NSE
Socioeconomic level is not household income. It is a measure of a household’s capacity to meet its needs and of its standard of living, built from observable, stable variables that do not depend on anyone declaring what they earn.
Asking about income directly works badly: many people do not know it precisely, others prefer not to say, and the self-employed have no fixed figure. That is why socioeconomic classification is built from observable, verifiable variables — the household head’s education, sleeping rooms, full bathrooms, people working, cars and internet — which together predict standard of living better than a direct answer about salary.
In Mexico the reference rule is the one published and updated by AMAI (the Mexican Association of Market Intelligence and Opinion Agencies). That is what we apply in real studies, with its current algorithm and cut-off points.
The test below is for orientation and uses our own simplified weighting, which we leave in plain sight precisely so it is not confused with the official rule. It is there to convey the logic of the classification, not to report a figure.
Six questions about the household. The result appears as soon as you answer the last one.
Orientation calculation with our own weighting (22 points maximum), not the AMAI rule. In a real study we apply AMAI’s current official rule.
A/B
The segment with the highest standard of living and education in the country. Household head with a professional or postgraduate degree, spacious home and more than one car.
C+
Households with room to spend on entertainment, technology and private education, though without the assets of the A/B segment.
C
The Mexican middle class. Covers its needs and allocates part of income to comforts, with little room to save.
C-
Households covering essentials plus some entertainment, on a budget highly sensitive to price.
D+
Income goes almost entirely to food, transport and basic utilities.
D/E
The country’s lowest-income segment, with shortfalls in housing or basic services.
Tell us what decision you are facing and we will tell you which study answers it.