5 Charts That Show How the Middle Class Is Disappearing by Katie Rose Qua ndt: January 26, 201S Already the richest country in the world, the United States reached its highest cumulative wealth ever in 2013. It ranked fourth in the world in wealth per person, with $348,000 for every American adult. But the average American wouldn't know it. Thanks to economic policies that favor the super-rich and fuel inequality, the typical US adult's total wealth is $31,688 — not even close to $348,000. And things aren't poised to change: The median household brought in $51,939 in 2013, a real dollar increase of just $180 from 2012. This recent income stagnation came in the wake of a steep drop from 2007-2011 (mouse over the graph to see data): Median Household Income Remains Stagnant After falling sharpy from 2007.2011, incomes have yet to recover. 558.000 55.000 50.000 45.000 19/0 '75 '80 '85 '90 '95 '00 '05 2010 Source US Census Bureau Get the data Middle class Americans are feeling this income squeeze. One way to see how the middle class is faring is to break out the middle 60 percent of the population. The share of total national income going to this chunk of the population has decreased steadily since the 1960s and currently stands well below 50 percent: ilPage of 4 EFTA01205761