Social Grade
Social grade is a classification system based on occupation. It was developed for use on the NRS, and for over 50 years has been the research industry’s source of social grade data.
The classifications are as follows:
| % of population (PAMCo H2 2025) | ||
|---|---|---|
| A | 4% | Higher managerial, administrative and professional |
| B | 22% | Intermediate managerial, administrative and professional |
| C1 | 32% | Supervisory, clerical and junior managerial, administrative and professional |
| C2 | 20% | Skilled manual workers |
| D | 13% | Semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers |
| E | 9% | State pensioners, casual and lowest grade workers, unemployed with state benefits only |
The PAMCo interview includes detailed questions about the occupation of the Chief Income Earner (CIE) to establish social grade. Questions include not just what the CIE’s job is, but details such as their qualifications and the number of people they are responsible for.
The household is classified according to the CIE’s occupation
Income is not part of the social grade classification. However, there is often a strong correlation between income and social grade.