The True Middle Class Tops Out at 24.6%
Households that qualify as the 'true middle class' — meeting the marks not only in income but also in consumption, savings, assets and debt, and retirement preparedness — accounted for just 24.6% of all households. The figure comes from an analysis of the 2025 Survey of Household Finances and Living Conditions microdata (household-level raw data) by Kim Jin-woong, a research fellow at NH Investment & Securities' 100-Year Life Research Institute, published in issue No. 133 of 'THE100 Report,' titled 'Korea's True Middle Class: 25%.'
By income alone, the middle-class range is relatively broad. Households with equivalized disposable income (after-tax income adjusted for household size) between 28.08 million and 74.88 million won per year — 75% to 200% of the overall median — made up 52.9% of households (58.6% by population). This follows the same yardstick as the OECD's middle-income definition, corresponding to 2.34 million to 6.24 million won per month for a single-person household and 4.68 million to 12.48 million won for a four-person household.
However, the door to the middle class narrows as conditions are added one by one. When limited to households spending at least 15.67 million won a year — 75% of the median equivalized consumption expenditure — the share drops to 43.2%. Filtering further to households that save at least 10% of disposable income after spending brings the figure down to 39.9%.
The Maginot line separating the 'true middle class' is the condition of future sustainability. The research institute added three sustainability criteria for 'true middle class' designation: net assets within the range of 238.6 million to 694.32 million won, annual principal-and-interest debt payments at or below 30% of disposable income, and retirement preparedness rated 'average or better.' Households meeting all three current living conditions and at least two of the three sustainability conditions accounted for 24.6%, while those satisfying all six conditions came to just 8.0%.
The actual profile of the finally classified households is confirmed by the statistics. Their median disposable income was 75.72 million won a year, or 6.31 million won a month, with median net assets of 417.05 million won and median financial assets of 112.3 million won. According to the report, the previously reported monthly income of 6.31 million won is not the entry threshold for the middle class, but the median of households that passed all the conditions.
By age group, households in their 50s showed the highest share at 31.2%, followed by those in their 40s at 30.5%, those in their 60s at 25.3%, those aged 39 or younger at 24.6%, and those aged 70 or older at 10.5%. Homeowner households posted 30.8%, well above the 12.8% for renters, and a clear gap was also seen between regular wage earners at 33.5% and the jobless at 11.2%.
The report concluded that it is difficult to judge middle-class status on monthly income alone. Whether a household can still save after covering living expenses, whether it can handle its debts, and whether it can maintain its current standard of living after retirement must all be considered together, the report concluded.
