us news phd economics rankings

This website uses cookies.

By clicking the "Accept" button or continuing to browse our site, you agree to first-party and session-only cookies being stored on your device to enhance site navigation and analyze site performance and traffic. For more information on our use of cookies, please see our Privacy Policy .

• Resources for Students
• Preparing for graduate school

Program rankings

The following organizations rank graduate economics programs using various approaches:

• US News and World Report 2023 Best Economics Schools
• US News and World Report Ranking of the Best Global Universities for Economics and Business
• RePEc Ranking of Institutions
• Tilburg University Top 100 Worldwide Economics Schools Research Rankings
• National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2011 Ranking

Academic research evaluating economics programs

• Amir, Rabah and Malgorzata Knauff. 2008. " Ranking Economics Departments Worldwide on the Basis of PhD Placement ." Review of Economics and Statistics , 90 (1), pp. 185-90.
• Grijalva, Therese C. and Clifford Nowell. 2008. " A Guide to Graduate Study in Economics: Ranking Economics Departments by Fields of Expertise ." Southern Economic Journal , 74 (4), pp. 971-96.
• Kalaitzidakis, Pantelis, Theofanis P. Mamuneas, and Thanasis Stengos. 2011. " An Updated Ranking of Academic Journals in Economics ." The Canadian Journal of Economics , 44(4):1525-1538.
• McPherson, Michael A. 2012. " Ranking US Economics Programs by Faculty and Graduate Publications: An Update Using 1994-2009 Data ." Southern Economic Journal , 79 (1): 71-89.  

Graduate degrees in economics

Understanding the job market.

Browse Econ Literature

• Working papers
• Software components
• Book chapters
• JEL classification

More features

• Subscribe to new research

RePEc Biblio

Author registration.

• Economics Virtual Seminar Calendar NEW!

• Explanations
• Institutions
• Institutions 10/10

The data presented here are experimental. They are based on a sample of the research output in Economics and Finance. Only material catalogued in RePEc is considered. For any citation based criterion, only works that could be parsed by the CitEc project are considered. For any ranking of people, only those registered with the RePEc Author Service can be taken into account. And for rankings of institutions, only those listed in EDIRC and claimed as affiliation by the respective, registered authors can be measured. Thus, this list is by no means based on a complete sample. You can help making this more comprehensive by encouraging more publications to be listed ( instructions ) and more authors to register ( form ). For more details on the various rankings that are available as well for documentation, follow this link .

More services and features

Follow serials, authors, keywords & more

Public profiles for Economics researchers

Various research rankings in Economics

RePEc Genealogy

Who was a student of whom, using RePEc

Curated articles & papers on economics topics

Upload your paper to be listed on RePEc and IDEAS

New papers by email

Subscribe to new additions to RePEc

EconAcademics

Blog aggregator for economics research

Cases of plagiarism in Economics

About RePEc

Initiative for open bibliographies in Economics

News about RePEc

Questions about IDEAS and RePEc

RePEc volunteers

Participating archives

Publishers indexing in RePEc

Privacy statement

Corrections.

Found an error or omission?

Opportunities to help RePEc

Get papers listed

Have your research listed on RePEc

Open a RePEc archive

Have your institution's/publisher's output listed on RePEc

Get RePEc data

Use data assembled by RePEc

• Academic Programs
• Campus Map and Directions
• Schedule a Visit
• Virtual Tour
• More About MTSU
• News About MTSU
• Research Centers
• Course Catalogs
• Course Schedule and Dates
• Featured Faculty Profiles
• International Education
• MTSU Online
• Adult Degree Completion Programs
• Graduate Study
• Military Science
• Being True Blue
• Greek Life and Student Organizations
• Blue Raider Athletics
• Your Student Union Building
• MTSU Alumni
• Campus Life
• Veterans and Military Family Center
• Undergraduate Admission Information
• International Admission Information
• Graduate Admission Information
• Pay for Your Education
• Consider Living on Campus
• Important Dates and Deadlines
• Visit the MT One Stop
• Already Applied? What's Next?

Quick Links

• Board of Trustees
• Calendar of Events
• Campus Maps
• Campus Safety
• Give 2 MTSU
• Important Disclosure Information
• Jobs at MTSU
• MT One Stop
• Parent/Guardian Payment
• Privacy Policy
• Schedule an Advising Appointment
• Tennessee Transfer
• University Police

Ahead of the Curve: Data Scien..

Mtsu’s economics ph.d. program earns first u.s. ne..., ‘mtsu on the record’ hears stu.., mtsu’s economics ph.d. program earns first u.s. news and world report ranking.

• by Jimmy W. Hart
• 19 April 2022
• Campus Community

MTSU’s economics graduate program within the Jennings A. Jones College of Business has made the U.S. News and World Report ranking of top U.S. programs for the first time.

MTSU’s program is ranked No. 134 on the list of the nation’s 139 top programs for 2022. Tied for the top ranking was Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Stanford University. The other Tennessee universities making the list are Vanderbilt University (No. 30) and University of Tennessee-Knoxville (No. 79).

The full list can be found at https://bit.ly/3EEBT33 .

Jones College Dean David Urban applauded the ranking, saying it was the result of the hard work by the Department of Economics and Finance to address concerns cited in the college’s accreditation review several years ago. AACSB , the premier accrediting body in business education, said the faculty teaching in the program did not have enough publications in journals that would be widely recognized as “A” or “B” journals.

Dr. David Urban

“Implementing the changes required by the 2016 AACSB review team was not easy, but whatever pain we endured to make those changes has paid off, as the recognition by U.S. News and World Report shows,” said Urban, noting that a failure to address the concerns could have led to a recommendation for the program to be discontinued.

Associate professor Stuart Fowler , interim chair of the Department of Economics and Finance, called the ranking “remarkable” and praised the work of economics faculty as well as the leadership of economics professor Adam Rennhoff , graduate program director.

“The U.S. News ranking is not a niche ranking. It is a ranking on the overall program and not limited to, for example, online programs or the cost of the program,” Fowler noted. “The (U.S. News) survey is based on questionnaires that were sent to department heads and directors of graduate studies in economics. The questionnaire is a true peer evaluation. Our graduate program now has verified national prominence and … is achieving regional dominance.”

Dr. Stuart Fowler

Dr. Adam Rennhoff

Urban said Jones College was able to attract additional research-oriented faculty following the 2016 accreditation review and “increased the rigor of the academic qualification standards for faculty teaching in the Economics Ph.D. program.”

“The AACSB review team in 2021 noted quite a turnaround in the quality of scholarship produced by the faculty teaching in the program: 40 of the 58 journal articles (69 percent) published since the 2016 review by faculty who are active in the Economics Ph.D. program were in journals ranked in the A*, A, and B categories on the ABDC journal list,” Urban noted.

For more information about the graduate program through the Department of Economics and Finance, visit https://mtsu.edu/programs/economics-phd/ or contact Rennhoff at [email protected] or 615-898-2931.

— Jimmy Hart ( [email protected] )

Jimmy W. Hart

Employee account created by LAM on 5/8/12 (PZRNFAC report)

2024, Middle Tennessee State University, 1301 East Main Street, Murfreesboro, TN 37132-0001 USA +1-615-898-2300

Middle Tennessee State University, in its educational programs and activities involving students and employees, does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, ethnic or national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, disability, age (as applicable), status as a covered veteran or genetic information. [ Nondiscrimination Policy ] European Union (EU) citizens, please note that MTSU will collect personally identifying information and other data about you and may share that data with other agencies as required. [ Terms ]

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Department of Economics

Economics ph.d. program jumps 5 places in u.s. news rankings.

Posted by Elizabeth TeSelle on Tuesday, March 29, 2022 in Uncategorized .

The Vanderbilt Ph.D. program in Economics took a large leap this year in the U.S. News and World Report rankings –from 35th to 30th.   This is a significant increase, which can be attributed to our fine placement record over the past few years.

Comments are closed

Your Vanderbilt

• Current Students
• Faculty & Staff
• International Students
• Parents & Family
• Prospective Students
• Researchers
• Sports Fans
• Visitors & Neighbors

Quick Links

• PeopleFinder

Suggestions or feedback?

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Machine learning
• Social justice
• Black holes
• Classes and programs

Departments

• Aeronautics and Astronautics
• Brain and Cognitive Sciences
• Architecture
• Political Science
• Mechanical Engineering

Centers, Labs, & Programs

• Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)
• Picower Institute for Learning and Memory
• Lincoln Laboratory
• School of Architecture + Planning
• School of Engineering
• School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
• Sloan School of Management
• School of Science
• MIT Schwarzman College of Computing

MIT graduate engineering, business, science programs ranked highly by U.S. News for 2022-23

Press contact :, media download.

*Terms of Use:

Images for download on the MIT News office website are made available to non-commercial entities, press and the general public under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives license . You may not alter the images provided, other than to crop them to size. A credit line must be used when reproducing images; if one is not provided below, credit the images to "MIT."

Previous image Next image

MIT’s graduate program in engineering has again topped the list of U.S. News and World Report’s annual rankings, released today. The program has held the No. 1 spot since 1990, when the magazine first published these rankings.

The MIT Sloan School of Management also placed highly, landing in the No. 5 spot for the best graduate business programs along with Harvard University.

Among individual engineering disciplines, MIT placed first in six areas: aerospace/aeronautical/astronautical engineering, chemical engineering, computer engineering, electrical/electronic/communications engineering (tied with Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley), materials engineering, and mechanical engineering. It placed second in nuclear engineering and in biomedical engineering, a spot shared with Emory University-Georgia Tech.

In the rankings of individual MBA specialties, MIT placed first in four areas: business analytics, information systems, production/operations, and project management. It placed second in supply chain/logistics.

U.S. News does not issue annual rankings for all doctoral programs but revisits many every few years. For 2023, MIT’s economics program earned a No. 1 ranking overall, shared with Harvard and Stanford. The magazine also revisited its science rankings for the first time since 2019. MIT’s programs in chemistry, computer science, and mathematics (with Princeton University) earned No. 1 spots. Its programs in Earth sciences (with UC Berkeley and Stanford) and physics (with Caltech, Harvard, Princeton, and UC Berkeley) earned No. 2 spots. The Institute’s biology program ranked third (along with UC Berkeley and Caltech).

The magazine bases its rankings of graduate schools of engineering and business on two types of data: reputational surveys of deans and other academic officials, and statistical indicators that measure the quality of a school’s faculty, research, and students. The magazine’s less-frequent rankings of programs in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities are based solely on reputational surveys.

Share this news article on:

Related links.

• U.S. News 2023 Best Graduate Schools rankings

Related Topics

• MIT Sloan School of Management
• Business and management
• Graduate, postdoctoral
• Education, teaching, academics
• Aeronautical and astronautical engineering
• Chemical engineering
• Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (eecs)
• Materials science and engineering
• Mechanical engineering
• Nuclear science and engineering
• Biological engineering
• Supply chains
• School of Humanities Arts and Social Sciences
• Mathematics

Related Articles

MIT named No. 2 university by U.S. News for 2022

MIT graduate engineering, business, science programs ranked highly by U.S. News for 2019

Previous item Next item

More MIT News

Does technology help or hurt employment?

Read full story →

Most work is new work, long-term study of U.S. census data shows

A first-ever complete map for elastic strain engineering

Shining a light on oil fields to make them more sustainable

“Life is short, so aim high”

MIT launches Working Group on Generative AI and the Work of the Future

• More news on MIT News homepage →

Massachusetts Institute of Technology 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, USA

• Map (opens in new window)
• Events (opens in new window)
• People (opens in new window)
• Careers (opens in new window)
• Accessibility
• Social Media Hub
• MIT on Facebook
• MIT on YouTube
• MIT on Instagram

Search form

Rankings of doctoral programs in economics.

There are numerous rankings of Economics Ph.D. programs available.

U.S. News and World Report

According to the 2017 rankings released by U.S. News and World Report , Iowa State University's graduate program in Economics was ranked 28th among public universities and tied for 53rd overall. This ranking was two slots higher than the previous ranking.

National Research Council

One recent assessment resulted from a comprehensive survey of doctoral programs undertaken by the National Research Council (“ A Data-Based Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs in the United States (2010) ”).  The NRC’s program assessment methodology and results are somewhat complex, but one synthesis of their findings  places our program within the top 30 Economics Ph.D. programs in the U.S .; and among the top 10 in public universities.

Research Papers in Economics (RePEc)

RePEc , sponsored by the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, is a comprehensive database of research papers in economics.  The information in the database is used to rank the research productivity of registered authors based on a variety of metrics.  Authors’ rankings, in turn, are used to rank the institutions with which they are affiliated for academic departments of both economics and agricultural economics .

American Economic Association

Links to other rankings of graduate programs in economics are provided on the American Economic Association website .

Econphd.net

By field of specialization, a ranking by econphd.net places our department 4th in the “subdiscipline” of Resource and Agricultural Economics.   This subdiscipline is further partitioned according to JEL descriptors into two parts:  Resource and Environmental Economics, in which we rank 8th; and Agricultural Economics, in which we rank 1st overall.

Journal Articles Ranking Economics Programs

• Based on faculty productivity, “ A Guide to Graduate Study in Economics: Ranking Economics Departments by Fields of Expertise, ” by T.C. Grijalva and C. Nowell, Southern Economic Journal, 2008: 74(4), pp. 971-96.  According to this study, our program ranks 31st overall (15th among public universities) and 1st overall in the field of Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics.
• A more recent ranking of economics programs, see " Ranking U.S. Economics Programs by Faculty and Graduate Publications: An Update Using 1994 - 2009 Data, " by M. A. McPherson, Southern Economic Journal, 2012:  79 (1), pp. 71-89.

Who earned PhDs in economics in 2020?

Subscribe to the hutchins roundup and newsletter, david wessel david wessel director - the hutchins center on fiscal and monetary policy , senior fellow - economic studies @davidmwessel.

December 28, 2021

The latest data from the National Science Foundation’s Survey of Earned Doctorates for the 1216 PhDs in economics awarded in 2020 find that men outnumbered women by nearly 2-to-1, 60% of the doctorates went to foreigners with temporary visas, and 24 of the 493 recipients (about 5%) who were U.S. citizens or permanent residents were Black.

A few gleanings from the data:

Of 1216 PhDs awarded in economics in 2020, 797 (66%) went to men and 419 (34%) to women.  For comparison, in physics, 21% of the doctorates were awarded to women; in computer and information sciences, also 21%; in math and statistics, 29%; in political science, 39%; in chemistry, also 39%; in business management and administration, 42%; in sociology, 59%; in psychology, 72%.

Data on the race/ethnicity of PhDs are available only for those who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Here’s the breakdown for 2020 and 2019:

The number of PhDs awarded to Black U.S. citizens or permanent residents has risen slightly in the past few years, from an average of 16 in 2013 through 2017 to an average of 25 in the following three years.

Among the 1216 recipients of PhDs in economics in 2020:

• About half were married when they got their degree. Men and women were equally likely to be married.
• The median age at completion was 31, the same for women and men.
• About 12% took five years or less from graduate school entry to completion, 68% took more than five years and up to 10 years, and 20% took more than 10 years. The median was 7.5 years; the median for men was a few months shorter than the median for women.
• Almost 80% had no debt from graduate school; half of the remainder owed less than $20,000. About 85% had no debt from undergrad. (These data don’t distinguish between those who did their undergraduate work abroad and those who did it in the U.S.)

To read the Hutchins Center report on gender and racial diversity among PhD economists employed by the federal government in 2020, visit this page .

The data in this post are from the Restricted-Use Data Analysis System of the Survey of Earned Doctorates, a survey of 55,000 individuals who earned doctorates in the prior year. The Hutchins Center report uses data from the American Economic Association’s Committee on the Status of Minority Groups in the Economics Profession, which are drawn from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, and differ slightly from the data in the Survey of Earned Doctorates.

The Brookings Institution is financed through the support of a diverse array of foundations, corporations, governments, individuals, as well as an endowment. A list of donors can be found in our annual reports published online here . The findings, interpretations, and conclusions in this report are solely those of its author(s) and are not influenced by any donation.

Related Content

David Wessel, Lorena Hernandez Barcena, Nasiha Salwati

December 9, 2021

Walter G. Ecton, Shaun M. Dougherty

October 18, 2021

Dominique J. Baker, Stephanie Riegg Cellini, Judith Scott-Clayton, Lesley J. Turner

December 14, 2021

Economic Studies

The Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy

Harry J. Holzer

December 21, 2023

Anne Case, Janice C. Eberly, Carol Graham, Jón Steinsson

October 12, 2023

Phillip Levine

February 28, 2023

• All Headlines
• Arts & Culture
• Bicentennial
• Human Resources
• Information Technology
• Police Beat
• Entrepreneurship & Innovation
• Global Engagement
• Health & Medicine
• Public Engagement
• State & Community
• Sustainability
• Multimedia Features
• Faculty/Staff Spotlight
• This Week in U-M History
• U-M Heritage
• U-M In the News
• X (Twitter) #URecord

U.S. News & World Report releases latest graduate rankings

By Kim Broekhuizen Public Affairs

• Campus News

University of Michigan graduate programs are among the best in the nation, according to the U.S. News & World Report’s 2023 edition of Best Graduate Schools. The rankings were released March 29.

U.S. News annually ranks six professional school programs and specialties in the areas of business, education, engineering, law, nursing, and medicine. Other schools, as well as disciplines and specialties in the sciences, social sciences and humanities, health and other areas are only ranked periodically.

more information

• U.S. News & World Report’s best graduate schools

U-M maintained top-20 rankings in these newly updated schoolwide categories:

• The School of Social Work ranked No. 1.
• The School of Public Health ranked No. 6.
• The School of Nursing’s Doctor of Nursing Practice program ranked No. 7, and its master’s degree program ranked No. 8.
• The School of Education ranked No. 8.
• The Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy ranked No. 8.
• The College of Engineering ranked No. 9.
• The Law School ranked No. 10.
• The Stephen M. Ross School of Business ranked No. 10.
• The Medical School’s research program ranked No. 17, and its primary-care program ranked No. 20.

The rankings are based on expert opinions about program excellence and statistical indicators that measure the quality of a school’s faculty, research and students.

While the university values the measurements of academic and research performance, U-M officials note that rankings cannot fully account for or capture the university’s mission.

University officials note that what matters most in choosing a school is the match between the interests, abilities and ambitions of each student with the specific programs, approaches and opportunities offered by a particular school.

In addition to the overall program rankings, U-M was rated on 113 specialties. Of those, three were ranked first: higher education administration, nuclear engineering and social policy.

The specialties that received rankings this year are:

• Business specialties: accounting (5), business analytics (13), entrepreneurship (8), executive MBA (5), finance (9), information systems (14), international (9), management (3), marketing (3), nonprofit (5), part-time MBA (7), production/operations (4), project management (3), real estate (12) and supply chain/logistics (8).

Also, UM-Dearborn and UM-Flint ranked 88 and 158, respectively, among part-time MBA programs.

• Economics specialties: development economics (12), econometrics (17), industrial organization (15), international economics (9), labor economics (7), macroeconomics (14), microeconomics (14) and public finance (7).

• Education specialties: curriculum/instruction (4), education policy (7), educational administration and supervision (11), educational psychology (2), elementary teacher education (3), higher education administration (1) and secondary teacher education (3).

• Engineering specialties: aerospace/aeronautical/astronautical (6), biomedical (9), chemical (10), civil (4), computer (7), electrical/electronic/communications (7), environmental/environmental health (3), industrial/manufacturing/systems (2), materials (8), mechanical (4) and nuclear (1).

UM-Dearborn ranked in the following engineering specialties — electrical/electronic/communications (151), industrial/manufacturing/systems (76) and mechanical engineering (122).

• Law specialties: business/corporate law (9), clinical training (8), constitutional law (9), contracts/commercial law (7), criminal law (12), dispute resolution (70), environmental (41), health care (17), intellectual property (19), international (7), legal writing (10), tax (6) and trial advocacy (52).

• Medical specialties: Anesthesiology (7), family medicine (11), internal medicine (7), obstetrics and gynecology (4), pediatrics (12), psychiatry (11), radiology (8), and surgery (6).

• Nursing specialties: Doctor of Nursing Practice nurse practitioner — family (9), Doctor of Nursing Practice nurse practitioner — pediatric (6), Doctor of Nursing Practice adult/gerontology — primary care (6), master’s nurse practitioner — adult/gerontology – acute care (7), master’s nurse practitioner — adult/gerontology – primary care (3) and master’s nurse practitioner — family (6).

• Public affairs specialties: environmental policy and management (7), health policy and management (3), international global policy and administration (11), nonprofit management (26), public finance and budgeting (26), public management and leadership (26), public policy analysis (3), social policy (1) and urban policy (10).

• Biological sciences specialties: cell biology (18) and ecology/evolutionary biology (9).

• Chemistry specialties: analytical (5), biochemistry (10), inorganic (16), organic (11) and physical (19).

• Computer science specialties: artificial intelligence (9), programming language (17), systems (7) and theory (14).

• Earth sciences specialties: environmental sciences (8), geochemistry (6), geology (4), geophysics and seismology (19) and paleontology (3).

• Mathematics specialties: analysis (10), applied math (21), discrete mathematics and combinatorics (2), geometry (11) and topology (5).

• Physics specialty: elementary particles/field/string theory (11).

• Psychology specialties: behavioral neuroscience (3), cognitive psychology (8), developmental psychology (2) and social psychology (1).

• Statistical sciences specialties: biostatistics (4), statistics (7).

• UM-Dearborn ranked programs (in addition to those shown above): education (186) and public affairs (170).

• UM-Flint additional ranked program: public affairs (213).

• graduate schools
• U.S. News & World Report

Margaret Leary

PLEASE TELL USNEWS to use photos of our outstanding LAW SCHOOL and put the Med School photos with the med school!! Margaret Leary Librarian Emerita, University of Michigan Law School and author of the only biography of law school grad and donor of the whole original Law Quad buildings and the Martha Cook building, GIVING IT ALL AWAY: William W. Cook and His Michigan Law Quadrangle.

Leave a comment Cancel reply

Commenting is closed for this article. Please read our comment guidelines for more information.

Today's Headlines

• Faculty members consider the role of AI in the classroom
• Arthur Lupia will serve as interim VP for research and innovation
• Study: Couples with similar drinking habits may live longer
• Regents approve design, authorize construction for UMCI in Detroit
• Regents decline to divest from companies linked to Israel
• Jason Owen-Smith named AVP to lead research intelligence strategy
• U-M Health to buy land in Troy for new clinical facility
• Mott to house pediatric emergency services fast track clinic

• Past Issues
• Michigan Daily
• Michigan News
• Michigan Public
• Michigan Today
• Health System News
• Athletic News

Secondary Menu

Duke graduate programs get high marks in 2022 us news rankings, march 30, 2022.

Getty Images

Where you fall in the American economic class system may not stay consistent throughout your life – or even from year to year – experts say.

Key Takeaways

• 73% of Americans say they belong to the middle class or working class, according to a Gallup survey.
• Elevated inflation is threatening the living standards of a growing number of Americans.
• Middle-class income currently ranges from a little under $40,000 to a little over $119,000.
• The definition of middle class extends beyond income to factors like education, location and marital status.

Understanding where you fall in the American economic class system isn't as simple as pulling out a calculator or looking at a pay stub. Various forces shape individuals' economic classes and their views on where they rank among other Americans.

Read on to find out more about how Americans view themselves economically and the ever-changing definition of the middle class.

How Americans Identify Their Social Classes

Among Americans, 73% say they belong to the middle or working classes, according to an April 2022 survey from Gallup.

Additionally, 14% identify themselves as upper-middle class and 2% categorize themselves as upper class. In determining their social classes, people often don't think only about income, experts say, but about other factors like education, location and family history.

The majority of participants in a 2023 poll by the Washington Post, for instance, said that Americans need to do the following to be considered part of the middle class:

• Own a home.
• Have a secure job.
• Be able to save money.
• Have the time and money to take vacations.
• Have health insurance.
• Be able to afford a $1,000 emergency.
• Be able to pay all your bills on time.
• Have a job with paid sick leave.
• Be able to retire in comfort.

When it comes to defining the middle class, says Jeffery M. Jones, senior editor at Gallup, "It’s more of a feeling. It’s about economic security , being able to afford what you need but then also maybe a bit beyond the basics. Maybe vacations, something extra recreational, a third car, money to do things beyond what you need to live," he says.

Economic Trends May Impact How People View Their Class Rankings

Recent economic trends such as elevated rates of inflation , waves of employee layoffs, fears of an impending recession and other ripple effects from COVID-19 have impacted the financial health of many American households and businesses.

The recent price increases alone have caused 63% of U.S. adults to experience financial hardship, according to a January 2024 Gallup survey . Of those, 17% say they're experiencing severe hardships that threaten their standard of living.

Since Gallup began monitoring this metric in 2021, the number of Americans reporting financial hardships due to inflation has increased by 18% and the number reporting severe hardships has increased by 7%.

Time will tell how recent events impact the way Americans view their economic class rankings in the years to come.

Middle Class Trends Over the Last 50 Years

In general, much of today's political rhetoric focuses on the challenges facing the middle class.

Although household incomes have risen over the past 50 years or so, it took more than 15 years for them to regain their 2000-level incomes and recover from the short-lived 2001 recession and longer Great Recession, says Richard Fry, senior researcher for the Pew Research Center.

"The 15-year period of stagnation was an episode of unprecedented duration in the past five decades,” he says.

According to Fry, meager income gains likely have contributed to feelings of frustration and downward mobility. And while most American households are doing better than they were 50 years ago, the gains have not been equal, he says.

"Everybody’s better off, but it’s particularly the well-off who are better off," he adds.

Breaking Down the Middle Class by Income

One way some researchers divide individuals into economic classes is by looking at their incomes. From that data, they split earners into different classes: poor, lower-middle class, middle class, upper-middle class and wealthy .

The income cutoffs that define those ranges can change from year to year and vary among methodologies. Here's a sense of where they stand, according to recent data.

The Pew Research Center defines middle-income Americans as those whose annual household incomes are two-thirds to double the national median (adjusted for local cost of living and household size).

In the fourth quarter of 2023, the median weekly earnings for full-time American workers was $1,145, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics . That puts the median annual income at about $59,540.

According to the Pew Research Center's guidelines (two-thirds to double the national median), middle-income Americans would have annual incomes between $39,693 and $119,080 in 2023, before adjusting for local cost of living and household size.

How a person perceives their own social class extends beyond what a W-2 income form claims they earn, experts say.

You can look at income, education, marital status, location, family history, gut instinct and a host of other factors to find out where you fall. But the bottom line is this: Finding the answer is more complex than just looking at a number.

Where you fall in the American economic class system also may not stay consistent throughout your life – or even from year to year.

For example, a law student may earn a modest graduate student stipend of $20,000 per year, which would put them in the low-income class. But education and future earnings will most likely catapult their income and class placement to a higher level down the road.

"People really need to understand that whatever's happening (with their class rank) today is part of a trajectory, part of their life," says Stephen Rose, a nonresident fellow at the Urban Institute and research professor at George Washington Institute of Public Policy.

The Net Worth You Need to Retire

Rachel Hartman July 28, 2021

Tags: money , personal finance , personal budgets , income , wealth

The Best Financial Tools for You

Credit Cards

Find the Best Loan for You

Popular Stories

Family Finance

Personal Loans

Comparative assessments and other editorial opinions are those of U.S. News and have not been previously reviewed, approved or endorsed by any other entities, such as banks, credit card issuers or travel companies. The content on this page is accurate as of the posting date; however, some of our partner offers may have expired.

Your Money Decisions

Advice on credit, loans, budgeting, taxes, retirement and other money matters.

You May Also Like

Tax credits vs. tax deductions.

Kimberly Lankford March 29, 2024

How to Get Home Energy Tax Credits

Kimberly Lankford March 28, 2024

Do You Owe the IRS? How to Find Out

Ask a pro: do i need an estate plan.

Brandon Renfro March 27, 2024

Why Are Eggs So Expensive Right Now?

Geoff Williams March 27, 2024

How Are Unemployment Benefits Taxed?

Kimberly Lankford March 26, 2024

Tax Time Can Compromise Mental Health

Erica Sandberg March 26, 2024

Painful Tax Bill: Forgiven Debt

Got Kids? Here's Six Tax Breaks

Geoff Williams March 25, 2024

How to Find a Reputable Tax Preparer

Liz Knueven March 25, 2024

5 Best Free Budgeting Apps

Erica Sandberg March 22, 2024

Don't Let Food Eat up Your Budget

Jessica Walrack March 22, 2024

10 Cheapest Grocery Stores in the U.S.

Jessica Walrack March 21, 2024

What Is a 1099 Form?

Kimberly Lankford March 20, 2024

What Happens if You Don't Pay Taxes?

Geoff Williams March 18, 2024

Alternatives to Tax Accountants

Erica Lamberg March 15, 2024

Filing Last Minute: Pros and Cons

Erica Sandberg March 15, 2024

10 Small Business Tax Deductions

Jessica Walrack March 15, 2024

Boost Your Financial Literacy

Erica Sandberg March 14, 2024

March Madness Costs

Jessica Walrack March 14, 2024

Advertisement

‘A Lot of Chaos’: Bridge Collapse Creates Upheaval at Largest U.S. Port for Car Trade

A bridge collapse closed Baltimore’s port, an important trade hub that ranks first in the nation by the volume of automobiles and light trucks it handles.

• Share full article

Shipping in the Port of Baltimore

Monthly cargo handled by the Port of Baltimore

By Peter Eavis and Jenny Gross

• March 26, 2024

The Baltimore bridge disaster on Tuesday upended operations at one of the nation’s busiest ports, with disruptions likely to be felt for weeks by companies shipping goods in and out of the country — and possibly by consumers as well.

The upheaval will be especially notable for auto makers and coal producers for whom Baltimore has become one of the most vital shipping destinations in the United States.

As officials began to investigate why a nearly 1,000-foot cargo ship ran into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the middle of the night, companies that transport goods to suppliers and stores scrambled to get trucks to the other East Coast ports receiving goods diverted from Baltimore. Ships sat idle elsewhere, unsure where and when to dock.

“It’s going to cause a lot of chaos,” said Paul Brashier, vice president for drayage and intermodal at ITS Logistics.

The closure of the Port of Baltimore is the latest hit to global supply chains, which have been strained by monthslong crises at the Panama Canal, which has had to slash traffic because of low water levels; and the Suez Canal, which shipping companies are avoiding because of attacks by the Houthis on vessels in the Red Sea.

The auto industry now faces new supply headaches.

Last year, 570,000 vehicles were imported through Baltimore, according to Sina Golara, an assistant professor of supply chain management at Georgia State University. “That’s a huge amount,” he said, equivalent to nearly a quarter of the current inventory of new cars in the United States.

The Baltimore port handled a record amount of foreign cargo last year, and it was the 17th biggest port in the nation overall in 2021, ranked by total tons, according to Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Baltimore Ranks in the Top 20 U.S. Ports

Total trade in 2021 in millions of tons

Baltimore ranks first in the United States for the volume of automobiles and light trucks it handles, and for vessels that carry wheeled cargo, including farm and construction machinery, according to a statement by Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland last month.

The incident is another stark reminder of the vulnerability of the supply chains that transport consumer products and commodities around the world.

The extent of the disruption depends on how long it takes to reopen shipping channels into the port of Baltimore. Experts estimate it could take several weeks.

Baltimore is not a leading port for container ships, and other ports can likely absorb traffic that was headed to Baltimore, industry officials said.

Stephen Edwards, the chief executive of the Port of Virginia, said it was expecting a vessel on Tuesday that was previously bound for Baltimore, and that others would soon follow. “Between New York and Virginia, we have sufficient capacity to handle all this cargo,” Mr. Edwards said, referring to container ships.

“Shipping companies are very agile,” said Jean-Paul Rodrigue, a professor in the department of maritime business administration at Texas A&M University-Galveston. “In two to three days, it will be rerouted.”

But other types of cargo could remain snarled.

Alexis Ellender, a global analyst at Kpler, a commodities analytics firm, said he expected the port closure to cause significant disruption of U.S. exports of coal. Last year, about 23 million metric tons of coal exports were shipped from the port of Baltimore, about a quarter of all seaborne U.S. coal shipments. About 12 vessel had been expected to leave the port of Baltimore in the next week or so carrying coal, according to Kpler.

He noted that it would not make a huge dent on the global market, but he added that “the impact is significant for the U.S. in terms of loss of export capacity.”

“You may see coal cargoes coming from the mines being rerouted to other ports instead,” he said, with a port in Norfolk, Va., the most likely.

If auto imports are reduced by Baltimore’s closure, inventories could run low, particularly for models that are in high demand.

“We are initiating discussions with our various transportation providers on contingency plans to ensure an uninterrupted flow of vehicles to our customers and will continue to carefully monitor this situation,” Stellantis, which owns Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram, said in a statement.

Other ports have the capacity to import cars, but there may not be enough car transporters at those ports to handle the new traffic.

“You have to make sure the capacity exists all the way in the supply chain — all the way to the dealership,” said Mr. Golara, the Georgia State professor.

A looming battle is insurance payouts, once legal liability is determined. The size of the payout from the insurer is likely to be significant and will depend on factors including the value of the bridge, the scale of loss of life compensation owed to families of people who died, the damage to the vessel and disruption to the port.

The ship’s insurer, Britannia P&I Club, part of a global group of insurers, said in a statement that it was “working closely with the ship manager and relevant authorities to establish the facts and to help ensure that this situation is dealt with quickly and professionally.”

The port has also increasingly catered to large container ships like the Dali, the 948-foot-long cargo vessel carrying goods for the shipping giant Maersk that hit a pillar of the bridge around 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday. The Dali had spent two days in Baltimore’s port before setting off toward the 1.6-mile Francis Scott Key Bridge.

State-owned terminals, managed by the Maryland Port Administration, and privately owned terminals in Baltimore transported a record 52.3 million tons of foreign cargo in 2023, worth $80 billion.

Materials transported in large volumes through the city’s port include coal, coffee and sugar. It was the ninth-busiest port in the nation last year for receiving foreign cargo, in terms of volume and value.

The bridge’s collapse will also disrupt cruises traveling in and out of Baltimore. Norwegian Cruise Line last year began a new fall and winter schedule calling at the Port of Baltimore.

An earlier version of this article misstated the Port of Baltimore’s rank among U.S. ports. It was the nation’s 17th biggest port by total tons in 2021, not the 20th largest.

How we handle corrections

Peter Eavis reports on business, financial markets, the economy and companies across different sectors. More about Peter Eavis

Jenny Gross is a reporter for The Times in London covering breaking news and other topics. More about Jenny Gross

South Korea's Yoon Urges Doctors to End Impasse Over Trainees

South Korea's Yoon Urges Doctors to End Impasse Over Trainees

FILE PHOTO: Doctors take part in a rally to protest against government plans to increase medical school admissions in Seoul, South Korea, March 3, 2024. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

By Hyonhee Shin

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Monday his government is open to talks with doctors who oppose his plan to increase medical school admissions, while accusing critics of offering no reasonable alternative to ease a doctor shortage.

In a 50-minute address to the country, Yoon signalled his willingness for the first time to seek a compromise on his medical reform proposals after the government called for dialogue with striking doctors.

Yoon apologised for the inconvenience caused by the ongoing strike by trainee doctors but accused the medical sector of putting their own interests ahead of public health.

"If you come up with a more proper and reasonable solution, we can discuss it as much as you want," he said. "If you present better opinions and rational grounds, government policy can change for the better."

More than 90% of the country's 13,000 trainee doctors have been staging walkouts since Feb. 20 in protest against the government's plan to boost medical school admissions by 2,000 starting in 2025 from 3,000 now.

Photos You Should See

South Korea's population of 52 million had 2.6 doctors per 1,000 people in 2022, far below the average of 3.7 for countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Previous governments have devised measures to tackle deepening shortages of doctors in essential services including paediatrics and emergency units, as well as clinics outside the greater Seoul area, but their efforts fell apart amid strong opposition from the medical sector.

Some medical professionals have said the Yoon administration had failed to consult in advance, and its plan would do little to fix the current situation including low pay for trainee doctors.

Yoon refuted several claims by doctors' groups and highlighted why medical reform is imperative.

"After keeping a deafening silence over the government's request to provide specific numbers for medical school quotas, the medical community is now throwing numbers like 350, 500 and 1,000 without any grounds," he said.

"If they want to argue that the scale of the increase should be reduced, they should propose a unified idea with solid scientific evidence, rather than taking collective action."

(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Stephen Coates)

Copyright 2024 Thomson Reuters .

Join the Conversation

Tags: South Korea , public health , Asia

America 2024

Health News Bulletin

Stay informed on the latest news on health and COVID-19 from the editors at U.S. News & World Report.

Sign in to manage your newsletters »

Sign up to receive the latest updates from U.S News & World Report and our trusted partners and sponsors. By clicking submit, you are agreeing to our Terms and Conditions & Privacy Policy .

You May Also Like

The 10 worst presidents.

U.S. News Staff Feb. 23, 2024

Cartoons on President Donald Trump

Feb. 1, 2017, at 1:24 p.m.

Photos: Obama Behind the Scenes

April 8, 2022

Photos: Who Supports Joe Biden?

March 11, 2020

Jobs Back on the Radar to Start Q2

Tim Smart April 1, 2024

Biden Besting Trump in Campaign Cash

Susan Milligan and Lauren Camera March 29, 2024

The Baltimore Bridge Collapse, Explained

Elliott Davis Jr. March 29, 2024

Key Inflation Gauge Ticks Up

Tim Smart March 29, 2024

Who Is ISIS-K?

Trevor Bach March 28, 2024

Consumers Steady as Economy Hums Along

Tim Smart March 28, 2024