The African-American middle class refers to those within the African-American community who have achieved middle-class status in the U.S. class structure. It is a societal level within the African-American community that primarily began to develop in the early 1960s, when the ongoing Civil Rights Movement led to the outlawing of de jure racial segregation. The African American middle class exists throughout the United States, particularly in the Northeast and in the South, with the largest contiguous majority black middle-class neighborhoods being in the Washington, DC suburbs in Maryland. The African American middle class is also prevalent in the Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Memphis, Dallas, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, San Antonio, and Chicago areas. The black middle class has experienced significant growth since the 1960s, accompanied by a decrease in the percentage of impoverished blacks. In the early 1960s, approximately 9 to 12 percent of blacks were considered middle class, whereas over half of the black population was categorized as poor. By the conclusion of the 20th century, around one-third of blacks were identified as middle class, with about 25 percent still classified as poor. In comparison, more than two-thirds of whites belong to the middle class, and less than 10 percent are classified as poor. Therefore, although the class structure of African American in the post-civil rights era bears some resemblance to that of whites, it is only a partial reflection, as the white middle class is at least double the size of the black middle class, and the proportion of African American living in poverty is twice that of white people.

As of the 2010 Census, black households had a median income of $43,510, which placed the median black household within the second income quintile. 27.3% of black households earned an income between $25,000 and $50,000, 33.2% earned between $50,000 and $75,000, 7.6% earned between $75,000 and $100,000, and 9.4% earned more than $100,000.

Although the composition of the Black middle class varies by definition, the Black middle class is typically divided into a lower-middle class, core middle class, and an upper-middle class. The black lower-middle class is concentrated in sales, clerical positions, and blue-collar occupations, while the black upper-middle class (sometimes combined into the black upper class) is characterized by highly educated professionals in white-collar occupations, such as health care professionals, lawyers, educators, engineers, and accountants.

Many African-Americans had limited opportunities for advancement to middle class status prior to 1961 because of racial discrimination, segregation, and the fact that most lived in the rural South. In 1960, 43% of the white population completed high school, while only 20% of the black population did the same. African-Americans had little to no access to higher education, and only 3% graduated from college. Those blacks who were professionals were mainly confined to serving the African-American population. Outside of the black community, they often worked in unskilled industrial jobs. Black women who worked were frequently domestic servants. However, black women in the post-slavery emerging middle class also worked as teachers, nurses, businesswomen, journalists and other professionals.

Economic growth, public policy, Black skill development, and the civil rights movement all contributed to the surfacing of a larger black middle class. The civil rights movement helped to remove barriers to higher education. As opportunities for African-Americans expanded, blacks began to take advantage of the new possibilities. Homeownership has been crucial in the rise of the black middle class, including the movement of African-Americans to the suburbs, which has also translated into better educational opportunities. By 1980, over 50% of the African-American population had graduated from high school and eight percent graduated from college. In 2006, 86% of blacks between age 25 and 29 had graduated from high school and 19% had completed a bachelor's degrees. As of 2003, the percentage of black householders is 48%, compared to 43% in 1990.

The rise to the middle class for African-Americans occurred throughout the 1960s; however, it leveled off and began to decline in the following decades due to multiple recessions that struck America throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Blacks and other groups suffered the brunt of those recessions. There is also evidence to suggest the wealth gap has been exacerbated by the housing market bubble in 2006 and the recession that followed from late 2007 to mid-2009, which took a far greater toll on depleting minority wealth.

According to a 2011 study from Pew Research Center, whites possess 20 times more wealth than African-Americans and 18 times that of Latinos. Whereas white families have accumulated $113,149 of wealth on average, black households have only accumulated $5,677 in wealth on average. As shown on Eurweb.com, of the 14 million black households in the U.S. in 2015, only 5% had more than $350,000 in net worth, and less than 1% of black families had over $1 million in net assets.

As of 1999, Blacks and whites similarly situated within the "educational middle class" live in distinct wealth worlds. Whereas educationally middle-class whites possessed $111,000 in median net worth, educationally middle-class Black families had only $33,500; in terms of assets, the disparity was $56,000 to $15,000. Looking at only "the occupational middle-class", an equally pronounced gap is visible: middle-class whites had $123,000 in median net worth and $60,000 in median net financial assets compared to $26,500 and $11,200 for middle-class African-Americans. According to Thomas Shapiro (2004), white families possess "between three and five times as much wealth as equally achieving Black middle class families."