The debate over what constitutes the “middle class” is, along with baseball, a popular American pastime. For the purposes of this article, we’ll refer to people with household incomes between $50,000 and $99,999 as middle earners. Those who earn more than that are called high earners, and those below that are called low earners. Simple.
According to the U.S. Census, the median household income in the United States was $74,850 (in the most recent year for which data is available), putting the typical American in the middle class, making them an important constituency for most organizations that work with consumers.
Morning Consult’s analyst report “All About Middle-Income Consumers” examines data collected monthly from about 2,200 U.S. adults between October 2021 and May 2024. Here’s what they discovered—and what PR professionals should keep in mind.
Who counts as middle earners?
According to Morning Consult, the prototype of a middle-income earner is a married baby boomer who lives in the suburbs and does not have a bachelor’s degree.
Some of these points are logical: Married households generally have higher incomes than single households, either because of dual incomes or because the stay-at-home partner does housework so the other partner can work longer hours or has a better-paying job. Baby boomers, who are likely to be living on a combination of Social Security payments, pensions, and personal savings at this point in their lives, are expected to fall closer to the middle than Generation X and Millennials, who may earn more while still in the active workforce, or Generation Z, who are early in their careers.
What is important to them
Not surprisingly, middle-income people fall psychographically between the two income extremes, sometimes leaning more toward one side or the other depending on the question.
For example, middle earners were only a few points below low earners when asked the statement “I tend to go for the less expensive option,” showing a frugal attitude despite rising incomes. However, when asked the statement “Planning for the future is very important to me,” middle earners were closer to high-income households, outperforming low earners by almost 10 points.
Middle-income individuals are more willing to spend money on sustainable products than the average American consumer, and they are also willing to pay more for high-quality products.
What they see and scroll
It is especially important for PR professionals to know where these consumers spend their time so they can best decide how to reach this demographic with targeted messages.
Morning Consult points out that both Facebook and YouTube are so ubiquitous in modern American life that there is virtually no difference in usage rates by income. However, middle earners are more likely to use social media platforms Instagram, Reddit, Pinterest and X than low earners – although they are less likely to use TikTok.
When it comes to streaming, middle-income earners use Netflix much more than any other paid streaming service (which is true for all other income brackets as well). Just over half have a Hulu subscription, while just under half also have a Disney+ subscription. However, if you’re looking for platforms that exclusively appeal to high earners, check out Spotify, Max, or Apple TV+.
How they think about the economy
Morning Consult found that before the pandemic, middle-income consumer sentiment tended to be close to, if just below, that of high earners. However, since the tumult of the pandemic and the inflation that followed, that sentiment has shifted and is now much closer to that of low earners.
“This is in part because high-income consumers are ahead in the post-pandemic economy because they are better protected from the effects of inflation and benefit greatly from investment gains due to their larger equity allocation,” the report said.
What it means for PR professionals
These data paint a complex, nuanced picture of the American middle class. This group has become less optimistic about their future since the pandemic and feels battered by inflation. But they are also focused on planning and maintaining control over their own future. They prefer the less expensive options but still treat themselves to small extravagances like streaming services and sustainable products.
While it’s impossible to draw blanket conclusions about such a large and diverse group, this information can help PR professionals target middle-income earners with a message that’s frugal yet sophisticated, helping them prepare for the future and hope for better things.
Allison Carter is editor-in-chief of PR Daily. Follow her on Þjórsárdalur or LinkedIn.
