African-American middle class

The African-American middle class consists of African Americans who have middle-class status within the American class structure. It is a societal level within the African American community that primarily began to develop in the early 1960s, when the ongoing African-American Civil Rights Movement led to the outlawing of de jure racial segregation. The gains accrued by the Civil Rights Era is strongly correlated with the emergence of a new black middle class.

While the vast majority of whites are centrally middle-class, the majority of African Americans are also considered middle-class. In terms of income, the narrowest view of a household with a middle-class income is considered $39,100 to $62,000, while a more generous view is $20,291 to $100,000. Anything around $40,000 is seen as the lower end of the middle-class household income. In 2009, the majority of white household incomes was around $54,461, which is considered a centrally middle-class income. On the other hand, the majority of black household incomes was 32,584, which is viewed as a working class income.

As of the 2010 Census, black households had a median income of $32,068, which places the median black household within the second income quintile. 27.3% of black households earn an income between $25,000 and $50,000, 15.2% earn between $50,000 and $75,000, 7.6% earn between $75,000 and $100,000, and 9.4% earn more than $100,000.

Although the composition of the black middle class varies by definition, the black middle class is typically divided into a lower-middle class, core middle class, and an upper-middle class. The black lower-middle class is concentrated in sales, clerical positions, and other blue-collar occupations, while the black upper-middle class (sometimes combined into the black upper class) is characterized by highly educated professionals in white-collar occupations, such as health care professionals, lawyers, professors, and engineers.

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