The Massachusetts Middle Class Status Report

As MassINC marks its 30th anniversary, this major new project brings us back to our roots: the middle class as a pillar of the Commonwealth’s civic and economic vitality. At a time when affordability pressures and financial insecurity dominate public debate, the need for rigorous and objective analysis of the state of the middle class takes on renewed urgency. 

The Massachusetts Middle Class Status Report will provide a periodic assessment of the middle class as both an economic position and a social compact grounded in the expectation that households who work hard, contribute, and play by the rules can reasonably expect to securely attain the hallmarks of the American Dream in Massachusetts.  

The Status Report defines middle-class in terms of economic capacity—whether households can earn enough to support a middle-class budget, while also holding on to personal time to maintain a healthy work-life balance and actively engage in their communities. Analyzing the middle class from an economic capacity perspective distinguishes this project from prior MassINC research and most other attempts to gauge the state of the middle class in America based primarily on income levels. Together, the measures included in the Status Report provide a unique, multidimensional view of whether the Bay State economy is producing broadly shared prosperity.