Keywords: social class, socioeconomic status, income, education, demographic research

Social class is both salient to people’s personal identities and relevant to how people are described in the media worldwide. So often we hear coverage of and concern over what the “middle class” believes, what the “upper class” does, or what the “working class” feels.
While class is a widely used concept, it is difficult to measure. Differences in personal contexts and social values can lead to two people in similar socioeconomic circumstances describing themselves as belonging to different social classes. This becomes even more complicated when conducting cross-national research, as “class” may have a more historical grounding in countries like the UK or India.
As a part of a nationally representative survey of 36 countries conducted in 2024, Pew Research Center tested a new demographic item on class. We used a close-ended question that asked respondents if they describe themselves as belonging to the upper, upper middle, lower middle, working, or lower class.
In this analysis, we compare this item to two other demographic measures that we regularly use, income and education. We explore the considerable differences between people’s self-described class and their income level, as well as their education level, and furthermore how these gaps vary across countries. For those whose income level and social class do not align, we explore who these individuals are and the views they hold.
We focus, in particular, on how our conclusions about economic and social attitudes would change if we used this new measure of class, compared to income or education.