Pew: Rhode Island’s Middle Class is Shrinking
Saturday, March 21, 2015
The number of middle class families in Rhode Island has dropped from 48.2% in 2000 to 45.1% in 2013 -- and the share of Rhode Island families spending at least 30% of income on housing has jumped from 30% to 37% over the same time period.
The interactive map "How America's Middle Class Has Shrunk Since 2000," produced by Tim Henderson for Pew Charitable Trusts' Stateline, shows that in all 50 states, the percentage of “middle-class” households (i.e. those making between 67 percent and 200 percent of the state’s median income) shrunk between 2000 and 2013.
"Tim's got tremendous expertise at crunching data, and he's clued into both when Census data's released, and interesting things to do with it," said Scott Greenberger, Executive Director for Stateline. "Our focus is on states, and we like to do stories that connecting the dates between the states. From policy makers to the general reader, we've gotten a tremendous response to this and what it shows."
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The Pew presentation of data comes on the heels of 24/7 WallSt's analysis placing Rhode Island as 4th for states where the middle class is dying. Only Maine, Vermont, and California were higher.
"Middle class households in Rhode Island earned $56,432 in 2013, roughly $4,000 more than the national average, but still 5.6% less than they earned in 2009. Nationally, middle class incomes fell by 4.3%. By contrast, incomes of the top 20% of households rose by 2.5% between 2009 and 2013, far greater than the 0.5% growth among the top quintile nationwide. Like in many of the states on this list, income gains among the top 20% of households were disproportionately concentrated in the hands of the top 5%. In fact, the top 5% of households in Rhode Island received more than 96% of the income gains made by the top 20% of households between 2009 and 2013. Nationally, the top 5% only captured 74% of gains in the upper quintile over the same period."
Related Slideshow: Rhode Island’s Biggest PowerBall Winners
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