The U.S. middle class has faced a huge "inequality tax" in recent decades: Household income of the broad middle class, actual and projected, assuming it grew at overall average rate, 1979–2013
| Year | Actual | Projected |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | $ 61,550 | $ 61,550 |
| 1980 | $ 59,506 | $ 59,527 |
| 1981 | $ 59,157 | $ 59,317 |
| 1982 | $ 58,082 | $ 59,213 |
| 1983 | $ 57,173 | $ 59,520 |
| 1984 | $ 60,506 | $ 62,684 |
| 1985 | $ 60,492 | $ 63,780 |
| 1986 | $ 62,343 | $ 68,523 |
| 1987 | $ 61,433 | $ 66,324 |
| 1988 | $ 62,300 | $ 69,100 |
| 1989 | $ 63,164 | $ 69,648 |
| 1990 | $ 63,402 | $ 69,136 |
| 1991 | $ 62,430 | $ 67,433 |
| 1992 | $ 62,824 | $ 69,370 |
| 1993 | $ 63,483 | $ 69,654 |
| 1994 | $ 64,001 | $ 70,576 |
| 1995 | $ 66,000 | $ 73,309 |
| 1996 | $ 66,706 | $ 75,677 |
| 1997 | $ 67,795 | $ 78,567 |
| 1998 | $ 70,031 | $ 82,290 |
| 1999 | $ 71,814 | $ 85,759 |
| 2000 | $ 71,697 | $ 86,986 |
| 2001 | $ 71,770 | $ 82,500 |
| 2002 | $ 70,123 | $ 79,095 |
| 2003 | $ 70,210 | $ 80,289 |
| 2004 | $ 72,569 | $ 85,040 |
| 2005 | $ 73,757 | $ 89,278 |
| 2006 | $ 74,463 | $ 91,847 |
| 2007 | $ 76,402 | $ 94,239 |
| 2008 | $ 73,541 | $ 86,863 |
| 2009 | $ 72,693 | $ 82,429 |
| 2010 | $ 72,829 | $ 84,614 |
| 2011 | $ 72,079 | $ 83,608 |
| 2012 | $ 72,011 | $ 87,419 |
| 2013 | $ 73,535 | $ 86,215 |
Note: Data show average income of households in the 20th–80th percentile.
Source: EPI analysis of data from the Congressional Budget Office (2016). Reproduced from Figure I in Raising America’s Pay: Why It’s Our Central Economic Policy Challenge.
Source: EPI analysis of data from The Distribution of Household Income and Federal Taxes, 2011, the Congressional Budget Office, 2014.
Reproduced from Figure I in Raising America’s Pay: Why It’s Our Central Economic Policy Challenge, by Josh Bivens, Elise Gould, Lawrence Mishel, and Heidi Shierholz, Economic Policy Institute, 2014.