The middle class used to be the hallmark of the American Dream – hard-laboring men and women pulling themselves out of the working class into a world lined with white picket fences and awash in suburban serenity.

Over time, the definition of middle-class and the income parameters that demarcate it have evolved – as have notions of the American dream – into an ever-changing concept that seems to generate more questions than confirmations.

Perhaps the biggest question of them all is: How do I know I’m part of the middle class? The answer, as it turns out, is as elusive as the definition of the group itself.

“There is always a middle point between the high and low [income] points that you can peg the middle class onto,” said Hana Ben-Shabat, founder of research and resource platform Gen Z Planet. “What [is] disappearing is the promise that was once attached to it. The house, the car, the medical insurance, the ability to feel secure, save for the future, etc. All these things became extremely expensive relative to income.”

Yet despite all the confusion over what it means to be middle-class, experts point to several signs that prove you’ve made it into America’s economic middle-ground.

Home, sweet home

Some 65 percent of Americans own homes, down 4.2 percentage points from 2004’s all-time high of 69.2 percent, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

Owning a home is one sign that an American has made it into the middle class, Ben-Shabat said in an email to The Independent. Those who can buy a house typically demonstrate the ability to save and build a good credit score.

“[One] signal is homeownership or the ability to purchase a home – again, it means enough funds for [a] down payment and [a] credit score sufficient to borrow and pay a mortgage,” she said.

Indeed, owning a home is widely believed to be a sign of the middle class.

Nia Calvert, a financial counselor with financial support nonprofit Catapult Greater Pittsburgh, summed up the significance of owning a home well in a 2024 Catapult article.

“Owning a home offers a sanctuary for personal expression and family growth, fostering a deeper connection to community and place,” Calvert said. “It's not just about owning property; it's also about building a foundation for future generations and creating lasting memories in a space that is yours.”

Insuring income

Generally speaking, life insurance is a financial tool many Americans use to protect the financial stability of loved ones if they pass.

“Life insurance policies help your family deal with the costs and hardships after you're gone and with the loss of your income,” the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner notes.

And that’s the line that Jeffrey Hallman, managing partner of insurance firm Citizens Life Group, draws between middle- and upper-class: what they insure.

“A middle-class family buys life insurance to protect a paycheck, and the wealthy buy it to protect an estate,” Hallman told The Independent in an email.

In other words, the middle class largely depends on the head of household’s income to survive, whereas the upper class can rely on amassed wealth if someone loses a job.

The line between the middle- and lower-class is relatively simple: those who can buy life insurance are typically middle class.

Safety in savings

An emergency fund is a savings account meant for surprise expenses. Having that money set aside isn’t a given – 37 percent of Americans don’t have enough emergency savings to cover a $400 expense, financial services firm Empower notes.

Building up a savings account is likely a sign that someone has moved past paycheck-to-paycheck living and has enough breathing room in their monthly budget to put money away for future expenses.

An added benefit of having an emergency fund? Less stress.

“Not all surprises are good, and people know it,” Empower Head of Communications Rebecca Rickert wrote. “Life happens, and people are stressed about the surprise expenses that could tip them off-balance.”

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