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

How Debt-to-GDP Ratios Have Changed Since 2000

See how much the debt-to-GDP ratios of advanced economies have grown (or shrank) since the year 2000.

Published

1 day ago

April 18, 2024

Marcus Lu

How Debt-to-GDP Ratios Have Changed Since 2000

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

Government debt levels have grown in most parts of the world since the 2008 financial crisis, and even more so after the COVID-19 pandemic.

To gain perspective on this long-term trend, we’ve visualized the debt-to-GDP ratios of advanced economies, as of 2000 and 2024 (estimated). All figures were sourced from the IMF’s World Economic Outlook.

Data and Highlights

The data we used to create this graphic is listed in the table below. “Government gross debt” consists of all liabilities that require payment(s) of interest and/or principal in the future.

Country	2000 (%)	2024 (%)	Change (pp)
🇯🇵 Japan	135.6	251.9	+116.3
🇸🇬 Singapore	82.3	168.3	+86.0
🇺🇸 United States	55.6	126.9	+71.3
🇬🇧 United Kingdom	36.6	105.9	+69.3
🇬🇷 Greece	104.9	160.2	+55.3
🇫🇷 France	58.9	110.5	+51.6
🇵🇹 Portugal	54.2	104.0	+49.8
🇪🇸 Spain	57.8	104.7	+46.9
🇸🇮 Slovenia	25.9	66.5	+40.6
🇫🇮 Finland	42.4	76.5	+34.1
🇭🇷 Croatia	35.4	61.8	+26.4
🇨🇦 Canada	80.4	103.3	+22.9
🇨🇾 Cyprus	56.0	70.9	+14.9
🇦🇹 Austria	65.7	74.0	+8.3
🇸🇰 Slovak Republic	50.5	56.5	+6.0
🇩🇪 Germany	59.3	64.0	+4.7
🇧🇪 Belgium	109.6	106.8	-2.8
🇮🇱 Israel	77.4	56.8	-20.6
🇮🇸 Iceland	75.8	54.6	-21.2

The debt-to-GDP ratio indicates how much a country owes compared to the size of its economy, reflecting its ability to manage and repay debts. Percentage point (pp) changes shown above indicate the increase or decrease of these ratios.

Countries with the Biggest Increases

Japan (+116 pp), Singapore (+86 pp), and the U.S. (+71 pp) have grown their debt as a percentage of GDP the most since the year 2000.

All three of these countries have stable, well-developed economies, so it’s unlikely that any of them will default on their growing debts. With that said, higher government debt leads to increased interest payments, which in turn can diminish available funds for future government budgets.

This is a rising issue in the U.S., where annual interest payments on the national debt have surpassed $1 trillion for the first time ever.

Only 3 Countries Saw Declines

Among this list of advanced economies, Belgium (-2.8 pp), Iceland (-21.2 pp), and Israel (-20.6 pp) were the only countries that decreased their debt-to-GDP ratio since the year 2000.

According to Fitch Ratings, Iceland’s debt ratio has decreased due to strong GDP growth and the use of its cash deposits to pay down upcoming maturities.