Just realized something pretty wild when I looked at the wealth gap data over the last 30+ years. The middle class in America is basically getting squeezed from all sides, and it's not really what most people think.

So here's the thing - the average salary in 1990 for middle-class households was around $68,856 a year. By 2020, that jumped to $90,131. Sounds great, right? 31% increase over three decades. But here's where it gets interesting.

The top 20% of earners? They've been absolutely hoarding wealth. In 1990, they controlled about 61% of the nation's wealth. Fast forward to 2022 and they're sitting on 71%. Meanwhile, the bottom 20% have been stuck at roughly 3% the whole time. And the middle 60% - that's where most of us are - they went from holding 37% of the wealth down to just 26%.

But wait, there's more. Even though people are making way more money now than they did in the '90s, the average salary in 1990 tells you something important when you adjust for inflation. A twenty-dollar bill in 1995 would have the buying power of about $38 in 2022. That means prices basically doubled. Your average salary in 1990 might sound low, but it actually went further back then.

So the real problem is this: yes, the average salary in 1990 was lower in absolute terms, but wages haven't kept up with how fast prices have climbed. Middle-class folks are earning significantly more in nominal dollars, but they're actually worse off financially when you account for what that money can actually buy.

It's kind of depressing when you think about it. The average salary in 1990 could stretch further than today's inflated paychecks. Most middle-class Americans have genuinely lost ground over the past three decades, even though their bank accounts show bigger numbers. And honestly, there's not much suggesting this trend is going to reverse anytime soon.