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According to a Gallup survey, income is closely tied to body weight in both men and women in the United States, but in completely different ways. Women with lower incomes tend to weigh more than women making more money, but men with lower incomes typically weigh less than men who make more. The survey also revealed gender-related differences in the way men and women with varying incomes view obesity.

Over the past 10 years, American men have weighed an average of 10 pounds more in households earning $75,000 or more annually compared to men in households with incomes of less than $30,000 per year. On the other hand, American women in the higher-end income bracket weighed an average of 12 pounds less than those with lower earnings. Using self-reported information from annual Health and Healthcare surveys of more than 10,000 respondents between 2009 to 2018, Gallup found that:

• Men with annual earnings of $75,000 or more weighed 200 pounds, on average
• Men with earnings of less than $30,000 per year averaged 190 pounds
• Women with annual earnings of $75,000 or more weighed 152 pounds, on average
• Women with annual earnings of less than $30,000 averaged 164 pounds

As far as weight perception is concerned, about 38 percent of men with higher incomes consider themselves to be overweight, compared to 28 percent of men who make less money. Among women, 35 percent of those with higher incomes consider themselves to be overweight, compared to 45 percent of those in lower- and middle-income brackets. In men, those who make more money are also more likely to say they’d like to lose weight, while about 60 percent of women in any income group say they want to lose weight.