WASHINGTON — Working-class Americans are faring well financially despite elevated inflation caused by the Iran war — with their wage gains significantly outpacing price spikes over the past year, according to an analysis of data released this week.
In the second quarter of 2026, ending June 30, those at or below the national median income ($83,730 for couples, $64,220 for individual full-time workers) reported big gains, beating the annual inflation rate of 3.5%, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Earners at or below the median saw weekly wage gains of 4.6% over the past year. Those at or below the 25th percentile — meaning the poorest quarter of workers — had their weekly pay jump 5.5%, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) records showed.
The White House celebrated the data as evidence of President Trump’s policies working as intended.
“President Trump pledged to deliver economic relief for the American people after four years of Joe Biden’s malfeasance and incompetence. The proven Trump economic agenda of working-class tax cuts, rapid deregulation, and energy abundance is delivering,” said White House spokesman Kush Desai.
Another White House official noted that aside from wages, last month’s Consumer Price Index report, which showed a dip in energy costs before the Iran war resumed, featured other promising indicators — including a 2.5% annual drop in prescription drug prices after Trump browbeat pharmaceutical companies into lowering rates to align with other industrialized nations.
The wage findings have significant political and economic ramifications — with economists telling the Journal that it could explain growing consumer spending that has helped keep the broader economy strong despite jumping energy prices caused by Iran’s months-long closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
It also indicates that the pain of inflation isn’t being felt as bitterly by lower-income Americans, who typically are hit hardest due to having less discretionary income.
Democrats are leading Republicans in polls ahead of the November midterm election, which will dictate control of Congress during Trump’s final two years in office.
The midterms will test the resilience of Trump’s 2024 coalition. In defeating then-Vice President Kamala Harris, the Republican made big gains among Hispanics and the working class, traditional Democratic constituencies.
Some of Trump’s best-known policies — such as his elimination of taxes on tips, overtime and Social Security benefits as well as well as his mass-deportation campaign targeting illegal immigrants — have made unclear contributions to lower-end earnings.
Similarly, the president has aggressively used tariffs to boost US exports and domestic manufacturing, but federal data has yet to show significant gains in either category.
The picture is less rosy higher up the income ladder.
Middle-to-upper-middle class wages haven’t kept up with inflation — with the benchmark for the 75th percentile improving just 1.5% over the past year.
Trump has catered his political message to this demographic by frequently mentioning the roaring stock market, driven by the artificial intelligence boom.
Top earners, whose status is more difficult to assess from the BLS quarterly data, are still doing well.
Bank of America data cited by the Journal show that annual wage gains are still strongest among customers in the highest third of earners (4.2% annual growth), followed closely by the lowest third (4.1%) — both beating inflation — with the middle third experiencing 3.5% annual growth.
