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U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS Bureau of Labor Statistics Publications BLS Reports HOME ARCHIVE ABOUT BLS REPORTS January 2023 SUBSCRIBE Report 1101 ERRATA Consumer Expenditures in 2021 Consumer Expenditures in 2021 The year 2020 was marked by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and an associated decline in consumer spending. As COVID-19 restrictions were repealed and the economy began to open, one would expect 2021 to have been welcomed as the beginning of a strong recovery to pre-pandemic levels for expenditures on entertainment, travel, food, apparel, gasoline, healthcare, and more. However, while certain constraints (e.g., government-mandated business closures) were loosened from the early pandemic days, consumers faced a number of challenges from the pandemic that carried into 2021. Among those issues were rising prices, global supply chain constraints and microchip shortages, and further sweeping COVID-19 waves.1 How did these new challenges affect the spending patterns of the typical household? This report analyzes integrated data from the Diary and Interview Survey components of the Consumer Expenditure Surveys (CE). (For details about these components, including how their results are integrated in publication, see the technical notes section.) The data in this report is drawn from a collection of CE tables. The incomes and expenditures shown in the tables throughout this report are expressed as nominal values, representing spending in U.S. dollars as reported by surveyed consumers.2 Through the CE, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) collects information from the reference person of consumer units (CUs).3 Given the unusual conditions facing consumers in 2020 and 2021, the next section provides context for the economic conditions that influenced expenditure trends before and during 2021. Effects of inflation and supply chain disruptions in 2021 Prices rose 4.7 percent from 2020 to 2021, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U, U.S. city average, all items, base period 1982–84=100), compared with 1.2 percent from 2019 to 2020. In each successive month of 2021, inflation had been on a continual upward trend, beginning with a 12month percent change of 1.4 percent in January and reaching 7.0 percent in December. Key expenditures that have been especially affected by inflation in 2021 include gasoline, used cars and trucks, and food at home and away from home. The average annual change from 2020 to 2021 in gasoline prices alone was 36.0 percent. Other notable price increases include a 26.6-percent increase for used cars and trucks and a 3.9-percent increase for food. For a snapshot of how inflation could impact measures of consumer spending in 2021, take a theoretical family that spent 5.0 percent more on goods and services relative to 2020. The 5.0 percent represents their nominal spending growth. Nominal spending is the amount, measured in dollars, that the consumer provided in exchange for the good or service of interest; all data in the CE are reported and published in nominal terms. As mentioned previously, average annual inflation rose 4.7 percent. Real spending growth, defined as the rate of nominal spending growth minus the rate of inflation, was 0.3 percent (i.e., 5.0 minus 4.7 percent), meaning that much of the increase in the family’s spending can be attributed to higher prices rather than to an increase in quantities purchased or living standards. Two factors that simultaneously accompanied and contributed to inflation in 2021 were an ongoing supply chain bottleneck and the associated semiconductor chip shortage. Microchips are integral components of a number of goods a typical CU purchases on an annual basis. Whether the good is a cell phone, laptop, or a new vehicle parked in the driveway, all utilize microchips. When critical components to essential electronic devices are hard to find, this naturally reduces the capacity to produce those goods, which negatively affects the overall supply and leads to higher prices. Compounding the pressure on the average CU of inflation and supply chain constraints, further waves of COVID-19 emerged in 2021. In the latter half of 2021, the more transmissible Delta and Omicron strains caused many companies to extend their work from home policies and caused consumer expenditures on travel to remain moderately unstable.4 The emergence of more transmissible strains could have put downward pressure on spending demand for the most-at-risk cohorts, at least for expenditures such as food away from home and entertainment. The confluence of these three factors was certainly felt by consumers as they plotted their spending course for 2021. Expenditure trends: 2018 to 2021 Table A depicts annual expenditure values and their associated percent changes for both total expenditures and its major components (i.e., expenditure categories such as food) between 2018 and 2021. Average annual expenditures rose by 9.1 percent to $66,928 in 2021, up almost $5,000 from 2020 and up $3,900 from 2019—a noticeable reversal from the 2.7-percent decline from 2019 to 2020. Income continued to grow from 2020 levels but had not reached the level of income growth seen in 2019, when income rose 5.4 percent. Average annual income rose 3.7 percent from $84,352 to $87,432 at the CU level. Table A. Average annual expenditures by major category of all consumer units and percent changes, Consumer Expenditure Surveys, 2018–21 Item 2018 2019 2020 2021 Percent change 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 Number of consumer units (in thousands)[1] 131,439 132,242 131,234 133,595 [2] [2] [2] Consumer unit characteristics: Income before taxes 5.4 1.8 3.7 51.1 51.6 52.2 51.8 [2] [2] [2] 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.4 [2] [2] [2] Children under 18 .6 .6 .6 .6 [2] [2] [2] Adults 65 and older .4 .4 .4 .4 [2] [2] [2] Earners 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 [2] [2] [2] Vehicles 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 [2] [2] [2] 63 64 66 65 [2] [2] [2] $61,224 $63,036 $61,332 $66,928 3.0 -2.7 9.1 Age of reference person $78,635 $82,852 $84,352 $87,432 Average number in consumer unit: People Percent homeowner Average annual expenditures 7,923 8,169 7,310 8,289 3.1 -10.4 13.4 4,464 4,643 4,935 5,259 4.0 6.3 6.6 Cereals and bakery products 569 583 640 672 2.5 9.8 5.0 Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs 961 980 1,070 1,115 2.0 9.2 4.2 Dairy products 449 455 474 492 1.3 4.2 3.8 Fruits and vegetables 858 876 976 1,033 2.1 11.4 5.8 1,627 1,749 1,776 1,947 7.5 1.5 9.6 3,459 3,526 2,375 3,030 1.9 -32.6 27.6 583 579 478 Food Food at home Other food at home Food away from home Alcoholic beverages Housing Shelter 554 -.7 -17.4 15.9 20,091 20,679 21,417 22,624 2.9 3.5 5.6 11,747 12,190 12,604 13,258 3.8 3.4 5.2 1.8 9.9 1.6 Owned dwellings 6,678 6,797 7,473 7,591 Rented dwellings 4,249 4,432 4,408 4,684 4.3 -.5 6.3 821 961 722 983 17.1 -24.9 36.1 Utilities, fuels, and public services 4,049 4,055 4,166 4,223 .1 2.7 1.4 Household operations 1,522 1,570 1,465 1,638 3.2 -6.7 11.8 Other lodging 747 766 837 803 2.5 9.3 -4.1 2,025 2,098 2,346 2,701 3.6 11.8 15.1 Apparel and services 1,866 1,883 1,434 1,754 .9 -23.8 22.3 Transportation 9,761 10,742 9,826 10,961 10.1 -8.5 11.6 Vehicle purchases (net outlay) 3,975 4,394 4,523 4,828 10.5 2.9 6.7 Gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil 2,109 2,094 1,568 2,148 -.7 -25.1 37.0 Other vehicle expenses 2,859 3,474 3,471 3,534 21.5 -.1 1.8 818 781 263 452 -4.5 -66.3 71.9 Healthcare 4,968 5,193 5,177 5,452 4.5 -.3 5.3 Entertainment 3,226 3,090 2,909 3,568 -4.2 -5.9 22.7 Personal care products and services 768 786 646 771 2.3 -17.8 19.3 Reading 108 92 114 114 -14.8 23.9 0 Housekeeping supplies Household furnishings and equipment Public and other transportation Footnotes [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. [2] Data not applicable. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2018 Item 2019 2020 2021 Percent change 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 Education 1,407 1,443 1,271 1,226 2.6 -11.9 -3.5 Tobacco products and smoking supplies 347 320 315 341 -7.8 -1.6 8.3 Miscellaneous 993 899 907 986 -9.5 .9 8.7 Cash contributions 1,888 1,995 2,283 2,415 5.7 14.4 5.8 Personal insurance and pensions 7,296 7,165 7,246 7,873 -1.8 1.1 8.7 Life and other personal insurance Pensions and Social Security 465 520 486 473 11.8 -6.5 -2.7 6,831 6,645 6,760 7,400 -2.7 1.7 9.5 Footnotes [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. [2] Data not applicable. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 2021, spending was higher than 2020 in 12 of the 14 expenditure subcategories. For example, after declining more than 10 percent in 2020, food spending shot up 13.4 percent in 2021, with noticeable surges in both food at home and food away from home spending. Food at home spending climbed 6.6 percent, reaching an annual amount of roughly $600 above pre-pandemic levels. This was mainly driven by increased spending in the protein (meat, poultry, fish, and eggs) and produce sectors. As of December 2021, both expenditures have seen annual average percent changes in inflation of 6.6 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively.5 Food away from home spending rose 27.6 percent but was still nearly $500 below 2019 levels, likely driven by reluctance of at-risk demographics to eat out amid the multiple COVID-19 waves that emerged in 2021. (See table A.) Transportation spending surged 11.6 percent in 2021, climbing from lows in 2020 and exceeding 2019 levels. Rising 37.0 percent in 2021, gasoline, other fuel, and motor oil spending was a key driver of the increase, along with vehicle purchases, which rose 6.7 percent. The loosening of travel restrictions, gradual return to the office, and rising gasoline prices surely influenced the rise in expenditures of gasoline, other fuel, and motor oil. Supply chain disruptions for semiconductors and microchips, both used to manufacture new vehicles, induced a negative supply shock (i.e., lessened production of goods or services than in “non-shock” times) in the new vehicle market. Any negative supply shock leads to higher prices, which in turn can lead to higher spending. The lack of new vehicle inventory might have also pushed would-be purchasers into the used car market, raising the cost of used cars, and driving up vehicle purchase expenditures. While public and other transportation spending did climb 71.9 percent, its smaller proportion of the transportation category, relative to gasoline and vehicles, would lead to it having less upward bias in transportation spending. Public and other transportation has also yet to return to 2019 spending levels. (See table A.) Housing expenditures, which account for the largest share of total spending, rose 5.6 percent in 2021. Run-ups in prices for both owned homes and rental units (such as apartments) undoubtedly contributed, as shelter accounts for just over half of total housing expenditures. While spending on owned dwellings rose 1.6 percent, rental properties jumped at almost four times that rate, or 6.3 percent, in 2021. Low nominal interest rates and rising housing demand in early 2021 created conditions in which housing prices took off. According to the St. Louis Federal Reserve, the median sale price of a home reached $423,600 in the fourth quarter of 2021, almost $65,000 above the 2020 fourth quarter median price of $358,700.6 Concurrently, the trend in the 30-year fixed rate mortgage began to inch upward, fluctuating over the year, but ending up 0.44 percentage points higher at the end of 2021 relative to 2020. Together, increases in mortgage rates and housing prices, pushed up owned dwelling (mortgage) expenditures.7 Higher housing prices could have pushed prospective home buyers into the rental market, driving up rental rates. Double digit run-ups in outof-town lodging of 89.9 percent, other lodging (which includes hotel/motel, B&B accommodations, etc.) of 36.1 percent, and household furnishings and equipment of 15.1 percent further contributed to the rise in housing spending. Entertainment and apparel and services both rose by over 20 percent, 22.7 and 22.3 percent, respectively (chart 1). Double-digit spending growth was also observed in personal care products and services, alcoholic beverages, food, and transportation, all following the model of looser COVID-19 restrictions, gradual returns to in-person work, and higher demand for entertainment and travel. Six subcategories grew at rates below 10 percent. Healthcare spending, for example, rose 5.3 percent, potentially because of elective surgeries resuming where consumers were able to book screenings. One expenditure category did not change, and one declined slightly. Spending on reading material remained constant at $114 per year, while spending on education fell by 3.5 percent, potentially because of reduced annual amounts paid by CUs on tuition and student loan payments, as shown in our detailed level tables, which can be found in the technical notes section (detailed tables, 1984–21). Chart 1. Annual percent change for major expenditure groups, 2020–21 Entertainment Apparel and services Personal care products and services Alcoholic beverages Food Transporta�on Personal insurance and pensions Miscellaneous Tobacco products and smoking supplies Cash contribu�ons Housing Healthcare Reading Educa�on -5 0 5 10 Percent Hover over chart to view data. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 15 20 25 View Chart Data Expenditure shares: how do consumers divide up their spending? The concept of expenditure shares is critical in analyzing short and long run spending dynamics. In the short run, expenditure shares illustrate the relative importance of the various expenditure categories in everyday life, for example, the percent of total spending being directed to food relative to healthcare or housing. In the long run, changes in shares reflect changes in living standards. For example, CUs who allocate lower shares to food and shelter can spend larger shares on entertainment, cash contributions, personal care products and services, and other discretionary goods and services that are not as affordable to those on tight budgets. Chart 2A. Percentage of expenditure shares by selected categories, 2018–21 2018 2019 2020 2021 Housing Transporta�on Food Personal insurance and pensions Healthcare Entertainment Cash contribu�ons Apparel and services All other expenditures 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 Percent Click legend items to change data display. Hover over chart to view data. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. View Chart Data The largest share of consumer spending is generally allocated to housing (chart 2A). From 2018 to 2021, the share ranged from 32.8 percent in 2018 and 2019 to 34.9 percent in 2020. Following housing, transportation, food, personal insurance and pensions, and healthcare round out the top five expenditure shares (chart 2B). For the purposes of this analysis, the six expenditure categories to which consumers allocate on average the smallest shares of their total expenditures are combined into the all other expenditures category (chart 2A). Expenditures in this category include alcoholic beverages, personal care and products, reading, education, tobacco products and smoking supplies, and miscellaneous expenditures. Chart 2B. Percent distribution of expenditure shares, 2021 Housing Transporta�on Food Personal insurance and pensions Healthcare All other expenditures Entertainment Cash contribu�ons Apparel and services Click legend items to change data display. Hover over chart to view data. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. View Chart Data Recent changes in expenditure shares show a mixed picture. Of the four expenditure categories, five rose, five remained unchanged, and four declined from their 2020 levels. As displayed in table B and chart 2, CUs in 2021 allocated slightly larger shares of their total spending toward entertainment, transportation, food, and apparel and services, all rising between three and six tenths of one percentage point. The fifth category that rose was in the all other expenditures category. Personal care products and services increased by a tenth of 1 percentage point. Expenditure shares marginally declined in housing (1.1 percentage points), but it remains by far the largest spending category, where 33.8 cents for every dollar of spending outpaces the next closest category (transportation) by 17.4 cents per dollar (chart 2B). Similarly, the average consumer contributed fewer cents on the dollar to personal insurance and pensions, cash contributions, and healthcare in 2021. Consumers spent half a percentage point less on all other expenditures in 2021 (6.4 to 5.9 percent), leaving the remaining 94.1 percent of spending, or 94.1 cents on the dollar, to the top eight expenditure categories (chart 2A). Table B. Percent distribution of total annual expenditures by major category for all consumer units, Consumer Expenditure Surveys, 2018–21 Spending category 2018 2019 2020 2021 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Average annual expenditures 12.9 13.0 Food 11.9 12.4 Food at home 7.3 7.4 8.1 7.9 Food away from home 5.6 5.6 3.9 4.5 1.0 .9 .8 .8 Alcoholic beverages Housing 32.8 32.8 34.9 33.8 Shelter 19.2 19.3 20.5 19.8 Utilities, fuels, and public services 6.6 6.4 Household operations 2.5 Housekeeping supplies 1.2 Household furnishings and equipment Apparel and services 6.8 6.3 2.5 2.4 2.4 1.2 1.4 1.2 3.3 3.3 3.8 4.0 3.0 3.0 2.3 2.6 15.9 17.0 16.0 16.4 Transportation Vehicle purchases (net outlay) 6.5 7.0 7.4 7.2 Gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil 3.4 3.3 2.6 3.2 Other vehicle expenses 4.7 5.5 5.7 5.3 1.3 1.2 .4 .7 Healthcare 8.1 8.2 8.4 8.1 Entertainment 5.3 4.9 4.7 5.3 Personal care products and services 1.3 1.2 1.1 1.2 Public and other transportation Reading Education Tobacco products and smoking supplies Miscellaneous Cash contributions Personal insurance and pensions Life and other personal insurance Pensions and Social Security .2 .1 .2 .2 2.3 2.3 2.1 1.8 .6 .5 .5 .5 1.6 1.4 1.5 1.5 3.1 3.2 3.7 3.6 11.9 11.4 11.8 11.8 .8 .8 .8 .7 11.2 10.5 11.0 11.1 Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Income and expenditures by income quintile Even in times of price stability, income is arguably the most important predictor of expenditures. Given COVID-19 related disruptions to the economy in 2020 (increased unemployment, etc.), it is especially important to examine changes in income from 2020 to 2021 before considering changes in spending patterns at that time. In 2021, gains in nominal income were observed across the board for CUs in all income quintiles except for the bottom quintile of earners, which fell by 0.4 percent. This reduction in nominal income can be partly attributed to a decline in wages and salaries of 12.3 percent and in Social Security, private retirement, and government retirement of 2.5 percent. All other cohorts saw gains between 0.6 and 3.8 percent, with the general trend being, the higher the income cohort, the greater the percentage gain in before-tax income (table C). Table C. Dollar change and percent change in average annual expenditures on major categories by income quintiles, 2020–21 Lowest quintile Item Dollar Income before taxes Second quintile Third quintile Fourth quintile Highest quintile Over-the-year change Over-the-year change Over-the-year change Over-the-year change Over-the-year change Percent Dollar Percent Dollar Percent Dollar Percent Dollar Percent -$54 -.4 $217 .6 $1,792 3.0 $3,306 3.4 $8,195 3.8 Total 2,145 7.5 4,028 10.1 4,371 8.5 3,342 4.6 13,373 11.6 Food 776 18.9 409 7.6 1,067 16.9 875 10.3 1,728 14.1 At home 425 13.7 195 5.1 524 12.4 132 2.3 310 4.0 Away from home 351 35.1 213 13.5 543 26.2 744 26.6 1,419 32.0 Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Lowest quintile Item Second quintile Third quintile Fourth quintile Highest quintile Over-the-year change Over-the-year change Over-the-year change Over-the-year change Over-the-year change Dollar Alcoholic beverages 58 Percent Dollar 38.7 65 Percent Dollar Percent 27.7 39 Dollar 10.5 113 Percent Dollar 22.3 103 Percent 9.1 Housing 537 4.4 902 5.7 1,438 7.8 1,108 4.6 1,881 5.1 Apparel and services 181 23.8 343 39.8 277 21.9 311 21.3 485 17.2 Transportation -90 -2.1 1,770 28.5 1,096 11.9 374 3.0 2,408 14.3 Healthcare 303 10.9 106 2.6 -162 -3.3 272 4.5 807 10.2 Entertainment 201 16.9 169 8.9 511 25.1 410 11.7 1,946 32.8 81 27.1 106 23.3 53 9.2 168 22.8 208 17.8 Personal care products and services Reading -9 -13.7 -8 -9.3 -22 -22.2 25 21.9 16 7.6 -127 -20.0 63 17.4 -148 -21.7 -90 -7.9 47 1.3 Tobacco products and smoking supplies 54 19.1 16 4.4 20 5.6 48 14.6 -4 -1.5 Miscellaneous 59 14.0 -4 -.7 1 .1 27 2.4 303 19.3 Education Cash contributions 195 26.0 42 3.1 -205 -11.4 -716 -25.0 1,303 28.0 Personal insurance and pensions -71 -11.7 48 2.3 0 8.8 416 4.6 2,144 10.7 Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Total expenditures rose across the board for all income groups, with increases ranging from 4.6 percent for the fourth income quintile to 11.6 percent for the highest income quintile. The second and highest income quintiles' expenditure patterns outpaced change in expenditure by all consumers of 9.1 percent (table A), while the lowest, third, and fourth lagged behind anywhere from 0.6 to 4.5 percentage points relative to the 9.1 percent for all CUs. (See chart 3.) The 11.6-percent increase observed for the highest income group is attributed to a handful of main expenditure categories, including a 32-percent increase in food away from home, a 32.8-percent increase in entertainment, a 14.3-percent increase in transportation, and a 10.7-percent increase in personal insurance and pensions. (See table C.) These four categories alone account for 59.2 percent of the highest quintile’s total spending jump of over $13,000. The highest quintile follows the spending pattern seen in table A in which food, transportation, and entertainment all rebounded noticeably in 2021 from their 2020 COVID-related declines. Unlike all other quintiles, the lowest saw a reduction in transportation spending of 2.1 percent; the other quintiles saw jumps of 3.0 to 28.5 percent. Individuals in the lowest income quintile reduced spending on new cars and trucks. This was partially offset by higher spending on used cars and trucks and greater use of public and other transportation. Chart 3. Percent change in average annual expenditures by income quintile, 2020–21 Average annual expenditures Income before taxes Percent 12.5 10 7.5 5 2.5 0 -2.5 All consumer units Lowest Second Third Fourth Highest Click legend items to change data display. Hover over chart to view data. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. View Chart Data Analysis of selected expenditures The following section analyzes trends in individual expenditures in closer detail. The sections will cover ways in which the pandemic caused consumer spending patterns to shift. For housing, and to a lesser extent food spending, the pandemic caused shifts in consumers’ preferences for two substitutes. For housing, the pandemic caused consumers to reevaluate whether it was in their interest to rent or buy. In food, pandemic-related concerns about safety and government-mandated closures made many consumers rethink their mix of food at home and food away from home. In categories in which consumers had a greater number of choices, the focus is on how the pandemic affected consumers’ level of spending in that category. Dining out or cooking at home: how are consumers spending food dollars? The COVID-19 pandemic led to changes in consumer spending patterns for many goods and services, food included. There are two general types of food expenditures: food at home and food away from home. Food at home includes food purchased from grocery stores or similar venues, for which preparation is needed. Food away from home includes food from restaurants or similar venues, where the consumer pays for the service of food preparation. It may also include delivery to a consumer’s home or table or the implicit costs of nonessentials—such as convenience, ambiance, and so forth. Therefore, during the pandemic period, when general health was threatened by engagement in public activities and unemployment markedly increased, one would expect a decline in expenditures for food away from home and an increase in expenditures for food at home. To assess the magnitude of these changes, this section examines how the composition of spending on food changed in the COVID-19 era. In addition, this section reveals other changes in food spending patterns, undoubtedly related to the pandemic, that are apparent in the CE data. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, total food expenditures fell, before recovering and surpassing 2019 levels in 2021. The components tell the story. Note that expenditures for food at home climbed 6.5 percent on average each year from 2019 to 2021. Concurrently, food away from home plummeted 32.6 percent in 2020, before recovering modestly in 2021, up 27.6 percent (table A). Undoubtedly, the 2020 figures can be explained as reactions to the pandemic. Between state and local government mandates forcing many restaurants to close for varying periods in 2020 and increased consumer caution in response to the pandemic, consumers substituted food away from home with food at home throughout that year. Interestingly, as mandates began to recede, 2021 saw increases in both food away from home and food at home. The recovery in food away from home in 2021 is not surprising. In order to meet the emerging market of consumers with isolation fatigue, many restaurants—even high-end establishments—started offering delivery, curbside pickup, and other options that did not exist before the pandemic. Yet despite the growing number of social-distanced food away from home options, food at home expenditures increased as well. The reason does not appear to be price change. The CPI shows that prices for food at home increased 3.5 percent in both 2020 and 2021, compared with the 6.4-percent increase in expenditures in each year. At the same time, the CPI for food away from home increased 4.5 percent in 2020 and 2021. These changes affected the allocation of the total food dollar, as shown in chart 4. Chart 4. Shares of total expenditures to food at home vs. food away from home, 2018–21 Food away from home Food at home 2021 2020 2019 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 Percent Click legend items to change data display. Hover over chart to view data. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. View Chart Data Note that food away from home expenditures accounted for more than 43.2 percent of food expenditures in 2019, plunging to 32.5 percent in 2020, and recovering to just over 36.5 percent in 2021. (See chart 5.) Chart 5. Allocation of food dollars spent, 2019–21 Food away from home Food at home Percent 100 75 50 25 0 2019 2020 2021 Click legend items to change data display. Hover over chart to view data. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. View Chart Data Once again, with restaurants initially closed in 2020, and consumers exercising prolonged caution, it is not surprising that the frequency of food away from home purchases declined in this year. In 2021, many restaurants reopened, but the Omicron and Delta COVID-19 variants were likely to be responsible for the lack of full recovery in food away from home expenditures in 2021. Interestingly, food at home expenditures exhibited the same pattern as food away from home. The answer is likely stocking behavior. That is, consumers likely made fewer trips to the grocery store, but purchased food in bulk on these trips. Consumers who typically shopped once a week might have switched to biweekly or even monthly shopping trips. Finally, these changes in food expenditure—at the total and component level—affected the allocation of total expenditures. In the pre-COVID-19 pandemic period (2019), food away from home represented roughly 43 percent of total food spending, or 5.6 percent of total expenditures in both 2018 and 2019 (chart 4). As expected, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, consumers shifted toward purchasing food at home, most likely because of government mandated shutdowns of restaurants and similar venues reduced seating capacity, and to comply with social distancing recommendations and pandemic-related health concerns. As a result, in 2020, food at home accounted for 67.5 percent of total food spending. The next year, 2021, saw a gradual return to the 2019 allocations to food spending at and away from home. Food at home declined to 7.9 percent and food away from home reached 4.5 percent of total expenditures. Shares of total expenditures for food at home remain 0.5 percentage points higher than its 2019 level and food away from home remains 1.1 percentage points less than its 2019 level (chart 4). Multiple variables can potentially account for this. As noted above, while food prices at home did not rise as much as food prices away from home, CPI data show that food at home prices rose by 3.5 percent from 2020 to 2021. Furthermore, those most at risk for COVID-19 might still have been hesitant to dine outside the home and thus may have remained on the sidelines from the restaurant scene. (See chart 4.) Table D. Diary survey percent reporting for food expenditures, 2019–21 Percent reporting Food, total 2019 2020 2021 93.0 89.0 91.2 Food at home 85.3 81.1 82.7 Food away from home 74.4 60.2 64.8 Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. According to results of the Diary Survey, percent reporting changed within these categories (table D). Note that 93 percent of consumer units reported a weekly food expenditure of some kind in 2019. This fell to 89 percent in 2020 and rose to 91 percent in 2021. Again, the components are revealing, and follow the same pattern; percent reporting fell in 2020 and recovered partially, in 2021. This pattern is most evident for food away from home; percent reporting fell from 74 to 60 percent, then rose to 65 percent.8 Housing Like food, housing is largely a dichotomous topic. People must decide whether they want to rent or own their dwelling. Their choice is, among many other factors, influenced by prevailing interest rates for a mortgage and the overall level of housing prices. The onset of the pandemic had a strong impact on economic activity and behavior, heavily influencing the housing market and, by extension, a CU’s decision to rent or buy. Renting vs. homeownership After rising for 2 of the last 3 years and recording a 2-percent rise at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, homeownership rates slightly declined to 65 percent in 2021 (chart 6). This marks the first reduction in homeownership rates since 2015, when homeownership rates dropped to 62 percent, the lower bound of the 17-year time series from 2004 to 2021. The corresponding rental rate rose to 35 percent in 2021, returning to its average for the time series. Much of this can be explained by the movements of mortgage interest rates. In the beginning of 2021, interest rates on 30-year mortgages remained high, yet, as the year progressed, interest rates began to fall. As mortgage rates decreased, the gap between the number of potential homebuyers and the number of houses supplied grew. Due to this imbalance, there was a shortage of owned homes available for first time buyers, crowding them out and pushing the youngest CUs into the rental market. Average annual shelter prices rose 2.7 percent from 2020 to 2021, according to CPI data. As noted in the 2020 CE Annual Report, a change in data collection methodology may have contributed to the rise in homeownership status in that year.9 Chart 6. Homeownership rate, Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE), 2004–21 Percent 70 68 66 64 62 60 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 Hover over chart to view data. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. View Chart Data Homeownership and rent spending by region Among the major spending categories, housing remains the single largest component. Housing is generally thought of in terms of geographic region. In the CE, the United States has four regions: Northeast, South, Midwest, and West.10 Examining rent spending by region can elicit some interesting comparisons: for example, are there more CUs renting in the Northeast than the West? Region itself is a broad metric and it might not pick up subtle differences that can be explained on a state or even metropolitan statistical area (MSA) level. In general, housing expenditures increased 5.6 percent from 2020 to 2021, following a 3.5-percent increase from 2019 to 2020 (table A). Even though housing expenditures increased, the shares of housing expenditures decreased by 1.1 percent to 33.8 percent. Yet, despite this decrease, 2021 shares remain 1.0 percentage point higher when compared with 2019 levels (table B). The overall homeownership rate decreased by 1.0 percentage point to 65.0 percent in 2021, following a 2.0percentage-point increase from 2019. (See chart 6.) Chart 7A. Homeownership rate, Consumer Expenditure Surveys, 2019–21 Percent Northeast Midwest South West 75 70 65 60 55 2019 2020 2021 Click legend items to change data display. Hover over chart to view data. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. View Chart Data In each of the four regions of the United States, the homeownership rate increased from 2019 to 2020. However, each region differed slightly from 2020 to 2021. The Northeast was the only region to show growth in homeownership rates at 1.0 percentage point. The Midwest had the highest homeownership rate, which remained stable at 70.0 percent (chart 7A). The South and West experienced similar declines; as homeownership rates fell (and, therefore, rental rates rose) in 2021, the homeownership rate in the South remained 2.0 percentage points above its 2019 level. In contrast, the West, which already had the lowest homeownership of the four regions, was the only region in which 2021 homeownership rates fell below 2019 levels. Homeownership rates in the West fell from 61.0 percent in 2020 to 58.0 percent in 2021. Trends of homeownership in the West are consistent with a past study of homeownership rates, where it corroborated this deviation from trend in the West.11 The converse nature of homeownership and rental rates means that the West had the highest proportion of renters to homeowners in 2021. It should be noted that this analysis focuses on the short term: 2019 to 2021. Chart 7B. Homeownership rate of key California metropolitan statistical areas, 2016–21 Los Angeles San Francisco San Diego Percent 62.5 60 57.5 55 52.5 50 47.5 2016-17 2018-19 2020-21 Click legend items to change data display. Hover over chart to view data. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. View Chart Data To analyze the homeownership dynamics in the western United States, it is important to consider its major population centers. The most populous state in the West and in the broader United States is California, with the three most populous cities in the state being Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego. Data variations in the West can, in theory, be explained by movements of these three cities. At the MSA level, the homeownership rates for San Diego and Los Angeles declined 6.0 and 2.0 percentage points in the 2018–19 collection period. Associated rebounds of 4.0, 7.0, and 8.0 percentage points for Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego, respectively, were observed in the following collection period of 2020–21. That runs counter to the directional trends in the broader West (chart 7B). Some further mining found gold in Phoenix, AZ and Honolulu, HI. Over the same collection period, homeownership rates rose sharply in 2016–17 and 2018–19 before plunging 9.0 and 6.0 percentage points, respectively, mirroring the trend in chart 7A (chart 7C). MSA data are represented in multi-year tables with 2-year collection periods as opposed to single-year collection periods in detailed level tables because of data limitations. Chart 7C. Homeownership rates in additional western metropolitan statistical areas, 2016–21 Phoenix Honolulu Percent 75 70 65 60 55 50 2016–17 2018–19 2020–21 Click legend items to change data display. Hover over chart to view data. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. View Chart Data Apparel spending by size of consumer unit Average annual expenditures in apparel and services increased by 22.3 percent in 2021 (to $1,754) compared with a 23.8-percent drop in 2020 (to $1,434) and yet remained lower than in 2019 ($1,883).12 (See table A.) Within the apparel and services category, the biggest increase in a major component, 48.6 percent, occurred in the other apparel products and services expenditure category. This increase is attributable to a 119.4-percent increase in the subcategory of jewelry expenditures, rising from an increase in wedding bookings and other formal functions. Expenditures for general apparel items exhibited increases that were closer to the overall average increase: 32.6 percent for boys ages 2 to 15, 29.2 percent for men ages 16 and over, and 20.4 percent for women ages 16 and over. Footwear expenditures increased by 7 percent in 2021, mainly because of a 125-percent jump in boys’ footwear. Interestingly, women’s footwear decreased by 11.6 percent during the same period. Children under the age of 2 was the only age group to experience a decrease in apparel expenditures, at 2.9 percent. Despite this decrease in total apparel and service expenditures, for the category of boys and girls from 2 years to 15 years of age, expenditures in 2021 were higher than in 2019. The gradual return to in-person learning for children might explain this trend. Although expenditures on apparel were still below pre-COVID spending, apparel spending increases in 2021 were consistent across CUs of all sizes. (See chart 8.) Percentage increases in spending by size of the CU ranged from 8.8 percent for four-person CUs to 57.4 percent for three-person CUs. While small CUs (one or two persons) had increases in expenditures at the smaller end of the range (about 11 percent each), for the largest CUs (five or more persons) expenditures rose 46.9 percent as lockdown and pandemic restrictions lifted. This contrasts to decreases for all CU sizes in 2020. Chart 8. Spending on apparel and services by consumer units, 2019–21 Apparel and services 2019 Percent change 2019–20 Apparel and services 2020 Percent change 2020–21 Apparel and services 2021 Dollars Percent 4,000 70 60 50 3,000 40 30 20 2,000 10 0 -10 -20 1,000 -30 -40 -50 0 One person Two people Three people Four people Five or more people Click legend items to change data display. Hover over chart to view data. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. View Chart Data New and used vehicles by highest educational attainment of consumer unit The purchase of a vehicle is one of the largest made by a CU. As stated earlier, according to the CPI, average prices for new and used cars and trucks were up 5.9 and 26.6 percent, respectively, from 2020 to 2021. (See the Effects of inflation and supply chain disruptions in 2021 section.) These inflated prices have only been exacerbated the last 2 years by the ongoing semiconductor and microchip shortage.13 New cars have 150+ chips contained inside them, and with a limited supply of microchips being imported fewer, new automobiles can hit the market.14 This reduced supply is likely one of the many reasons that new cars were even more expensive. If CUs view new and used automobiles as substitutes, this reduction in supply for new cars raises demand for used cars. According to detailed level tables, new and used vehicle spending rose 5.8 and 8.3 percent, respectively. Despite the increase in overall spending on new and used cars, it is worth noting that the level of expenditure is not uniform across subgroups. For instance, vehicle purchases vary by CU’s highest education attainment. Education subgroups have wide variation in income, occupation, and other demographics. Chart 9A. New car and truck prices paid by highest education of consumer unit, 2019–21 2019 2020 2021 Dollars 50,000 40,000 30,000 20,000 10,000 0 Less than high school graduate High school graduate High school Associate's degree Bachelor's degree graduate with some college Master's, professional, doctoral degree Click legend items to change data display. Hover over chart to view data. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. View Chart Data With reduced supply in the new vehicle market, expectations would dictate higher prices and thus mean higher quarterly expenditures for vehicles among all education groups. Chart 9A shows mean quarterly expenditures for CUs who purchased at least one new car or truck by highest education level within the respective consumer unit.15 The trend of yearly expenditure increases holds true for all the subgroups except for the less than high school graduate group. Several factors are likely to cause swings in mean quarterly expenditures on new cars for those in this subgroup. The total number of CUs in the less than high school graduate subgroup is far below that of all other education subgroups. Only 7.9 of the total 133.6 million CUs occupy it, roughly half as many as the next smallest share, associate's degree graduates. Moreover, percent reporting in 2021 is the lowest and most volatile of this 2019–21 period, so any swing in percent reporting will have a more profound effect on price paid. (Detailed level interview tables that include percent reporting are available upon request; see the technical notes for more information.) For those with at least a high school degree, the mean quarterly expenditure for a new car or truck rose gradually from 2019 to 2021. Prices paid in 2021 hovered between $37,075 and $42,607, respectively, reflecting the negative supply shock. Mean quarterly expenditures jumped from 2020 to 2021. Bachelor’s degree holders experienced the strongest increase and levels were elevated for master’s, professional, and doctoral degrees, too. Average annual incomes of over $100,000, which are generally associated with higher levels of education obtainment, allow for the purchase of more luxury vehicles, pushing up the mean quarterly expenditure. (Income levels can be found in the Calendar year Tables by Education.) Table E. Interview survey percent reporting for new cars and trucks by education, 2019–21 Year Less than high school graduate 2019 High school graduate High school graduate with some college Associate's degree Bachelor's degree Master's, professional, doctoral degree .63 .96 1.49 1.95 1.60 2.08 2020 .26 1.05 1.16 1.62 1.88 1.82 2021 .42 .68 .93 1.70 1.47 2.23 Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Table F. Interview survey percent reporting for used cars and trucks by education, 2019–2021 Year Less than high school graduate High school graduate High school graduate with some college Associate's degree Bachelor's degree Master's, professional, doctoral degree 2019 3.60 4.40 4.37 5.94 4.39 4.12 2020 4.39 3.74 4.63 5.07 3.55 3.26 2021 4.60 4.56 4.22 4.89 3.59 3.18 Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. With new cars and trucks in shorter supply, for those who had to or wanted to purchase a vehicle, this incentivized substitution to the used car market. Among the six education subgroups, three saw upticks in percent reporting for used vehicles: high school, less than high school graduates, and bachelor’s degree holders (table F). This uptick in reporting the purchase of an automobile could be tied to the fact that positions with an education obtainment of at most a bachelor’s degree were more likely to be deemed “essential workers.”16 Alternatively, people with at most a bachelor’s degree could have put additional wear on their cars by working part-time as drivers in the rapidly growing food delivery app industry, made popular by the pandemic. Master’s, professional, and doctoral degree holders had the highest mean quarterly expenditure for used cars and trucks of $21,033, roughly $3,055 more than the next closest group of associate's holders at $17,978 (chart 9B). CUs in this subgroup have higher income levels, allowing them to absorb higher prices more easily or more likely to purchase multiple cars for the purpose of leisure, thus driving up expenditures. Chart 9B. Used car and truck prices paid by highest education of consumer unit, 2019–21 2019 Dollars 2020 2021 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 0 Less than high school graduate High school graduate High school Associate's degree Bachelor's degree graduate with some college Master's, professional, doctoral degree Click legend items to change data display. Hover over chart to view data. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. View Chart Data Gasoline spending As Americans adjusted to the ongoing pandemic, 2021 should have been the year in which consumers hit the open road en masse, filling up their cars, trucks, and SUVs with great frequency. This could be to drive to the office (given the gradual return of in-person office work) or to take the family on that 1-year delayed road trip. What most consumers likely did not anticipate was the surge in gasoline prices from the half-decade low of $2.24 per gallon seen in 2020 to a half-decade high of $3.13, as the CPI data show. (See chart 10A.) With higher driving demand and higher gasoline prices, gasoline spending and prices rose 29.1 and 36.0 percent in 2021, respectively, as measured by CE and the CPI. (See chart 10B.) Chart 10A. Gasoline price and quantity purchase, 2008–21 Quan�ty purchased per week Gasoline price per gallon Gallons Dollars 20 4.0 3.5 15 3.0 2.5 10 2.0 5 1.5 1.0 0 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 Click legend items to change data display. Hover over chart to view data. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. View Chart Data Just like any other good or service, two factors determine total expenditures for gasoline: the price of the good and the quantity purchased. All else equal, any change in gasoline prices will directly affect the resulting annual gasoline expenditure for a given year. To illustrate this idea, imagine a basic equation where total gasoline expenditures of G is a function of the annual price paid by consumers of P, multiplied by the annual quantity of gallons purchased of Q. That is, G=P × Q. Strictly based off chart 10B, it is not certain whether this rise in expenditures is a result of changes in price or quantity purchased. Price elasticity of demand is a measure of how much consumers change the amount of a good they buy when the price of that good changes. Price elasticity of demand can be influenced by factors such as the percentage of total expenditures for which a good (gasoline in this case) accounts, how many close substitutes exist for the good, and whether the prices of the substitutes for the good of interest are higher or lower than the new price of the good of interest. For instance, if the price of gasoline were to get too high, if people see that it is cheaper for them to take alternative modes of transportation (like public transportation or use ride-sharing apps), they may substitute gasoline for one of those modes of transportation instead. Price elasticity of demand in this case is how much less gasoline people buy when it becomes more expensive. Regardless of reason, both prices and quantities can drive spending behavior. How much expenditures are affected by each depends on the magnitude of each respective change. Price can rise, quantity consumed can fall, and expenditures can still rise if the percent price increase is larger than the percent quantity decrease. This also works in the reverse fashion; prices can fall, and expenditures rise, when the percent increase in quantity purchased is larger than the percent decrease in prices. Regardless, this was not the case in 2021, where it appears that prices increased, and quantities purchased declined slightly (indicating noticeable price inelasticity of gasoline with respect to price). Chart 10B. Percent change in gasoline spending and CPI-gasoline, 2008–21 Gasoline (CE) CPI-U Gasoline Percent 40 20 0 -20 -40 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 Click legend items to change data display. Hover over chart to view data. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. View Chart Data To analyze this concept graphically, chart 10A shows annual gasoline prices and weekly gallons of gasoline purchased. Weekly quantity of gallons of gasoline are computed by first taking CE estimates for total gasoline expenditures, dividing that value by average price data for gasoline from the CPI, and then dividing by 52 to get a weekly estimate. Presenting quantity in a weekly figure reflects the frequency of which consumers fill their tanks and how consumers typically frame gasoline spending: on a weekly and not annual basis. In addition, note that BLS generates price indexes and average price estimates strictly for urban consumers. Therefore, charts 10A and 10B include expenditure data only from urban consumers. Furthermore, CPI average price estimates strictly capture gasoline and not motor oil or other fuel prices. Estimates in published CE tables capture motor oil and other fuels. Therefore, CE gasoline data are extracted from the detailed level type of area tables (unpublished, but available on request) described in the technical notes section of the report. (See section titled, “Detailed tables, 1984–21.”) Analyzing charts 10A and 10B together provides the clearest picture for gasoline expenditure trends from 2008, the first year of the most recent recession before COVID-19, to 2021. The components of chart 10A influence chart 10B. From 2020 to 2021, prices and expenditures rose at a close 36.0 and 29.1 percent, respectively. (See chart 10B.) Weekly quantity purchased fell slightly by roughly nine tenths of a gallon per week (0.93 gallons). As stated, prices displayed are for urban areas only and some of said urban areas experienced higher prices relative to others. Thus, some consumers, potentially on the lower end of the income distribution, would not have been able to maintain quantities purchased once prices rose. That is, such consumers might reduce miles driven each week, and therefore gasoline purchases, accordingly. Couple this with many companies keeping telework policies in place through much of 2021, and the conditions were present for fewer weekly gallons purchased. While expenditures on gasoline and the price of gasoline usually follow similar patterns, nearly identical concurrent movement in levels had not been seen since 2012 and 2009. In the 2008-–09 price change, when the United States was in a recessionary period (which the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) denotes as having occurred from December of 2007 through June 2009), expenditures and prices fell 26.8 and 26.9 percent, respectively.17 In 2012, gasoline saw concurrent falls in prices and expenditures of 3.3 and 3.9 percent, respectively. Healthcare spending by age Based on the human lifecycle, it would be reasonable to expect that healthcare expenditures are both related to, and increase with, a person’s age. That is, younger people generally need less care, and may allocate most of their health care dollars to preventative care and occasional acute needs (such as the sudden onset of a temporary illness). Older consumers are more likely to need more costly and extensive care, medical equipment, prescription drugs, and other healthcare goods and services to maintain quality of life. Analyzing healthcare spending among the age groups can show whether this theoretical relationship exists in the data from 2020 to 2021. All age groups spent more on healthcare in 2021 than in 2020. This change was driven by double digit increased spending in the medical services subcategory for all age groups except two: those 45–54 years old and those 55–64 years old. CUs with reference persons ages 45–54 had the highest increase in expenditures in the drugs subcategory whereas CUs with reference persons ages 25–34 had the greatest increase in medical supplies spending, but experienced declines in drug spending. Overall, the largest changes in healthcare spending were in the medical services subcategory for those 35–44 years old (62.2 percent) and under 25 (58.3 percent). Increased spending in medical services could be driven by the opening of elective surgeries that were in large part suspended in 2020. Elective and pandemic-related medical services together could have worked in tandem to boost medical services spending. Chart 11. Percentage change in average expenditure on healthcare and its components, 2020 to 2021, by age of reference person All consumer units Under 25 years 25–34 years 35–44 years 45–54 years 55–64 years 65–74 years 75 years and older Healthcare Health insurance Medical services Drugs Medical supplies -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 Click legend items to change data display. Hover over chart to view data. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. View Chart Data Health insurance spending increased for each group 45 years and over but decreased for each age group under 45 years old. The largest decrease was 12.1 percent by the under 25 age group. Spending on medical services increased for every age group in 2021, though the smallest increase was 3.2 percent by those 45–54 years old. Spending on drugs fell in two groups: 25–34 years old (6.5 percent) and 65–74 years old (1.3 percent). The largest increase in spending on drugs was by those 45–54 years old, rising 15.3 percent. Spending on medical supplies declined for the under 25 age group and those 75 and older. The largest increase in medical supplies spending in 2021 was by those 25–34 years old, who spent 39.4 percent more than the previous year (chart 11). The biggest component of medical supplies, eyeglasses, increased by 17.6 percent. (See detailed level tables, available by request.) Entertainment spending by age and income In 2021, the rate of increase in entertainment expenditures for the average CU (22.7 percent) outpaced the rate of increase in total expenditures (9.1 percent). In contrast, in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, entertainment expenditures (-5.9 percent) fell more steeply than total expenditures (-2.7 percent). (See table A.) The 2021 growth in entertainment expenditures was driven by increases in the subcategories of other supplies, equipment, and services; and fees and admissions (a category that includes recreational vehicles and campers, motorized boats, and sports equipment). (See detailed level tables for a breakdown of each category.) Chart 12A. Entertainment expenditures, average CU, U.S. dollars, 2013–21 Fees and admissions Pets Toys, hobbies, and playground equipment Audio and visual equipment and services Other supplies, equipment, and services Dollars 1,250 1,000 750 500 250 0 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 Click legend items to change data display. Hover over chart to view data. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. View Chart Data In 2021, expenditures in the fees and admissions category as well as in other supplies, equipment, and services grew by 53.9 and 59.8 percentage points, respectively. The entertainment categories of pets; audio and visual equipment and services; and toys, hobbies, and playground equipment increased steadily across the timeseries. This increase persisted in the 2020 pandemic and 2021 post-pandemic recovery period (chart 12A).18 Entertainment expenditures differed greatly by age group in 2021. CUs with reference persons ages 45–54 had the highest levels of, and largest increase in, expenditures in 2021. Levels of expenditures ranged from $1,700 for CUs with reference persons under 25 to $4,695 for CUs with reference persons ages 45-54. In contrast, levels of expenditures in 2020 ranged from $1,266 for CUs with reference persons under age 25 to $3,628 for CUs with reference persons ages 35–44. However, CUs with respondents ages 45-54 increased the most, by 47.8 percent. In 2020, this was also the age group whose expenditures fell the most (17.7 percent) (chart 12B). Chart 12B. Entertainment expenditures by age group, U.S. dollars, 2013–21 Dollars All CUs 65–74 Under 25 years 75 or over 25–34 35–44 45–54 55–64 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 2019 2020 2021 Click legend items to change data display. Hover over chart to view data. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. View Chart Data As noted above, other supplies, equipment, and services grew at a higher rate relative to all other entertainment components, at 59.8 percent annually from 2020 to 2021. This warranted further data exploration. It raised the question, could there be an underlying shift by income level in the other supplies, equipment, and services subcategory? Those CUs making $200,000 and above spent large sums of income on the purchase of motorized recreational vehicles, pushing up total spending in this subcategory (table H). In 2020, respondents in this income group spent an average of $1,527 on motorized vehicles, more than all the other groups’ average expenditures on this category combined. The income group with the next largest expenditure on motorized recreational vehicles, respondents earning $150,000 to $199,999, spent less than a third in the same category, an average of $387. (See table G.) Table G. Other supplies, equipment, and services category by income before taxes, 2020 [1] Item Entertainment All consumer units $3,567.89 Less than $15,000 $1,432.49 $15,000 to $29,999 $1,582.16 $30,000 to $39,999 $1,863.13 $40,000 to $49,999 $2,453.74 $50,000 to $69,999 $2,456.39 $70,000 to $99,999 $3,445.78 $100,000 to $149,999 $4,454.15 $150,000 to $199,999 $6,020.11 $200,000 and more $10,811.51 Item All consumer units Less than $15,000 $15,000 to $29,999 $30,000 to $39,999 $40,000 to $49,999 $50,000 to $69,999 $70,000 to $99,999 $100,000 to $149,999 $150,000 to $199,999 $200,000 and more Other entertainment supplies, equipment, and services 924.51 246.46 311.58 237.67 527.01 397.29 714.63 1,378.83 1,483.60 3,841.59 Un-motored recreational vehicles 167.32 102.40 10.21 16.78 64.85 93.56 119.78 452.49 422.77 281.58 Motorized recreational vehicles 347.00 11.85 185.18 62.97 102.34 39.97 250.66 311.76 180.00 2,385.39 144.52 [2] 175.48 [2] 8.50 [2] 205.70 22.88 139.46 858.02 33.96 11.85 9.70 19.75 7.56 12.43 19.06 49.62 22.44 184.12 168.52 [2] [2] 43.22 86.28 27.54 25.90 239.26 18.10 1,343.26 Rental of recreational vehicles 31.92 6.88 7.04 5.47 30.70 30.40 15.00 42.75 99.20 92.50 Docking and landing fees 14.32 .68 4.08 1.19 5.16 4.35 11.20 9.16 58.97 62.57 Purchase of motorized campers Purchase of other vehicles Purchase of boats with motor Footnotes [1] This table does not contain a full list of the "other supplies, equipment, and services" subcategories. For a full list, see the detailed tables available at https://www.bls.gov/cex/tables/calendar- year/mean/cu-all-detail-2021.pdf. [2] Data not available. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 2021, when asked how much they spent on motorized recreational vehicles in the last year, CU's making over $200,000 averaged $2,385 in expenditures, continuing to outspend all other income groups. Table H. Other supplies, equipment, and services category by income before taxes, 2021 [1] Item Entertainment All consumer units Less than $15,000 $15,000 to $29,999 $30,000 to $39,999 $40,000 to $49,999 $50,000 to $69,999 $70,000 to $99,999 $100,000 to $149,999 $150,000 to $199,999 $200,000 and more $2,912.15 $1,074.97 $1,395.23 $2,100.65 $1,810.52 $2,004.36 $2,694.25 $4,331.07 $5,236.02 $7,653.62 Other entertainment supplies, equipment, and services 578.90 111.38 97.79 156.39 185.69 287.87 581.96 915.32 1,191.20 2,409.60 Un-motored recreational vehicles 94.27 15.96 .62 14.32 11.00 42.63 106.41 293.19 189.08 188.93 212.23 8.88 6.62 23.68 15.45 76.44 173.45 193.59 387.18 1,526.90 Purchase of motorized campers 18.76 [2] [2] [2] [2] 20.60 33.28 14.04 80.76 51.52 Purchase of other vehicles 54.10 5.80 6.62 10.18 [2] 36.22 91.43 118.06 109.78 119.30 139.37 3.08 [2] 13.50 15.45 19.61 48.74 61.49 196.64 1,356.08 Rental of recreational vehicles 14.14 4.23 3.54 3.12 2.88 4.75 16.12 28.16 32.26 45.11 Docking and landing fees 12.54 9.65 .10 17.05 6.60 3.01 1.85 18.30 17.31 62.92 Motorized recreational vehicles Purchase of boats with motor Footnotes [1] This table does not contain a full list of the "other supplies, equipment, and services" subcategories. For a full list, see the detailed tables available at https://www.bls.gov/cex/tables/calendar- year/mean/cu-all-detail-2021.pdf. [2] Data not available. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The 2021 increase in expenditures for the highest income group on motorized recreational vehicles amounts to a 56.2 percent increase in spending from the previous year. (See table I.) While this increase may not seem significant given the large percent changes seen in the other income groups’ expenditures in the motorized recreational vehicles category, it is a rather large increase. The 56.2-percent increase amounted to an increase of $858.50, greater than the increases in this category for all the other income groups combined. Thus, while the expenditures in this category of some of the other groups may have more than tripled, the other groups’ expenditures in this category were still far less. Table I. Percent Change in other supplies, equipment, and services by income before taxes, 2020–21 [1] Item Less than $15,000 $15,000 to $29,999 $30,000 to $39,999 $40,000 to $49,999 $50,000 to $69,999 $70,000 to $99,999 $100,000 to $149,999 $150,000 to $199,999 $200,000 and more Footnotes [1] This table does not contain a full list of the "other supplies, equipment, and services" subcategories. For a full list, see the detailed tables available at https://www.bls.gov/cex/tables/calendar- year/mean/cu-all-detail-2021.pdf. [2] Data not available. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Less than $15,000 Item Other entertainment supplies, equipment, and services $15,000 to $29,999 135.08 Un-motored recreational vehicles Motorized recreational vehicles Docking and landing fees 81.28 341.32 $50,000 to $69,999 109.42 $70,000 to $99,999 $100,000 to $149,999 132.67 463.51 $150,000 to $199,999 292.40 $200,000 and more 1,431.99 9.59 2.46 53.85 50.93 13.37 159.30 233.69 92.65 2.97 178.56 39.29 86.89 -36.47 77.21 118.17 -207.18 858.49 [2] [2] [2] [2] [2] 172.42 8.84 58.70 806.50 6.05 3.08 9.57 [2] -23.79 -72.37 -68.44 -87.34 64.82 [2] [2] 29.72 70.83 7.93 -22.84 177.77 -178.54 -12.82 2.65 3.50 2.35 27.82 25.65 -1.12 14.59 66.94 47.39 -8.97 3.98 -15.86 -1.44 1.34 9.35 -9.14 41.66 -.35 Purchase of boats with motor Rental of recreational vehicles $40,000 to $49,999 86.44 Purchase of motorized campers Purchase of other vehicles 213.79 $30,000 to $39,999 Footnotes [1] This table does not contain a full list of the "other supplies, equipment, and services" subcategories. For a full list, see the detailed tables available at https://www.bls.gov/cex/tables/calendar- year/mean/cu-all-detail-2021.pdf. [2] Data not available. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Travel expenditures With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, expenditures allocated to out-of-town trips declined by 56 percent in 2020, falling from $2,100 to $926 (table J). Despite a rise of 95 percent in 2021 to $1,803, they were still 14 percent lower in 2021 than in 2019. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2020, four of the five major components of spending on out-of-town trips (food, alcohol, lodging, and entertainment) declined between 49 and 54 percent. However, the transportation component was the hardest hit, falling 65 percent in 2020. Similarly, transportation on out-of-town trips recovered least in 2021, with expenditures ($597) 30 percent lower in that year than in 2019. (See detailed level tables for spending on components of travel expenditures.) Expenditures for the remaining subcategories remained 2 to 7 percent lower in 2021 than in 2019. The exception was entertainment on trips, for which expenditures were 2.4 percent higher in 2021 than in 2019. Table J: Allocation of out-of-town trip expenditures, 2019–21 Item 2019 2020 2021 Travel, total, component shares $2,100 $926 $1,803 Food on trips 20.1% 22.4% 21.8% 3.3% 3.8% Alcohol on trips 3.7% Lodging on trips 29.5% 34.4% 33.5% Transportation on trips 40.4% 32.4% 33.1% Entertainment on trips 6.6% 7.0% 7.9% Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regardless, the allocation of dollars spent within the travel category varied little, despite the pandemic in 2020 and 2021. The two exceptions were two subcategories: lodging and transportation (table J). In 2019, lodging accounted for about 3 in 10 travel dollars spent, while transportation accounted for about 4 in 10 travel dollars spent. In 2020, the share for lodging rose, while the share for transportation fell, with both categories accounting for about 1 in 3 travel dollars. In 2021, this allocation was nearly unchanged. Income quintile Table K and charts 13A and 13B illustrate how expenditures for out-of-town trips relate to annual income before, during, and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Regardless of period, one would expect expenditures for out-of-town trips to be strongly related to income, with the highest income groups spending the most. Nevertheless, it is interesting to see how the pandemic affected these expenditures for each income quintile. For example, just because the highest income group had the most ability to afford travel does not mean they chose to travel during a pandemic, when doing so required more thought than just considering the potential strain on a budget. Table K. Expenditures by income quintile, 2019–21 Travel, total 2019 2020 2021 Lowest 20 percent $624 $268 $466 Second 20 percent 911 368 746 Third 20 percent 1,361 Fourth 20 percent 2,291 1,045 1,903 Fifth 20 percent 5,297 2,370 4,540 589 1,339 Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Chart 13A. Total travel expenditures by quintile, 2019–21 2019 2020 2021 Dollars 6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0 Lowest 20 percent Second 20 percent Third 20 percent Fourth 20 percent Fi�h 20 percent Click legend items to change data display. Hover over chart to view data. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. View Chart Data Intriguingly, at least in percentage terms, spending declined at about the same rate in 2020 regardless of quintile; between 54.4 and 59.6 percent. Within this narrow range, the highest two quintiles experienced the smallest declines: 54.4 percent by the fourth and 55.3 percent by the fifth quintile. Though not by much, the largest decline of 59.6 percent was for the second quintile, with the first and third nearly tied at about 57 percent each (chart 13B). Chart 13B. Total travel expenditures, percent change by quintile, 2019–21 2019-21 2019-20 2020-21 Percent 150 100 50 0 -50 -100 Lowest 20 percent Second 20 percent Third 20 percent Fourth 20 percent Fi�h 20 percent Click legend items to change data display. Hover over chart to view data. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. View Chart Data The rebound pattern of 2021 was quite different, with the largest increase (128 percent) for the third quintile, and with the percentages tapering by quintile in the lower direction but increasing in the higher direction. That is, the increase for the second quintile was 103 percent, while the first quintile exhibited an increase of 74 percent, the smallest of any quintile. In contrast, the increase for the fourth quintile (82 percent) was smaller than both that for the third, and that for the fifth (92 percent). Notes 1 A May 2022 CPI/PPI Monthly Labor Review article affirms the complications from supply chain disruptions. See “PPI and CPI seasonal adjustment during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Monthly Labor Review, May 2022, https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2022/article/ppi-and-cpi-seasonal-adjustment-during-the-covid-19pandemic.htm#:~:text=In%202020%2C%20many%20PPIs%20and,percent%20in%20April%202020%2C%20respectively. 2 Unlike real dollar expenditures, nominal dollar expenditures are not adjusted for price change over time but reflect prices at the time of purchase. The terms “nominal” and “real” are identical to the terms “current” and “constant,” which are also used to describe expenditures, incomes, or other items denominated in dollar terms. 3 A consumer unit consists of either: (1) all members of a particular household who are related by blood, marriage, adoption, or other legal arrangements; (2) a person living alone or sharing a household with others or living as a roomer in a private home or lodging house or in permanent living quarters in a hotel or motel, but who is financially independent; or (3) two or more persons living together who use their income to make joint expenditure decisions. The reference person is the first member mentioned by the respondent when asked to "Start with the name of the person or one of the persons who owns or rents the home." It is with respect to this person that the relationship of the other consumer unit members is determined. 4 The Center for Disease Control provides an aggregate and up to date timeline on the developments of COVID-19 relating to response, waves of infection, etc. https://www.cdc.gov/museum/timeline/covid19.html. 5 Annual percent changes in inflation from December 2020 to December 2021 are derived from the historic CPI report released on January 12, 2022, for the month of December 2021. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/cpi_01122022.htm 6 For data on the median sale price of a home in the United States by quarter, please see https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEDDAYONMARUS#0. 7 For time series data on the 30-year fixed rate mortgage, please see https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MORTGAGE30US. 8 The percent reporting data are taken from the Diary Survey. While most items included in either food at home or food away from home are taken from the Diary Survey, there is one item included in food at home that is derived from the Interview Survey: Food prepared by consumer units on out-of-town trips. However, pandemic or not, these expenditures are both small in value (ranging from $50 to $69 annually in this period) and percent reporting (ranging from 8 to 12 percent quarterly in this period). The percent reporting data shown above represent what happened “in one’s own neighborhood,” rather than out of town. 9 On March 19, 2020, CE in-person data collection ceased for both the Interview and Diary Surveys, and all in-person interviews were transitioned to telephone interviews. While data could be collected in person starting in July of 2020, the initial contact attempt was to be over the phone. This restriction, as well as limited availability of telephone numbers, may have contributed to measurement issues with renters in the CE. 10 For more information on the regions, please see https://www.bls.gov/cex/csxgeography.htm#regions. 11 See Geoffrey Paulin, "Housing and expenditures: before, during, and after the bubble," Beyond the Numbers, vol. 7, no. 10 (June 2018), www.bls.gov/opub /btn/volume-7/housing-and-expenditures-before-during-and-after-the-bubble.htm. 12 Services in this context capture expenditures such as apparel alterations (sewing, quilting, etc.), laundry services, clothing rental, etc. 13 For context on the prolonged semiconductor and chip shortage, please see Benjamin Preston, “Global chip shortage makes it tough to buy certain cars,” Consumer Reports, May 6, 2021, https://www.consumerreports.org/buying-a-car/global-chip-shortage-makes-it-tough-to-buy-certain-cars-a8160576456/. 14 For context on the quantity of microchips in even the most basic of cars, please see Sean Tucker, “Customers paying full price, dealers making fortunes, investors nervous anyway – chip shortage rocks car market,” Kelly Blue Book, April 26, 2021, https://www.kbb.com/car-news/customers-paying-full-price-dealers-making-fortunesinvestors-nervous-anyway-chip-shortage-rocks-car-market/#:~:text=The%20average%20new%20vehicle%20uses,electronics%2C%20but%20not%20new%20cars. 15 Charts 9A and 9B are constructed from data sourced from the Interview detailed level tables (available upon request). Data in the table is reported as average annual expenditures, where the reported number is often far below what the typical CU would pay for a car. This stems from the fact that cars are infrequently purchased (i.e., low percent reporting) and those CUs who did not purchase a car have their value entered in as a zero, driving down the average. To account for this, average annual expenditures are converted to average quarterly expenditures to reflect the quarterly waves of the interview survey. This number is then divided by percent reporting over 100. This reflects the mean quarterly expenditure for those CUs which purchased at least one car or truck. Percent reporting is the percentage of CUs who reported purchasing a product, in this case, a new or used car and truck. In addition, it is possible that a CU purchased more than one vehicle. 16 An article from the BLS Career Outlook program details “essential worker” positions and the minimum required education to hold these positions. See Elka Torpey, "Essential work: Employment and outlook in occupations that protect and provide," Career Outlook, https://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2020/article/essential-work.htm. 17 For information on how recessions are timed, i.e., from peak to through in the business cycle, please visit the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) data page on U.S. Business Cycle Expansions and Contractions at https://www.nber.org/research/data/us-business-cycle-expansions-and-contractions. 18 As published in CE, entertainment expenditures contain four main components, with the fourth—pets and toys, hobbies, and playground equipment—split into two separate categories (pets and toys, etc.) to allow special attention for these subcomponents. Statistical Tables [–] Table 1. Income before taxes: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys, 2021 Item All consumer units Number of consumer units (in thousands) [1] Less than $15,000 $15,000 to $29,999 $30,000 to $39,999 $40,000 to $49,999 $50,000 to $69,999 $70,000 to $99,999 $100,000 to $149,999 $150,000 to $199,999 $200,000 and more 133,595 13,968 20,136 12,177 10,331 17,152 19,806 18,953 9,606 11,466 $87,432 $7,251 $22,355 $34,780 $44,683 $59,210 $83,658 $121,162 $171,570 $316,32 51.8 53.8 60.6 54.8 52.8 49.7 47.9 48.1 48.5 49.3 2.4 1.7 1.8 2.1 2.3 2.5 2.7 3.0 3.2 3.2 .6 .3 .3 .4 .5 .6 .6 .7 .8 .8 Consumer unit characteristics: Income before taxes Age of reference person Average number in consumer unit: People Children under 18 Adults 65 and older .4 .4 .6 .6 .6 .4 .3 .3 .2 .2 Earners 1.3 .4 .5 .8 1.0 1.3 1.6 1.8 2.1 2.1 Vehicles 1.9 .9 1.2 1.6 1.7 1.8 2.1 2.4 2.6 2.8 65 38 53 58 58 60 69 79 84 89 Percent homeowner Footnotes [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Item Average annual expenditures All consumer units Less than $15,000 $15,000 to $29,999 $30,000 to $39,999 $40,000 to $49,999 $50,000 to $69,999 $70,000 to $99,999 $100,000 to $149,999 $150,000 to $199,999 $200,000 and more $66,928 $30,131 $34,678 $43,069 $49,498 $54,988 $66,999 $85,078 $108,334 $162,477 8,289 5,021 4,872 5,933 6,188 7,321 8,314 10,593 12,892 16,415 5,259 3,659 3,484 4,146 4,114 4,714 5,334 6,333 7,640 9,470 672 469 453 529 509 597 683 820 942 1,228 1,115 827 806 933 909 991 1,144 1,252 1,539 1,949 Food Food at home Cereals and bakery products Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs Dairy products 492 339 330 402 399 446 494 573 706 893 Fruits and vegetables 1,033 698 651 844 816 939 1,049 1,248 1,527 1,849 Other food at home 1,947 1,326 1,245 1,438 1,481 1,741 1,965 2,440 2,925 3,551 3,030 1,362 1,388 1,787 2,074 2,607 2,979 4,260 5,253 6,944 554 202 230 344 288 389 527 673 988 1,758 22,624 12,402 14,291 16,285 18,138 19,840 23,194 26,824 33,649 47,488 13,258 7,393 8,558 9,232 10,709 11,746 13,252 15,559 19,407 28,548 Owned dwellings 7,591 2,241 3,340 4,074 4,934 5,667 7,538 10,506 13,781 20,669 Rented dwellings 4,684 4,841 4,923 4,853 5,332 5,548 4,984 3,896 3,847 3,504 Food away from home Alcoholic beverages Housing Shelter 983 310 295 305 443 531 730 1,157 1,779 4,375 Utilities, fuels, and public services Other lodging 4,223 2,596 3,067 3,580 3,762 4,034 4,581 5,086 5,523 6,488 Household operations 1,638 678 885 1,196 1,231 1,267 1,480 1,904 2,834 4,360 803 457 579 511 625 695 883 941 1,091 1,650 2,701 1,279 1,202 1,767 1,811 2,098 2,999 3,334 4,794 6,442 Housekeeping supplies Household furnishings and equipment Apparel and services 1,754 1,136 817 1,170 1,386 1,507 1,743 1,961 2,630 4,404 10,961 4,141 5,383 7,778 9,118 10,112 11,888 14,847 16,683 22,561 4,828 1,449 1,962 3,167 3,986 4,348 5,115 6,823 7,473 11,210 Gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil 2,148 1,102 1,220 1,759 1,948 2,173 2,464 2,835 2,962 3,239 Other vehicle expenses 3,534 1,429 2,056 2,640 2,976 3,268 3,949 4,593 5,322 6,577 452 161 145 211 208 322 359 596 926 1,535 Healthcare 5,452 2,581 3,763 4,325 4,577 4,722 5,638 6,974 8,372 9,705 Entertainment 3,568 1,432 1,582 1,863 2,454 2,456 3,446 4,454 6,020 10,812 771 384 420 574 600 610 803 973 1,234 1,680 Transportation Vehicle purchases (net outlay) Public and other transportation Personal care products and services 114 45 82 73 77 75 129 124 180 296 1,226 634 379 320 591 523 826 1,318 2,045 5,876 Tobacco products and smoking supplies 341 402 287 403 381 365 409 339 245 191 Miscellaneous 986 464 563 526 704 769 947 1,422 1,744 2,150 Cash contributions 2,415 926 1,040 1,398 1,812 1,507 1,580 2,728 3,836 9,354 Personal insurance and pensions 7,873 361 969 2,077 3,185 4,791 7,556 11,849 17,817 29,786 473 134 186 313 319 306 455 571 845 1,511 7,400 227 783 1,764 2,865 4,486 7,101 11,278 16,971 28,274 Reading Education Life and other personal insurance Pensions and Social Security Footnotes [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Table 2. Quintiles of income before taxes: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys, 2021 [–] Item Number of consumer units (in thousands) All consumer units Lowest 20 percent Second 20 percent Third 20 percent Fourth 20 percent Highest 20 percent 133,595 26,642 26,677 26,626 26,801 26,849 [2] [2] $24,128 $46,506 $78,259 $129,534 $87,432 $13,165 $34,767 $61,214 $100,527 $226,386 51.8 57.6 55.1 49.7 48.0 48.9 2.4 1.7 2.1 2.5 2.8 3.2 Children under 18 .6 .3 .4 .6 .7 .8 Adults 65 and older .4 .5 .6 .4 .3 .2 [1] Lower limit Consumer unit characteristics: Income before taxes Age of reference person Average number in consumer unit: People Earners 1.3 .4 .8 1.3 1.7 2.1 Vehicles 1.9 1.0 1.5 1.9 2.3 2.7 65 45 57 62 74 86 $66,928 $30,869 $43,918 $55,914 $75,284 $128,213 8,289 4,875 5,808 7,367 9,407 13,973 5,259 3,524 4,015 4,754 5,868 8,127 Cereals and bakery products 672 445 526 598 759 1,031 Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs 1,115 825 873 1,006 1,228 1,643 Percent homeowner Average annual expenditures Food Food at home Dairy products 492 321 399 447 526 766 Fruits and vegetables 1,033 669 792 941 1,170 1,591 Other food at home 1,947 1,264 1,425 1,762 2,185 3,096 3,030 1,351 1,793 2,613 3,539 5,846 Food away from home Alcoholic beverages Housing Shelter 554 208 300 408 622 1,229 22,624 12,854 16,672 19,947 24,997 38,526 13,258 7,590 9,803 11,717 14,368 22,737 Owned dwellings 7,591 2,598 4,311 5,734 8,890 16,350 Rented dwellings 4,684 4,688 5,156 5,420 4,596 3,569 983 304 336 563 882 2,817 Utilities, fuels, and public services Other lodging 4,223 2,776 3,518 4,069 4,827 5,911 Household operations 1,638 769 1,113 1,313 1,670 3,314 803 518 543 723 925 1,304 2,701 1,201 1,695 2,126 3,206 5,260 1,754 943 1,205 1,540 1,774 3,305 Housekeeping supplies Household furnishings and equipment Apparel and services Transportation 10,961 4,273 7,988 10,285 12,984 19,204 Vehicle purchases (net outlay) 4,828 1,371 3,441 4,454 5,648 9,190 Gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil 2,148 1,111 1,702 2,184 2,657 3,074 Other vehicle expenses 3,534 1,643 2,651 3,317 4,228 5,811 452 149 194 330 451 1,129 Healthcare 5,452 3,078 4,252 4,802 6,359 8,738 Entertainment 3,568 1,393 2,063 2,545 3,923 7,886 771 382 560 626 904 1,377 Public and other transportation Personal care products and services 114 59 78 77 137 220 1,226 510 427 534 1,044 3,600 Tobacco products and smoking supplies 341 335 371 386 379 236 Miscellaneous 986 477 626 784 1,163 1,875 Reading Education Footnotes [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. [2] Not applicable. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Lowest 20 percent All consumer units Item Second 20 percent Fourth 20 percent Third 20 percent Highest 20 percent Cash contributions 2,415 945 1,407 1,592 2,155 5,949 Personal insurance and pensions 7,873 539 2,161 5,021 9,436 22,096 473 151 289 355 485 1,083 7,400 388 1,871 4,666 8,951 21,013 Life and other personal insurance Pensions and Social Security Footnotes [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. [2] Not applicable. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. [–] Table 3. Deciles of income before taxes: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys, 2021 Item All consumer units Number of consumer units (in thousands) [1] Lowest 10 Second 10 percent percent Third 10 percent Fourth 10 percent Fifth 10 percent Sixth 10 percent Seventh 10 percent Eighth 10 percent Ninth 10 percent Highest 10 percent 133,595 13,381 13,261 13,430 13,247 13,242 13,384 13,414 13,387 13,380 13,469 [2] [2] $14,448 $24,128 $34,771 $46,507 $60,549 $78,260 $99,414 $129,537 $186,115 $87,432 $6,916 $19,471 $29,315 $40,294 $53,344 $69,002 $88,015 $113,065 $154,515 $297,782 51.8 53.4 61.9 56.9 53.4 50.8 48.5 48.0 48.0 48.4 49.3 2.4 1.7 1.7 2.0 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.7 2.9 3.1 3.2 .6 .3 .3 .4 .5 .6 .6 .6 .7 .8 .8 Lower limit Consumer unit characteristics: Income before taxes Age of reference person Average number in consumer unit: People Children under 18 Adults 65 and older .4 .4 .6 .6 .6 .5 .4 .3 .3 .3 .2 Earners 1.3 .4 .4 .7 .9 1.2 1.4 1.7 1.8 2.0 2.1 Vehicles 1.9 .9 1.1 1.4 1.6 1.7 2.0 2.2 2.3 2.6 2.8 65 38 52 55 59 57 66 70 78 84 88 $66,928 $30,433 $31,315 $41,446 $46,418 $52,585 $59,218 $69,512 $81,066 $100,909 $155,365 8,289 5,112 4,638 5,592 6,025 7,022 7,712 8,247 10,567 12,022 15,923 5,259 3,740 3,308 4,006 4,024 4,480 5,028 5,277 6,459 7,131 9,124 Cereals and bakery products 672 481 409 530 523 566 630 665 853 889 1,173 Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs 1,115 837 813 841 904 946 1,066 1,142 1,313 1,399 1,887 Percent homeowner Average annual expenditures Food Food at home Dairy products 492 348 293 403 395 429 465 489 563 684 848 Fruits and vegetables 1,033 713 625 798 786 913 969 1,039 1,301 1,373 1,809 Other food at home 1,947 1,361 1,167 1,433 1,416 1,626 1,899 1,942 2,429 2,786 3,407 3,030 1,372 1,330 1,586 2,000 2,541 2,684 2,970 4,108 4,891 6,800 554 207 209 304 296 361 455 540 705 775 1,683 22,624 12,416 13,295 16,178 17,174 19,194 20,693 24,043 25,953 31,389 45,619 13,258 7,374 7,807 9,548 10,061 11,443 11,987 13,643 15,094 18,169 27,274 Owned dwellings 7,591 2,244 2,955 3,942 4,685 5,248 6,214 7,922 9,859 12,907 19,771 Rented dwellings 4,684 4,807 4,567 5,280 5,030 5,675 5,167 4,991 4,201 3,673 3,466 Food away from home Alcoholic beverages Housing Shelter 983 322 285 326 346 521 605 730 1,034 1,590 4,036 Utilities, fuels, and public services Other lodging 4,223 2,596 2,959 3,391 3,647 3,864 4,271 4,690 4,965 5,439 6,379 Household operations 1,638 681 857 1,059 1,169 1,235 1,390 1,496 1,845 2,499 4,125 Footnotes [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. [2] Not applicable. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Item All consumer units Housekeeping Third 10 percent Fourth 10 percent Fifth 10 percent Sixth 10 percent Seventh 10 percent Eighth 10 percent Ninth 10 percent Highest 10 percent 803 464 573 560 527 665 781 900 951 1,038 1,571 2,701 1,301 1,100 1,620 1,771 1,986 2,265 3,314 3,099 4,244 6,271 supplies Household furnishings and Lowest 10 Second 10 percent percent equipment Apparel and services 1,754 1,177 709 1,133 1,277 1,277 1,803 1,670 1,877 2,418 4,189 10,961 4,213 4,334 7,229 8,757 9,782 10,784 12,191 13,778 16,392 21,999 4,828 1,496 1,245 3,060 3,828 4,343 4,563 5,175 6,121 7,393 10,975 2,148 1,107 1,114 1,552 1,854 2,048 2,320 2,556 2,758 2,983 3,165 3,534 1,448 1,839 2,431 2,873 3,080 3,552 4,123 4,333 5,184 6,433 452 162 136 186 202 311 349 336 566 832 1,425 Healthcare 5,452 2,579 3,581 4,205 4,301 4,563 5,039 5,967 6,752 7,810 9,661 Entertainment 3,568 1,450 1,337 1,917 2,208 2,466 2,625 3,828 4,019 5,629 10,130 771 392 373 551 568 600 651 861 947 1,113 1,642 Transportation Vehicle purchases (net outlay) Gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil Other vehicle expenses Public and other transportation Personal care products and services 114 47 70 81 75 77 77 151 122 159 280 1,226 658 360 318 538 458 609 952 1,136 1,872 5,316 Tobacco products and smoking supplies 341 400 269 375 366 379 394 393 366 278 195 Miscellaneous 986 477 477 566 686 719 849 991 1,336 1,786 1,964 Cash contributions 2,415 949 941 1,408 1,407 1,555 1,629 1,665 2,645 3,498 8,384 Personal insurance and pensions 7,873 357 722 1,590 2,739 4,135 5,898 8,013 10,862 15,768 28,381 473 133 168 269 310 268 441 430 541 745 1,418 7,400 224 554 1,321 2,429 3,867 5,456 7,584 10,321 15,024 26,963 Reading Education Life and other personal insurance Pensions and Social Security Footnotes [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. [2] Not applicable. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. [–] Table 4. Region of residence: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys, 2021 Item Number of consumer units (in thousands) All consumer units [1] Northeast Midwest South West 133,595 23,152 28,230 51,808 30,406 $87,432 $100,103 $84,454 $79,148 $94,666 51.8 53.1 52.3 51.6 51.0 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.6 .6 .5 .6 .6 .6 Consumer unit characteristics: Income before taxes Age of reference person Average number in consumer unit: People Children under 18 Adults 65 and older .4 .4 .4 .4 .4 Earners 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.2 1.4 Vehicles 1.9 1.6 2.0 1.8 2.0 65 63 70 67 58 $66,928 $72,678 $64,542 $61,473 $74,033 8,289 9,334 7,888 7,639 8,973 5,259 6,128 4,901 4,802 5,709 Percent homeowner Average annual expenditures Food Food at home Footnote [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Item All consumer units Northeast Midwest South West Cereals and bakery products 672 843 635 603 696 Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs 1,115 1,285 983 1,063 1,199 Dairy products 492 583 451 435 557 Fruits and vegetables 1,033 1,266 937 910 1,152 Other food at home 1,947 2,151 1,896 1,791 2,105 3,030 3,205 2,987 2,837 3,264 554 660 554 456 639 22,624 25,557 20,855 20,244 26,078 13,258 15,724 11,451 11,431 16,172 Owned dwellings 7,591 9,035 7,154 6,778 8,283 Rented dwellings 4,684 5,411 3,227 3,860 6,887 Food away from home Alcoholic beverages Housing Shelter 983 1,278 1,070 792 1,002 Utilities, fuels, and public services Other lodging 4,223 4,570 4,225 4,135 4,109 Household operations 1,638 1,872 1,462 1,550 1,775 803 866 737 766 879 2,701 2,525 2,980 2,363 3,143 1,754 2,069 1,749 1,489 1,967 Housekeeping supplies Household furnishings and equipment Apparel and services 10,961 9,918 10,165 11,203 12,083 Vehicle purchases (net outlay) 4,828 3,650 4,163 5,466 5,256 Gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil 2,148 1,850 2,109 2,144 2,416 Other vehicle expenses 3,534 3,745 3,500 3,259 3,874 Transportation 452 673 394 334 536 Healthcare Public and other transportation 5,452 5,759 5,834 5,107 5,447 Entertainment 3,568 3,483 3,674 3,131 4,272 771 819 783 677 878 Personal care products and services Reading Education 114 129 113 87 150 1,226 1,839 1,159 1,032 1,152 Tobacco products and smoking supplies 341 323 406 343 294 Miscellaneous 986 1,121 1,063 851 1,043 Cash contributions 2,415 2,458 2,391 2,337 2,535 Personal insurance and pensions 7,873 9,209 7,907 6,876 8,523 Life and other personal insurance Pensions and Social Security 473 603 501 435 415 7,400 8,607 7,406 6,441 8,108 Footnote [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Table 5. Population size of area of residence: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys, 2021 [–] Item All consumer units Number of consumer units (in thousands) [1] Outside urban area Urban consumer units All Urban Consumer Units Less than 100,000 100,000 to 249,999 250,000 to 999,999 1,000,000 to 2,499,999 2,500,000 to 4,999,999 5,000,000 and more 133,595 24,225 109,370 15,922 7,896 29,468 17,184 16,608 22,293 $87,432 $86,487 $87,642 $66,882 $71,338 $83,393 $87,187 $108,870 $98,396 51.8 55.2 51.1 51.9 52.6 51.3 50.6 49.6 51.3 2.4 2.6 2.4 2.4 2.5 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.5 Consumer unit characteristics: Income before taxes Age of reference person Average number in consumer unit: People Footnote [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Item All consumer units Children under 18 .6 Adults 65 and older Outside urban area .6 Urban consumer units All Urban Consumer Units .5 Less than 100,000 .6 100,000 to 249,999 .6 250,000 to 999,999 .5 1,000,000 to 2,499,999 .5 2,500,000 to 4,999,999 .6 5,000,000 and more .5 .4 .5 .4 .4 .4 .4 .4 .4 .4 Earners 1.3 1.2 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.4 Vehicles 1.9 2.5 1.7 2.0 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.7 1.4 65 84 61 59 67 64 61 61 54 $66,928 $68,233 $66,646 $56,831 $57,604 $64,630 $67,500 $78,080 $70,267 8,289 7,771 8,409 7,335 7,708 8,146 8,770 9,153 8,922 5,259 5,036 5,311 4,750 4,718 5,327 5,395 5,637 5,579 672 662 674 584 531 705 735 696 686 1,115 1,073 1,125 981 1,005 1,106 1,074 1,165 1,305 Percent homeowner Average annual expenditures Food Food at home Cereals and bakery products Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs Dairy products 492 479 495 431 444 511 494 520 517 Fruits and vegetables 1,033 914 1,060 883 880 1,050 1,054 1,164 1,189 Other food at home 1,947 1,909 1,956 1,871 1,858 1,955 2,039 2,092 1,882 3,030 2,735 3,098 2,585 2,989 2,819 3,374 3,516 3,343 Food away from home Alcoholic beverages Housing Shelter 554 449 578 388 502 500 638 777 642 22,624 19,555 23,304 17,577 19,043 22,006 23,388 29,020 26,277 13,258 9,877 14,007 9,448 10,113 12,515 13,726 18,776 17,278 Owned dwellings 7,591 7,633 7,582 4,921 6,039 7,186 7,589 10,240 8,565 Rented dwellings 4,684 1,356 5,421 3,852 3,571 4,393 5,145 6,925 7,648 983 887 1,004 676 503 936 992 1,611 1,064 Utilities, fuels, and public services 4,223 4,644 4,130 3,911 3,942 4,225 4,092 4,262 4,161 Household operations 1,638 1,488 1,672 1,232 1,523 1,554 1,887 2,160 1,667 Housekeeping supplies 803 859 790 652 853 808 935 788 725 Household furnishings and equipment 2,701 2,688 2,705 2,334 2,612 2,904 2,748 3,035 2,447 Other lodging Apparel and services 1,754 1,623 1,786 1,485 1,684 1,633 1,744 1,904 2,179 10,961 13,665 10,362 10,789 11,023 10,634 10,079 10,167 9,827 Vehicle purchases (net outlay) 4,828 6,976 4,352 5,422 5,603 4,609 3,887 3,708 3,644 Gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil 2,148 2,777 2,008 2,122 2,023 2,088 1,961 1,983 1,872 Other vehicle expenses 3,534 3,633 3,512 3,022 3,187 3,525 3,753 3,788 3,566 452 280 490 223 211 413 478 688 744 Healthcare 5,452 6,727 5,169 5,068 4,568 5,254 5,395 5,607 4,835 Entertainment 3,568 4,366 3,389 3,126 2,673 3,580 3,620 4,045 2,896 771 662 795 622 686 779 776 937 882 Transportation Public and other transportation Personal care products and services Reading Education Tobacco products and smoking supplies Miscellaneous 114 77 123 86 78 126 128 169 121 1,226 1,003 1,276 702 926 1,054 1,382 1,838 1,600 341 476 312 439 295 356 300 248 223 986 1,389 897 941 725 824 917 1,047 892 Cash contributions 2,415 2,937 2,299 2,514 1,785 2,369 2,259 2,602 2,040 Personal insurance and pensions 7,873 7,533 7,948 5,759 5,907 7,367 8,106 10,566 8,932 Footnote [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. All consumer units Item Life and other personal Security Urban consumer units All Urban Consumer Units Less than 100,000 100,000 to 249,999 250,000 to 999,999 1,000,000 to 2,499,999 5,000,000 and more 2,500,000 to 4,999,999 473 501 467 441 357 415 508 521 523 7,400 7,033 7,481 5,318 5,550 6,952 7,598 10,045 8,409 insurance Pensions and Social Outside urban area Footnote [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. [–] Table 6. Type of area: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys, 2021 Item Number of consumer units (in thousands) [1] All consumer units Urban Total urban Rural Urban principal city Other urban 133,595 109,370 47,445 61,925 24,225 $87,432 $87,642 $80,432 $93,165 $86,487 51.8 51.1 49.3 52.5 55.2 2.4 2.4 2.3 2.5 2.6 Children under 18 .6 .5 .5 .6 .6 Adults 65 and older .4 .4 .4 .4 .5 Earners 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.2 Vehicles 1.9 1.7 1.5 1.9 2.5 Consumer unit characteristics: Income before taxes Age of reference person Average number in consumer unit: People Percent homeowner Average annual expenditures Food Food at home 65 61 51 68 84 $66,928 $66,646 $61,646 $70,472 $68,233 8,289 8,409 8,057 8,675 7,771 5,259 5,311 5,039 5,516 5,036 Cereals and bakery products 672 674 608 724 662 Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs 1,115 1,125 1,071 1,166 1,073 Dairy products 492 495 471 513 479 Fruits and vegetables 1,033 1,060 1,015 1,095 914 Other food at home 1,947 1,956 1,874 2,018 1,909 3,030 3,098 3,018 3,159 2,735 Food away from home Alcoholic beverages Housing Shelter 554 578 587 571 449 22,624 23,304 21,966 24,329 19,555 13,258 14,007 13,305 14,544 9,877 Owned dwellings 7,591 7,582 5,860 8,901 7,633 Rented dwellings 4,684 5,421 6,578 4,535 1,356 983 1,004 867 1,109 887 Utilities, fuels, and public services 4,223 4,130 3,775 4,403 4,644 Household operations 1,638 1,672 1,483 1,817 1,488 Other lodging Housekeeping supplies Household furnishings and equipment Apparel and services 803 790 717 845 859 2,701 2,705 2,685 2,720 2,688 1,754 1,786 1,813 1,765 1,623 10,961 10,362 9,135 11,303 13,665 Vehicle purchases (net outlay) 4,828 4,352 3,729 4,830 6,976 Gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil 2,148 2,008 1,745 2,210 2,777 Other vehicle expenses 3,534 3,512 3,126 3,808 3,633 452 490 535 455 280 Transportation Public and other transportation Footnote [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. All consumer units Item Urban Total urban Rural Urban principal city Other urban Healthcare 5,452 5,169 4,473 5,702 6,727 Entertainment 3,568 3,389 2,952 3,724 4,366 771 795 749 830 662 Personal care products and services Reading 114 123 119 125 77 1,226 1,276 1,338 1,228 1,003 Tobacco products and smoking supplies 341 312 296 324 476 Miscellaneous 986 897 851 932 1,389 Cash contributions 2,415 2,299 2,082 2,465 2,937 Personal insurance and pensions 7,873 7,948 7,229 8,500 7,533 Education Life and other personal insurance Pensions and Social Security 473 467 403 517 501 7,400 7,481 6,825 7,983 7,033 Footnote [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. [–] Table 7. Composition of consumer unit: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys, 2021 Married couple consumer units Item All consumer units Number of consumer units (in thousands) [1] 133,595 Married couple with children Married couple only Total 63,293 Oldest child under 6 Total 28,950 Oldest child 6 to 17 Oldest child 18 or older Other married couple consumer units One parent, at least one child under 18 Single person and other consumer units 29,525 5,135 14,369 10,022 4,817 6,614 63,688 $104,638 $138,315 $128,546 $139,933 $141,002 $124,088 $49,811 $57,157 Consumer unit characteristics Income before taxes Age of reference person $87,432 $121,829 51.8 52.1 59.7 44.7 33.5 41.8 54.6 51.8 40.4 52.8 2.4 3.2 2.0 4.0 3.5 4.2 4.0 4.8 3.0 1.7 Children under 18 .6 .8 [2] 1.6 1.5 2.2 .6 1.2 1.8 .2 Adults 65 and older .4 .5 .9 .1 [3] [3] .3 .7 [3] .4 Earners 1.3 1.6 1.1 2.0 1.6 1.8 2.5 2.3 1.1 1.0 Vehicles 1.9 2.4 2.3 2.5 2.1 2.3 3.0 2.7 1.3 1.4 65 81 84 78 70 77 85 74 43 51 $76,046 $98,056 $87,996 $103,139 $95,779 $84,482 $54,227 $48,108 Average number in consumer unit: People Percent homeowner Average annual expenditures Food $66,928 $86,966 8,289 10,579 8,860 12,114 10,030 12,566 12,417 11,351 7,718 5,945 5,259 6,682 5,522 7,641 6,444 7,854 7,875 7,625 5,416 3,738 672 854 681 997 845 1,019 1,035 989 760 470 1,115 1,411 1,157 1,599 1,186 1,610 1,772 1,730 1,136 800 492 640 533 735 635 770 730 689 453 340 Fruits and vegetables 1,033 1,336 1,110 1,516 1,385 1,544 1,535 1,555 1,039 711 Other food at home 1,947 2,441 2,040 2,794 2,394 2,911 2,803 2,663 2,028 1,417 3,030 3,897 3,338 4,473 3,585 4,713 4,543 3,726 2,302 2,208 554 656 764 599 614 609 578 399 316 474 Food at home Cereals and bakery products Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs Dairy products Food away from home Alcoholic beverages Footnotes [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. [2] No data reported. [3] Value is too small to display. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Married couple consumer units Item All consumer units Housing Total Married couple only Married couple with children Total Oldest child under 6 Oldest child 6 to 17 Oldest child 18 or older One parent, at Other married least one child couple under 18 consumer units Single person and other consumer units 22,624 27,549 24,811 30,344 32,660 31,235 27,884 26,922 20,668 17,899 13,258 15,440 13,854 17,075 17,415 18,214 15,266 14,957 11,673 11,254 Owned dwellings 7,591 10,761 9,696 11,900 11,331 12,783 10,926 10,181 4,399 4,772 Rented dwellings 4,684 3,159 2,533 3,670 5,290 3,806 2,645 3,791 6,796 5,980 Shelter 983 1,520 1,624 1,504 794 1,625 1,695 986 478 502 Utilities, fuels, and public services Other lodging 4,223 5,234 4,731 5,606 4,390 5,587 6,255 5,976 3,905 3,253 Household operations 1,638 2,207 1,695 2,801 6,023 2,565 1,484 1,643 1,560 1,082 803 1,030 937 1,119 1,021 1,036 1,290 1,046 691 576 2,701 3,638 3,595 3,743 3,811 3,832 3,588 3,300 2,838 1,735 1,754 2,186 1,421 2,876 2,424 3,111 2,747 2,502 2,261 1,242 10,961 14,241 11,143 17,153 14,212 18,178 17,188 14,990 9,292 7,874 4,828 6,448 4,550 8,326 6,937 9,449 7,426 6,347 3,907 3,314 2,148 2,765 2,185 3,253 2,730 3,211 3,582 3,253 1,965 1,553 3,534 4,448 3,882 4,950 4,121 4,758 5,645 4,767 3,003 2,679 452 580 527 625 424 759 535 623 416 327 Healthcare 5,452 7,507 7,934 7,095 6,138 6,956 7,794 7,442 2,881 3,672 Entertainment 3,568 5,074 4,714 5,645 3,792 7,166 4,406 3,748 2,381 2,179 Personal care products and services 771 978 887 1,085 893 1,097 1,164 865 807 554 Reading 114 145 168 116 102 140 89 174 69 88 Housekeeping supplies Household furnishings and equipment Apparel and services Transportation Vehicle purchases (net outlay) Gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil Other vehicle expenses Public and other transportation Education 1,226 1,815 1,131 2,607 752 2,582 3,589 1,077 878 675 Tobacco products and smoking supplies 341 321 303 292 247 309 293 602 279 369 Miscellaneous 986 1,184 1,043 1,312 1,406 1,220 1,392 1,257 1,040 782 Cash contributions 2,415 3,425 3,875 3,176 1,324 3,837 3,177 2,245 1,099 1,547 Personal insurance and pensions 7,873 11,306 8,991 13,641 13,402 14,131 13,062 10,907 4,538 4,808 473 731 687 786 478 868 825 661 267 239 7,400 10,575 8,305 12,856 12,924 13,263 12,236 10,246 4,270 4,569 Life and other personal insurance Pensions and Social Security Footnotes [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. [2] No data reported. [3] Value is too small to display. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Table 8. Highest education level of any member: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys, 2021 [–] Item Number of consumer All consumer units Less than college graduate Total 133,595 70,333 Footnote [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Less than high school graduate 7,933 High school graduate 25,032 College graduate High school graduate with some college 23,643 Associate's degree 13,725 Total 63,262 Bachelor's degree 36,493 Master's, professional, doctoral degree 26,769 Item All consumer units Less than college graduate Total Less than high school graduate High school graduate College graduate High school graduate with some college Associate's degree Bachelor's degree Total Master's, professional, doctoral degree units (in thousands) [1] Consumer unit characteristics: Income before taxes $87,432 $53,844 $31,459 $46,871 $57,686 52.9 55.9 53.9 52.1 50.8 2.4 2.4 2.2 2.3 2.3 Children under 18 .6 .6 .6 .6 Adults 65 and older .4 .4 .5 .5 Age of reference person 51.8 $72,882 $124,775 $105,181 $151,485 50.7 49.5 52.3 2.6 2.5 2.5 2.6 .5 .6 .6 .5 .6 .4 .4 .4 .4 .5 Average number in consumer unit: People Earners 1.3 1.1 .8 1.0 1.2 1.3 1.5 1.5 1.5 Vehicles 1.9 1.7 1.1 1.6 1.8 2.1 2.1 2.0 2.1 65 56 41 54 58 66 74 70 79 $66,928 $48,708 $32,514 $43,076 $52,448 $61,573 $87,006 $76,634 $101,015 Percent homeowner Average annual expenditures Food 8,289 6,439 4,728 6,092 6,753 7,375 10,256 9,318 11,478 5,259 4,273 3,548 4,237 4,305 4,649 6,301 5,715 7,063 Cereals and bakery products 672 545 409 541 552 611 806 726 909 Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs 1,115 966 883 1,009 942 978 1,272 1,171 1,404 492 394 320 391 396 435 595 537 670 Fruits and vegetables 1,033 796 671 805 799 841 1,282 1,154 1,449 Other food at home 1,947 1,571 1,265 1,490 1,616 1,784 2,347 2,127 2,632 3,030 2,166 1,181 1,855 2,448 2,726 3,955 3,603 4,415 554 322 122 270 405 376 800 721 903 22,624 17,054 Food at home Dairy products Food away from home Alcoholic beverages Housing 12,660 15,711 18,084 20,219 28,789 25,599 33,111 13,258 9,717 7,828 9,034 10,164 11,287 17,194 15,296 19,781 Owned dwellings 7,591 4,608 2,496 3,902 4,898 6,621 10,907 9,063 13,421 Rented dwellings 4,684 4,693 5,194 4,797 4,738 4,136 4,674 4,992 4,240 Shelter 983 416 138 335 528 530 1,613 1,242 2,120 Utilities, fuels, and public services Other lodging 4,223 3,803 2,875 3,604 4,010 4,348 4,691 4,499 4,951 Household operations 1,638 1,022 548 883 1,195 1,253 2,322 1,885 2,919 803 644 458 593 688 748 971 823 1,163 Household furnishings and equipment 2,701 1,867 950 1,597 2,027 2,582 3,611 3,096 4,296 Apparel and services 1,754 1,320 1,020 1,208 1,328 1,641 2,219 2,060 2,424 10,961 9,211 6,330 7,638 9,852 12,638 12,904 12,044 14,077 4,828 4,105 3,266 3,043 4,267 6,244 5,633 5,010 6,482 2,148 2,006 1,303 1,887 2,105 2,458 2,305 2,326 2,277 3,534 2,896 1,597 2,536 3,242 3,704 4,242 4,076 4,467 452 205 164 173 238 232 725 632 851 Housekeeping supplies Transportation Vehicle purchases (net outlay) Gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil Other vehicle expenses Public and other transportation Footnote [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. All consumer units Item Less than college graduate Total Less than high school graduate College graduate High school graduate with some college High school graduate Associate's degree Total Bachelor's degree Master's, professional, doctoral degree Healthcare 5,452 4,114 2,568 3,781 4,460 5,011 6,935 6,222 7,906 Entertainment 3,568 2,560 1,076 1,913 2,786 4,167 4,673 4,109 5,425 771 554 357 467 617 707 1,005 882 1,167 Personal care products and services 114 60 22 59 77 54 173 139 218 1,226 443 158 270 707 469 2,095 1,578 2,798 Tobacco products and smoking supplies 341 496 456 532 475 487 170 214 110 Miscellaneous 986 751 283 686 908 869 1,246 1,179 1,334 Cash contributions 2,415 1,115 652 958 1,256 1,426 3,859 2,601 5,574 Personal insurance and pensions 7,873 4,268 2,082 3,491 4,741 6,133 11,881 9,968 14,489 473 307 139 264 358 397 658 492 884 7,400 3,961 1,944 3,227 4,383 5,736 11,223 9,476 13,605 Reading Education Life and other personal insurance Pensions and Social Security Footnote [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. [–] Table 9. Housing tenure: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys, 2021 Item Number of consumer units (in thousands) [1] All consumer units 133,595 Homeowner Total Homeowner with mortgage Renter Homeowner without mortgage 86,465 50,331 $87,432 $104,495 $123,680 36,134 47,130 Consumer unit characteristics: Income before taxes Age of reference person $77,772 $56,130 51.8 55.7 50.2 63.3 44.9 2.4 2.6 2.8 2.2 2.2 .6 .6 .8 .3 .6 Average number in consumer unit: People Children under 18 Adults 65 and older .4 .5 .3 .8 .2 Earners 1.3 1.3 1.6 .9 1.2 Vehicles 1.9 2.2 2.4 2.1 1.2 65 100 100 100 [2] $66,928 $76,294 $87,438 8,289 9,163 10,151 7,491 6,689 Percent homeowner Average annual expenditures Food Food at home $60,253 $49,749 5,259 5,800 6,267 5,000 4,267 Cereals and bakery products 672 751 806 658 527 Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs 1,115 1,201 1,279 1,067 957 492 552 594 478 383 Fruits and vegetables 1,033 1,138 1,235 971 840 Other food at home 1,947 2,158 2,353 1,826 1,561 3,030 3,362 3,885 2,491 2,422 554 641 716 518 393 Dairy products Food away from home Alcoholic beverages Housing Shelter Owned dwellings Footnotes [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. [2] Not applicable. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 22,624 24,264 28,652 18,091 19,616 13,258 13,070 16,488 8,309 13,602 7,591 11,681 15,009 7,044 88 Item All consumer units Rented dwellings Homeowner Total Homeowner with mortgage Homeowner without mortgage 4,684 117 72 Other lodging 181 Renter 13,062 983 1,272 1,407 1,085 452 Utilities, fuels, and public services 4,223 4,975 5,240 4,605 2,845 Household operations 1,638 1,984 2,197 1,690 1,005 803 956 979 915 523 2,701 3,279 3,747 2,572 1,640 1,754 1,823 1,996 1,516 1,628 Housekeeping supplies Household furnishings and equipment Apparel and services Transportation 10,961 12,590 14,504 9,920 7,972 Vehicle purchases (net outlay) 4,828 5,710 6,743 4,270 3,211 Gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil 2,148 2,396 2,680 2,002 1,691 Other vehicle expenses 3,534 3,999 4,535 3,251 2,680 452 485 546 397 390 Healthcare Public and other transportation 5,452 6,754 6,748 6,765 3,062 Entertainment 3,568 4,441 5,079 3,500 1,966 771 849 948 698 627 Personal care products and services Reading Education 114 130 140 117 85 1,226 1,458 1,761 1,032 801 Tobacco products and smoking supplies 341 309 314 301 401 Miscellaneous 986 1,195 1,392 915 603 Cash contributions 2,415 3,227 2,822 3,791 924 Personal insurance and pensions 7,873 9,450 12,216 5,597 4,980 Life and other personal insurance Pensions and Social Security 473 610 738 432 223 7,400 8,840 11,478 5,165 4,757 Footnotes [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. [2] Not applicable. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Table 10. Number of earners in consumer unit: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys, 2021 [–] All consumer units Item Single consumers No earner [1] Consumer units of two or more people One earner No earner One earner Two earners Three or more earners 133,595 17,521 23,236 14,143 26,170 40,866 11,659 $87,432 $22,705 $60,277 $43,141 $78,821 $131,312 $158,072 51.8 70.1 45.6 67.9 50.0 44.3 48.0 2.4 1.0 1.0 2.3 3.0 3.0 4.4 Children under 18 .6 [2] [2] .3 1.0 .8 1.0 Adults 65 and older .4 .7 .1 1.4 .4 .2 .2 Earners 1.3 [2] 1.0 [2] 1.0 2.0 3.4 Vehicles 1.9 1.0 1.2 2.0 1.9 2.3 3.0 Number of consumer units (in thousands) Consumer unit characteristics: Income before taxes Age of reference person Average number in consumer unit: People Percent homeowner Average annual expenditures Food Food at home Cereals and bakery products Footnotes [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. [2] Not applicable. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 65 58 44 79 66 70 77 $66,928 $31,818 $47,672 $55,851 $69,234 $86,028 $99,893 8,289 3,941 5,694 7,654 8,703 10,423 12,676 5,259 2,899 3,299 5,383 5,913 6,275 7,649 672 370 410 707 770 779 1,029 Item Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs Dairy products All consumer units Single consumers No earner Consumer units of two or more people One earner 1,115 595 702 No earner 1,143 One earner Two earners 1,288 Three or more earners 1,309 1,643 492 296 292 547 563 574 674 Fruits and vegetables 1,033 560 635 1,053 1,178 1,235 1,495 Other food at home 1,947 1,078 1,261 1,933 2,114 2,378 2,809 3,030 1,042 2,395 2,271 2,791 4,148 5,027 Food away from home Alcoholic beverages Housing Shelter 554 229 598 498 438 757 591 22,624 13,568 17,744 19,923 23,284 27,776 29,743 13,258 8,282 11,969 10,242 13,224 16,169 16,835 Owned dwellings 7,591 3,800 4,686 7,049 7,568 10,027 11,247 Rented dwellings 4,684 4,135 6,741 2,249 4,668 4,840 3,851 983 347 541 944 988 1,302 1,736 Utilities, fuels, and public services 4,223 2,640 2,728 4,440 4,547 4,880 6,295 Household operations 1,638 979 1,003 1,505 1,644 2,297 1,740 Other lodging Housekeeping supplies Household furnishings and equipment Apparel and services 803 522 482 954 869 923 1,133 2,701 1,145 1,562 2,782 3,000 3,507 3,741 1,754 631 1,314 1,170 1,859 2,297 2,992 10,961 3,576 7,127 8,745 12,294 14,142 18,256 Vehicle purchases (net outlay) 4,828 1,121 2,853 3,927 5,917 6,329 7,724 Gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil 2,148 747 1,436 1,648 2,319 2,760 3,744 Other vehicle expenses 3,534 1,584 2,470 2,887 3,634 4,433 6,001 452 123 369 282 425 620 787 Healthcare 5,452 4,324 2,812 7,597 5,588 6,136 7,093 Entertainment 3,568 1,455 2,221 3,532 4,067 4,655 4,546 Personal care products and services 771 369 520 692 770 992 1,210 Reading 114 91 84 149 109 133 112 1,226 324 840 420 1,202 1,689 2,763 341 269 267 336 390 376 374 Transportation Public and other transportation Education Tobacco products and smoking supplies 986 656 839 840 1,017 1,121 1,417 Cash contributions Miscellaneous 2,415 2,174 1,284 3,555 3,047 2,173 3,070 Personal insurance and pensions 7,873 214 6,328 739 6,467 13,357 15,050 473 170 247 465 461 649 805 7,400 44 6,082 275 6,006 12,708 14,245 Life and other personal insurance Pensions and Social Security Footnotes [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. [2] Not applicable. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. [–] Table 11. Size of consumer unit: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys, 2021 Item Number of consumer units (in thousands) [1] All consumer units 133,595 One person 40,756 Two or more people Total Two people Three people Four people Five or more people 92,839 44,106 19,236 16,881 12,616 $44,125 $106,444 $93,479 $106,055 $133,738 $115,848 Consumer unit characteristics: Income before taxes Age of reference person $87,432 51.8 56.1 50.0 55.6 47.9 43.6 42.1 2.4 1.0 3.1 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.7 .6 [2] .8 .1 .7 1.5 2.7 Average number in consumer unit: People Children under 18 Footnotes [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. [2] Not applicable. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Item All consumer units Adults 65 and older Two or more people One person .4 Total Two people .4 .4 .7 Three people Four people Five or more people .3 .1 .2 Earners 1.3 .6 1.6 1.2 1.7 2.0 2.2 Vehicles 1.9 1.1 2.2 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.5 Percent homeowner 65 50 71 73 69 71 68 $66,928 $40,859 $78,357 $69,382 $79,163 $92,989 $88,797 8,289 4,942 9,750 8,242 9,920 11,908 11,788 5,259 3,128 6,189 5,145 6,187 7,803 7,615 Cereals and bakery products 672 393 794 637 770 1,041 1,038 Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs 1,115 656 1,315 1,086 1,317 1,634 1,676 Average annual expenditures Food Food at home Dairy products 492 294 578 490 561 721 716 Fruits and vegetables 1,033 603 1,220 1,015 1,208 1,574 1,469 Other food at home 1,947 1,182 2,281 1,918 2,331 2,833 2,717 3,030 1,814 3,561 3,097 3,733 4,105 4,173 Food away from home Alcoholic beverages Housing Shelter 554 440 604 686 648 499 395 22,624 15,949 25,552 23,163 26,128 29,180 28,166 13,258 10,384 14,520 13,315 14,701 16,542 15,748 Owned dwellings 7,591 4,305 9,033 8,113 9,130 10,761 9,792 Rented dwellings 4,684 5,621 4,273 3,950 4,461 4,480 4,835 983 458 1,214 1,252 1,110 1,300 1,120 Utilities, fuels, and public services 4,223 2,690 4,897 4,360 5,013 5,503 5,785 Household operations 1,638 993 1,922 1,488 2,085 2,928 1,843 Other lodging 803 499 935 850 906 950 1,251 2,701 1,383 3,278 3,149 3,422 3,257 3,539 Housekeeping supplies Household furnishings and equipment Apparel and services 1,754 1,021 2,075 1,439 2,190 2,606 3,373 10,961 5,601 13,314 10,977 13,659 16,713 16,416 Vehicle purchases (net outlay) 4,828 2,108 6,022 4,678 6,083 8,211 7,700 Gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil 2,148 1,140 2,590 2,096 2,659 3,173 3,428 Other vehicle expenses 3,534 2,089 4,168 3,717 4,359 4,764 4,660 452 263 534 485 557 564 628 Healthcare 5,452 3,462 6,325 6,494 6,392 6,341 5,610 Entertainment 3,568 1,892 4,303 4,055 3,765 5,509 4,368 Personal care products and services 771 455 909 823 969 1,029 953 Reading 114 87 126 145 116 99 112 1,226 618 1,493 958 1,879 2,247 1,765 341 268 374 377 400 288 439 1,292 Transportation Public and other transportation Education Tobacco products and smoking supplies 986 760 1,086 924 991 1,463 Cash contributions Miscellaneous 2,415 1,667 2,743 3,028 2,190 2,273 3,216 Personal insurance and pensions 7,873 3,700 9,705 8,072 9,918 12,836 10,903 473 214 587 533 556 713 657 7,400 3,486 9,118 7,539 9,361 12,123 10,246 Life and other personal insurance Pensions and Social Security Footnotes [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. [2] Not applicable. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. [–] Table 12. Age of reference person: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys, 2021 Item Number of consumer units (in thousands) [1] Consumer unit characteristics: All consumer units 133,595 Under 25 years 6,608 25–34 years 21,024 35–44 years 22,921 45–54 years 22,276 55–64 years 24,751 65 years and older 36,016 65–74 years 21,479 75 years and older 14,537 Item All consumer units Income before taxes Age of reference person 25–34 years Under 25 years 35–44 years 45–54 years 55–64 years 65 years and older 65–74 years 75 years and older $87,432 $46,046 $84,999 $108,176 $119,933 $98,793 $55,335 $63,319 $43,538 51.8 22.0 29.8 39.4 49.6 59.6 74.1 69.3 81.4 2.4 2.1 2.7 3.3 2.9 2.2 1.7 1.8 1.6 .6 .4 .9 1.4 .7 .2 .1 .1 [2] [2] [2] Average number in consumer unit: People Children under 18 .4 [2] .1 .1 1.4 1.4 1.4 Earners 1.3 1.5 1.5 1.6 1.8 1.4 .5 .6 .2 Vehicles 1.9 1.3 1.7 1.9 2.2 2.1 1.7 1.9 1.4 65 18 44 60 70 75 78 79 77 $66,928 $42,063 $63,905 $79,712 $83,854 $70,570 $52,141 $56,435 $45,820 8,289 5,566 7,942 9,806 10,619 8,419 6,490 7,052 5,669 Adults 65 and older Percent homeowner Average annual expenditures Food Food at home 5,259 3,081 4,497 6,199 6,617 5,523 4,497 4,755 4,121 Cereals and bakery products 672 387 568 795 874 656 594 611 571 Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs 1,115 725 958 1,304 1,395 1,190 936 1,008 830 492 275 402 575 592 524 450 469 421 Dairy products Fruits and vegetables 1,033 639 879 1,205 1,334 1,058 884 896 866 Other food at home 1,947 1,055 1,690 2,319 2,422 2,096 1,633 1,771 1,432 3,030 2,485 3,444 3,607 4,002 2,895 1,994 2,298 1,549 554 346 663 596 610 591 439 526 311 22,624 15,677 22,641 26,342 26,508 23,007 18,872 20,078 17,098 13,258 10,614 14,225 15,486 15,564 13,182 10,387 10,856 9,694 Owned dwellings 7,591 1,394 5,639 8,744 9,793 8,911 6,864 7,549 5,852 Rented dwellings 4,684 8,741 7,947 5,802 4,289 2,951 2,759 2,391 3,303 983 478 639 940 1,482 1,320 763 915 538 Utilities, fuels, and public services 4,223 2,337 3,557 4,547 5,081 4,663 3,921 4,129 3,612 Household operations 1,638 605 1,726 2,439 1,625 1,398 1,442 1,432 1,457 803 370 598 795 913 985 820 881 731 2,701 1,751 2,536 3,074 3,325 2,778 2,303 2,780 1,604 1,754 1,488 2,023 2,302 2,252 1,742 986 1,157 737 Food away from home Alcoholic beverages Housing Shelter Other lodging Housekeeping supplies Household furnishings and equipment Apparel and services Transportation 10,961 7,985 11,709 14,302 13,875 10,936 7,160 8,356 5,392 Vehicle purchases (net outlay) 4,828 3,276 5,536 7,171 5,896 4,495 2,777 3,319 1,976 Gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil 2,148 1,839 2,275 2,569 2,770 2,265 1,396 1,650 1,022 Other vehicle expenses 3,534 2,582 3,343 4,023 4,563 3,775 2,707 3,041 2,214 452 288 556 539 646 400 279 347 179 Healthcare Public and other transportation 5,452 1,367 3,404 5,142 5,656 6,093 7,030 6,966 7,123 Entertainment 3,568 1,700 3,198 4,267 4,695 3,700 2,889 3,412 2,119 771 507 747 865 962 809 627 642 606 Personal care products and services Reading Education Tobacco products and smoking supplies Miscellaneous 114 76 115 97 104 116 138 137 139 1,226 2,096 1,015 1,092 2,579 1,457 280 249 325 341 215 347 399 370 469 219 281 128 986 285 779 1,222 1,435 968 820 829 805 Cash contributions 2,415 724 937 2,216 2,521 2,861 3,341 2,855 4,060 Personal insurance and pensions 7,873 4,031 8,386 11,065 11,666 9,403 2,850 3,894 1,307 Footnotes [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. [2] Value is too small to display. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Item All consumer units Life and other personal insurance Pensions and Social Security 25–34 years Under 25 years 35–44 years 45–54 years 55–64 years 65 years and older 65–74 years 75 years and older 473 102 225 492 637 612 479 533 399 7,400 3,929 8,161 10,573 11,029 8,792 2,371 3,361 908 Footnotes [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. [2] Value is too small to display. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Table 13. Generation of reference person: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys, 2021 [–] Item All consumer units Number of consumer units (in thousands) [1] Birth year of 1997 or later Birth year from 1981 Birth year from 1965 Birth year from 1946 to 1996 to 1980 to 1964 Birth year of 1945 or earlier 133,595 6,065 35,032 35,415 43,622 13,460 $87,432 $44,283 $92,324 $117,577 $79,015 $42,113 51.8 21.8 32.6 48.3 65.1 81.9 2.4 2.1 2.9 3.0 2.0 1.5 .6 .3 1.1 .8 .1 [2] [2] Consumer unit characteristics: Income before taxes Age of reference person Average number in consumer unit: People Children under 18 .4 [2] .1 .8 1.4 Earners 1.3 1.5 1.5 1.7 1.0 .2 Vehicles 1.9 1.3 1.7 2.1 2.0 1.4 65 17 49 68 77 77 $66,928 $41,636 $69,061 $83,357 $62,203 $44,683 8,289 5,529 8,463 10,388 7,651 5,487 5,259 3,046 5,008 6,516 5,112 4,001 672 391 642 838 630 560 1,115 729 1,048 1,388 1,092 808 492 265 456 597 493 403 Adults 65 and older Percent homeowner Average annual expenditures Food Food at home Cereals and bakery products Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs Dairy products Fruits and vegetables 1,033 638 979 1,288 975 845 Other food at home 1,947 1,023 1,883 2,405 1,922 1,385 3,030 2,483 3,455 3,872 2,539 1,486 554 368 629 601 561 297 Food away from home Alcoholic beverages Housing 22,624 15,449 24,052 26,385 21,273 16,656 13,258 10,479 14,646 15,548 11,834 9,486 Owned dwellings 7,591 1,369 6,590 9,744 8,135 5,571 Rented dwellings 4,684 8,629 7,335 4,392 2,639 3,401 Shelter 983 481 721 1,412 1,060 513 Utilities, fuels, and public services Other lodging 4,223 2,281 3,867 4,996 4,359 3,553 Household operations 1,638 596 2,099 1,716 1,423 1,401 803 366 650 910 926 722 2,701 1,727 2,788 3,214 2,730 1,494 Housekeeping supplies Household furnishings and equipment Apparel and services Transportation Vehicle purchases (net outlay) Footnotes [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. [2] Value is too small to display. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 1,754 1,498 2,135 2,363 1,289 729 10,961 7,929 12,683 13,956 9,327 5,263 4,828 3,280 6,173 6,218 3,716 1,971 Item Birth year of 1997 or later All consumer units Birth year from 1981 Birth year from 1965 Birth year from 1946 to 1996 to 1980 to 1964 Birth year of 1945 or earlier Gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil 2,148 1,842 2,386 2,705 1,909 971 Other vehicle expenses 3,534 2,515 3,579 4,426 3,338 2,163 452 292 545 607 363 157 Healthcare 5,452 1,354 4,026 5,550 6,594 7,053 Entertainment 3,568 1,693 3,457 4,694 3,476 2,027 771 496 777 956 703 597 Public and other transportation Personal care products and services Reading 114 79 107 106 124 142 1,226 2,097 1,008 2,249 732 310 Tobacco products and smoking supplies 341 210 378 375 372 117 Miscellaneous 986 303 934 1,331 916 748 Cash contributions 2,415 760 1,163 2,747 2,876 4,045 Personal insurance and pensions 7,873 3,871 9,249 11,656 6,309 1,213 473 105 284 637 575 373 7,400 3,766 8,965 11,019 5,734 840 Education Life and other personal insurance Pensions and Social Security Footnotes [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. [2] Value is too small to display. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Table 14. Selected age of reference person: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys, 2021 [–] Item All consumer units Number of consumer units (in thousands) [1] Under 30 years 30 and older Under50 years 50 and older 55 and older Under 55 years Under 65 years 65 and older 133,595 16,043 117,553 60,902 72,693 72,828 60,767 97,579 36,016 $87,432 $63,538 $90,693 $95,739 $80,473 $99,445 $73,036 $99,279 $55,335 51.8 25.0 55.5 35.5 65.6 38.2 68.2 43.6 74.1 2.4 2.3 2.5 2.9 2.0 2.9 1.9 2.7 1.7 .6 .5 .6 1.0 .2 .9 .1 .7 .1 Consumer unit characteristics: Income before taxes Age of reference person Average number in consumer unit: People Children under 18 .4 [2] .5 [2] .7 [2] .9 .1 1.4 Earners 1.3 1.5 1.2 1.6 1.0 1.6 .9 1.6 .5 Vehicles 1.9 1.5 1.9 1.8 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.7 65 29 70 51 76 55 77 60 78 $66,928 $53,261 $68,797 $71,061 $63,446 $72,976 $59,650 $72,370 $52,141 8,289 6,652 8,515 8,942 7,729 9,116 7,278 8,942 6,490 5,259 3,625 5,484 5,416 5,124 5,539 4,916 5,535 4,497 Cereals and bakery products 672 453 702 702 647 715 620 700 594 Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs 1,115 835 1,154 1,154 1,082 1,177 1,040 1,180 936 Adults 65 and older Percent homeowner Average annual expenditures Food Food at home Dairy products Fruits and vegetables Other food at home Food away from home Footnotes [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. [2] Value is too small to display. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 492 317 516 492 492 502 480 507 450 1,033 701 1,078 1,063 1,007 1,096 955 1,087 884 1,947 1,318 2,034 2,006 1,897 2,049 1,822 2,061 1,633 3,030 3,027 3,031 3,526 2,606 3,577 2,362 3,407 1,994 All consumer units Item Alcoholic beverages Housing Under 30 years 30 and older Under50 years 50 and older 554 497 562 584 528 Under 55 years 55 and older Under 65 years 65 and older 597 501 596 439 22,624 19,300 23,078 23,897 21,562 24,352 20,556 24,010 18,872 13,258 12,762 13,326 14,516 12,204 14,704 11,525 14,318 10,387 Owned dwellings 7,591 3,232 8,186 6,995 8,091 7,502 7,698 7,859 6,864 Rented dwellings 4,684 8,962 4,100 6,672 3,018 6,225 2,837 5,394 2,759 Shelter 983 568 1,039 849 1,095 977 990 1,064 763 Utilities, fuels, and public services Other lodging 4,223 2,890 4,406 4,049 4,369 4,224 4,223 4,335 3,921 Household operations 1,638 1,070 1,716 1,835 1,474 1,817 1,424 1,711 1,442 803 430 854 702 889 734 888 797 820 2,701 2,148 2,777 2,795 2,625 2,873 2,496 2,849 2,303 Housekeeping supplies Household furnishings and equipment Apparel and services 1,754 1,788 1,750 2,174 1,394 2,130 1,295 2,033 986 10,961 10,485 11,026 12,707 9,498 12,850 8,698 12,364 7,160 Vehicle purchases (net outlay) 4,828 4,958 4,810 6,025 3,825 5,956 3,477 5,585 2,777 Gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil 2,148 2,003 2,167 2,426 1,914 2,479 1,750 2,425 1,396 Other vehicle expenses 3,534 3,075 3,597 3,718 3,380 3,861 3,142 3,839 2,707 452 449 452 537 379 554 328 515 279 Healthcare 5,452 2,200 5,896 4,172 6,525 4,454 6,648 4,870 7,030 Entertainment 3,568 2,466 3,718 3,711 3,446 3,857 3,219 3,818 2,889 Personal care products and services 771 665 785 828 721 828 701 823 627 Reading 114 85 118 100 126 102 129 106 138 1,226 1,531 1,184 1,366 1,108 1,615 759 1,575 280 341 265 352 365 321 358 321 386 219 Transportation Public and other transportation Education Tobacco products and smoking supplies Miscellaneous 986 498 1,053 950 1,017 1,074 880 1,048 820 Cash contributions 2,415 734 2,644 1,718 2,998 1,805 3,145 2,073 3,341 Personal insurance and pensions 7,873 6,095 8,116 9,546 6,472 9,837 5,519 9,727 2,850 473 132 520 381 551 424 533 472 479 7,400 5,963 7,596 9,165 5,921 9,413 4,986 9,256 2,371 Life and other personal insurance Pensions and Social Security Footnotes [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. [2] Value is too small to display. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Table 15. Hispanic or Latino origin of reference person: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys, 2021 [–] Item Number of consumer units (in thousands) All consumer units [1] Hispanic or Latino Not Hispanic or Latino Total White and all other races Black or African-American 133,595 19,675 113,920 96,537 17,382 $87,432 $68,592 $90,686 Consumer unit characteristics: Income before taxes $95,963 $61,383 51.8 45.6 52.9 53.4 50.2 2.4 3.0 2.3 2.3 2.4 Children under 18 .6 .9 .5 .5 .6 Adults 65 and older .4 .2 .5 .5 .3 Age of reference person Average number in consumer unit: People Footnote [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Item All consumer units Hispanic or Latino Not Hispanic or Latino Total White and all other races Black or African-American Earners 1.3 1.6 1.2 1.2 1.2 Vehicles 1.9 1.7 1.9 2.0 1.4 65 50 67 72 44 $57,955 $68,476 Percent homeowner Average annual expenditures $66,928 Food Food at home $71,641 $51,013 8,289 8,158 8,312 8,716 6,124 5,259 5,272 5,257 5,485 4,026 Cereals and bakery products 672 654 675 702 531 Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs 1,115 1,285 1,086 1,097 1,030 492 461 497 533 304 Fruits and vegetables 1,033 1,104 1,021 1,061 805 Other food at home 1,947 1,767 1,978 2,093 1,357 3,030 2,886 3,055 3,232 2,098 554 421 576 643 215 Dairy products Food away from home Alcoholic beverages Housing 22,624 20,832 22,931 23,617 19,142 13,258 12,804 13,336 13,700 11,316 Owned dwellings 7,591 5,547 7,944 8,551 4,572 Rented dwellings 4,684 6,827 4,314 3,969 6,229 Shelter 983 431 1,078 1,180 515 Utilities, fuels, and public services Other lodging 4,223 4,062 4,251 4,295 4,011 Household operations 1,638 1,214 1,712 1,813 1,147 803 673 825 874 563 2,701 2,079 2,807 2,936 2,105 1,754 2,186 1,681 1,699 1,586 Housekeeping supplies Household furnishings and equipment Apparel and services 10,961 11,505 10,867 11,191 9,072 Vehicle purchases (net outlay) 4,828 5,056 4,789 4,970 3,784 Gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil 2,148 2,432 2,098 2,150 1,812 Other vehicle expenses 3,534 3,606 3,522 3,601 3,084 Transportation 452 412 459 470 393 Healthcare Public and other transportation 5,452 3,327 5,818 6,216 3,615 Entertainment 3,568 2,234 3,798 4,163 1,787 771 687 785 795 733 Personal care products and services Reading 114 56 124 133 75 1,226 555 1,342 1,435 826 Tobacco products and smoking supplies 341 190 368 387 262 Miscellaneous 986 754 1,026 1,054 874 Education Cash contributions 2,415 899 2,676 2,925 1,293 Personal insurance and pensions 7,873 6,152 8,170 8,668 5,408 473 260 510 524 433 7,400 5,893 7,660 8,144 4,975 Life and other personal insurance Pensions and Social Security Footnote [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Table 16. Occupation of reference person: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys, 2021 [–] Wage and salary earners Item Number of consumer units (in thousands) [1] All consumer units 133,595 Selfemployed workers 9,473 Total wage and salary earners 79,292 Managers and professionals 34,052 Technical, sales and clerical workers 19,316 Service workers 15,842 Construction workers and mechanics 3,597 Operators, fabricators and laborers 6,485 Retired 29,130 All other, including not reporting 15,700 Wage and salary earners Item All consumer units Selfemployed workers Total wage and salary earners Managers and professionals Technical, sales and clerical workers Service workers Construction workers and mechanics Operators, fabricators and laborers Retired All other, including not reporting Consumer unit characteristics: Income before taxes Age of reference person $87,432 $131,993 $104,703 $141,403 $83,259 $72,163 $80,374 $68,852 $46,074 $50,057 51.8 50.5 44.7 45.0 44.1 44.4 42.9 46.3 73.8 48.2 Average number in consumer unit: People 2.4 2.6 2.6 2.6 2.5 2.7 2.7 2.7 1.7 2.8 Children under 18 .6 .7 .7 .7 .6 .7 .7 .7 .1 .9 Adults 65 and older .4 .3 .2 .1 .2 .2 .1 .2 1.3 .2 Earners 1.3 1.7 1.7 1.8 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 .2 .6 Vehicles 1.9 2.0 2.0 2.1 1.9 1.7 2.0 2.0 1.7 1.6 Percent homeowner 65 69 62 71 58 51 57 57 79 48 $66,928 $88,106 $73,134 $91,162 $62,845 $57,548 $59,547 $54,806 $51,048 $52,662 Average annual expenditures 8,289 9,772 8,975 10,626 8,323 7,466 7,160 7,087 6,561 7,390 Food at home 5,259 6,030 5,454 6,299 5,035 4,648 4,909 4,629 4,580 5,179 Cereals and bakery products 672 743 696 803 647 556 661 674 606 641 Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs 1,115 1,334 1,140 1,264 1,061 1,048 1,084 991 956 1,177 Dairy products 492 579 492 580 457 410 389 403 465 497 Fruits and vegetables 1,033 1,230 1,071 1,252 967 907 990 895 890 1,013 Other food at home 1,947 2,143 2,054 2,400 1,904 1,727 1,784 1,666 1,662 1,853 3,030 3,742 3,521 4,327 3,288 2,818 2,251 2,458 1,980 2,211 554 857 612 831 493 389 621 379 446 322 Food Food away from home Alcoholic beverages Housing Shelter Owned dwellings Rented dwellings Other lodging 22,624 26,039 24,466 29,211 21,502 21,311 20,477 18,216 18,777 18,388 13,258 16,080 14,589 17,638 12,769 12,497 12,205 10,433 10,250 10,413 7,591 9,934 8,229 10,979 6,805 5,764 6,022 5,278 6,737 4,538 4,684 4,374 5,329 5,078 5,257 6,101 5,810 4,704 2,697 5,303 983 1,772 1,031 1,580 708 632 373 451 816 572 Utilities, fuels, and public services 4,223 4,544 4,364 4,706 4,166 4,024 4,222 4,063 3,955 3,820 Household operations 1,638 1,756 1,818 2,463 1,417 1,353 1,165 1,107 1,444 1,023 803 735 795 916 713 714 583 729 862 767 2,701 2,924 2,901 3,489 2,437 2,723 2,301 1,884 2,266 2,365 1,754 2,190 1,987 2,363 1,661 1,831 1,626 1,559 939 1,903 10,961 15,128 12,159 14,261 10,623 9,863 11,601 11,617 7,178 9,425 Housekeeping supplies Household furnishings and equipment Apparel and services Transportation Footnotes [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. [2] Data are likely to have large sampling errors. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Wage and salary earners All consumer units Item Selfemployed workers Total wage and salary earners Managers and professionals Technical, sales and clerical workers Service workers Construction workers and mechanics Operators, fabricators and laborers Retired All other, including not reporting Vehicle purchases (net outlay) 4,828 7,673 5,269 6,547 4,252 3,871 4,651 5,340 2,898 4,468 Gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil 2,148 2,618 2,413 2,440 2,327 2,269 3,018 2,548 1,387 1,934 Other vehicle expenses 3,534 4,187 3,956 4,520 3,663 3,420 3,680 3,335 2,665 2,627 452 650 521 756 381 303 252 394 227 396 Healthcare 5,452 6,552 5,055 6,209 4,727 3,738 3,799 3,892 7,113 3,713 Entertainment 3,568 5,162 3,624 4,710 2,986 2,772 2,998 2,216 3,032 3,318 Personal care products and services 771 851 851 1,046 747 737 578 565 636 570 Reading 114 136 106 148 93 62 32 [2] 75 151 73 1,226 2,081 1,449 2,238 1,065 875 487 393 270 1,363 Tobacco products and smoking supplies 341 283 343 225 419 379 580 525 236 568 Miscellaneous 986 1,674 1,000 1,272 813 717 967 842 867 732 Cash contributions 2,415 3,379 2,151 3,469 1,266 1,060 1,303 1,000 3,409 1,321 Personal insurance and pensions 7,873 14,004 10,357 14,554 8,128 6,347 7,317 6,439 1,434 3,576 473 596 509 736 410 293 231 298 421 316 7,400 13,408 9,848 13,818 7,718 6,055 7,086 6,141 1,014 3,260 Public and other transportation Education Life and other personal insurance Pensions and Social Security Footnotes [1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. [2] Data are likely to have large sampling errors. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. [–] Table 17. Race of reference person: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys, 2021 White, Asian, and all other races, not including Black or African-American Item All consumer units Total Number of consumer units (in thousands) [2] White, and all other races, not including Black or AfricanAmerican [1] Black or AfricanAmerican Asian 133,595 115,689 108,877 6,812 17,906 $87,432 $91,556 $89,777 $119,995 $60,788 Consumer unit characteristics: Income before taxes Age of reference person 51.8 52.1 52.5 45.9 50.1 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.8 2.4 Children under 18 .6 .5 .5 .7 .6 Adults 65 and older .4 .4 .4 .3 .3 Average number in consumer unit: People Earners 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.5 1.2 Vehicles 1.9 1.9 2.0 1.6 1.4 65 68 68 64 43 $68,896 $78,726 $50,592 Percent homeowner Average annual expenditures $66,928 $69,482 Footnotes [1] All other races includes Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, American Indian or Alaska Native, as well as respondents reporting more than one race. [2] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Item Food All consumer units White, Asian, and all other races, not including Black or African-American Total White, and all other races, not including Black or AfricanAmerican [1] Asian Black or AfricanAmerican 8,289 8,648 8,522 10,527 6,052 5,259 5,465 5,367 6,918 3,981 Cereals and bakery products 672 697 685 871 520 Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs 1,115 1,131 1,100 1,588 1,015 492 523 522 544 297 Fruits and vegetables 1,033 1,071 1,032 1,650 796 Other food at home 1,947 2,043 2,028 2,266 1,353 3,030 3,184 3,156 3,609 2,071 554 609 624 373 212 22,624 23,180 22,855 28,378 19,057 13,258 13,562 13,270 18,239 11,292 Food at home Dairy products Food away from home Alcoholic beverages Housing Shelter Owned dwellings 7,591 8,064 7,897 10,733 4,537 Rented dwellings 4,684 4,443 4,327 6,302 6,241 983 1,056 1,046 1,204 513 Utilities, fuels, and public services Other lodging 4,223 4,260 4,272 4,068 3,987 Household operations 1,638 1,714 1,695 2,026 1,149 803 844 841 892 548 2,701 2,799 2,777 3,154 2,081 1,754 1,781 1,746 2,303 1,590 Housekeeping supplies Household furnishings and equipment Apparel and services 10,961 11,274 11,322 10,494 8,944 Vehicle purchases (net outlay) 4,828 5,007 5,049 4,336 3,673 Gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil 2,148 2,200 2,211 2,028 1,807 Other vehicle expenses 3,534 3,606 3,617 3,431 3,071 Transportation 452 461 446 698 394 Healthcare Public and other transportation 5,452 5,742 5,791 4,968 3,579 Entertainment 3,568 3,847 3,923 2,662 1,786 771 778 769 898 728 Personal care products and services Reading 114 120 119 144 75 1,226 1,291 1,177 3,115 808 Tobacco products and smoking supplies 341 353 365 166 266 Miscellaneous 986 1,003 1,012 855 879 Education Cash contributions 2,415 2,591 2,640 1,802 1,275 Personal insurance and pensions 7,873 8,265 8,029 12,043 5,341 Life and other personal insurance Pensions and Social Security 473 481 476 564 423 7,400 7,784 7,553 11,479 4,917 Footnotes [1] All other races includes Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, American Indian or Alaska Native, as well as respondents reporting more than one race. [2] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Technical Notes The primary goal of the Consumer Expenditure Surveys (CE) is to collect, process, and publish data on the purchasing habits of U.S. consumers. CE data are used by a wide variety of stakeholders, such as government agencies, the private sector, and academia to generate cutting edge research. In addition, the data are required for the regular revision of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) market basket. To craft a complete picture of how illuminating the CE is, it is important to consider its extensive history; individual components; how seamlessly it interacts with other stakeholders within the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and outside of the agency; and practical, published applications of the data. CE History: 134 years of insight into the U.S. consumer’s spending habits The CE has a rich and dynamic history spanning 134 years of survey collection and administration. The CE was first conducted in 1888. At the time, the survey was administered on a roughly 10-year basis, leading to noticeable gaps in spending data. The infrequency of survey collection meant that CE missed the opportunity to collect data on several time periods: the initial phase of the Great Depression from 1929–33, spending in WWII (for which an article was published in 2015) and the immediate postwar period, and other key historic junctures of the first four-fifths of the twentieth century. This policy would hold constant through the 1972–73 survey. The 1972–73 collection cycle marked the division of the then-singular survey into two, the Diary and Interview surveys, each with independent samples. The Diary Survey is completed in two distinct 1-week time periods while data for the Interview Survey (with the removal of the initial “bounding” interview starting in February 2015) is collected in four distinct waves over a 10-month period.1 The Interview Survey is spaced out in 3-month intervals to capture quarterly spending habits. A given consumer unit (CU) under this scheme would be visited in January, April, July, and October. However, the 1970s were marked by high inflation, energy shortages, and recessions, among other economic hardships for consumers. This led to the recognition that more frequently collected data allowed for better understanding of how economic conditions—“boom” or “bust”—affected consumers. This demand for more frequent and timely spending data drove BLS toward annual collections for the CE. As a result, data collection on a continuing basis began in late 1979, with the U.S. Census Bureau conducting the surveys for BLS. As the dot-com boom of the 1990s and early 2000s set in, the CE continued to collect the Diary and Interview surveys purely on paper: without the use of digital aides. The year 2003 marked the first shift in that direction with the adaptation of an electronic form of data collection. CE introduced a computer assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) instrument for the two surveys. Among other short and long-term goals, it sought to minimize respondent burden and nonresponse bias and move the survey administration process into the modern era. In 2021, spurred by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and to provide more timely data, mid-year CE Public Use Microdata (PUMD) were released. Mid-year data are released in the second quarter of a given year and provide a partial snapshot into spending trends in anticipation of the annual data release. The year 2022 saw another milestone regarding digital implementation with the full adoption of a revamped and modern online interface for the Diary Survey. The Diary and Interview surveys As noted above, the CE is composed of two distinct surveys: the 2-week Diary Survey and the quarterly Interview Survey. The Diary Survey is designed to capture expenditures on small, frequently purchased items that are normally more difficult for respondents to recall purchasing multiple months ago. It is considerably easier to recall the purchase of fruit from a grocery store over a 2-week reference period than a 12-week reference period. Respondents keep detailed entries of consumption for several key expenditure categories. A major category that the Diary Survey contains is that of food and beverage spending, both for food at home and food away from home. The former comprises spending at grocery stores, public markets, and corner convenient stores. The latter focuses on food purchased at restaurants (full service, fast food, etc.), or employer and school cafeterias. Other items collected in the Diary Survey include tobacco; housekeeping supplies; nonprescription drugs; daily transportation needs, such as gasoline, taxi fares, and tolls; personal care products and services; and apparel. Although the Diary Survey was designed to collect information on expenditures that are not recalled easily over an extended reference period, respondents are asked to report all expenses that the CU incurs during the survey week, except those incurred while traveling on an out-of-town trip. For example, a New York-based CU would record spending on a taxi or limousine within Manhattan but not for one from the airport to the hotel at the start of an out-of-town trip. The Interview Survey is designed to capture data on expenditures centered around large-scale purchases and recurring payments. Unlike the Diary Survey, respondents for the Interview Survey are asked to report purchases that can be recalled for at least 3 months, recorded by the interviewer. As stated, expenditures that consumers can be expected to recall in a typical interview wave can be sorted into two main categories, the first being large-scale purchases. Examples of large-scale purchases that a CU would report in the Interview Survey include the purchase of a new or used automobile, major appliances, and the maintenance of housing property. Recurring payments reported in the Interview Survey include items such as rent, utility payments, and insurance premiums. In addition, unlike the Diary Survey, the Interview Survey collects expenditures on out-of-town trips (excluding spending for business purposes). These data alone account for 60–70 percent of total expenditures for the average CU. After adding in respondents’ global estimates for spending on food, alcohol, and tobacco products, estimates rise to about 95 percent of expenditures that are covered in the Interview Survey.2 Nonprescription drugs, household supplies, and personal care items are excluded from Interview Survey collection. Survey design, administration, and scope Beyond the expenditure categories included in each survey, it is important to lay out the overall design, how each survey is administered, and what other implications they have. For the Diary Survey, the U.S. Census Bureau draws a sample of 17,800 addresses per year for the CE, with approximately 15,000 of those addresses found to be occupied housing units. The other 2,800 addresses are ineligible for the survey as generally, they are nonexistent, nonresidential, or vacant. Approximately 6,700 of those occupied housing units respond to the survey, yielding a response rate of roughly 45 percent of eligible units. Each household is then asked to complete two weekly diaries, recording all expenditures in that 2-week window. This yields a total of 13,400 weekly diaries per year. In a similar fashion, for the Interview Survey, the U.S. Census Bureau visits 13,175 addresses on a quarterly basis, with 11,000 of those addresses having eligible, occupied housing units. Out of the 11,000 occupied units visited, approximately 5,000 of those housing units respond to the survey for a corresponding quantity of interviews per quarter, yielding a response rate of 45 percent. Each CU is interviewed once per quarter, for four consecutive quarters. Given that the panel of CUs interviewed rotates each quarter, a consistent quantity of CUs rotate in and out of the survey. Data from both the Diary and Interview Surveys are collected on an ongoing basis in 91 Primary Sampling Units (PSUs), which are defined geographic areas of the United States. Integrated data from the Diary and Interview Surveys provide a more complete accounting of consumer expenditures and income than either survey is designed to do on its own. One reason is that data on some expenditure items are collected in only one of the surveys. For example, the Diary Survey does not collect information on reimbursements or expenses incurred by CU members while on an out-of-town trip. Examples of expenditures for which reimbursements are included in the Interview Survey are medical care; automobile repairs; and construction, repairs, alterations, and maintenance of property. Similarly, the Interview Survey collects only global, not detailed, expenditures on food, at or away from home. Source selection and data changes For expenditure items that are unique to one survey or the other, the choice of which survey to use as the source of data is obvious. However, there is considerable overlap in coverage between the two surveys, and when dealing with integrated data, careful analysis and thought must be given when choosing the appropriate survey from which to select specific expenditure items. When data are available from both surveys, BLS, in conjunction with members of the BLS CPI program, conduct statistical analyses to decide the most reliable survey source. The team relies on three key statistical methods to decide which survey is more reliable including: counts sufficiency; statistical significance through the transmission mechanism of weighted z-scores; and, starting in 2020, the introduction of edit rates to gauge data quality. In this way, some items are selected from the Interview Survey, and others are selected from the Diary Survey. BLS reviews the survey sources every 2 years, with the intent to move to an annual evaluation period to minimize lag time if there is a clear change in source selection in the year between evaluations. For source selection details, see “CE Source Selection for Publication Tables” in the Consumer Expenditure Survey Anthology, 2011 (BLS Report, no. 1030). For the year 2021, the CE and CPI team made five source selection changes. Four of the changes involved expenditure data at the Universal Classification Codes (UCCs) level moving from the Diary to the Interview Survey including: videogames, hardware, and accessories; telephones and accessories; power tools; and athletic gear, game tables, and exercise equipment. One UCC switched from Interview to Diary, that being Girls’ skirts. In addition to the five source selection changes mentioned above, the team adjusted a substantial number of clothing UCCs. As of the second quarter of 2021, three global clothing UCCs were added to the Interview Survey STUB file.3 At the same time, 20 clothing UCCs moved from the Interview to the Diary STUB file, to better reflect optimal survey placement. Additional details and specifics on the movement of said UCCs is available upon request. Additional key CE and CPI information As noted above, the CPI market basket is revised in accordance with results from the CE, however, the population coverage of the CE differs from that of the CPI. For example, the CE data cover the total population, including rural areas, whereas the CPI covers only the population in urban areas. With the latest CPI geographic revisions, BLS is making efforts to align the urban areas sampled by the CPI and the CE. Definitions of components also differ between the CE and CPI. For example, homeownership is treated differently in the two surveys. Actual expenditures of homeownership (mortgage payments) are reported in the CE, whereas the CPI uses a rental equivalence approach that estimates the change in the cost of obtaining, in the rental marketplace, services equivalent to those provided by owner-occupied homes. (For an overview of the CPI methodology, see the Handbook of Methods section on the Consumer Price Index.) Interpreting CE data When interpreting CE data, the user should keep a few key points in mind. Expenditures are averages for CUs with specified characteristics, regardless of whether any individual CU with those characteristics incurred an expense for a given item during the survey collection. Take new cars for example. The average price of a new car, according to Kelly Blue Book, was $47,077 for 2021.4 Conversely, the average annual expenditure for new cars and trucks in the year 2021 was just under $2,200. Thus, the average expenditure shown for an item may be considerably lower than the average expenditure by the CUs who purchased the item. The less frequently an item is purchased, the greater the difference between the average for all CUs and the average for those purchasing the item. Similarly, an individual CU may spend more or less than the average. Factors such as income, age and number of family members, and the geographic location of the CU influence its expenditures. For example, a CU in the fifth income quintile will likely spend more on food on out-of-town trips than a CU in the first income quintile due to the fifth income CU’s higher disposable income. In addition, even within groups with similar characteristics, the distribution of expenditures varies substantially, as consumer tastes and preference, prices, and other factors not collected in the Consumer Expenditure Surveys (CE) (e.g., health status of CU members) also influence expenditure patterns. Such points should be considered when comparing reported averages with the circumstances of any individual CU of interest. Users of these survey data should also keep in mind that the data reflect conditions at the time they were collected, which may be different than current circumstances. For one thing, prices may have changed. All prices, as measured by the CPI-U, increased 4.7 percent from 2020 to 2021 (annual average index). Undoubtedly, some prices rose more than the average 4.7 percent, some rose less, some stayed the same, and some may have even declined, either within this period or after 2021. In addition, sample surveys are subject to two types of error: sampling and non-sampling. Sampling errors arise from the constraint of not being able to survey the entire population. Whenever data are collected from a subset of a larger entity and are extrapolated to apply to all elements of that entity, there is bound to be error in the data. Therefore, the mean of the sample may differ from the mean that would be obtained if data from the entire population were available. On the other hand, nonsampling error results from data collection constraints and inconsistencies. Any of the following are sources of non-sampling error: the inability or unwillingness of respondents to provide correct information regarding spending patterns, differences in interviewers’ abilities to harvest information from respondents, mistakes in recording or coding, and other processing errors. For additional information on these types of errors, see the sampling and non-sampling errors question on the CE FAQs page. Data products Standard tables, 1960–61, 1972–73, 1984–2021 Tables in this report include data integrated from the Diary Survey and Interview Survey components of the CE. Integrated data enables users to paint a more complete picture of CU spending dynamics by pulling key components such as food and apparel from the Diary Survey and rent, utilities, and household appliances from the Interview Survey. Integrated tables also provide expenditure breakdowns by the 17 demographic characteristics collected in the CE, allowing for analyses of comprehensive spending trends by such characteristics as education level, occupation, and housing tenure. For more detail than is provided in this report, see the CE tables archive. This archive provides tables from as far back as 1960–61. In addition to annual tables, CE offers standard tables with a 2-year collection period. The 2-year tables are available in two broad categories: cross-tabulated tables and geographic area tables. Cross-tabulated tables analyze the intersection of two demographic characteristics. Examples of both 2-year table categories are listed below. Cross-tabulated tables income before taxes, cross-tabulated by age, CU size, or region. region of residence by income before taxes or housing tenure single consumers by sex of reference person, cross-tabulated by either income (of the CU) or age (of reference person). Geographic area tables selected states by income before taxes including California, Florida, New York, New Jersey, and Texas. selected metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), such as New York City, Chicago, Washington D.C., and San Francisco. Detailed tables, 1984–2021 To complement the standard tables, BLS also produces detailed level CE tables on request. Detailed level tables contain additional sub-categories of spending by demographic characteristics, allowing users to not only view how much a CU spends on “public and other transportation,” but also spending levels on airline tickets, intracity mass transit spending, and local transportation on out-of-town trips. However, while detailed level tables provide a more robust breakdown of spending data, they have larger variances relative to other tables. For additional information on variability concerns, please see How does the variability of Consumer Expenditures affect your analysis. A detailed table showing results at the all consumer units level, at even the most detailed breakdown of expenditures, is available at www.bls.gov/cex /tables.htm#topline. Detailed level tables broken down by demographics are available by request by reaching out to the following email address: CEXInfo@bls.gov. New additions to CE tables For the 2019 release, CE adjusted how it presents urban and rural expenditures in tabular form. Urban and rural data had been available since 1984, but as a component of the housing tenure table. For the 2019 release, urban and rural data was separated into a “new” table known as “area type.” The purpose of this most recent subgroup is to offer the ability to conduct analyses of spending habits by whether a CU is geographically located in an urban or rural setting. For collection years 2019 and 2020, BLS used its own unique definition of what constitutes “urban” and “rural,” on the basis of metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas (MSA’s and MiSA’s). For collection year 2021, the switch was made to the most current definitions of what constitutes an urban and rural area (as designated by the Census Bureau), while simultaneously adopting the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) definition of “principal city.” For the 2021 CE data release, CE produced the new type of area in table 1721. Public use microdata The 2021 CE public use microdata (PUMD), including the Interview Survey files, Diary Survey files, and paradata (information about the data collection process), are available at www.bls.gov/cex/pumd.htm. The Interview Survey files contain expenditure data in three distinct formats: MTBI, FMLI, and EXPN files. MBTI files present monthly values in an item-coding framework based on the CPI-U pricing scheme. FMLI files present user-friendly summary expenditure variables. Finally, EXPN files present detailed data files that organize expenditures by the section of the Interview questionnaire in which they are collected. Expenditure values on detailed data files cover different time periods depending on the specific questions asked. In addition, these files also contain relevant non-expenditure information not found on the MTBI files. The Diary Survey files contain expenditure data in two different formats: EXPD files that present weekly values in the same item-coding framework based on the CPI-U pricing scheme and FMLD files that present user-friendly summary expenditure variables. Documentation of the CE PUMD, its conventions, files, sample code, and methodology, can be found at www.bls.gov/cex/pumd-getting-started-guide.htm. New estimates of local, state, and federal tax liabilities were included in the 2013 PUMD release and thereafter. The CE introduced these estimates to improve the quality of surveyed tax liabilities, which suffered from low response rates. For more information on the aforementioned improvements and for recent applications of said tax estimates, please see Improving Data Quality in the Consumer Expenditure Survey with TAXSIM and New Estimates of Personal Taxes in the Consumer Expenditure Survey. Free public use microdata are available at the PUMD data files webpage for SAS, STATA, SPSS, and Excel for the years 1980 to 2021. Recent publications highlighting CE data To highlight the far-reaching scope of the data, economists in BLS frequently produce research for both agency and public audiences. BLS staff members actively published articles in the following BLS publications: The Economics Daily, Spotlight on Statistics, Beyond the Numbers, and the Monthly Labor Review. The Economics Daily provides readers with high-level, short highlights and headlines of current developments using BLS data. Recent articles published in The Economics Daily from CE economists include “Consumer spending on public transportation rebounded in 2021 after a large decline in 2020,” “Single men outspent single women on entertainment in 2019–20, but single women spent more on pets,” “Changes to consumer expenditures during the COVID-19 pandemic,” and “Consumer expenditures on travel declined sharply from 2019–2020.” Articles in Spotlight on Statistics present their stories via a collection of charts, focusing on the visual aspect of presenting CE data to the viewer. The most recent CE publication is “Meal Appeal: Patterns of expenditures on food away from home.” Beyond the Numbers articles take a more in-depth look at a topic of interest, focusing on more in-depth analysis and commentary, with a selection of related charts and tables. As of December of 2022, the most recent Beyond the Numbers articles highlighting CE data include “How have healthcare expenditures changed? Evidence from the Consumer Expenditure Surveys” and “Receipt and use of stimulus payments in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.” The most comprehensive analyses of CE data can be found in the Monthly Labor Review. Articles in this journal exhibit more technical concepts and use statistical techniques not found in other publications. The most recent articles highlighting CE data in the Monthly Labor Review include "SNAP participation and food-at-home expenditures through the Great Recession: United States and the New York Area" and “Assessing Consumer Expenditure Surveys data quality through the lens of data use.” In addition, the CE research library includes general articles and research papers using CE data, including instructional and how-to documents. The CE data quality and comparisons profile provides users with a comprehensive analysis on how CE data compares with other seminal outlets that release expenditure data on a frequent basis. Outlets that have CE comparison profiles include but are not limited to: the American Community Survey, Personal Consumption Expenditure, and Panel Survey of Income Dynamics. For those interested in information on the methodology used to calculate and collect CE data, including the CE data quality profile, please reference the CE Handbook of Methods. Other survey information Other survey information available on the website includes answers to frequently asked questions and a glossary of terms. Beginning with the CE 2000 data, estimates of standard errors for integrated Diary and Interview Survey data are also available. Upcoming events BLS sponsors a microdata users’ workshop. The event is free, although registration is required. The microdata users’ workshop is intended to provide attendees with a stable foundation of microdata knowledge that they can build on. The workshop starts with presentations for first time PUMD users, whether it be calculating basic sample means or taking a dive into the MTBI or FMLI files. The workshop includes presentations and exercises that build upon the established baseline knowledge with more complex assignments. The workshop also features presentations from researchers not affiliated with BLS, who describe the nature of their projects, the specific files they use, the variables they use, the problems they encountered, the solutions they used when working with the data, and any other relevant topics. Finally, the workshop features opportunities to meet with an expert from the CE staff to discuss any aspect of a current or potential project, general or specific, about which the attendee has questions or concerns. The next CE Microdata Users’ Workshop will be held in the summer of 2023. More information about these events is available on the CE website (https://www.bls.gov /cex/ceworkshopthankyou.htm). Reports on these events (2009 through 2020) are also published in the Monthly Labor Review. Contact information For more detailed information on the availability of current and earlier data, contact the Division of Consumer Expenditure Surveys, Office of Prices and Living Conditions, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE, Washington, DC 20212-0001; call (202) 691-6900; email: CEXInfo@bls.gov; or visit the Consumer Expenditure Surveys page. Information in this publication is in the public domain and, with appropriate credit, may be reproduced without permission. If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services. Additional notes 1 In 2015, the Interview Survey moved from a five to four panel wave. This was done to reduce non-response rates in subsequent waves, increase rates of reporting, and shorten Interview length. The “bounding” interview referred to the first wave of the five-wave sequence. 2 A global question is one that collects broad, general information on the item of interest. For example, the Diary Survey collects detailed information on purchases of food at home, such as rice or chuck steak. In contrast, the Interview Survey asks the global question, “what has been (your/your household’s) usual WEEKLY expense for grocery shopping?” 3 STUB files show “hierarchical groupings,” which include a description of each UCC along with its hierarchical standing within each expenditure or income category for a given year. Hierarchical groupings are not available for years prior to 1996. For years 1996 and forward, three file types are available: “Integrated groupings” lists UCCs that the CE tables use, and identifies the survey source for the UCCs. These files use this naming convention: CE-HG-Integ-2017. “Interview groupings” lists the UCCs from the Interview Survey. These files use this naming convention: CE-HG-Inter-2017. Not available for 1996. “Diary groupings” list the UCCs from the Diary Survey. These files use this naming convention: CE-HG-Diary-2017. Not available for 1996. 4 As reported by Kelly Blue Book in January of 2022, the average price of a new car that rolled off the lot was $47,077, considerably more than the average annual expenditure for a car at the all consumer units level. See Sean Tucker, “Average new car price tops $47,000,” Kelly Blue Book, January 14, 2022, https://www.kbb.com /car-news/average-new-car-price-tops-47000/. U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS Division of Information and Marketing Services PSB Suite 2850 2 Massachusetts Avenue NE Washington, DC 20212-0001 Telephone:1-202-691-5200 Telecommunications Relay Service:7-1-1 www.bls.gov/OPUB Contact Us
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