What Is the Working Class?

What Is the Working Class?

You might hear the term 'working class' thrown around, but it's a contested socioeconomic label for low-income folks. I'm talking about people in jobs that pay modestly and often involve physical work. You don't usually need a college degree for these roles.

Key Takeaways

Let me break it down directly: the working class describes those in low-pay jobs with physical labor, where a degree isn't required. Nowadays, you'll find most of these jobs in services, like clerical work, retail sales, or low-skill manual tasks. The term means different things to different people, and it's evolving. It's related to 'blue collar,' too.

Defining the Working Class

If you're an economist in the U.S., you probably define 'working class' as adults without a college degree. Many of them overlap with the middle class. Sociologists like Dennis Gilbert and Joseph Kahl see the working class as America's biggest group. Others, such as William Thompson, Joseph Hickey, and James Henslin, put the lower middle class on top, but they agree the working class is 30% to 35% of the population, same as the lower middle. Gilbert says it's those in the 25th to 55th income percentile.

Karl Marx called them the 'proletariat'—the ones creating goods and services that build society's wealth. Marxists and socialists define it as people with only their labor and skills to sell, including white and blue collar workers, but not business owners or those living off others' labor.

Types of Working Class Jobs

Working class jobs have changed a lot since the 1950s and 1960s. Factory and industrial work is declining in America. Today, you see them mostly in services.

Important Facts About Working Class Jobs

These jobs often pay under $15 an hour, and many skip health benefits. The working class in America is diversifying: 59% white (down from 88% in the 1940s), 14% Black, and 21% Hispanic.

History of the Working Class in Europe

Back in feudal Europe, most folks were in the laboring class—lawyers, craftsmen, peasants, you name it. They weren't aristocracy or religious elite. Similar setups existed elsewhere before industrialization.

How Many People Say They're Working Class?

A 2022 Gallup poll shows 35% identify as working class, 11% as lower class— that's nearly half. Then 38% say middle class, 14% upper-middle, and 2% upper.

How Many People Are Working Class?

Pew Research Center data from 2022 puts 28% in lower-income households, 52% middle, and 19% upper.

How Do I Know If I'm Working Class?

Plug your info into Pew's income calculator—it adjusts for your area's cost of living and tells you if you're lower, middle, or upper income.

The Bottom Line

Working class varies by perspective, but it generally means wage workers doing manual labor outside offices, often without a degree. Many live paycheck to paycheck with little savings, though some roles like nuclear plant operators or boilermakers pay well, matching middle-class jobs.