One reason the terms here are confusing is that when progressives use the phrase “the
working class,” they’re often (though not always) using it as a euphemism for “poor.”
But the poor—in the bottom 30% of American families—are very different from
Americans who are literally in the middle of the income distribution. With a median
household income (in 2015) of $22,500,^16 low-income families typically have different
family structures, different types of jobs, and different political beliefs from Americans in
the middle. Only 12% of Trump voters have incomes below $30,000 a year—and
Republicans are relatively rare among this group—something that bumps up the median
income of Trump voters overall.^17
Americans’ failure to share a language to talk about class can leave us literally speechless
on the topic. Or just plain wrong. Consider an influential article on the well-known
website FiveThirtyEight in May 2016 titled, “The Mythology of Trump’s Working Class
Support.” “It’s been extremely common for news accounts to portray Donald Trump’s
candidacy as a ‘working-class’ rebellion against Republican elites,” wrote Nate Silver.
“His voters are better off economically compared with most Americans.” While
conceding “elements of truth” to the view that the working class was going for Trump,
Silver attempted to disprove it by pointing out that the median income of Trump primary
voters was $72,000, well above the national median of $56,000. But a household income
of $72,000 is just a bit below the median working-class income, assuming you’re using
that term to refer to “working class” as neither rich nor poor.^18
After the 2016 election, FiveThirtyEight gradually caught on. For statisticians, the best
simple proxy for class is education. The strongest indicator of a Trump victory was a
concentration of high-school-educated voters. Clinton’s margin surged in the 50 most-
educated counties and “collapsed” in the 50 least-educated, as compared with
Obama’s.^19
Class cluelessness afflicts politicians as well as pundits. When progressive policymakers
talk about guaranteeing things like paid sick leave or a higher minimum wage, they often
frame them as issues that would help “working families.” But neither offers what my
father-in-law had: a steady job that yielded his vision of a middle-class life. That’s what
the working class still wants.
The reason I (and, increasingly, analysts at data-driven places like FiveThirtyEight ) don’t
define class solely with reference to income is that class is not just about money. Nor is
class an abiding characteristic of individuals. As I’ll explain, it’s more like a cultural
tradition that people riff off as they shape their everyday behavior and make sense of
- Who Is the Working Class?