Money

How America’s Middle Class Has Shrunk Since 2000

Published

9 years ago

March 30, 2015

Jeff Desjardins

How America’s Middle Class Has Shrunk Since 2000

This interactive visualization shows how America’s middle class has changed since the turn of the millennium. The middle class, as defined by Pew Charitable Trust, means earners making 67% to 200% of a state’s median income.

In all 50 states, the middle class has shrunk since 2000. In the above visualization, hover over any state to see the details and data.

Even more concerning is two other data sets: median income and the percentage of income that goes toward housing are both trending in an alarming fashion. Median income has dropped in most states, adjusted for inflation. Meanwhile, the percentage of income spent on housing has been increasing in most places substantially.

States in the Rust Belt have been particularly affected, with Ohio, Wisconsin, and Michigan have seen all numbers trend in the wrong direction. In Wisconsin, 54.6% of the earners were considered “middle class” in 2000. In 2013 it was only 48.9% and median income has dropped more than 10%. As a result, housing costs are now much more of a burden for people (from 24% to 31% of income).

Other states that are struggling include Nevada, New Mexico, Georgia, North Carolina, Vermont and Maine. The states that have been least affected include Idaho, Wyoming, Alaska, and Hawaii.

Powering New York

Related Topics:America united states income middle class inequality

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Money

Charted: Which City Has the Most Billionaires in 2024?

Just two countries account for half of the top 20 cities with the most billionaires. And the majority of the other half are found in Asia.

Published

1 day ago

April 25, 2024

Pallavi Rao

A cropped bar chart ranking the top 20 cities with the most billionaires in 2024.

Charted: Which Country Has the Most Billionaires in 2024?

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Some cities seem to attract the rich. Take New York City for example, which has 340,000 high-net-worth residents with investable assets of more than $1 million.

But there’s a vast difference between being a millionaire and a billionaire. So where do the richest of them all live?

Using data from the Hurun Global Rich List 2024, we rank the top 20 cities with the highest number of billionaires in 2024.

A caveat to these rich lists: sources often vary on figures and exact rankings. For example, in last year’s reports, Forbes had New York as the city with the most billionaires, while the Hurun Global Rich List placed Beijing at the top spot.

Ranked: Top 20 Cities with the Most Billionaires in 2024

The Chinese economy’s doldrums over the course of the past year have affected its ultra-wealthy residents in key cities.

Beijing, the city with the most billionaires in 2023, has not only ceded its spot to New York, but has dropped to #4, overtaken by London and Mumbai.

Rank	City	Billionaires	Rank Change YoY
1	🇺🇸 New York	119	+1
2	🇬🇧 London	97	+3
3	🇮🇳 Mumbai	92	+4
4	🇨🇳 Beijing	91	-3
5	🇨🇳 Shanghai	87	-2
6	🇨🇳 Shenzhen	84	-2
7	🇭🇰 Hong Kong	65	-1
8	🇷🇺 Moscow	59	No Change
9	🇮🇳 New Delhi	57	+6
10	🇺🇸 San Francisco	52	No Change
11	🇹🇭 Bangkok	49	+2
12	🇹🇼 Taipei	45	+2
13	🇫🇷 Paris	44	-2
14	🇨🇳 Hangzhou	43	-5
15	🇸🇬 Singapore	42	New to Top 20
16	🇨🇳 Guangzhou	39	-4
17T	🇮🇩 Jakarta	37	+1
17T	🇧🇷 Sao Paulo	37	No Change
19T	🇺🇸 Los Angeles	31	No Change
19T	🇰🇷 Seoul	31	-3

In fact all Chinese cities on the top 20 list have lost billionaires between 2023–24. Consequently, they’ve all lost ranking spots as well, with Hangzhou seeing the biggest slide (-5) in the top 20.

Where China lost, all other Asian cities—except Seoul—in the top 20 have gained ranks. Indian cities lead the way, with New Delhi (+6) and Mumbai (+3) having climbed the most.

At a country level, China and the U.S combine to make up half of the cities in the top 20. They are also home to about half of the world’s 3,200 billionaire population.

In other news of note: Hurun officially counts Taylor Swift as a billionaire, estimating her net worth at $1.2 billion.