A Hard-Knock Life? Not for the Middle Class

Since the 1960s, the share of U.S. households earning more than $100,000 in real terms has tripled

Letter to The WSJ.

"Jordan McGillis writes in “Why the Middle Class Feels Poor” (op-ed, Feb. 12) that middle-class families feel they’re “losing ever more ground to the upper middle class.” He calls this “intensifying income stratification.” His measurement of stratification begins in 1975, which gives you a low growth rate. Virtually every other measure gives a more robust picture.

Between 1967 and 2023, the share of U.S. households earning in real terms more than $100,000 tripled, while the share earning less than $35,000 fell from 31% to 21%. Then, only 5% of American families earned more than $150,000. Today, more than a third do so.

How did this prosperity happen? We became more productive. The typical U.S. factory worker produces more in one hour than the typical 1947 worker did in a 10-hour day.

Scott Kaufmann

President, Kaufmann Financial"