Plasma centers are increasingly opening in middle-class neighborhoods, a shift driven by rising living costs pushing people like Joseph Briseño to supplement their incomes. Briseño, a 59-year-old crane operator earning $50,000 annually in Houston's suburbs, donates plasma twice weekly for $70 per visit, calling it essential for gas, groceries, and savings. This trend, documented in a Washington University and University of Colorado study, shows centers moving away from impoverished areas towards suburbs and wealthier city sections.

Since 2021, centers have opened in over 100 middle-class neighborhoods, offering a crucial, if controversial, income source for those facing stagnant wages and high expenses. The industry, providing 70 percent of the world's plasma and generating $6.2 billion in U.S. exports last year, now actively seeks reliable, repeat donors in these areas, transforming its role from a 'shadow safety net' for the desperate to a supplement for the financially squeezed middle class.