it consists mostly of white-collar professionals with above-average personal incomes and above-average autonomy in their work.{{sfn|Eichar|1989}} The occupational tasks of upper-middle class individuals tend to be conceptualizing, consulting, and instruction.{{sfn|Ehrenreich|1989}}
==American upper-middle class== {{main|Upper middle class in the United States}} The definition of the American middle class (and its subdivisions) is contested.<ref name="Drum Major">{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/now/politics/middleclassoverview.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040401220408/http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/middleclassoverview.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=1 April 2004|title=Middle class according to The Drum Major Institute for public policy|website=PBS|access-date=25 July 2006}}</ref> In academic models, the term "upper-middle class" applies to highly salaried professionals whose work enables above-average autonomy.{{sfn|Thompson|Hickey|2005}} Household incomes exceed $100,000 ({{Inflation|US|100,000|2005|fmt=eq}}).{{sfnm |1a1=Gilbert |1y=1998 |2a1=Thompson |2a2=Hickey |2y=2005}} Professions for this class may include: judges, senior military officers, financial planners, engineers, professors, architects, airline pilots, and businessmen.
{{quote|The upper-middle class has grown ... and its composition has changed. Increasingly salaried managers and professionals have replaced individual business owners and independent professionals. The key to the success of the upper-middle class is the growing importance of educational certification ... its lifestyles and opinions are becoming increasingly normative for the whole society. It is in fact a porous class, open to people ... who earn the right credentials.|Dennis Gilbert, ''The American Class Structure'', 1998{{sfn|Gilbert|1998}} }}
In addition to the above-average autonomy in their work and their higher incomes, the upper-middle class also tends to be socioculturally influential.{{sfnm |1a1=Ehrenreich |1y=1989 |2a1=Gilbert |2y=1998}} Most members of this class are secure from economic downturns and, unlike their counterparts in the statistical middle class, are mostly unaffected by corporate cost-cutting and outsourcing, because of their advanced experience and education. Their incomes are usually in the top income quintile or top third.{{sfn|Thompson|Hickey|2005}}
===Income=== {{Further|Affluence in the United States|Household income in the United States|Personal income in the United States}} Whilst many Americans believe that income is the primary determiner of class: occupation, cultural privilege, and educational attainment, are important. Income is determined by the replaceability of skills.{{sfn|Thompson|Hickey|2005}} A socially contributive occupation that needs seldom encountered skills will offer higher remuneration.{{sfn|Levine|1998}} There are also differences between household and individual income. In 2005, 42% of US households (76% among the top quintile) had two or more income earners; as a result, 18% of households but only 5% of individuals had six-figure incomes.<ref name="US Census Bureau, shuuush income quintile and top 5% household income distribution and demographic characteristics, 2006">{{cite web|url=http://pubdb3.census.gov/macro/032006/hhinc/new05_000.htm|title=US Census Bureau, income quintile and top 5% household income distribution and demographic characteristics, 2006|access-date=28 December 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070104041618/http://pubdb3.census.gov/macro/032006/hhinc/new05_000.htm|archive-date=4 January 2007|df=dmy-all}}</ref> To illustrate, two nurses each making $55,000 per year can out-earn, in a household sense, a single attorney who makes a median of $95,000 annually.<ref name="US Department of Labor, median income of registered nurses">{{cite web|url=http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos083.htm#earnings|title=US Department of Labor, median income of registered nurses|access-date=2 January 2007}}</ref><ref name="Bureau of Labor statistics data published by Monster.com, 20 highest paying jobs">{{cite web|url=http://content.salary.monster.com/articles/salary/highestpay/|title=Bureau of Labor statistics data published by Monster.com, 20 highest paying jobs|access-date=27 December 2006|archive-date=27 December 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061227085649/http://content.salary.monster.com/articles/salary/highestpay/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Sociologists Dennis Gilbert, William Thompson and Joseph Hickey estimate the upper-middle class to constitute roughly 15% of the population. Using the 15% figure one may define the American upper-middle class consists as the group of persons whose personal income exceeds $62,500 ($101,000 in 2024 dollars), who commonly reside in households with six-figure incomes.{{sfnm |1a1=Gilbert |1y=1998 |2a1=Thompson |2a2=Hickey |2y=2005}}<ref name="US Census Bureau, shuuush income quintile and top 5% household income distribution and demographic characteristics, 2006" /><ref name="US Census Bureau, distribution of personal income, 2006">{{cite web|url=http://pubdb3.census.gov/macro/032006/perinc/new01_001.htm|title=US Census Bureau, distribution of personal income, 2006|access-date=9 December 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061223153830/http://pubdb3.census.gov/macro/032006/perinc/new01_001.htm|archive-date=23 December 2006|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The difference between personal and household income can be explained by considering that 76% of households with incomes exceeding $90,000 (the top 20%, $170,000 to cross this threshold in 2020 dollars) had two or more income earners.<ref name="US Census Bureau, shuuush income quintile and top 5% household income distribution and demographic characteristics, 2006" /> In 2024, the threshold for entering the top 10% of American household incomes is $230,000 <ref name="Household Income Percentile Calculator for the United States in 2020">{{cite web|url= https://dqydj.com/household-income-percentile-calculator/ |title= Household Income Percentile Calculator for the United States in 2020 |access-date=8 February 2020}}</ref>
{| class=wikitable |+ Income statistics (2006)<ref name="US Census Bureau, overall household income distribution, 2006"/><ref name="US Census Bureau, personal income distribution, age 25+, 2006"/> !Data !Top third !Top quarter !Top quintile !Top 15% !Top 10% !Top 5% |- !colspan=10|Household income<ref name="US Census Bureau, overall household income distribution, 2006">{{cite web|url=http://pubdb3.census.gov/macro/032006/hhinc/new06_000.htm|title=US Census Bureau, overall household income distribution, 2006|access-date=28 December 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070104041530/http://pubdb3.census.gov/macro/032006/hhinc/new06_000.htm|archive-date=4 January 2007|df=dmy-all}}</ref> |- |Lower threshold (annual gross income)||$65,000||$80,000||$91,705||$100,000||$118,200||$166,200 |- |Exact percentage of households ||34.72%||25.60%||20.00%||17.80%||10.00%||5.00% |- !colspan=10|Personal income (age 25+)<ref name="US Census Bureau, personal income distribution, age 25+, 2006">{{cite web|url=http://pubdb3.census.gov/macro/032006/perinc/new03_001.htm|title=US Census Bureau, personal income distribution, age 25+, 2006|access-date=28 December 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070319232115/http://pubdb3.census.gov/macro/032006/perinc/new03_001.htm|archive-date=19 March 2007|df=dmy-all}}</ref> |- |Lower threshold (annual gross income)||$37,500||$47,500||$52,500||$62,500||$75,000||$100,000 |- |Exact percentage of individuals||33.55%||24.03%||19.74%||14.47%||10.29%||5.63% |- |}
{| class="wikitable" |+ Income statistics (2024) (source from 2006, inflation adjusted)<ref name="US Census Bureau, overall household income distribution, 2006" /><ref name="US Census Bureau, personal income distribution, age 25+, 2006" /> !Data !Top third !Top quarter !Top quintile !Top 15% !Top 10% !Top 5% |- ! colspan="10" |Household income<ref name="US Census Bureau, overall household income distribution, 2006" /> |- |Lower threshold (annual gross income)||$103,000||$127,000||$145,000||$158,618||$187,000||$263,000 |- |Exact percentage of households ||34.72%||25.60%||20.00%||17.80%||10.00%||5.00% |- ! colspan="10" |Personal income (age 25+)<ref name="US Census Bureau, personal income distribution, age 25+, 2006" /> |- |Lower threshold (annual gross income)||$59,000||$75,000||$83,000||$99,000||$119,000||$159,000 |- |Exact percentage of individuals||33.55%||24.03%||19.74%||14.47%||10.29%||5.63% |- |}
The above income thresholds may vary greatly based on region due to significant differences in average income based on region and urban, suburban, or rural development. In more expensive suburbs, the threshold for the top 15% of income earners may be much higher. For example, in 2006 the ten highest income counties had median household incomes of $85,000 compared to a national average of about $50,000. The top 15% of all US income earners nationally tend to be more concentrated in these richer suburban counties where the cost of living is also higher. If middle-class households earning between the 50th percentile ($46,000) and the 85th percentile ($62,500) tend to live in lower cost of living areas, then their difference in ''real income'' may be smaller than what the differences in nominal income suggest.
===Values=== Political ideology is not correlated with social class. In terms of income, liberals tend to be tied with pro-business conservatives.<ref name="Pew Research Center. (10 May 2005). Beyond Red vs. Blue.">{{cite web|url=http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?PageID=945|title=Pew Research Center. (10 May 2005). Beyond Red vs. Blue.|access-date=12 July 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070502060658/http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?PageID=945|archive-date=2 May 2007|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Most mass affluent households tend to be more right-leaning on fiscal issues but more left-leaning on social issues.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Arora |first1=Raksha |last2=Saad |first2=Lydia |date=9 December 2004 |title=Marketing to the Mass Affluent |url=http://gmj.gallup.com/content/14293/Marketing-Mass-Affluent.aspx |work=Gallup Management Journal |publisher=Gallup Press |access-date=19 July 2007}}</ref> The majority, between 50% and 60%, of households with incomes above $50,000 overall, not all of whom are upper-middle class,{{sfn|Gilbert|1998}} supported the Republican Party in the 2000, 2004, and 2006 elections.<ref name="CNN. (2000). Exit Poll.">{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2000/results/index.epolls.html|title=CNN. (2000). Exit Poll.|access-date=27 May 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080522172142/http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2000/results/index.epolls.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 22 May 2008}}</ref><ref name="CNN. (2004). Exit Poll.">{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/US/P/00/epolls.0.html|title=CNN. (2004). Exit Poll.|access-date=27 May 2008}}</ref>
The upper-middle class is often the group that creates popular social movements, such as the peace movement, the anti-nuclear movement, environmentalism, the anti-smoking movement, and in the past the blue laws and the temperance movement. Some people claim that this is because it is the largest class (and also the lowest class) to have any economic power to fund campaigns for change, whilst others claim that it is because of their self-assumed moral responsibility to "save [less intelligent] people from themselves".{{sfn|Ehrenreich|1989}}
==British upper-middle class<!--'British upper middle class' redirects here-->== {{further|Social class in the United Kingdom#Upper middle class}} The British upper-middle class mostly consists of the professionals who were born into higher-income backgrounds, such as judges and executives. It traditionally uses Received Pronunciation.{{cn|date=July 2022}} Children of this group are usually educated at a preparatory school, until about 13 years of age, and then at one of the British public schools,<ref>{{cite news |last=Delingpole |first=James |author-link=James Delingpole |date=17 December 2011 |title=Thank God I Don't Have that Ghastly Sense of Entitlement that Eton Instils |url=http://www.spectator.co.uk/columnists/james-delingpole/7482608/thank-god-i-dont-have-that-ghastly-sense-of-entitlement-that-eton-instils/ |newspaper=The Spectator |access-date=21 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Byrnes |first=Sholto |date=20 April 2010 |title=Who's Posher: Clegg or Cameron? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/apr/20/clegg-cameron-posher |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=21 October 2017}}</ref> a place at which typically costs at least £11,500 per year.<ref>{{cite news |last=Farndale |first=Nigel |author-link=Nigel Farndale |date=28 January 2013 |title=Is There a Private School Prejudice? |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/9821490/Is-there-a-private-school-prejudice.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/9821490/Is-there-a-private-school-prejudice.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |newspaper=The Telegraph |access-date=21 October 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref>{{sfn|Trainor|2000|p=679}}
==See also== {{Portal|Society}} * ''Bildungsbürgertum'' * Black elite * Bourgeoisie * Chungin * Grand Burgher * Hipster (contemporary subculture) * Professional–managerial class * Upper class * Yuppie
==References== ===Citations=== {{reflist|22em}}
===Bibliography=== {{refbegin|35em|indent=yes}} * {{cite journal |last1=Comet |first1=Catherine |last2=Finez |first2=Jean |year=2010 |title=Le cœur de l'élite patronale |journal=Sociologies Pratiques |language=fr |volume=2 |issue=21 |pages=49–66 |isbn=978-2-7246-3205-7 |issn=2104-3787 |doi=10.3917/sopr.021.0049 |doi-access=free }} * {{cite book |last=Ehrenreich |first=Barbara |author-link=Barbara Ehrenreich |year=1989 |title=Fear of Falling: The Inner Life of the Middle Class |location=New York |publisher=Harper Collins |isbn=978-0-06-097333-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/fearoffallinginn00ehre }} * {{cite book |last=Eichar |first=Douglas M. |year=1989 |title=Occupation and Class Consciousness in America |series=Contributions in Labor Studies |volume=27 |location=Westport, Connecticut |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=978-0-313-26111-4 |issn=0886-8239 |url=https://archive.org/details/occupationclassc00eich }} * {{cite book |last=Gilbert |first=Dennis |author-link=Dennis Gilbert (sociologist) |year=1998 |title=The American Class Structure |location=New York |publisher=Wadsworth Publishing |isbn=978-0-534-50520-2 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/americanclassstr0000gilb_c7f2 }} * {{cite book |last=Levine |first=Rhonda |year=1998 |title=Social Class and Stratification |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-8476-8543-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/socialclassstrat00levi }} * {{cite book |last=Trainor |first=Richard |author-link=Rick Trainor |year=2000 |chapter=The Middle Class |editor-last=Daunton |editor-first=Martin |editor-link=Martin Daunton |title=The Cambridge Urban History of Britain. Volume 3: 1840–1950 |location=Cambridge, England |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-41707-5 }} * {{cite journal |last1=Pinçon-Charlot |first1=Monique |author1-link=Monique Pinçon-Charlot |last2=Pinçon |first2=Michel |year=2010 |interviewer1-last=Bourdeau |interviewer1-first=Vincent |interviewer2-last=Flory |interviewer2-first=Julienne |interviewer3-last=Maric |interviewer3-first=Michel |title=Regard sociologique sur l'oligarchie: Entretien avec Monique Pinçon-Charlot et Michel Pinçon |trans-title=Sociological view on the oligarchy: Interview with Monique Pinçon-Charlot and Michel Pinçon |journal=Mouvements |language=fr |volume=4 |issue=64 |pages=22–40 |isbn=978-2-7071-6653-1 |issn=1776-2995 |doi=10.3917/mouv.064.0022 |doi-access= }} * {{cite book |last1=Thompson |first1=William E. |last2=Hickey |first2=Joseph V. |year=2005 |title=Society in Focus |edition=5th |location=Boston |publisher=Pearson |isbn=978-0-205-41365-2 }} {{refend}}
==Further reading== {{refbegin}} *{{cite book |last=Bagley |first=Bruce Michael |year=1990 |chapter=Middle Class |editor1-last=Hanratty |editor1-first=Dennis M. |editor2-last=Meditz |editor2-first=Sandra W. |title=Colombia: A Country Study |url=http://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a231408.pdf |edition=4th |location=Washington |publisher=Government Printing Office |pages=87–90 |access-date=21 October 2017 |archive-date=18 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170218132518/http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a231408.pdf |url-status=live }} *{{cite book |last=Lamont |first=Michèle |author-link=Michèle Lamont |year=2012 |title=Money, Morals, and Manners: The Culture of the French and the American Upper-Middle Class |location=Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-92259-1 }} {{refend}}
{{Social class|state=expanded}} {{Use British English Oxford spelling|date=October 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Upper Middle Class}} Category:Upper middle class Category:Middle class