Consumption is by far the largest component of the Gross Domestic Product. Because middle income families typically spend large shares of their income on goods and services, America’s middle class is expected to drive up consumption — and by extension, GDP. While high income households are able to spend enormous sums of money, there is often only so much an individual can spend, even on luxury goods.

These are the states where the middle class is dying.

Middle class households in Rhode Island are among the worst off compared to the highest earning households in the state.

Household incomes of the top 20% of earners in Georgia grew by 2.7% in the five years through 2014, slower than the 3.7% income growth among that cohort nationally

Unlike most states where the middle class is falling behind, income in Maine is relatively well distributed. However, the income gap in Maine is widening faster than in the nation as a whole.

The highest earning 20% of North Carolina households have an average income of more than $166,000, up 3.3% since 2010. Meanwhile, the income of a typical middle class North Carolina household fell by 1.8%.

The share of income controlled by the bottom 95% of Tennessee households contracted between 2010 and 2014, with all income gains going to the top 5%.

In California, incomes went up for the wealthiest, while the poorest state residents got poorer. The middle 20% of households earned 1.2% less in 2014 compared to 2010. Incomes of the top 20% of households increased 5.6% during that time, by contrast. (Source: USA Today)

Story Date: February 15, 2016