Think you're middle class? Discover where you really stand in India's income distribution.
An interactive tool that uses real government data to reveal the gap between perceived and actual economic position in India — built for the ImpactMojo platform.
Live at therealmiddle.netlify.app
Most upper-income Indians believe they're "middle class" when they're actually in the top 10% — or even the top 1% — of earners. The Real Middle uses real data from the PLFS, NSSO, and academic research to show users exactly where they stand.
This is not commentary. It is data.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Income Reality Check | Enter your household income and see your exact percentile in India's distribution |
| Budget Challenge | Try to survive on India's median income (₹9,000/month) — allocate across rent, food, health, education |
| Healthcare Cost Analysis | How different income levels experience the same medical emergency |
| Education Barriers | The real cost of education at each income decile |
| Rural vs Urban Comparison | Purchasing power and living standards across geographies |
| Poverty Cycle Analysis | Intergenerational poverty trap modelling |
| Academic Sources | Full transparency — every data point cites peer-reviewed research or official surveys |
| Responsive Design | Built with React + Tailwind — works on all screen sizes |
| Source | Indicators Used |
|---|---|
| PLFS (Periodic Labour Force Survey) | Income distribution, employment, wages |
| NSSO Household Surveys | Consumption, expenditure, poverty |
| World Inequality Database (WID) | Top income shares, wealth concentration |
| NITI Aayog Multidimensional Poverty Index | Poverty headcounts by state |
| RBI Household Finance Committee | Wealth distribution data |
| Layer | Technology | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Framework | React 19 | Component-based UI |
| Charts | Recharts 3 | Income distribution visualisations |
| Icons | Lucide React | UI iconography |
| Styling | Tailwind CSS 4 | Utility-first responsive design |
| Build | Vite 6 | Fast development and build tooling |
| Hosting | Netlify | Auto-deploy from GitHub |
The-Real-Middle/
├── index.html # HTML entry point
├── vite.config.js # Vite build configuration
├── package.json # Dependencies and scripts
├── src/ # React source code
│ ├── App.jsx # Root component
│ ├── components/ # Feature components (calculator, budget, charts)
│ └── data/ # Income distribution data and survey constants
├── public/ # Static assets
├── CITATION.cff # Citation metadata
├── LICENSE
└── README.md
git clone https://github.com/Varnasr/The-Real-Middle.git
cd The-Real-Middle
# Install dependencies
npm install
# Start dev server
npm run devOpen http://localhost:5173 in your browser.
# Build for production
npm run build
# Preview production build
npm run previewThe Real Middle is a standalone interactive tool within ImpactMojo's suite of economics education resources.
Related repositories:
- ImpactMojo — Main platform
- someperspective — India's political economy 2004–2025
- india-dev-indicators — GDP, HDI, and development indicators dashboard
MIT License — see LICENSE for details.
Sri Raman, V. (2025). The Real Middle: India Income Reality Check [Software].
ImpactMojo. https://github.com/Varnasr/The-Real-Middle