Most Americans Believe Economic Inequality Is A Major Problem. Some Favor Radical Changes.

More than 60 percent of Americans believe the United States has too much economic inequality, and many think the economic system needs to be torn down and rebuilt.

Findings from the Pew Research Center suggest that a growing number of Americans are dissatisfied with the nation's economic landscape and favor radical changes, despite the fact that most Americans have enjoyed significant real income growth since 1999.

Many more Democrats than Republicans believe that there is too much economic inequality in the country. The survey found that 78 percent of Democrats hold this view compared to only 42 percent of Republicans. Those numbers are largely unchanged since 2019.

However, more people, 35 percent, now believe that no economic inequality is acceptable. That's a six-point increase since 2019. And 24 percent say the economic system needs to be demolished and rebuilt, up 10 points since 2019.

The feelings of dissatisfaction continue to grow, despite decades of real economic growth in the United States. A previous Pew study found that real wages had outpaced inflation from 1999 through 2025. In fact, based on the Consumer Price Index, wages grew, in real dollars, by 12.1 percent over that time period.

Other inflation trackers actually show greater wage growth in real dollars. Chained CPI, for example, had buying power growing by 20 percent over the time period. Other variations had it rising at 11.5 percent to 22.1 percent.

Pew did find that the median income for upper-income households rose at a faster rate than middle- and lower-income households. Upper-income households, defined as people making $222,8000 to $278,000, saw their income rise by 25 percent between 2001 and 2024. Middle- and lower-income households saw their income rise by 22 percent and 17 percent respectively.

Despite Americans being better off financially on average, they appear to be increasingly dissatisfied with their economic status.

Party affiliation also plays into how people view the causes of economic inequality. For example, 59 percent of Republicans said that different life choices people make is a major factor in economic inequality. Only 28 percent of Democrats felt that way.

Democrats' top reasons were the tax system and lack of corporate regulation, with 65 percent and 60 percent citing those as the reasons for economic inequality, respectively.

The survey was conducted August 24 to August 30. Pew stated that out of 5,602 surveyed 5,166 responded, for a survey-level response rate of 92%.