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"y to n & M o n tg o m e ry Co

Public Library

MAR 2 4 1969

DOCUMENT collection

FOR AN U R B A N FAMILY
OF FO UR P E R S O N S

Bulletin No. 1570-5
U S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS




THREE
STANDARDS
OF LIVING
FOR AN U R B A N FAMILY
OF FOUR P E R S O N S
SPRING

1967

Bulletin No. 1570-5
U.S. DEPARTMENTOF LABOR
George P. Shultz, Secretary
BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS




For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
Washington, D.C. 20402 - Price $1

PREFACE

This bulletin summarizes the first attempt by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to develop budgets
at three levels—the generally known moderate budget, and budgets lower and higher than that level.
No descriptive titles have been attached to the lower and the higher budgets. However, chapter I dis­
cusses the concepts of these budgets, and more importantly, describes in general terms how the lists
of goods and services were derived. Chapters II and III summarize the highlights and provide b rief
analyses of the component cost levels and intercity differences in the budgets at the first pricing
period for all three budgets—April 1967. Chapter IV discusses information available on the actual in­
come of fam ilies of the budget type, and typical uses and misuses of budget cost estimates in com­
parison with income. Chapter V describes in detail the sources of data and estimating methods used
in constructing the budgets.
Appendix A lists the average annual quantities of items which were used to determine the costs
of the three budget levels. Appendix B describes the specifications used to collect or estimate prices
for the lower and higher budgets, which differ from those used in the moderate budget. (Specifications
for the moderate budget have been published in Bulletin 1570-3, as described below.) Appendix C
shows the population weights for combining individual metropolitan area and nonmetropolitan regional
costs to U.S. urban averages.
A list of the Bureau’ s previous budgets and related references, is provided in appendix D,
including the Report of the Advisory Committee on Standard Budget Research, June 1963. This
report summarizes the recommendations of a special committee of experts, representing users
of standard budgets in State and local welfare administration, academic research, labor unions,
and business organizations. The committee advised the Bureau on the direction that its research
on standard budgets should take, and its recommendations formed guidelines for the Bureau
in the development of the current budget.
Other bulletins in the current series report results of other phases of the standard budget
research programs:
Bulletin 1570-1 gives the autumn 1966 costs of the City Worker’ s Family Budget for a Moderate
Living Standard and describes the change in moderate standard since the original and interim bud­
gets (issued October 1967).
Bulletin 1570-2 describes the Revised Equivalence Scale for estimating budget costs for fam ilies
of different size, age, and type (issued as preliminary October 1967, and final November 1968).
Bulletin 1570-3 reports on the autumn 1966 Pricing Procedures, Specifications, and Average
Prices used for the moderate standard of the city worker’ s budget (issued August 1968).
Bulletin 1570-4 gives the autumn 1966 costs for a Retired Couple’ s Budget for a Moderate
Living Standard (issued June 1968).
Bulletin 1570-6 will give the spring 1967 estimates for Three Standards of Urban Living for
a Retired Couple.




iii

In the future, estimates of the cost of the three standard budgets for the 4-person fam ily
and for a retired couple will be made in the spring of the year and published periodically for the
same metropolitan areas and regional classes of smaller cities as those included in the present
study. For a rough approximation of the autumn 1968 costs of the major components of fam ily
consumption in the three budgets for Urban United States, see page 14.
This bulletin was prepared by Jean C. Brackett under the supervision of Helen H. Lamale,
Chief of the Division of Living Conditions Studies and the general direction of Arnold E. Chase,
Assistant Commissioner. Elizabeth Ruiz supervised the research for all budget components except
food and medical care, for which Mary H. Hawes was responsible. Other staff members in this
Division whose work contributed substantially to the project were Miriam A. Solomon, Roseann
C. Cogan, Alice B. Curry, and M. Louise McCraw, .The Division of Consumer P rices, under the
supervision of Doris P. Rothwell, developed procedures for the collection and calculation, or
estimation, of average prices for the three budget levels.




iv

CONTENTS

Introduction.............................................................................................................................

Page
vj

Chapter I

Concepts and Procedures ................................................................................

1

Chapter II

Costs in Urban Areas

.....................................................................................

5

Chapter III

Comparative L iving Costs Indexes ................................................................

26

Chapter IV

Income and Budget Costs

................................................................................

39

Chapter V

Data Sources and Estimating Methods.............................................................

41

Food .....................................................................................................................................

41

Shelter c o s t s .......................................................................................................................

42

Transportation ...............

44

Medical c a r e ........................................................................................................................

44

Other goods and s e r v i c e s ...................................................................................................

45

Other costs .........................................................................................................................

48

P ricin g procedures ............................................................................................................

48

Tables:
1. Annual Costs of Budgets for 3 Living Standards for a 4-Person Fam ily, Urban
United States, 39 Metropolitan Areas and 4 Nonmetropolitan Regions, Spring
1967 .................................................................................................................................

15

2. Indexes of Comparative Costs Based on a Lower Living Standard fo r a 4-Person
Fam ily, Spring 1967 ..................... * ...............................................................................

33

3. Indexes of Comparative Costs Based on a Moderate Living Standard for a 4Person Fam ily, Spring 1967 .........................................................................................

35

4. Indexes of Comparative Costs Based on a Higher Living Standard for a 4-Person
Fam ily, Spring 1967 ......................................................................................................

37

Appendix contents....................................................................................................................

51




v

Introduction

Budgets representing specified levels of
living have long been recognized by social scien­
tists as desirable research tools for use as
benchmarks in determining individual family
needs, establishing interarea differences in
living costs, and documenting changes in living
standards over time. Despite the diversity of
uses for such measures, relatively few such
budgets have been developed by public or private
agencies.

in terms of a list of items in specific quantities
and qualities for a fam ily of 4 persons (husband,
wife, boy of 13, and g irl of 8). P rices of the items
were collected in 34 large cities in March, 1946.
The resultant costs estimates were described as
the City W orker’ s Family Budget for a “ modest
but adequate” living standard. About the same
time, a budget for a retired couple, at a com­
parable living standard, was developed by the
Social Security Administration.

However, during the past decade, the estab­
lishment of many new social programs and the
expansion of old ones have emphasized the need
for objective, quantitive standards with which the
income of individual fam ilies and population
groups can be compared. The budgets presented
in this bulletin have been prepared in recognition

The original budgets were repriced by BLS
at intervals through October 1951, after which
they were discontinued because the lists of
goods and services no longer represented a
modest living standard for a worker’ s fam ily
or a retired couple in the 1950’ s. The lists
of items were revised near the end of the de­
cade, and an Interim City Worker’ s Family
Budget and Interim Budget for a Retired Couple
showing autumn 1959 costs of a “ modest but
adequate” living standard in 20 large cities
were published.

of this need.
Budget research has also been limited for
technical reasons. Living standards refer to the
goals we set for ourselves as consumers of goods
and services and as users of leisure time. In our
society, however, there is no single set of goals
adopted by all fam ilies and no one level or pattern
of consumption which provides an appropriate
base for the evaluation of need in a variety of
social programs. This fact raises many concep­
tual problems in defining a specific living stand­
ard and in developing objective procedures for
deriving a list of goods and services which de­
scribe the standard, i.e., a quantity budget.

When the Bureau’ s new program of budget
research was initiated in 1965, the same general
procedures w e r e used to develop a quantity
budget at a moderate level, comparable with the
earlier “ modest but adequate” level, for the same
two family types (the younger, 4-person fam ily
and the retired couple). In the new budgets, how­
ever, the lists of goods and services are'repre­
sentative of a moderate standard in the decade
of the 1960’ s. Also, the program was expanded to
include cost estimates for homeowner, as well as
renter, fam ilies, and the budgets were priced in
a sample of 39 metropolitan areas and of nonmet­
ropolitan areas in 4 regions. Hence, U.S. urban
average cost estimates are available for the firs t
time. Simultaneously, the Bureau revised its
scale of equivalent income or budget costs, which
can be used, in conjunction with the base budgets,
to estimate total consumption costs (but not the
separate components) of a comparable budget
for families of other sizes and types.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics was con­
fronted with these problems when in the mid1940’ s, it was directed by a Subcommittee of the
Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives “to find out what it costs a
worker’ s fam ily to live in the large cities of the
United States,” and to calculate both the total
dollars required and the relative differences in
costs among the cities. To carry out this d irec­
tive, the Bureau, assisted by a Technical Ad­
visory Committee, identified a level and pattern
of consumption required for the maintenance of
health and social well-being, the nurture of
children, and participation in community activ­
ities. This pattern of consumption was expressed




The procedures developed two decades ago
for deriving a list of goods and services to rep re­
sent a moderate budget level are not perfect, and

vi

research continues to improve the basic sources
of information on consumer choices and tech­
niques of analysis. However, the budgets based
on these procedures have been used widely, and
consequently the general concept of a moderate
budget is well understood and accepted—if not as
true in some absolute sense, at least as a w elldocumented convention. Furthermore, t h e s e
procedures result in cost estimates, not only of
the total budget (including taxes) and total family
consumption, but also of the major components of
family consumption, which enhances their use­
fulness. They also provide a sound basis for
measuring differences among geographic areas
in costs for an equivalent level of living. And
finally, the same budget quantities and pricing
specifications can be used by other research
workers to produce comparable cost estimates
for other geographical areas not included in the
BLS sample.
Since the budgets based on these procedures
were initiated, however, it has been evident that
no single budget at one specified level would meet
all of the important needs. Throughout the decade
of the 1950’ s, for example, State public assistance
agencies appealed to BLS to develop a budget for
a lower living standard or to suggest ways in
which the moderate budget could be scaled down,
because, in the judgment of program administra­
tors, the goals represented by the moderate
standard were too high to be consistent with the
objectives of public assistance programs or with
the funds available to administer such programs.
Legislators attempting to formulate laws with in­
come criteria for admission to public housing
units had a sim ilar problem.
On the other hand, representatives of volun­
tary social and welfare agencies providing serv­




vii

ices to fam ilies with a special problem, such as
a handicapped child or an aged parent with a long­
term illness, frequently requested budget esti­
mates for a standard higher than moderate to
consider in determining eligibility or establish­
ing a scale of fees paid for the services provided.
Business organizations and labor unions inter­
ested in maintaining comparable salary levels or
wage rates for sim ilar work assignments per­
formed in different locations also called repeat­
edly for intercity indexes of living costs based on
budgets for standards above the moderate level.
Requests for standards for other levels of living,
and especially for a “ minimum” standard, have
multiplied rapidly in recent years, and partic­
ularly with the focus on problems of lower in­
come fam ilies in this decade.
It is not the purpose of this report to deter­
mine what criteria are appropriate for apprais­
ing the economic condition of population groups
or of the total population, evaluating the need for
and the effect of specific laws and programs, or
guiding administrative determinations of need as
required by a number of laws. The appropriate
criteria must be selected by specialists in such
areas as public assistance, social and welfare
services, public housing, unemployment com­
pensation, minimum wages, collective bargain­
ing, college scholarship- aid, social security,
etc., who are intimately acquainted with the goals
of the programs and the resources available to
administer them. M oreover, questions of policy
which require public review are often involved.
This report does attempt, however, to meet im ­
portant needs insofar as possible by providing
budgets at more than one level.




Three Standards of Living for An Urban Family
of Four Persons: Spring 1967
Chapter I. Concepts

While most families that do any budgeting at
all base their budgets on current or expected in­
come, any budget which is to be used as a bench­
mark for economic or social measurements must
take the opposite approach. It must be built up
from a list of goods and services representing
a specified level of living, Whenthecostof these
goods and services has been determined, it is
then possible to ascertain the amount of income
required to cover the budget.

varying the assumptions concerning the man­
ner of living, and by providing different quanti­
ties and qualities of the necessary goods and
services.
The manner of living represented by the
lower budget differs from that in the moderate
and higher budgets prim arily in the specifica­
tions that the fam ily lives in rental housing
without air conditioning; performs more serv­
ices for itself; and utilizes free recreation
facilities in the community. The life style
reflected by the higher budget, on the other
hand, specifies a higher level of homeownership, compared with the moderate; more com­
plete inventories of household appliances and
equipment; and more extensive use of services
for a fee. For a majority of the items in the
list of goods and services that are common
to the three budgets, both the quantity and
quality levels in the lower budget are below,
while those in the higher are above, the levels
specified for the moderate budget.

Traditionally, specific levels of living have
been described by such adjectives as minimum,
liberal, subsistence, luxury, modest, moderate,
necessary, adequate, comfortable, ideal, etc.
Although any of these terms may serve as a con­
venient shorthand reference for a specified level
and manner of living, none is self-explanatory.
Their meaning is affected by changes over time
in the conditions of living within a society. Re­
gardless of what descriptive term is chosen,
therefore, a benchmark budget rests essentially
on—and must be defined in terms of—the list of
goods and services selected to represent the
specified level of living. Furthermore, to provide
meaningful estimates of its costs, the budget list
must be related to a specific size and type of
family, and specific assumptions must be made
with respect to the fam ily’ s manner of living.

The content of the budgets in based on the
manner of living and consumer choices in the
1960’ s. Two kinds of data were used to derive
the list of goods and services. First, nutri­
tional and health standards, as determined by
scientists and technicians, were used for the
food-at-ho me and the housing c o m p o n e n t s .
The selection among the various kinds of food

Budget Concepts
The procedures that were used to develop
the three budgets assume that maintenance of
health and social well-being, the nurture of

and housing arrangements meeting the stand­
ards was based on actual choices made by
fam ilies, as revealed by surveys of consumer
expenditures. Second, where scientific stand­
ards have not been formulated, analyses of the
data reported in the Bureau’ s Survey of Con­
sumer Expenditures and related consumption
studies were used to determine the specific
items, and the quantities and qualities thereof.

children, and participation in community activi­
ties are both desirable and necessary social
goals for all fam ilies of the type for which
the budgets were constructed. Within this broad
framework the procedures were designed to
d i s t i n g u i s h different levels of l i v i n g by




and Procedures

1

2
These analytical procedures result in basing
some parts of the budgets upon the collective
judgment of consumers as to the kinds and
amounts of consumption required, rather than
upon scientific standards. Some exercise of the
budget-maker’ s own judgment is involved in the
construction of these budgets. However, such
judgment has been confined to the specification
of the manner of living (as described above)
for each budget level, and selection of the basic
data and determination of the procedures to
be followed in deriving the items and quantities.
The procedures used to derive the various levels
are described in general terms in the following
section and documented in more detail in chapter
V. The concepts, procedures, and pricing lists
for the moderate standard are described in de­
tail in BLS Bulletins 1570-1 and 1570-3.
Procedures
The budgets for a lower, moderate, and
higher living standard were developed within
a single theoretical framework to represent
three levels of adequacy for one type of selfsupporting family of four persons.
The theoretical basis for the general ap­
proach to the derivation of quantities and
pricing lists for the three budgets is sum­
marized in the following quotation from the
report on the original budget for a “ modest
but adequate” standard:
" . . . In the actual experience of fami­
lie s there is a scale which ranks various
consumption patterns in an ascending order
from mere subsistence to
plentitude in
every respect. . . . This consumption scale
is established by society. It can be d is ­
covered only through observation of the ex­
pressions of society’ s ratings of the var­
ious existin g levels of liv in g . These r a t ­
ings of the various levels of liv in g are
expressed in the judgments of s c ie n t is t s ,
such as medical and public health authori­
tie s; and secondly, in the behavior of in ­
dividual consumers. S cien tific judgments
are based prim arily on the studies of the
relation between family consumption and in ­
dividual and community health. The express­
ions of consumer judgnent appear in the
choices made by consumers as economic bar­
r ie rs are progressively removed.” 1 /




In 1946, and again in 1959, this general ap­
proach was used to derive a single list of com­
modities and services representing a standard
described as “ modest but adequate” in both
periods. Even where standards of adequacy based
on the judgments of scientists and experts are
available, however, these standards frequently
can be implemented at various levels of cost.
Hence the budget maker must define the cost
level which is appropriate for a specific living
standard, and within that level, determine the
cost in such a way that it reflects the actual
choices of consumers themselves.
For example, in food consumption, recom ­
mended allowances for nutrient intake, based on
scientific research have been formulated for
individuals in different sex-age groups. These
requirements have been translated by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture into food plans at
different cost levels, which reflect the actual
patterns of fam ilies with varying amounts of
money to spend for food. In the 1946 and 1959
BLS budgets for a “ modest but adequate” living
standard, the food component was based on an
average of the low-cost and moderate-cost food
plans. In the current BLS budgets, however,
the low-cost food plan was used in the lower
standard, and the moderate- and liberal-cost
plans in the moderate and higher standard bud­
gets respectively. 2/
Similarly, technical experts have described
standards for shelter relating to such factors
as sleeping space appropriate to fam ily size
and composition, essential household equipment
(including plumbing), adequate heat, structural
condition of the unit, and neighborhood location.
However, depending on the quality level at which
the basic standards are implemented, housing
units may be rented or purchased at different
levels of cost. A housing unit may include a
guest room or den in addition to adequate
sleeping space for the family, or it may have
_1/ Technical R e f e r e n c e 10, p.

92, ap­

pendix D.
2/ See Section on Food on p. 41 for a more
detailed account of the food standard and the
basis for the food plans at different cost levels.

3
two or more bathrooms, central air conditioning,
architectural distinction as well as sound struc­
tural condition, and it may be located in a
convenient or exclusive area. For the current
budgets, average contract rents and purchase
prices of owned homes were accepted as a
proxy measure of such qualitative differences
among all housing units which conformed to
the basic standards. Thus, the average rent
for the low third of the distribution of contract
rents for units which met the housing standard
was used for the lower standard, and the
averages for the middle and high thirds of the
distribution were used for the moderate and
higher standards respectively. 3/
For the transportation component, prevailing
practices of budget-type fam ilies themselves
provided the criteria for standards. The 1960-61
Survey of Consumer Expenditures revealed that
the proportions of urban fam ilies that owned
an automobile were high at all income levels,
and paralleled the trend to homeownership and
the extension of suburbs to areas not served
by public transportation. Hence ownership of a
car was specified for some proportion of the
families in all three standards. Transportation
costs differ among the standards as a result
of two factors: Variation in the weights for
automobile ownership in individual metropolitan
areas, to reflect the greater availability of public
transportation in some areas than inothers; and
different specifications for the ages of the cars
purchased and traded-in and for the number of
miles driven at each budget level.
Prevailing practice also provided a standard
for the medical care component for insurance
coverage of the cost of hospitalization and
surgical services for all family members,
obtained by the husband through a group con­
tract at his place of employment. Insurance
costs reflect the percentage of the total cost
paid by the employee (and assume the employer
paid for the remainder). The same insurance
protection was included in both the lower and
moderate standards, but in the higher standard
this coverage was supplemented by a major




medical insurance contract. Allowances for
medical care not covered by insurance—such
as visits to physicians, dental care, eye ex­
aminations —were derived from National Health
Survey data. These allowances were the same
in all three standards, since they were based
on utilization rates which reflect the average
condition of health of individuals in the same
age-sex categories as the budget family mem­
bers. Allowances differ only for items such
as eyeglass frames, where factors other
than health needs enter into the determination
of costs.
A standard of health, based on the recent
findings of the U.S. Public Health Service on
the ill effects of cigarette smoking, also was
invoked as a basis for eliminating an allowance
for

oigarettes

from

all

three budgets. (An

allowance was included in the October 1966
pricing of the moderate standard, but excluded
from the spring 1967 cost estimates for the
moderate as well as for the lower and higher
standards.)
For other categories of consumption—house
furnishings, household operation, clothing, p er­
sonal care, education, reading, r e c r e a t i o n ,
meals away from home, and alcoholic bev­
erages— the ratings of the various levels of
living were based on the judgments of con­
sumers, as revealed in the choices made by
families of the budget-type at successively high­
er levels on the income scale. The data analyz­
ed were from the 1960-61 Survey of Consumer
Expenditures. In the relationship of consumption
(for a particular category of goods) to income, the
income class containing the point of maximum
elasticity was defined as appropriate for determ i n i n g the quantities for the m o d e r a t e
standard. ±/ Quantities for the lower and higher

3/ See Section on Housing, p. 10 for a more
detailed account of procedures.
A/ For a detailed description, see p. 46 >

4
standards were derived respectively from the
income classes below and above the class
containing the iaflection point. The inflection
point has been interpreted as the income level
at which fam ilies stop buying “ more and more”




of a category of goods and services and begin
buying other goods or items of higher quality.
In the lower budget, t h e r e f o r e , this goal
has not yet been reached, and in the higher
budget it has been exceeded.

Chapter II. Costs of 3 Living Standards for a Family of Four

The total average cost in urban areas of the
United States in the spring of 1967 came to $5,915
for the lowest of the three budgets presented
here; $9,076 for the moderate budget; and $13,050
for the higher budget. 5/ These were out-ofpocket costs for the three standards of living
described in this publication, and applied to a
family consisting of a husband, age 38, who was
employed full-time, his wife who was not em­
ployed outside the home, a boy 13, and a girl 8
years of age. The cost of the lower budget was
35 percent below, while the higher budget was
44 percent above, the moderate standard.

The budget totals assume that the source of
the fam ily’ s income is full-tim e employment of
the family head. Since deductions for social
security payments and disability insurance
(where required by law) are made at a constant
rate on all taxable earnings below $6,600 (atthe
time the budgets were priced), they constitute
a declining proportion of total income require­
ments as the level of the budget rises. Deduc­
tions for personal taxes, on the other hand,
reflect the progressive rate structure of the
Federal, and most State, tax laws. Distributions
of costs, by major components of the budgets,
are shown in tabulation on p. 6.

Total budget costs include the components of
family consumption—food, housing, transporta­
tion, clothing, personal care, medical care,
reading, recreation , etc. In addition to these
items consumed directly by a family, the total
budgets also include allowances for gifts and
contributions, life insurance, personal income
and social security taxes, and occupational ex­
penses. Hence, the total budget costs are essen­
tially estimates of the gross incomes required to
maintain the living standards described by the
lists of goods and services included in the budgets.

Costs for Renters and Owners
The living arrangement in the lower standard
was limited to rental housing only, the prevalent
pattern at the lower end of the consumption scale.
In the moderate and higher standards, on the
other hand, the budgets represent weighted aver­
age costs for renter and homeowner fam ilies, g/
since homeowner ship is typical of the manner
of living for the majority of fam ilies with chil­
dren. However, costs for homeowners and
renters also are shown separately for these two
standards (see table 1, p. 15 ), as a convenience
to budget_users.
At the moderate standard, total budget costs
were about $800 higher for homeowner than for
renter fam ilies. At the higher standard, this
owner-renter differential was narrowed to ap­
proximately $600. H o w e v e r , homeownership
costs include both mortage interest and prin­
cipal
payments, and p r i n c i p a l payments
constitute
an
element
of
“ savings”

5/ Table 1 shows annual costs, at spring
1967 prices, of a lower, moderate, and higher
budget for urban United States, metropolitan and
nonmetropolitan areas, 39 individual metropoli­
tan areas, and 4 nonmetropolitan areas. (See
p. 15 .) Costs of the moderate budget only at
autumn 1966 prices (averaging $9,191 in urban
areas), were published in BLS Bulletin 1570-1.
The spring 1967 estimate for this standard
excludes the cigarette allowance and reflects
differences in pricing procedures in the trans­
portation and recreation components. If these
changes had been incorporated in the autumn
1966 estimates, the budget would have averaged
$9,048 in urban areas. Hence the cost of the
moderate standard increased 0.3 percent over
the 6-month period.




6/ In the moderate standard, costs for homeowner fam ilies constitute 75 percent, and those
for renters 25 percent, of the weighted average
costs of shelter for urban United States and
each individual area. In the higher standard the
weights were 85 and 15 percent for homeowners
and renters, respectively.

5

6
Summary and D is trib u tio n of Budget Costs for- 3 Livin g Standards, bv Ma.lor Components:
Urban United S ta te s, Spring 1967

Costs

Percent

Lower
standard

Moderate
1 standard

$5,915

*9,076

Total family consumption--------Pood-------------------------------------Housing--------------------------------Transportation--------------------Clothing and personal careMedical care-----------------------Other family consumption----

4,862
1,644
1,303
446

7 ,2 2 1
2,105
2,230

3,340

Total budget

Higher
standard
*13,050

d is t r ib u t io n

Lower
1 Moderate I Higher
standard | standard |1 standard
100.0

100.0

100.0

9,963

82.2

79.5

76.3

2,586

27.9

23.2

22.0

24.6
9.6

19 .8
25.6
8.6

872

1,127

7.3

J00

985

1,446

10.8

kjh

477

3.3

ll.l
3.8

295

552

497
967

11.8
8.0
5.0

6.0

7.^

Other costs---- --------------------------Gifts and contributions-----Personal l i f e insurance------

265

410

250
160

730
490
240

4.5
2.5

4.6

145
120

5.6
3.8

2.0

2.8
1 .8

Occupational expenses--------------

50

80

85

0.8

0.9

0.7

738

1,365

2,272

12 .5

1 5 .O

17.4

265
473

303

303
1,969

4.5

3.3

1,062

8.0

11 .7

2.3
15.1

Taxes--------Social security and d is ­
a b ilit y ----------------------------Personal income-------------------

not included in the budget for renter fam ilies.
Such payments averaged approximately $455 in
the moderate, and $540 in the higher budget. The
additional income required to cover these pay­
ments also results in higher personal taxes for
homeowner fam ilies, despite the fact that their
mortgage interest p a y m e n t s are tax de­
ductible. 7/
Consumption costs
At the lower standard, fam ily consumption
items required an average annual outlay of $4,862
to meet the requirements for physical health
and social well-being of fam ily members, the

7/ At the level of the moderate standard,
few fam ilies of the type represented by the budget
claim contributions, interest, and other eligible
deductions over the standard deduction. Although
such claims are more common at the level of the
higher standard, it was not feasible to calculate
taxes for each individual area except on the
basis of assuming that standard deductions were
claimed in all cases.




1 .8

nurture of children, and participation in com­
munity activities. Maintenance of these same
general goals or objectives required $7,221 an­
nually at the moderate, and $9,963 at the higher
standard, or 49 and 105 percent, respectively,
above consumption costs in the lower budget. The
three different levels of cost result from d iffer­
ences in the manner or style of life specified for
the family, together with minor variations in the
quantities and a wide range in the qualities of
items purchased at each standard.
In the lower budget, maintenance of the fam­
ily ’ s physical health required 34 percent of the
cost of family consumption for the purchase of
a nutritionally adequate diet, and an additional
10 percent for medical care—including a fam ily
membership in a group hospital and surgical
insurance plan. In the moderate standard, ade­
quate food and medical care require only 29 and
7 percent, respectively, of total fam ily consump­
tion. At the higher standard, food accounts for
only 26 percent, and medical care just 5 percent
of the total, even though in addition to meeting
requirements for health, this standard permits
greater choice and variety in diet and includes
broader health insurance coverage.




URBAN FAMILY
LIVING STANDARDS
Spring 1967

WHERE THE DOLLAR GOES
Urban United States

8
Housing (including shelter, heat, utilities,
household operations, and housefurnishings) in
the lower budget requires about a fourth of total
consumption and covers the costs of dwellings
that are adequate for the fam ily’ s space require­
ments, condition of the unit, and plumbing facil­
ities, etc. In the higher standard, a third of the
total is allocated for units that are not only ade­
quate but may also provide many extra facilities.
(Housing in the moderate standard requires al­
most a third of total consumption.) Even more
significant than the variation in the quality of the
dwelling units at each standard, however, is the
limitation of the lower budget to rental housing
costs. At the moderate and higher levels the costs
reflect the more typical manner of living for fam­
ilies of this type, in which the majority are mak­
ing mortgage payments on homes they purchased
about 7 years ago. Transportation also requires
a relatively smaller proportion of consumption
costs in the lower than in the moderate and
higher standards, prim arily because the use of
a much older car for home-to-work and other
travel in the lower budget and, in the larger
metropolitan areas, higher proportions of fam­
ilies who do not own a car and, hence, use public
transportation exclusively.

Components of consumption

Consumption
pattern of
the average
budget-type
fam ily,

1960-61

Only clothing and personal care needs result
in proportionately sim ilar costs at the three
levels of living. The kinds of items neededcoats, suits, dresses, haircuts, and toothpaste —
do not vary among the standards, and differences
in dollar costs result from d i f f e r e n c e s
in quantities and qualities purchased. The r e ­
mainder of fam ily consumption—reading, recrea ­
tion, education, tobacco, alcoholic beverages,
and miscellaneous expenses— account for only 6
percent of the lower, but 8 and 10 percent r e ­
spectively of the moderate and higher budget,

These distributions of the budget costs for
fam ily consumption do not reflect the way in
which average fam ilies of the budget-type actu­
ally spend their money, or the way in which
fam ilies should spend their money. The following
tabulation compares the actual spending pattern
of the average family of this type, as reported
in the 1960-61 Survey of Consumer Expenditures,
with the budget allowances for consumption.
The comparison clearly illustrates that fam­
ilies with consumption funds equivalent to the
cost of the lower budget will have to allocate their

Distribution of 1967 costs of budget allow ­
ances fo r family consumption:
1/
Lower
standard

Moderate
standard

Higher
standard

T o ta l-------------------------------------

$7,655

$4,862

$7,221

$9,963

Percent d is t r ib u t io n ----------

100

100

100

Pood-------------------------------

24

34

100
26

Housing--------------------------

33 2/
13

27
9

29
31

Medical ca re -----------------

13
6

Other fam ily con­
sumption---------------------

.11

6

T ran spo rtatio n --------- - C loth ing and personal
c a re ----------------------- —

34

12

11

14

14

14

10

6

3

8

10

1/ D istrib u tio n s adjusted to add to 100

2/

Principal payments, which in surveys of consumer expenditures are c la s s ifie d as de­
creases in l i a b i l i t i e s , are included here as cash outlays fo r liv in g expenses fo r compara­
b i li t y with budget allowances fo r housing.




9
resources in a manner substantially different
from the average family of this type, if the re ­
quirements for physical health and social w ell­
being as specified for the lower budget are to be
met. Families with funds equivalent to the higher
standard, on the other hand, will approximate the
average spending pattern in fulfilling their needs.

The USDA moderate-cost plan, used in the
moderate budget, is considered suitable for the
average U,S. family. It includes larger quan­
tities of milk, eggs, meat, fruits, and vegetables
than the low-cost plan. It allows for some of the
higher priced cuts of meat, a few out-of-season
foods, and some convenience foods, Thus, it
provides for more variety and less home p re­
paration than the low-cost plan.

Food
At spring 1967 prices, U.S. urban costs of
this component, including both food-at-home and
away from home, averaged $1,644, $2,105 and
$2,586 in the lower, moderate, and higher budg­
ets respectively. Food away from home—lunches
at school and work, restaurant dinners, and
snacks—amounted to 18 percent of the total food
costs in the higher budget, 16 percent in the
moderate, and 13 percent in the lower.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture food
plans, on which the food-at-home c o s t s are
based, take into account both the nutritional
allowances recommended by the National Re­
search Council and the consumption patterns of
the families for whom the plans are setup. Costs
for food at home in the lower budget were based
on the USDA low-cost food plan, which has been
used widely to estimate money allowances for
food in public assistance programs. Compared
with the moderate and liberal plans, the lowcost plan has larger quantities of foods that pro­
vide high nutritional returns for costs—potatoes,
dry beans and peas, and flour and cereal—and
smaller quantities of meat, poultry and fish, and
fruits and vegetables other than potatoes. It is as­
sumed that users of this plan will select lower
cost food items within the major groups.

Although fam ilies can achieve nutritional
adequacy from the low-cost plan, it has been
estimated that only about a fourth of those who
spend amounts equivalent to the cost of the plan
actually have nutritionally adequate diets. 8/
Menus based on this plan will include foods r e ­
quiring a considerable amount of home prepara­
tion, as well as skill in cooking to make varied
and appetizing meals. 9/
334-641 0 - 69 - 2




The higher budget uses the USDA liberal plan,
which allows greater variety, more meats, and
more fruits and vegetables than the other two.
Its higher cost, compared with the moderate plan,
results from different quantities of foods, but
mainly from more expensive choices within the
groups. 10/
8/ Based on nonfarm households which used
foods valued at the cost of the plan providing
recommended amounts of eight nutrients, as
reported in the 1955 USDA Household Food
Consumption Survey.
9/ The USDA has compiled two other food
plans which maintain nutritional adequacy but
are lower in cost than the regular low-cost
plan, namely: an economy plan, designed for
temporary or emergency use when funds are
low, and costing 20 to 25 percent less than the
low-cost plan; and a special version of the lowcost plan which includes quantities of grain
products suitable for fam ilies who are high
consumers of cereal products. The latter plan
may be particularly useful for fam ilies in the
Southeastern States. However, considering the
relatively low proportions of fam ilies who
actually achieve nutritional adequacy with the
regular low-cost plan, it was deemed unrealistic
to utilize either of the cheaper plans for the
BLS lower budget. This decision conforms with
the recommendations of the Advisory Committee
on Standard Budget Research. (See appendix
D, Technical Reference No. 9).
10/ A description of the plans may be
found in: Family Food Plans and Food Costs
(Home Economic Research Report No. 20,
November 1962) and Family Food Plans, Revised
1964 (CA 62-19, November 1964) Agriculture
Research Service, United States Department
of Agriculture.

10
In addition to variations in costs resulting
from differences in the allowances in the three
USDA plans, variations also stemmed from the
prices used to calculate the cost of the plans.
These weighted prices reflected not only r e ­
gional differences in food preference patterns,
but also variations in those patterns at three
selected income levels within each region, as
reported in the USDA 1965 Food Consumption
Survey. As a result of the quantity and price
differences, the U.S. urban cost of food (as­
suming all meals at home) on a weekly basis
averaged $29 in the lower budget for a 4person family. It was 24 percent higher ($36)
for the moderate, and 52 percent greater ($44)
for the higher budget.
The cost of food away from home differed
among the three budgets not only because of dif­
ferences in the number of lunches at work,
restaurant dinners, and the size of the snack
allowance
(see appendix table A - l), but also
because of variations in the menus and prices
of restaurant meals. Thus, food away from home
in the lower budget had an average U.S. urban
annual cost of $217, in contrast to $326 in the
moderate, and $472 in the higher budget.

The average total cost of urban food in the
lower budget equaled 100, and was exceeded by
28 percent in the moderate budget and 57 percent
in the higher budget. In spite of the cost d iffer­
ences at the the three budget levels, food was
only 26 percent of total consumption costs in the
higher budget; it was 34 percent in the lower.
Housing
U.S. urban average housingcosts ranged from
$1,303 at the lower standard to $3,340 at the
higher, or from about 40 percent below to 50 per­
cent above the m o d e r a t e budget average of
$2,230, at spring 1967 prices. Household opera­
tion costs and an allowance for the replacement
of housefurnishings items accounted for 22 p er­
cent of the housing component in the lower and
moderate budgets and 28 percent in the higher
budget. Shelter— the major expense in the hous­
ing total—required an average annual outlay
of $1,013, in the lower standard, where the man­




ner of living was limited to rental housing, and
$1,745 and $2,308 in the moderate and higher
budgets, respectively, where the amounts are
weighted average costs for renter and home­
owner families. The housing total in the higher
budget also includes and allowance for lodging
away from home.
Only 15 percent of fam ilies at the higher
standard and 25 percent of those at the moderate
were assumed to live in rental housing. Rental
shelter costs, including contract rent plus esti­
mated costs of fuel and utilities where these are
not part of the rent, and insurance on household
contents were calculated from the low, middle,
and high thirds of the contract rent distribution
for units which met the standards for adequacy.
Costs for units in the low third, used for the
lower budget, averaged 20 percent below those
in the middle third (used in the moderate budget),
whereas costs in the higher budget were 50 p er­
cent above the moderate level.

The majority of families at moderate and
higher standards were assumed to be homeown­
ers, and their shelter includes average annual
mortgage interest and principal payments, taxes,
insurance, fuel, utilities, and repair and main­
tenance costs. These expenses in the higher
standard were 25 percent above the moderate
level, due to quality differences in the houses
purchased about 7 years ago, at an average
price of approximately $14,450 and $20,000 in
the moderate and higher standards respectively.
Shelter in the higher budget also includes larger
utilities allowances for the operation of air con­
ditioning and major appliances.

Since principal payments build equity, they
can be considered a form of savings rather than
outright consumption. Such payments amounted
to approximately a fourth of homeowner shelter
costs in both the moderate and higher budgets,
averaging $456 and $541 respectively. When
mortgage payments are limited to interest
charges only, total shelter costs for homeowner
fam ilies averaged less than those for renters in
metropolitant areas at the higher standard. Costs

11

remained higher for homeowner families, how­
ever, at the moderate level in large cities and
at both standards in small cities, as indicated
in the tabulation shown below.

Transportation costs
The cost of transportation in urban areas
ranged from $446 at a lower living standard to
$1,127 at the higher standard. Lower standard
costs were about 50 percent less, and higher
standard costs 30 percent more than the mod­
erate standard. These differences result largely
from the proportions of automobile ownership
specified for each budget. For example, in the
lower standard, one-half the families in the
Boston, Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia
metropolitan areas were assumed to own auto­
mobiles, whereas in the moderate and higher
budgets for these cities auto ownership was
specified for 80 and 100 percent of the families,

respectively. Similarly, in the moderate stand­
ard 95 percent of the fam ilies in Baltimore,
Cleveland, Detroit, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh,
San Francisco, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C.,
and 100 percent in all other metropolitan areas
were assumed to be car owners; but in the lower
budget, two-thirds, and in the higher budget all
fam ilies owned automobiles. A car was consi­
dered a necessity for all fam ilies in nonmetro­
politan areas, regardless of standard. Total
transportation is a weighted cost for automo­
bile owners and nonowners, and budgets with
lower proportions of ownership are the less
costly.
Transportation costs for automobile owners
in the moderate budget averaged $919. This
amount included the replacement of an automo­
bile every four years with a 2-year old used car,
operating expenses, insurance, and some public
transportation. Costs for auto owners at the
lower and higher standards were one-third below

Shelter Costs in 3 Budgets, Spring 1567
Renter-owner ratios
(Renter costs = 100)
Homeowner fam ilies
Living standard

Renter
fam ilies

Including
principal
payments

Excluding
principal
payments

Homeowner costs
Including
principal
payments

Excluding
principal
payments

U.S. urban average:
Lowe r ------------- -

<pl , UJ.J

&_____
$

*p

Moderate-------------

1 . 2 7 1

1,903

1,447

150

114

Higher----------------

1 . 9 3 4

2,374

1,833

123

95

Metropolitan areas:
Lowe r — --------------

1J. , Woiii
+l

Moderate-------------

1 , 3 1 6

1 , 9 8 7

1 , 5 0 6

151

115

Higher----------------

2 ,06 6

2 , 4 7 5

1 , 9 0 6

120

92

Nonmetropolitan areas:




Low er---— - - - - - -

QQq
OOy

Moderate-------------

1 , 0 7 2

1,526

1 , 1 8 2

142

110

Higher---------------

1 . 3 4 5

1.919

1 . 5 1 0

143

112

12
and one-fourth above the cost of the moderate
standard. Compared with the moderate, the lower
budget (averaging $607) includes a smaller
mileage allowance for an 8-year old car, fewer
repairs, (since cars of this age usually are r e ­
placed if costly repairs are required), no com­
prehensive insurance, lower personal property
tax, and no out-of-town travel on planes, trains,
or other public vehicles. Higher costs ($1,127) to
car owners in the more liberal standard result
from the specification that 60 percent of the fam­
ilies are new car buyers, and the remaining 40
percent buy the same car (2-year old used) as
the one provided in the moderate standard. Also,
the insurance coverage has been increased, and
more out-of-town travel provided.
Public transportation for fam ilies without
automobilies averaged $107 in the lower stand­
ard, or almost one-third lower than the $152
cost of the moderate budget at spring 1967 prices.
This difference is attributed to an out-of-town
travel allowance in the moderate standard which
was not included in the lower standard.

years in metropolitan areas. The car in the
lower standard was replaced every 4.0 years in
all areas. 11/

Clothing and Personal
Total clothing costs (replacement of the
clothing inventory and materials and services)
averaged $538, $767, and $1,139 in the lower,
moderate, and higher budgets respectively, at
Spring 1967 prices. Men’ s clothing cost more
than women’ s in the lower standard, but the r e ­
lationship was reversed in the moderate and
higher standards, sim ilar to the pattern in actual
expenditures for members of budget-type fam ­
ilies as reported in surveys of fam ily consump­
tion. Clothing for the boy—at the beginning of his
teen years—was relatively more costly in the
three standards than were the replacement needs
for a younger age girl. However, the differential
decreased from 29 percent in the lower, to 10
and 6 percent in the moderate and higher budgets
respectively.

Since about four-fifths of the budget-type
fam ilies live in metropolitan areas, their costs
are not significantly different from the averages
fo r all urban fam ilies of this type. In nonmetro­
politan areas, 18 percent of the urban weight,
all families are assumed to be car owners, be­
cause public transportation is not as readily
available as in the larger cities. Differences
among the three budget standards in the nonme­
tropolitan regions are attributed to different
mileage allowances at each budget level, and al­
lowances for comprehensive insurance, and
some out-of-town travel expense by families in
the moderate and higher standards.

Clothing costs are calculated as replacement
rates, because the budgets are for established
fam ilies with members in age brackets likely to
have a stock of basic clothing items. The cate­
gories of items for replacement— coats, sweat­
ers, pajamas, street shoes— were the same in the
3 standards. Variations in costs stem prim arily
from differences in the qualities of items, as
reflected in average price levels used for each
standard, and to a lesser extent from adjust­
ment of the replacement rates for some of the
clothing subgroups. In consequence, the lower
cost was 30 percent below, and the higher about

Costs in the smaller cities were $563 in the
lower, $941 in the moderate, and $1,139 in the
higher budget— these were lower than metro­
politan area costs prim arily because of cheaper
liability insurance rates in the less congested
nonmetropolitan areas. This rate difference was
sufficient to offset a higher mileage allowance in
nonmetropolitan areas, and, in the moderate and
higher standards, a higher automobile replace­
ment rate, every 3.4 years compared with 4.1

11/ Because of procedural changes in deter­
mining the net purchase price for automobiles,
the October 1966 U.S. urban average transporta­
tion cost to automobile owners, published as
$860 in Bulletin 1570-1, was revised to $911.
Total transportation costs (the weighted average
for automobile owners and nonowners) published
as $815, was revised to $864. The revised
estimates were used to measure the increase
in costs over the 6-month period.




13
50 percent above, the moderate budget. Allow ­
ances for the husband and boy required a declin­
ing proportion of the total clothing budget as the
standard was raised, while allowances for the
wife and for such clothing services as dry clean­
ing, shoe repairs, etc. for all family members
accounted for a relatively larger share of the
total costs.
Personal care constituted just about 3 percent
of total family consumption at the 3 budget levels,
but costs ranged from $162 in the lower to $307
in the higher standard. Personal care services
represented 38 percent of this component at the
lower standard, and 48 and 52 percent at mod­
erate and higher levels, respectively, prim arily
because of increases in the allowances for beauty
shop services for the wife. The lower standard
cost was one-fourth less than the moderate,
whereas the higher standard was about 40 per­
cent more than the moderate standard.

If all families had paid the full cost of their
health insurance, the total cost of medical care
in the three budgets would have increased about
30 percent. However, employers contribute some
or all of the cost of group health insurance in
the majority of cases, and therefore, to calculate
total medical care costs for the budgets, the in­
surance costs were weighted to reflect the esti­
mated proportions of families who paid all, part,
or none of their insurance premiums. On this
basis, the weighted insurance costs constitute
20 to 23 percent of the medical component.,

Although the difference in medical care costs
averaged only about $25 between the lower and
higher standards, fam ilies at the llower level
had to allocate 10 percent of their family con­
sumption to maintain the standard. For families
at the moderate and higher levels, only 7 and 5
percent, respectively, of total consumption was
used for this purpose.

Medical care
Other Consumption Costs
U.S. urban costs of total medical care were
almost identical in the lower and moderate
budgets, $474 and $477 respectively, since basi­
cally the same allowances were used for both
standards. In actual practice, expenditures for
medical care are lower at lower income levels,
because many of these fam ilies either defer
needed treatment or receive it in free clinics.
However, as a desirable goal or norm for a
self-supporting family, it was considered essen­
tial to specify group hospital and surgical
insurance coverage for both the lower and
moderate standards, in accord with the prac­
tice of over 75 percent of the population under 65
years of age. Other items in the medical care
component—physician’ s visits, dental and eye
care, drugs—were based prim arily on utilization
data which reflected the average condition of
health of individuals in the same age-sex cate­
gories as the budget family members. Hence,
there was no reason to vary these allowances
either in the lower and moderate, or in the higher
standard. The higher budget included a major
medical insurance policy, supplementing the
hospital-surgical coverage and raising the aver­
age U.S. urban insurance cost from $226 to $262.




Allowances for reading and education con­
sumed about a third of other consumption costs
at the lower standard but only half this propor­
tion—although actual dollars costs were almost
double—at the higher standard. Recreation, on the
other hand, accounted for barely a third of other
consumption in the lower budget, but almost half
in the moderate, and more than half in the higher
budget. Allowances in the lower standard assum­
ed that fam ilies would meet some of their recrea­
tional needs by utilizing library and museum
facilities, and by participation in community—or
group-sponsored activities or sporting events
for which there was no fee.
Allowances for alcohol and tobacco (cigars
or pipes) also are included as part of other con­
sumption costs in all three budgets, in accor­
dance with prevailing practices in this country.
An allowance for cigarettes was eliminated, how­
ever, in view of the findings of the U.S. Public
Health Service concerning the effects of ciga­
rette smoking on health. Costs for these items
ranged from about $75 in the lower, to $115 in
the higher, standard.

14
A Note on Budget Costs
and Rising Prices
Rising retail prices since spring 1967 have
increased the consumption costs for all three
budgets. A rough approximation of the fall 1968
costs of fam ily consumption in the three budgets
has been calculated (as shown below), using

price changes as reported in the Consumer P rice
Index for appropriate classes of goods and serv­
ices. Between spring 1967 and autumn 1968, the
Consumer P rice Index increased 6.6 percent; the
cost of family consumption increased 6.0 per­
cent in the lower standard budget, and 5.7 per­
cent in both the moderate and higher standard
budgets.

Spring

Lover Standard
Autumn 1968
1967

P o o d - - - - - - - - -------- ------------ --•

$1,6U4

$1,744

Housing— - — ------------------------

1,503
446

1,356
468

700
474
295

758
517
3 11

4,862

5,15**

T ran spo rtatio n — ----------------C loth ing and p erso n al care
Medical c a r e ------- --------------Other fam ily consumption-T otal

fam ily consumptlon-

Moderate Standard
Spring

1967

Autumn

1968

$2,235
2,311

Food— — — — — — — — — Housing-------- -------------------------Tran sportation — -----------------

$2,105

Clothing and p erso n al care
Medical c a r e -----------------------Other fam ily consumption—

985
477
552

1,069

Total fam ily consumption—

7,221

7.629

2,230
872

912
520
582

Higher Standard
Spring

1967

Food— - — ------------------------------

$2,586

Housin g--— ------— -------------T ransportation---------------------

3,3*10
1,127
1.4U6

Autumn 1968
$2,747
3,471

Medical c are-----------------------Other fam ily consumption—

497

1,179
1,572
542

967

1,022

Total fam ily consumption—

9,963

10,533

C loth ing and perso n al care




15
Table 1. Annual Costs of Budgets for 3 Living Standards
for a 4-Person Family JL/, Urban United States, 39 Metropolitan Areas and
4 Nonmetropolitan Regions, Spring 1967

Total

U r b a _n_____ U n i t e d _____ S t a t e s
Metropolitan areas 2/

Nonmetropolitan areas 3/

Item
Lower




Moderate

Higher
$2,634
2,127
507
3,464
3,115
3,525
2,414
2,066
2,475
537
403
1.124
1.124

$1,550
1,369
181
1.179

1,151
259
322
230
216
124
311
511
269
97
298
997
97
557
67

504
134

1,088
270
286
214
208
110
286
432
230
70
263
832
60
465
50
23
93
141

4.591
4.591

6,635
6,294
6,748

8,941
8,453
9,027

742
502
240
85

257
137

389
229
160
80

680
440
240
85

305
1,092
968
1,134

305
2,043
1,922
2,064

247

293
925
843
953

293
1,641
1,484
1,669

9,243
8,616
9,453

13,367
12,897
13,449

8,322
7,899
8,463

11,640
10,995
11,754

4.923
4.923

7,352
6,849
7,520

10,192
9,843
10,253

265
145
120
50

410
250
160
80

730
490
240
85

267
147

414
254
160
80

265
473
473

303
1,062
945
1,101

303
1,969
1,842
1,992

269
485
485

5,915
5,915

9,076
8,485
9,273

13,050
12,549
13,139

5.994
5.994

1,139
261
315
227
215
121
307
497
262
92
292
967
90
540
64
23
93
157

139
151
420
617
131
546
139
119
134
106
48
168
488
232
97
292
306
55
98
47
13
59
34

120
50

Highet

718
181
171
167
133
66
203
415
197
70
260
476
42
235
35
16
69
79

9,963
9,589
10,029

137
153
446
607
107
538
138
118
132
102
48
162
474
226
92
285
295
51
93
44
13
60
34

1.041
1.041

Moderate

$2,375
2,059
316
2,789
2,301
2,875
1,833
1,345
1,919
504
412
1,139
1,139

7,221
6,747
7,379

1,013
1,013

$1,664
1,439
225
1.331
1.331

Lower

$1,973
1,717
256
1,909
1,568
2,022
1,413
1,072
1,526
260
236
941
941

$2,135
1,793
342
2,302
1,799
2,470
1,819
1,316
1,987
270
213
856
914
192
777
176
194
172
161
74

4,862
4,862

Cost of family consumption: Total 12,
Renter families------------------Homeowner families----------- -— —

See footnotes at end of table.

Lower

$2,586
2,114
472
3,340
2,966
3,406
2,308
1,934
2,374
531
404
1,127
1,127

$1,644
1,427
217
1,303
1,303

Cost of budget: Total 12/--------Renter families------------------Homeowner families----- ---— — — -

Higher

$2,105
1,779
326
2,230
1,756
2,388
1,745
1,271
1,903
268
217
872
919
157
767
177
190
171
156
73
218
477
226
92
289
552
66
258
55
15
72
86

Food------------------------------Food at home------- -----------—
Food away from home-- ----------Housing: Total 4/----------------Renter families 4/---------------Homeowner families 4/------------Shelter 5/------ ---------------Rental costs 6/-------------Homeowner costs Tj ----------Housefurnishings---------------Household operations-----------Transportation: Total 8/---------Automobile owners--------------Nonowners of automobiles-------Clothing--------------------------Husband------------------------ Wife............................
Boy----------------------------Girl............................
Clothing materials and services—
Personal care---------------------Medical care: Total 9J-----------Insurance-------------------- -—
Physician's visits-------------Other medical care-------------Other family consumption--------- -Reading---------- --------------Recreation 10/-----------------Education----------------------Tobacco 11/--------------------Alcoholic beverages------------Miscellaneous expenses--— --—

Other costs-----------------------Gifts and contributions--------Life insurance— --------------- —
Occupational expenses-------------Social security and disability
payments-----—
Personal taxes: Total 12/--- — ---Renter families------------------ Homeowner families----------------

Moderate

221
491
232
97
295
570
72
263
60
15
73
87

22
93
161

1.179
889
889
129
161
563
563

111
123
88
48
139
412
197
70

257
244
32
73
31
14
62
32

120
50

419
419

5.564
5.564

16
Table 1. Annual Costs of Budgets for 3 Living Standards
for a 4-Person Family 1/, Urban United States, 39 Metropolitan Areas and
4 Nonmetropolitan Regions, Spring 1967--Continued

Item
Lower

Boston
Mass.
Moderate

Higher

Lower

$2,272
1,953
319
2,728
1,890
3,007
2,235
1,397
2,514
265
228
869
1,034
208
764
175
192
159
169
69
214
476
259
93
272
577
73
255
60
16
79
94

$2,755
2,272
483
4,123
3,167
4,292
3,020
2,064
3,189
542
451
1,248
1,248

$1,690
1,461
229
1,308
1,308

Food----------------------------------Food at home----------------------Food away from home-------- ------ -Housing: Total 4/---------------------Renter families 4/--------------- -— Homeowner families 4/---------------Shelter 5/------------------------Rental costs 6/----------------Homeowner costs 7/-— --- — -- — —
Housefurnishings------------------Household operations-------------- Transportation: Total 8/--------------Automobile owners— — --- -------- —
Nonowner8 of automobiles----------Clothing------------------------------Husband--------------------------Wife..............................
BOy-------------- ------- -- --- -Girl..............................
Clothing materials and services----Personal care-------------------- -----Medical care: Total 9/---------------- Insurance----------------------- -—
Physician's visits----------------Other medical care----------------Other family consumption---------------Reading---------------------------Recreation 10/--------------------Education-------------------------Tobacco 11/--- -- ------ — — ---- —
Alcoholic beverages— ---- ------- -Miscellaneous expenses-------------

$1,722
1,509
213
1,465
1,465

Cost of family consumption: Total 12/--Renter families---------------------Homeowner families---------------- --

5,103
5,103

7,900
7,062
8,179

11,061
10,105
11,230

Other costs-------------------------- Gifts and contributions--------— —
Life insurance— — — — — — — ------Occupational expenses— --- ------ --- -Social security and disability payments—
Personal taxes: Total 12/----------- —
Renter families--------------------Homeowner families----------------- -

272
152
120
50
275
551
551

433
273
160
80
290
1,270
1,060
1,340

784
544
240
85
290
2,348
2,037
2,403

Cost of budget: Total 12/------------Renter families-- ------ --- -— — — —
Homeowner families------------------

6,251
6,251

9,973
8,925
10,322

See footnotes at end of table.




—

1,162
1,162
-------

139
164
426
704
147
541
138
119
122
115
47
164
473
259
93
269
312
56
96
47
14
64
35

1,123
251
321
218
219
114
303
496
296
93
276
1,013
98
551
67
26
97
174

14,568
13,301
14,791

Buffalo,
N.Y.
Moderate

N o r t h e a s
t
Hartford,
Conn.
Higher
Lower
Moderate

$2,188
1,855
333
2,382
1,769
2,587
1,892
1,279
2,097
272
218
929
929
202
812
172
218
166
184
72
222
467
233
90
276
568
73
255
60
17
73
90

$2,641
2,157
484
3,454
2,841
3,563
2,359
1,745
2,467
564
422
1,122
1,122

4,961
4,961

7,568
6,955
7,773

10,219
9,606
10,328

268
148
120
50
283
521
521

422
262
160
80
306
1,248
1,079
1,304

743
503
240
85
306
2,326
2,075
2,370

6,083
6,083

9,624
8,842
9,885

1,010
1,010
141
157
460
631
142
569
137
134
126
124
48
169
463
233
90
273
302
57
94
47
15
55
34

1,204
258
363
228
237
118
311
485
268
90
279
1,002
99
552
67
27
96
161

13,679
12,815
13,832

$1,774
1,538
236
1,510
1,510

Higher

$2,335
1,958
377
2,551
1,969
2,745
2,093
1,511
2,287
262
196
958
958
204
802
178
189
179
173
83
229
487
203
112
288
581
73
260
60
17
77
94

$2,874
2,282
592
3,687
3,074
3,795
2,637
2,024
2,745
533
407
1,155
1,155

5,297
5,297‘

7,943
7,361
8,137

10,759
10,146
10,867

278
158
120
50
283
514
514

435
275
160
80
290
1,085
966
1,125

769
529
240
85
290
1,911
1,739
1,942

6,422
6,422

9,833
9,132
10,067

1,228
1,228
138
144
464
636
144
573
141
117
136
123
56
174
483
203
112
284
319
56
101
47
16
62
37

1,189
264
318
247
226
134
316
505
236
112
292
1,033
98
575
67
28
96
169

13,814
13,029
13,953

Lancaster,
Pa.
Moderate

Lower

$1,714
1,502
212
1,224
1,224

Higher

$2,254
1,913
341
2,068
1,661
2,204
1,627
1,220
1,763
249
192
845
845
186
762
171
182
157
175
77
211
422
167
69
280
585
63
286
60
16
75
85

$2,742
2,225
517
3,046
2,619
3,121
2,058
1,631
2,133
505
373
1,046
1,046

4,765
4,765

7,147
6,740
7,283

9,734
9,307
9,809

262
142
120
50
256
490
490

407
247
160
80
290
1,036
946
1,066

5,823
5,823

8,960
8,463
9,126

952
952
131
141
398
545
125
544
136
113
121
122
52
164
419
167
69
278
302
46
102
47
14
60
33

New Yo rk-Northeastern
Ne Jersey
Lower
Moderate
Higher
$1,758
1,518
240
1,238
1,238

$2,330
1,935
395
2,637
1,800
2,916
2,161
1,324
2,440
269
207
771
923
159
803
184
196
180
175
68
221
512
221
122
295
583
75
264
60
17
74
93

$2,845
2,250
595
4,052
3,576
4,137
2,937
2,461
3,022
588
417
1,122
1,122

4,919
4,919

7,857
7,020
8,136

11,091
10,615
11,176

719
479
240
85
290
1,782
1,655
1,805

267
147
120
50
282
503
503

432
272
160
80
308
1,300
1,071
1,377

736
546
240
85
308
2,598
2,407
2,632

12,610
12,056
12,708

6,021
6,021

9,977
8,911
10,333

14,868
14,201
14,987

1,133
251
306
217
229
130
297
439
199
69
284
1,031
89
602
67
25
95
153

949
949
140
149
370
641
99
567
146
120
138
118
45
165
510
221
122
292
311
58
102
47
15
55
34

1,190
273
327
249
229
112
319
531
261
122
297
1,032
101
565
67
27
97
175

17
Table 1. Annual Costs of Budgets for 3 Living Standards
for a 4- Person Family JL/, Urban United States, 39 Metropolitan Areas and
4 Nonmetropolitan Regions, Spring 1967 - Continued

_N_
Item
Lower
Food----- — -------- ------— -— — —
Food at home------- ---------Food away from home----------Housing: Total 4/----------------Renter families 4/-------------Homeowner families 4/----------Shelter 5/------------------- Rental costs 6/-----------Homeowner costs 7/--------Housefurnishings-------------Household operations---------Transportation: Total 8/---------Automobile owners— -----------Nonowners of automobiles— ---Clothing— ---------- ------— -Husband------------ — --------Wife........................ —
Boy--------------------Girl-....... ----------------Clothing materials and services
Personal care----------------------Medical care: Total 9J-----------Insurance------------------- -Physician's visits-----------Other medical care----- ---- —
Other family consumption--- ------ —
Reading----------------------Recreation 10/---------------Education--------------------Tobacco 11/-------------------Alcoholic beverages----------Miscellaneous expenses-------Cost of family consumption:
Total 12/........... .
Renter families--------Homeowner families-----Other costs; -----------------Gifts and contributions--Life insurance----------Occupational expenses---- ----■
Social security and disability
payments--------------Personal taxes: Total 12/---Renter families--------- —
Homeowner families-- -----Cost of budget: Total 12/--------Renter families----------------Homeowner families------------ --

See footnotes at end of table,




$1,740
1,510
230
1,188
1,188
902
902
145
141
395
640
149
554
136
117
135
117
49
164
463
255
83
270
301
56
90
47
16
59
33

4.805
4.805

263
143

120
50
263
517
517

5,898

Philadelphia,
Pa. - N.J.
Moderate
_ Higher
$2,264
1,917
347
2,140
1,548
2,337
1,662
1,070
1,859
275
203
788
932

$2,750
2.229
521
3,253
3,394
3.229
2,190
2,331
2,166
560
393
1.129
1.129

212
777
171
190
175
168
73
215
467
255
83
274
562
73
250
60
17
76

1,154
256
318
243
219
118
301
485
290
83
278

1,001

Lower
$1,671
1,433
238
1.197
1.197
921
921
133
143
436
579
169
538
134
117
125

112
50
167
456
248
81
268
308
60
95
47
14
59
33

o
r
t
Pittsburgh,
Pa.
Moderate
$2,169
1,820
349
1,963
1,562
2,097
1,505
1,104
1,639
253
205
846
878
229
760
168
190
165
162
75

220
459
248
81
271
565
77
254
60
16
75
83

_h_

e

a

s

t

Portland!
Higher
$2,641
2,128
513
3,046
2,537
3,136
2,023
1,514
2,113
511
402
1.077
1.077

1,122
245
319
226
207
125
307
479
284
81
275
1,003

102

Lower

$ 1,668
1,458

210
1.303
1.303
998
998
138
167
405
551
134
604
146
143

122
140
53
153
472
268
98
259
325
65
96
47
15

Maine_____
Moderate

Higher

Nonmetropolitan
areas_____
Moderate

Lower

$2,229
1,919
310
2,199
1,675
2,373
1,703
1,179
1,877
268
228
884
884
194
861
185
231
160
206
79
202
475
268
98
263
582
81
259
60
16
78
88

$2,666

1,273
273
386
220
265
129
284
492
297
98
267
1,006
107
559
67
26
91
156

531
134
112
132
102
51
135
444
230
81
264
241
32
77
31
14
54
33

2,237
429
3,089
2,401
3,211
2,043
1,355
2,165
519
417
1.091
1.091

$1,646
1,460
186

1,120
1,120
837
837
132
151
577
577

$2,570
2,194
376
3,088
2,270
3,232
2,116
1,298
2,260
523
409
1.146
1.146

739
178
172
180
143

447
230
81
267
479
43
235
35
16
65
85

1,112
263
290
223
228
108
291
465
265
81
270
855
61
477
50
26
91
150

9,527
8,710
9,672

66
201

86

98
553
67
28
96
159

7,213
6,621
7,410

10,073
10,214
10,049

4.773
4.773

6,982
6,581
7,116

9,675
9,166
9,765

4.930
4.930

7,432
6,908
7,606

9,901
9,213
10,023

4.694
4.694

7,149
6,502
7,365

409

736
496
240
85
294

262
142

716
476
240
85
290

417
257
160

727
487
240
85
290

260
140

iV,

50
257

401
241
160
80
290

267
147

160
80
294
1,083
949
1,128

1,943
1,985
1,935

499
499
....

1,011
921
1,041

1,785
1,632
1,812

9,079
8,353
9,321

13,131
13,314
13,099

5.841
5.841

8,764
8,273
8,928

12,551
11,889
12,668

249

120

560
67
26
96
152

68
34

120

290

120
50
264

Higher

$2,154
1,871
283
2,168
1,521
2,384
1,686
1,039
1,902
259
223
961
961

160
80
303

240
85
303

1,012

1,657
1,464
1,691

435
435
....

1,042

--

1,093

1,804
1,534
1,852

5.951
5.951

9,195
8,563
9,405

12,660
11,779
12,816

5.703
5.703

8,981
8,178
9,248

12,428
11,341
12,621

442
442

976
868

886

18
Table 1. Annual Costs of Budgets for 3 Living Standards
for a 4-Person Family I J , Urban United States, 39 Metropolitan Areas and
4 Nonmetropolitan Regions, Spring 1967 - Continued

Item

Cedar Rapids,
[owa
Moderate
Lower

Higher

$2,040
1,728
312
2,394
1,989
2,529
1,877
1,472
2,012
278
239
886
886
193
782
186
186
170
161
79
231
445
212
78
277
555
68
258
60
14
68
87

$2,534
2,069
465
3,496
3,145
3,558
2,457
2,106
2,519
507
422
1,081
1,081

5,034
5,034

7,333
6,928
7,468

10,001
9,650
10,063

Other costs---------------------------Gifts and contributions----------Life insurance---- --------------Occupational expenses-----------------Social security and disability payments—
Personal taxes: Total 12/-------------Renter families---------------------Homeowner families---------------- -—

270
150
120
50
274
595
595

414
254
160
80
290
1,241
1,135
1,277

732
492
240
85
290
2,199
2,074

Cost of budget: Total 12/-------------Renter families---------------------Homeowner families--------------------

6,223
6,223

9,358
8,847
9,529

13,307
12,831
13,391

Food---------------------------------- Food at home-— ----- ----- ----- —
Food away from home--------------Housing: Total 4/--------------------Renter families 4/-- -- — -— --— --- —
Homeowner families 4/----- -------- -Shelter 5/— --------- -----------Rental costs 6/---------------Homeowner costs 7/------------Housefurnishing*-----------------Household operations-------------Transportation: Total 8/--------------Automobile owners-— — — — — —
Nonowners of automobiles---------Clothing------------------------------Husband-------------------------Wife........................... —
Boy— ----------------------------Girl-............................
Clothing materials and services--Personal care- — -— -— -— --— -— Medical care:
Total 9/-------—
Insurance----— — --- ---- -- --- ~
Physician's visits— ---------- --Other medical care---------------Other family consumption----------- -— —
Reading------------------------ -Recreation 10/-------------------Education-----------------------Tobacco 11/---- -— ------- -- ---Alcoholic beverages--------------Miscellaneous expenses------ -----

$1,627
1,413
214
1,530
1,530

Cost of family consumption: Total 12/-Renter families-— ------------------- Homeowner families-------------------

See footnotes at end of table.




---

1,229
1,229
140
161
416
568
133
550
146
115
130
107
52
176
443
212
78
274
292
50
96
47
10
54
35

1,152
272
309
228
214
129
317
463
243
78
281
958
94
534
67

20
85
158

N o
r
t
h
Champai gn-Urbana,
111.
Lower
Moderate
Higher
$2,090
1,780
310
2,511
2,236
2,602
2,032
1,757
2,123
270
209
846
846
193
769
173
194
160
168
74
216
484
255
87
288
565
56
276
60
15
69
89

$2,601
2,143
458
3,734
3,382
3,796
2,752
2,400
2,814
489
383
1,059
1,059

5,169
5,169

7,481
7,206
7,572

10,301
9,949
10,363

274
154
120
50
275
489
489

419
259
160
80
290
987
930
1,006

6,257
6,257

9,257
8,925
9,367

$1,653
1,446
207
1,6 29
1,629
1,342
1,342
137
150
415
566
133
534
135
118
120
113
48
164
480
255
87
283
294
39
103
47
11
58
36

2,221

C

e
n
i
t
r
!
1
Cincinnati, OhioChicago, 111.Northwestern. Ind.
Cy.-Ind.
Lower
Moderate
Higher
Lower
Moderate
Higher
$1,678
1,465
213
1,449
1,449

$2,105
1,783
322
2,555
1,978
2,748
2,080
1,503
2,273
261
214
812
965
201
773
181
190
166
158
78
229
494
255
90
295
566
72
263
60
15
67
89

$2,613
2,139
474
3,665
3,364
3,717
2,603
2,302
2,655
540
412
1,167
1,167

5,046
5,046

7,534
6,957
7,727

10,380
10,079
10,432

747
507
240
85
290
1,776
1,677
1,793

270
150
120
50
269
469
469

421
261
160
80
290
1,009
888
1,049

13,199
12,748
13,278

6,104
6,104

9,334
8,636
9,567

1,132
249
324
215
223
121
301
501
285
87
291
973
82
557
67
20
85
162

1,157
1,157
139
153
408
674
141
542
142
117
126
107
50
177
490
255
90
291
302
55
99
47
11
55
35

$2,059
1,732
327
2,190
1,642
2,373
1,719
1,171
1,902
262
209
859
859
222
766
174
193
169
158
72
195
410
170
79
258
563
76
256
60
14
73
84

$2,566
2,081
485
3,077
2,424
3,192
2,103
1,450
2,218
472
392
1,037
1,037

4,689
4,689

7,042
6,494
7,225

9,475
8,822
9,590

751
511
240
85
290
1,819
1,733
1,834

260
140
120
50
251
452
452

404
244
160
80
290
1,010
884
1,052

706
466
240
85
290
1,727
1,527
1,762

if,325
12,938
13,392

5,702
5,702

8,826
8,152
9,051

12,283
11,430
12,433

1,137
259
318
223
211
126
314
512
291
90
297
972
98
539
67
21
84
163

$1,633
1,413
220
1,227
1,227
953
953
133
141
429
573
162
537
136
119
130
106
46
151
405
170
79
253
307
60
98
47
10
59
33

1,133
257
324
225
210
117
271
427
203
79
260
964
102
535
67
20
91
149

Lower
$1,631
1,388
243
1.348
1.348
1.063
1.063
137
148
445
603
151
555
138

122
133
113
49
159
432
257
88
233
306
60
96
47

11
58
34
4.876
4.876

120
50
260
464
464

5.915
5.915

eveland,
Ohio
Moderate
$2,048
1,701
347
2,529
1,745
2,791
2,044
1,260
2,306
258
227
859
893
212
793
176
198
174
168
77
216
436
257
88
237
563
78
255
60
14
68
88

$2,538
2,042
496
3,582
2,749
3,729
2,556
1,723
2,703
500
416
1,087
1,087

7,444
6,660
7,706

10,093
9,260
10,240

417
257
160
80
290
1,031
864
1,087

737
497
240
85
290
1,792
1,551
1,835

9,262
8,311
9,580

12,997
11,923
13,187

1,173
260
330
233
224
126
306
456
294
88
241
951
103
518
67
20
84
159

Table 1. Annual Costs of Budgets for 3 Living Standards
for a 4-Person Family 1/, Urban United States, 39 Metropolitan Areas and
4 Nonmetropolitan Regions, Spring 1967 - Continued

N

o

Dayton,

Item
Lower

Moderate

Higher




9,743
9,420
9,800

735
495
240
85
290
1,937
1,699
1,979

266
146
120
50
262
492
492

407
247
160
80
290
1,052
969
1,080

719
479
240
85
290
1,895
1,787
1,914

13,111
12,120
13,286

5,957
5,957

8,965
8,540
9,107

270
150
120
50
269
509
509

415
255
160
80
290
1,085
963
1,125

12,944
11,968
13,116

6,124
6,124

9,232
8,593
9,445

12,911
12,698
12,949

5,757
5,757

8,955
8,215
9,201

8,981
8,374
9,183

7,136
6,794
7,250

708
468
240
85
290
2,347
2,047
2,400

400
240
160
80
290
1,254
1,082
1,311

5,873
5,873

8,636
8,314
8,743

4,887
4,887

10,064
9,311
10,197

258
138
120
50
253
558
558

12,392
12,293
12,408

5,796
5,796

$2,572
2,118
454
3,193
2,870
3,250
2,165
1,842
2,222
498
420
1,120
1,120

7,362
6,845
7,535

729
489
240
85
290
1,870
1,820
1,879

408
248
160
80
290
1,033
919
1,071

399
239
160
80
290
962
904
981

1,153
259
324
233
207
130
312
493
317
90
267
996
103
558
67
21
91
156

139
156
417
579
117
536
136
125
122
101
52
156
434
199
72
276
287
55
92
47
11
50
32

1,129
249
337
216
197
130
275
457
232
72
284
947
98
529
67
19
84
150

1,192
1,192
138
158
432
592
136
562
142
120
136
114
50
163
431
241
87
240
309
58
95
47
11
63
35

Kansa:i City, Mo. "
K ftS.
Moderate
Higher

Lower

$2,088
1,769
319
2,103
1,761
2,217
1,611
1,269
1,725
279
213
925
925
205
771
174
192
177
158
70
232
451
207
84
279
566
72
267
60
15
67
85

5,026
5,026

9,514
8,838
9,633

— -----

954
954

$1,641
1,429
212
1,488
1,488

Higher
$2,575
2,109
466
3,481
2,728
3,614
2,469
1,716
2,602
500
402
1,102
1,102

6,931
6,363
7,120

264
144
120
50
258
454
454

262
142
120
50
255
471
471

141
143
440
603
139
551
140
120
133
106
52
172
468
278
90
259
312
60
99
47
11
61
34

$1,559
1,367
192
1,249
1,249

Indianapolis,
.Ind.
Moderate

Lower

$2,069
1,754
315
2,366
1,849
2,539
1,873
1,356
2,046
275
218
912
912
196
789
181
196
178
166
68
217
435
241
87
244
574
75
261
60
14
77
87

4,638
4,638

712
472
240
85
290
1,715
1,692
1,718

9,590
9,514
9,603

945
945

1
r
a
Green Bay,
Wis.
Moderate
Higher
$2,443
2,016
427
3,189
2,513
3,308
2,186
1,510
2,305
513
380
1,074
1,074

9,937
9,774
9,966

6,905
6,641
6,993

1,139
263
333
236
190
117
282
426
202
79
259
971
99
548
67
20
85
151

$1,675
1,446
229
1,229
1,229

t:

$1,966
1,684
282
2,127
1,559
2,316
1,652
1,084
1,841
265
210
878
878
180
771
173
204
161
153
80
201
438
199
72
280
550
72
258
60
14
64
82

7,170
6,677
7,334

4,758
4,758

See footnotes at end of table,

n

Lower

4,847
4,847

$2,502
2,074
428
3,237
3,161
3,250
2,235
2,159
2,248
515
377
1,034
1,034

Cost of budget: Total 12/---------------Renter families-----------------------Homeowner families---------------------

C

Higher
$2,661
2,130
531
3,227
3,064
3,256
2,177
2,014
2,206
515
425
1,095
1,095

$2,022
1,732
290
2,077
1,813
2,165
1,609
1,345
1,697
266
202
855
855
186
770
179
199
175
145
72
204
409
170
79
256
568
73
270
60
14
69
82

Other costs-------------------------------Gifts and contributions-------------Life insurance----------------------Occupational expenses---------------------Social security and disability payments---Personal taxes: Total 12/---------------Renter families-----------------------Homeowner families---------------------

r t h
Detroit,
Mich.
Moderate
$2,138
1,774
364
2,120
1,627
2,284
1,619
1,126
1,783
269
232
855
890
199
785
179
195
174
158
79
226
472
278
90
262
574
77
265
60
15
72
85

Food------------------------------------- $1,611
1,407
Food at home---------------------- -204
Food away from home-----------------1,332
Housing: Total 4/-----------------------1,332
Renter families 4/------------------- Homeowner families 4/--------------- -1,044
Shelter 5/...... — ......... ...... —
1,044
RentaT costs 6/-------------------------------------Homeowner costs 7/---------------140
Housefurnishings--------------------148
Household operations----------------410
Transportation: Total 8/--------- ----- -—
564
Automobile owners-------------------126
Nonowners of automobiles---- --------539
Clothing---------------------------------140
Husband-----------------------------122
Wife...........-.....................
132
Boy--------------------------------98
Girl.................................
47
Clothing materials and services------156
Personal care-------------------------- - —
404
Medical care: Total 9/------------------170
Insurance---------------------------79
Physician's visits------------- ----251
Other medical care------------------306
Other family consumption-----------------56
Reading--- ----------------------- -101
Recreation 10/----------------------47
Education---------------------------11
Tobacco 11/-------------------------58
Alcoholic beverages— ----------- ---- —
33
Miscellaneous expenses---------------Cost of family consumption: Total 12/----Renter families-----------------------Homeowner families---------------------

Lower

1,151
266
328
239
190
128
303
454
275
87
249
998
100
556
67
20
97
158

$1,663
1,441
222
1,326
1,326
1,033
1,033
141
152
434
590
143
541
137
119
134
106
45
176
448
207
84
275
299
54
101
47
11
52
34

1,135
253
320
239
209
114
274
472
243
84
284
977
100
550
67
21
86
153

12,732
12,301
12,808

20
Table 1. Annual Costa of Budgets for 3 Living Standards
for a 4-Person Family 1/, Urban United States, 39 Metropolitan Areas and
4 Nonmetropolitan Regions, Spring 1967 - Continued

Item
Lower

Milwaukee,
Wis.
Moderate

Higher

Food------------------------------------- $1,604
Food at home--- --- -— --- -------- 1,387
Food away from home--- --- ---------217
Housing: Total 4/— --------------------1,407
Renter families 4/-----------------— - 1,407
Homeowner families 4/--------- -------1,126
Shelter 5/-------------------------1,126
Rental costs 6/-----------------Homeowner costs 7/--------------129
Housefumishlngs-------------------152
Household operations----------------424
Transportation: Total 8/---------------Automobile owners— -— -- --- -------585
126
Clothing--- ----- ---------- --- -— ----- 545
133
Husband---- -----------------------Wife.............................. —
119
124
Boy.................................
118
Girl-...............................
Clothing materials and services-----51
Personal care --------------------------168
446
Medical care: Total 9/-----------------Insurance--------------------------238
82
Physician's visits-----------------262
Other medical care-----------------Other family consumption--- -------------296
Reading----------------------------59
Recreation 10/— — ----- -- -------- —
95
47
Education----------- ---------------10
Tobacco 11/-- --------------- — — —
Alcoholic beverages----------------51
34
Miscellaneous expenses---------------

$2,032
1,691
341
2,463
1,779
2,691
2,007
1,323
2,235
244
212
870
870
186
779
170
193
163
174
79
217
450
238
82
266
556
76
253
60
14
65
88

$2,548
2,041
507
3,477
2,787
3,598
2,485
1,795
2,606
454
428
1,060
1,060

Cost of family consumption: Total 12/---Renter families----------------------Homeowner tami lies---*--------*-----*----

4,890
4,890

7,367
6,683
7,595

9,968
9,278
10,089

Other costs ----------------------------Gifts and contributions------- — — —
Life insurance----- ---------------- Occupational expenses— — — — — — — — — —
Social security and disability payments--Personal taxes: Total 12/--------------Renter families----------------------Homeowner Iarailies—**----- “--- ------ --

266
146
120
50
269
629
629

415
255
160
80
290
1,392
1,182
1,462

6,104
6,104

9,544
8,650
9,842

Cost of budget: Total 12/--------------Renter families--------------------- Homeowner iam

N
o
r
t h
Minneapolis-St. Paul,
Minn.
Lower
Moderate
Higher
Lower
$1,600
1,395
205
1,361
1,361

$2,027
1,722
305
2,323
1,845
2,482
1,841
1,363
2,000
254
228
886
886
199
773
178
190
162
163
80
227
445
291
76
245
565
73
256
60
15
75
86

$2,519
2,072
447
3,332
2,897
3,409
2,325
1,890
2,402
487
410
1,072
1,072

4,863
4,863

7,246
6,768
7,405

731
491
240
85
290
2,562
2,252
2,617

265
145
120
50
267
613
613

13,636
12,636
13,812

6,058
6,0$8

1,151
250
321
215
235
130
302
467
270
82
270
963
101
534
67
20
84
157

1,076
1,076
135
150
442
606
138
543
139
117
123
112
52
174
441
291
76
240
302
56
98
47
10
57
34

136
150
459
618
165
543
137
116
128
114
48
171
442
217
87
262
286
51
92
47
11
51
34

$2,156
1,817
339
2,247
1,763
2,409
1,750
1,266
1,912
269
228
898
933
225
778
174
189
168
172
75
223
446
217
87
266
539
67
249
60
15
62
86

$2,695
2,184
511
3,163
2,693
3,245
2,153
1,683
2,236
499
401
1,138
1,138

9,797
9,362
9,874

4,925
4,925

7,287
6,803

9,834
9,364
9,916

411
251
160
80
290
1,372
1,223
1,422

722
482
240
85
290
2,454
2,269

267
147
120
50
264
496
496

412
252
160
80
290
1,071
957
1,109

9,399
8,772
9,608

13,348
12.728
13,457

6,002
6,002

9,140
8,542
9,340

1,133
257
316
214
217
129
309
464
327
76
248
968
99
528
67
22
98
154

$1,701
1,482
219
1,323
1,323

n
t
C
e
St. Louis ,
Mo.-111.
Moderate
Higher

1,037
1,037

r

a

Lower

Higher

Nonme tropo11tan
areas
Moderate

Lower

$2,060
1,769
291
2,102
1,787
2,207
1,609
1,294
1,714
273
220
937
937
209
756
178
188
168
150
72
211
451
248
87
257
567
66
274
60
15
68
84

$2,540
2,112
427
3,088
2,776
3,143
2,074
1,762
2,129
498
406
1,160
1,160

$1,573
1,405
168
1,362
1,362

4,898
4,898

724
484
240
85
290
1,880
1,727
1,907
12,813
12,190
12,924

1,153
257
316
226
232
122
303
463
250
87
269
919
93
504
67
21
79
155

$1,661
1,452
209
1,357
1,357

1
Wichita,
Kans.
Moderate

129
161
547
547

$2,377
2,088
289
3,024
2,382
3,137
2,065
1,423
2,178
485
434
1,102
1,102

1,113
258
315
225
199
116
294
470
282
87
262
962
92
543
67
20
88
152

517
144
114
113
94
52
146
396
204
66
242
238
31
72
31
11
60
33

740
194
177
159
138
72
212
400
204
66
246
474
40
233
35
17
69
80

1,135
294
293
209
223
116
298
417
234
66
250
‘832
59
461
50
24
94
144

7,084
6,769
7,189

9,627
9,315
9,682

4,779
4,779

6,772
6,426
0,800

9,185
8,543
“O

266
146
120
50
263
501
501

405
245
160
80
290
1,048
970
1,074

714
474
240
85
290
1,879
1,774
1,898

262
142
120
50
256
476
476

394
234
160
80
290
975
891
1,002

692
452
240
85
290
1,730
1,520
1,767

5,978
5,978

8,907
8,514
9,038

12,595
12,178
12,669

5,823
5,823

8,511
8,081

11,982
11,130
12,132

1,059
1,059
137
161
440
600
143
533
139
118
128
101
47
161
448
248
87
254
298
50
101
47
10
56
34

1,072
1,072

’
See footnotes at end of table.




Higher

$1,961
1,729
232
2,072
1,726
2,188
1,572
1,226
1,688
261
239
913
913

21
Table 1. Annual Costs of Budgets for 3 Living Standards
for a 4-Person Family 1/, Urban United States, 39 Metropolitan Areas and
4 Nonmetropolitan Regions, Spring 1967 - Continued

S o u t h
Item
Lower

Atlanta,
Ga.
Moderate

Higher

Lower

$1,988
1,676
312
1,851
1,630
1,925
1,344
1,123
1,418
268
239
856
856
213
733
172
192
167
139
63
228
443
174
90
279
581
71
264
60
14
93
79

$2,453
1,995
458
2,706
2,365
2,766
1,696
1,355
1,756
496
404
1,074
1,074

$1,541
1,330
211
1,056
1,056

Austin,
Tex.
Moderate

Higher

Lover

$1,968
1,667
301
1,718
1,497
1,792
1,248
1,027
1,322
252
218
851
851
168
707
159
174
172
130
72
201
439
164
86
282
551
64
268
60
15
68
76

$2,399
1,981
418
2,646
2,525
2,667
1,687
1,566
1,708
470
379
1,086
1,086

$1,527
1,307
220
1,361
1,361

Baltimore,
Kd.
Moderate |

! $2,498
1,991
;
507
1
3,007
2,985
3,011
1,947
1,925
!
1,951
518
432
1,073
1,073

F o o d ------- --------------- --- -------Food at h o m e ----------------- -—
Food away from h o m e -- ---- — ----Housing: Total 4/ --------------------Renter families 4/ ------------------Homeowner families 4/ ----------------Shelter 5/ ---------------------Renter costs 6/ --------------Homeowner costs 7/ -----------Housefurnishings --------- -—
Household operations ------------Transportation: Total 8/ --------------Automobile owners --------------Nonowners of automobiles ------ Clothing ------------------------------Husband ------------------------W i f e ----- ------------ ---- ----B o y ----------------------------Girl ............................
Clothing materials and services -Personal care -------------------------Medical care: Total 9/ -•--------------Insurance---- ---- -— ---- ----Physician's visits -------------Other medical care --------------Other family consumption --------------Reading ------------------------Recreation 1 0 / --- --------- ----Education------- -— -----— ----Tobacco 11/ --------------------Alcoholic beverages -------------Miscellaneous expenses--------- -

$1,538
1,320
218
1,252
1,252

Cost of family consumption: Total 12/ -Renter families ---------------------Homeowner families -------------------

4,648
4,648

6,680
6,459
6,754

9,128
8,787
9,188

4,379
4,379

6,435
6,214
6,509

8,886
8,765
8,907

4,762
4,762

6,802
6,669
6,847

9,483
9,461
9,487

Other costs----------------------------Gifts and contributions ---------Life insurance -----------------Occupational expenses ----- -— ------ --Social security and disability payments —
Personal taxes: Total 12/ ------------Renter families ---------------------Homeowner families------ --- ----- ---

259
139
120
50
246
394
394

391
231
160
80
290
887
833
905

689
449
240
85
290
1,654
1,535
1,676

250
130
120
50
230
328
328

383
223
160
80
290
764
718
779

677
437
240
85
290
1,361
1,333
1,366

262
. 142
120
50
256
490
490

395
235
160
80
290
1,118
1,078
1,131

5,597
5,597

8,328
8,053
8,420

11,846
11,386
11,928

5,237
5,237

7,952
7,685
8,041

11,299
11,150
11,325

5,820
5,820

8,685
8,512
8,743

Cost of budget: Total 12/ ------------Renter families ---------------------Homeowner families ------- ------ -----

See footnotes at end of table.




941
941
136
175
419
562
153
505
131
120
128
86
40
172
440
174
90
276
322
54
94
47
12
83
32

1,134
264
324
224
215
107
323
461
206
90
282
977
96
538
67
19
113
144

770
770
127
159
404
564
107
491
121
110
133
82
45
155
436
164
86
280
296
47
99
47
14
59
30

1,089
246
291
232
199
121
244
456
197
86
285
966
90
560
67
22
87
140

1,061
1,061
140
160
449
613
144
512
135
118
130
88
41
158
455
222
90
270
300
54
92
47
14
60
33

$1,992
1,661
331
2,003
1,870
2,048
1,491
1,358
1,536
267
245
846
879
204
738
176
186
169
141
66
216
458
222
90
273
549
71
249
60
16
73
80

Higher

j
j

Lower
$1,531
1,335
196
1,153
1,153

Baton Rouge,
La.
Moderate

Higher

$1,998
1,687
311
1,911
1,537
2,035
1,448
1,075
1,573
267
195
921
921
189
700
162
180
163
129
66
220
430
174
91
264
554
70
259
60
14
71
80

$2,463
2,009
454
3,158
2,762
3,228
2,212
1,816
2,282
503
333
1,166
1,166

4,506
4,506

6,734
6,360
6,858

9,613
9,217
9,683

707
467
240
85
290
2,163
2,154
2,164

254
134
120
50
237
355
355

393
233
160
80
290
851
766
879

713
473
240
85
290
1,674
1,552
1,696

12,728
12,697
12,733

5,402
5,402

8,348
7,889
8,500

12,375
11,857
12,467

1,142
2 77
312
228
213
112
316
477
257
90
277
970
96
537
67
23
97
150

875
875
135
143
442
610
129
485
124
114
126
80
41
168
429
174
91
263
298
54
91
47
14
61
31

1,080
250
300
220
197
113
306
448
208
91
268
992
96
564
67
21
93
151

22
Table 1. Annual Costs of Budgets for 3 Living Standards
for a 4-Person Family 1/, Urban United States, 39 Metropolitan Areas and
4 Nonmetropolitan Regions, Spring 1967— Continued

Dallas,
Tex.

Durham,
N.C.
Higher

F o o d ----------------------------------Food at home --------------------Food away from home --- ----------Housing: Total 4/ --------------------Renter families 4/ ------------------Homeowner families 4/ ----------------Shelter V ----------------------Renter costs 6/ ---------------Homeowner costs 7/ ------------Housefurnishings -----------------Household operations --- ---- ----Transportation: Total 8/ --------------Automobile owners --— ------------Nonowners of automobiles ----------Clothing ------------------------------Husband -------------------------W i f e ----------------------------B o y -----------------------------Girl --------------------- ------Clothing materials and services --Personal c a r e ------------- ------------Medical care: Total 9/ ----------------Insurance -----------------------Physician's visits ---------------Other medical care ---------------Other family consumption --------— -----Reading -------------------------Recreation 10/ ---- --------------Education-------- ---------------Tobacco 11/ ---------------------Alcoholic beverages --------------Miscellaneous expenses ------- ----

$1,525
1,305
220
1,258
1,258

Cost of family consumption: Total 12/ -Center families ---------------------Homeowner families -------— ----- -----

4,664
4,664

Other costs -- ------------------------Gifts and contributions ----------Life insurance -- -----------------Occupational expenses -----------------Social security and disability payments —
Personal taxes: Total 12/ --- ---------Renter families ------ ---------------Homeowner families ------------------Cost of budget: Total 12/
Renter families ------Homeowner families ------

See footnotes at end of table.




973
973
127
158
418
574
127
490
123
117
125
83
42
161
507
233
92
315
305
50
97
47
14
65
32

247
387
387

5.607
5.607

Highei
$1,489
1,294
195
1,259
1,259

$1,972
1,644
328
1,923
1,745
1,983
1,455
1,277
1,515
253
215
859
859
187
713
163
186
163
134
67
213
510
233
92
318
561
67
265
60
15
74
80

$2,467
1,965
502
3,041
3,369
2,983
2,040
2,369
1,983
514
376
1,089
1,089
1,105
255
311
219
204
116
301
530
274
92
320
993
92
562
67
26
96
150

135
152
402
564
102
505
133
118
125
86
43
161
448
213
92
264
295
50
92
47
11
63
32

6,751
6,573
6,811

9,526
9,854
9,468

4,559
4,559
....

393
233
160
80
290
831
794
843

709
469
240
85
290
1,547
1,639
1,530

8,345
8,130
8,417

12,157
12,577
12,082

972
972

245
460
460

5.570
5.570

Lower

$1,921
1,640
281
2,052
1,669
2,180
1,596
1,193
1,704
270
206
857
857

$2,359
1,957
402
2,995
2,460
3,089
2,018
1,483
2,112
508
359
1,096
1,096

$1,570
1,329
241
1,167
1,167

728
174
187
161
137
69
209
451
213
92
267
560
66
269
60
12
72
81

133
162
455
621

$2,020
1,677
343
1,844
1,577
1,932
1,353
1,086
1,441
265
226
913
913

$2,503
1,999
504
2,832
2,575
2,877
1,832
1,575
1,877
500
390
1,165
1,165

1,123
268
312
214
207
122
291
465
239
92
270
982
92
570
67
18
89
146

472
121
110
125
75
41
167
485
202
91
307
298
53
91
47
15
60
32

682
159
174
163
121
65
220
487
202
91
310
550
70
256
60
16
68
80

6,778
6,395
6,996

9,311
8,776
9,405

4.614
4.614

6,716
6,449
6,804

394
234
160
80
290
1,099
990
1,135

6
49
5l
240
85
290
2,047
1,839
2,083

120
50
244
377
377

160
80
290
823
768
842

8,641
8,149
8,805

12,431
11,688
12,561

5.542
5.542

8,301
7,979
8,40&.

872
872

\\7
1

$1,488
1,281
207
1,259
1,259

Nashville,
Tenn.
Moderate |

HlRher

136
168
414
570

$1,917
1,622
295
2,028
1,622
2,163
1,527
1,121
1,662
272
229
865
865

$2,345
1,934
411
3,135
2,857
3,184
2,120
1,842
2,169
512
393
1,082
1,082

1,056
248
291
220
185
112
309
509
243
91
314
959
95
540
67
24
86
147

515
135
122
129
87
42
163
439
173
83
282
312
53
93
47
13
74
32

750
177
194
168
144
67
210
444
173
83
286
571
70
262
60
14
85
80

1,158
273
323
226
221
115
296
459
204
83
288
976
96
536
67
20
108
149

9,333
9,076
9,378

4.590
4.590

6,785
6,379
6,920

9,451
9,173
9,500

til

257
137

240
85
290
1,490
1,417
1,502

120
50
143
372
372

160
80
290
838
755
866

240
85
290
1,524
1,446
1,538

11,897
11,567
11,954

5.512
5.512

8,388
7,899
8,551

12,055
11,699
12,118

955
955

1%

23
Table 1. Annual Costs of Budgets for 3 Living Standards
for a 4-Person Family 1/, Urban United States, 39 Metropolitan Areas and
4 Nonmetropolitan Regions, Spring 1967— Continued

Orlando,
Fla.

Washington,
D.C-Md.-Va.

Nonmetropolitan
areas______

Higher
F o o d ------------------------------------Food at h o m e -------------- ------Food away from home --------- - — -Housing:
Total 4/ ---------------------Renter families 4/ -------------------Homeowner families 4/ --------------- Shelter 5/ -----------------------Renter costs 6/ --------------Homeowner costs 77 -----------Housef u r n i s h i n g s -- ----------- --Household operations --------- ---Transportation: Total 8/ -------------Automobile o w n e r s --------- -------Nonowners of automobiles — ------Clothing --- ---------------------------Husband --------------------------W i f e ..............................
B o y ------------------------------Girl ..............................
Clothing materials and services -Personal care --------------------------Medical care: Total 9/ ----------------Insurance ------------Physician's visits --------------Other medical care ---------— ---Other family consumption --------------Reading --------------------------Recreation 10/ -------------------Education ------------------------Tobacco _ 11/----------------------Alcoholic beverages -----— ------Miscellaneous expenses -----------

$1,488
1,273
215
1,237
1,237

Cost of family consumption:
Total 12/ Renter families ----------------------Homeowner families -------------------Other costs-----------------------------Gifts and contributions ---------Life insurance -------------------Occupational expenses ------------------Social security and disability payments •
Personal taxes: Total 12/ -------------Renter families ----- — --------- ------ Homeowner families -------------------Cost of budget: Total 1_2/ -------------Renter families ----------------------Homeowner families --------------------

See footnotes at end of table.




i

138
161
403
545

$1,920
1,611
309
1,980
1,727
2,065
1,493
1,240
1,578
272
215
848
848

487
128
113
119
82
45
158
450
201
95
269
296
51
92
47
13
62
31

703
167
179
155
131
71
205
454
201
95
272
546
68
251
60
14
74
79

1,091
258
299
210
200
124
291
470
233
95
275
959
93
535
67
20
95
149

518
132
121
128
91
46
159
466
204
96
282
309
55
99
47
14
59
35

750
173
192
167
145
73
222
469
204
96
285
566
72
264
60
15
68
87

1,154
266
320
223
221
124
330
485
235
96
288
988
98
555
67
23
86
159

471
126
107
116
79
43
134
396
178
66
254
244
30
71
31
15
67
30

680
172
164
158
125
61
195
399
178
66
257
469
40
231
35
16
73
74

1,052
259
276
215
198
104
271
415
210
66
259
810
59
449
50
23
96
133

4,519
4,519

6,656
6,403
6,741

9,427
8,784
9,541

5,004
5,004

7,312
6,848
7,467

10,096
9,784
10,151

4,350
4,350

6,250
6,030
6,324

8,457
8,177
8,506

255
135
120
50
238
357
357

390
230
160
80
290
811
759
828

290
1,518
1,344 ;
1,549

269
149
120
50
270
540
540

413
253
160
80
290
1,178
1,052
1,220

737
497
240
85
290
2,211
2,096
2,232

250
130
120
50
230
344
344

376
216
160
80
290
788
738
805

656
416
240
85
290
1,421
1,343
1,435

5,419
5,419

8,227
7,922
8,329

12,024
11,207
12,169 ;

6,133
6,133

9,273
8,683
9,470

13,419
12,992
13,495

5,224
5,224

7,784
7,514
7,875

10,909
10,551
10,972

938
938

;

$2,379
1,925
454
3,155
2,512
3,269
2,154
1,511
2,268
506
385
1,082
1,082

$1,621
1,401
220
1,479
1,479

704
464 !
240 1

85 1
I
i

$2,612
2,143
469
3,434
3,122
3,489
2,350
2,038
2,405
547
427
1,093
1,093

$1,472
1,288
184
1,076
1,076

137
147
452
611

$2,118
1,793
325
2,316
1,852
2,471
1,821
1,357
1,976
258
237
871
905

1,195
1,195

126
162
557
557

$1,887
1,632
255
1,685
1,465
1,759
1,193
973
1,267
255
237
935
935

$2,266
1,964
302
2,507
2,227
2,556
1,585
1,305
1,634
491
391
1,136
1,136

788
788

24
Table 1. Annual Costs of Budgets for 3 Living Standards
for a 4-Person Family 1/, Urban United States, 39 Metropolitan Areas and
4 Nonmetropolitan Regions, Spring, 1967— Continued
•

Lower
Food-----------------------------Food at home------------------Food away fro* home-----------Housing: Total 4/---------------Renter faailies 4/------------Homeowner families 4/---------Shelter 5/...... -...........
Rental costs 6/-----------Homeowner costs T J - -------Hou8efurnishings------------Household operations---- ---Transportation: Total 8/--------Automobile owners-------------Nonowners of automobiles------Clothing-------------------------Husband------------------- ---Wife...........................
Boy............................
Girl--------------------------Clothing materials and services
Personal care--------------------Medical care: Total 9/----------Insurance--------- -----------Physician'8 visits------------Other medical care------------Other family consumption---------Reading-----------------------Recreation 10/----------------Education---------------------Tobacco 11/-------------------—
Alcoholic beverages--- — -----Miscellaneous expenses— --- -—
Cost of family consumption:
Total 12/......................
Renter families---------------Homeowner families------------Other costs ---------------------Gifts and contributions-------—
Life insurance----------------Occupational expenses------------Social security and disability
payments----------------------Personal taxes: Total 12/-------Renter families---------------Homeowner families------------Cost of budget: Total 12/------—
Renter Families---------------Homeowner families-------------

See footnotes at end of table,




Bak<srsfield,
<Jalif.
Moderate

Denver,
Colo.
Higher

Lower

$2,041
1,720
321
1,942
1,555
2,070
1,454
1,067
1,582
290
198
924
924
194
779
176
193
183
152
75
224
546
262
93
341
549
62
256
60
14
74
83

$2,513
2,061
452
2,955
2,509
3,034
1,912
1,466
1,991
562
371
1,201
1,201

$1,667
1,444
223
1,268
1,268

4,797
4,797

7,005
6,618
7,133

! 9,648
9,202
9,727

263
143
120
50

402
242
160
80

715
475
240
85

254
415
415

364
971
874
1,004

364
1,848
1,691
1,875

5,779
5,779

8,822
8,338
8,983

12,660
12,057
12,766

$1,646
1,419
227
1,141
1,141
852
852
144
145
449
620
133
554
144
117
151
94
48
172
544
262
93
339
291
45
92
47
11
63
33

1,118
243
312
232
204
127
317
571
305
93
347
973
88
557
67
17
92
152

969
969
140
159
429
582
145
571
156
115
153
98
49
165
484
247
87
291
289
48
92
47

11

57
34

Honolulu,
Hawaii
Higher

$2,076
1,757
319
2,191
1,778
2,329
1,690
1,277
1,828
270
231
909
909
206
799
190
192
185
155
77

220
487
247
87
294
549
64
256
60
14
69

Lower

$2,634
2,118
516
3,246
3,218
3,251
2,184
2,156
2,189
542
410
1.098
1.098

$2,003
1,785
218
1.832
1.832

1,144
268
308
234
205
129
310
505
281
87
297
969
90
553
67
17

526
140
117
137
85
47
171
472
224
93
283
327
54

1.469
1.469
160
203
494
702

110

86

Los AngelesLong Beach, Calif.
Higher

$2,489
2,146
343
2,848
2,389
3,001
2,255
1,796
2,408
312
281
1.034
1.034
170
737
171
192
166
134
74
223
474
224
93
285
604
71
271
60
19
83

$3,133
2,579
554
4,363
3,732
4,474
3,150
2,519
3,261
627
476

1,200
1,200

Higher

245
1.427
1.427
1.150
1.150
142
135
438
614

112
1,062
239
311

211
179

122
320
494
257
93
290
1,083
97
610
67
24

568
143
123
151
96
55
176
631
262

$2,066
1,699
367
2,189
1,896
2,287
1,715
1,422
1,813
285
189
881
918
172
804
174
203
182
158
87
235
635
262

$2,586
2,046
540
3,433
3,461
3.429
2,401
2.429
2,397
553
369
1.154
1.154
1,160
245
327
23 J.

210
147
333
661
313

122

122

122

397
313
56

102

401
584
72
277
60
14
73

100

183

88

405
1,016
98
579
67
17
92
163

5.825
5.825

8,409
7,950
8,562

11,655
11,024
11,766

5.206
5.206

7,394
7,101
7,492

10,343
10,371
10,339

294
174

451
291
160
80

814
574
240
85

275
155

416
256
160

749
509
240
85

100
47
15
71
40

102
47

86

156

4.873
4.873

7,231
6,818
7,369

9,906
9,878
9,911

265
145

410
250
160

727
487
240
85

260
457
457

290
1,069
963
1,104

290
2,003
1,993
2,005

290
787
787

290
1,672
1,506
1,727

290
3,232
2,924
3,286

277
497
497

364
1,072
999
1,097

364
2,104
2,114

5.905
5.905

9,080
8,561
9,253

13,011
12,973
13,018

7.246
7.246

10,902
10,277

16,076
15,137
16,241

6.305
6.305

9,326
8,960
9,449

13,645
13,683
13,639

120
50

120

11,110

120
50

2,102

25
Table 1. Annual Costs of Budgets for 3 Living Standards
for a 4-Person Family 1/, Urban United States, 39 Metropolitan Areas and
4 Nonmetropolltan Regions, Spring 1967--Continued

ITEM
Lower
Food------------- ---------------Food at home------------------Food away frosi home-----------Housing: Total 4/— --------- ---Renter families 4/------------Homeowner families 4/------- -Shelter 5 /— ---------------Rental costs 6/-----------Homeowner costs T j --------Housefurnishings------------Household operations--------Transportation: Total 8/--------Automobile owners------- -— —
Honowners of automobiles------Clothing-------------------------Husband----------------------— •
Wife..........................
Boy...........................
Girl--------------------------Clothing materials and services
Personal care--------------------Medical care: Total 9/— ------ Insurance---------------------—
Physician's visits----------- —
Other medical care— ----------Other family consumption---------Reading--------------- -------Recreation 10/----------------Education------- --------------Tobacco 11/-------------------Alcoholic beverages-----------Miscellaneous expenses--------Cost of family consumption:
Total 12/.........
Renter families -------Homeowner families---- Othar costs------------------Gifts and contributions— — ■
Life insurance
Occupational expenses--------Social security and disability
payments--------- ---------Personal taxes: Total 12/---Renter families-----------Homeowner families--------Cost of budget: Total 12/-------Ranter families------- --------Hoemowner families-------------

$1,619
1,385
234
1.299
1.299

1,011

1,011
151
137
458
609
178
543
133
118
150
96
46
160
583
262

San Diego,
Calif.
Moderate _ Higher
$2,015
1,667
348
2,236
1,727
2,406
1,758
1,249
1,928
290
188
910
910
238
768
162
194
182
157
73
213
587
262

Lower

$2,498
1,996
500
3,532
2,979
3,629
2,489
1,936
2,586
570
363
1.147
1.147

$1,720
1,481
239
1.519
1.519

1,114
234
314
231

592
152
123
152
105
60
189
551
207

212
123
297
628
310

1.233
1.233
150
136
455
653

88

W E S
San FranciscoOakland. Calif.
_
. Moderate
Higher
$2,163
1,794
369
2,411
2,105
2,513
1,923
1,617
2,025
289
199
923
964
148
837
185
204
184
170
94
256
555
207

$2,711
2,154
557
3,571
3,383
3,604
2,501
2,313
2,534
570
390
1,186

354
595
74
282
60
14
73
92

112

T
SeattleEverett, Wash,
Moderate
_ Higher
$1,778
1,543
235
1,536
1,536

Nonaetropolitan
areas
Lower

$2,766
2,229
537
3,477
-3,115
3,541
2,383

358
1,031
100
586
67
17
93
168

141
175
478
657
145
596
150
125
158
106
57
180
496
203
97
312
310
53
98
47
14
61
37

$2,229
1,857
372
2,332
2,038
2,431
1,823
1,529
1,922
268
241
994
994
205
843
183
206
190
174
90
239
499
203
97
315
580
70
264
60
18
76
92

22

12

98
166

57
34

10,648
10,460
10,681

5.374
5.374
....

7,716
7,422
7,815

10*51*
10,153
10,579

1,204
258
329
233
226
158
365
580
254

1,220
1,220

2,021
2,447
523
461

1,211

1,211
1,213
258
333
238
233
151
332
520
241
97
320
996
96
547
67

$1,643
1,461
182
1.312
1.312

Higher

138
169
589
589

$2,024
1,769
255
2,033
1,712
2,140
1,512
1,191
1,619
276
245
970
970

$2,451
2,136
315
2,949
2,430
3,041
1,900
1,381
1,992
554
455
1.189
1.189

562
145
119
149
94
55
146
440

792
199
183
192
142
76
217
443

1,110

210

210

73
277
249
37
78
31

73
281
493
47
250
35
15
64
82

278
306
207
194
125
314
461
243
73
284
873
67
506
50
18
85
147

4.941
4.941

6,972
6,651
7,079

9,347
8,828
9,439

1.005
1.005

102

102

102

112

368
308
57
96
47

372
574
74
266
60
14
73
87

377
997

350
318
57
104
47

4.970
4.970

7,303
6,794
7,473

10,213
9,660
10,310

5.344
5.344

7,740
7,434
7,842

268
148

413
253
160
80

743

279

428

764

280

427

757

267

401

700

503
240
85

159

268
160
80

524
240
85

160

267
160
80

517
240
85

147

241
160
80

460
240
85

264
450
450

364
1,049
921
1,091

364
2,056
1,862
2.09G

355
543
543

364
1,162
1,085
1,188

364
2,217
2,151
2,229

287
529
529

290
1,037
976
1,057

290
1,839
1,737
1,857

268
559
559

290
1,147
1,056
1,177

290
2,016
1,820
2,050

6,002
6,002

9,209
8,572
9,421

13,461
12,714
13,592

6.571
6.571

9,774
9,391
9,902

14,079
13,825
14,124

6.520
6.520
....

9,550
9,195
9,669

13,486
13,022
13,568

6.085
6.085

8,890
8,478
9,027

12,438
11,723
12,564

11
62
35

120
50

100
560
67
17
92
161

11

62
37

120
50

112

120
50

120
50

JJ

Th® family consists of an employed husband, aged 38, a wife not employed outside the home, an 8-year-old girl, and a 13-year-old boy.
For a detailed description, see the 1967 edition of the Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas, prepared by the Bureau of the Budget
Places with population of 2,500 to 50,000.
4/ The higher standard cost includes $110 for lodging away from home city in metropolitan areas, and $40 in nonmetropolitan areas. These costs are not
shown separately or included in any of the housing subgroups.
5/ The average costs of shelter were weighted by the following proportions: Lower standard, 100 percent for families living in rented dwellings; moderate
standard, 25 percent for renters, 75 percent for homeowners; higher standard, 15 percent for
renters, 85 percent for homeowners.
6/ Average contract rent plus the cost of required amounts of heating fuel, gas, electricity, water, specified equipment, and
insurance onhouseholdcontents.
TJ Interest and principal payments plus taxes; insurance on house and contents; water, refuse
disposal, heating fuel, gas,electricity,andspecifiedequipmentand home repair and maintenance costs.
8/ The average costs of automobile owners and nonowners in the lower budget are weighted by the following proportions of families: Boston, Chicago, New York,
and Philadelphia, 50 percent for both automobile owners, and nonowners; all other metropolitan areas, 65 percent for automobile owners, 35 percent for nonowners;
nonmetropolitan areas, 100 percent for automobile owners. The moderate standard proportions are: Boston, Chicago, New York and Philadelphia, 80 percent for owners,
20 percent for nonowners; Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C., with 1.4 million of population or
more In 1960, 95 percent for
automobile owners and 5 percent for nonowners; all other areas, 100 percent for automobile owners. The higher budget weight is 100 percent
for automobile owners in all
areas. Moderate standard costs for automobile owners in autumn
1966 were revised prior
to updating to Spring 1967 cost levels.
9/ In total medical care, the average costs of medical insurance were weighted by the following proportions: 30 percent for families paying full cost of
insurance; 26 percent for families paying half cost; 44 percent for families covered by noncontributory insurance plans (paid by employer).
.10/ The autumn 1966 cost6 of recreation in the moderate standard were revised prior to updating to Spring 1967 costs.
11/
Cigarette costs were deleted from the moderate standard beginning with Spring 1967 pricing
period.
12/
The total represents the weighted average costs of renter and homeowner families. See the
weights cited infootnote 5.

2J
3/

NOTE: See Appendix A for items and quantities included in each component and appendix B for the population weights for each city.
sums of individual items may not equal totals.

334-641 0 - 69 - 3




Because of rounding
’

Chapter III. Comparative Living Cost Indexes

Answers to the question, “ How much more or
less does it cost to live in one community than in
another,?” , are needed for a wide variety of purposes. For example, comparative living costs
are important in wage negotiations; in manage­
ment decisions on plant locations; in Federal,
State, and local government allocations of r e ­
sources and estimates of relative costs for urban

expenditure distributions, or preference pat­
terns. At the same time differences in the con­
ditions of living in each locality over which in­
dividual fam ilies have no control, e.g., climate,
transportation facilities, taxes, etc. can be r e ­
flected in the comparisons. Hence indexes based
on a standard budget measure differences in
l i v i n g costs and not differences in prices
only. 13/

renewal and consumer programs of various
kinds; and for individual family decisions on
places to live.

Indexes for Three Living Standards
The new budgets provide a wide variety of
comparative living cost indexes for total bud­
get costs and for the major categories of con­
sumer goods and services. For the firs t time
measures are available to determine the range
in living costs at low, moderate, and higher
levels of living (tables 2, 3, and 4 respectively).
All indexes relate to costs for fam ilies estab­
lished in the areas. They do not measure dif­
ferences in costs associated with moving from
one area to another, or costs for recent in­
migrants. Within each living standard, the inter­
city indexes reflect not only differences among
areas in price levels but also climatic or regional
differences in the quantities and types of items
required to provide the specified standard of
living, and differences in State and local taxes,
which are a part of the total budget.

For most purposes, detailed information on
differences in total costs, rather than differences
in price levels 12/ among communities is needed.
Although no single measure of intercity d iffer­
ences in living costs will serve all purposes,
the standard budget approach offers the best
solution to a general purpose intercity index for
two reasons. In the first place, this method of
comparison holds constant the age, size, and
composition of the family. Thus, variations in
requirements associated with fam ily needs are
not confused with locality differences. Secondly,
the level and manner of living represented by the
standard can be held constant for each city in the
comparison, even though the cities may be quite
different in their actual average levels of living,

12/ It is frequently assumed that the BLS
Consumer P rice Indexes for 23 metropolitan
areas can be used for this purpose, but this
is not the case. These individual area indexes
are not based on a uniform “ market basket”
of goods and services, but on the particular
“ market basket,” or pattern of expenditures of
wage- and clerical-w orker families, in each
area. Like the U.S. urban CPI, each city
index is designed to measure changes in price
levels over time; and the index weights for the
city remain constant over time, except for
major periodical revisions. In the absence of a
common set of weights, the Consumer Price
Indexes for individual cities cannot be used
to measure differences in price levels among
the cities.




Not unexpectedly, the range in total budget
costs is narrower at a lower level of living,
and widens as the living standard rises. Costs
were lowest in the small cities in the South at all
three standards. Metropolitan areas in the West

13/ Comparative indexes based on th e aut­
umn 1966 pricing of the moderate standard are
shown in Bulletin 1570-1, op. cit., table 2
page 13, and discussion pp. 8 , and 14-16;
see also Jean C. Brackett and Helen H.Lam ale,
“Area Differences in Living Costs,” in P roceedings of the Social Statistics Section, 1967;
American Statistical Association, Washington,
D.C., pp. 144-148.

26

27

were the most expensive at the lower standard,
but this rank shifted to large cities in the North­
east for moderate and higher levels of living. The
range from high to low total budget costs was 17
percentage points at the lower, 20 points at the
moderate, and 24 points at the higher standard.

The annual total for the lower budget in Spring
1967 amounted to $5,224 in nonmetropolitan areas
in the South and $7,246 in Honolulu. In relative
terms, with U.S. urban average costs equal 100,
this constitutes a range from 88 to 122, or 34
percentage points. 14/ Among mainland areas,

Area Variations in Living Costs
Within these broad city-size and geographical
areas, living costs vary among specific places.
For example, of the 10 highest cost areas at the
lower standard, 3 were metropolitan areas in the
West, 4 were in the North Central, 2 in the North­
east and 1 in the South. Similarly, at the higher
standard, of the 10 most expensive cities, 4 each
were in the Northeast and West and leach in the
North Central and South.




14/ Total budget, total consumption, food,
and rental shelter costs for the three standards
were significantly higher in Honolulu than in the
mainland cities, as were also homeowner shelter
in the lower and higher standards, and trans­
portation and tobacco in the moderate standard.
Therefore, subsequent discussion of intercity
differentials has been limited to the mainland
cities.

Comparative Living Cost Indexes fo r Three Living Standards,
Spring 1967

1/

Standards
Region and s iz e o f area

Urban United States--------------Metropolitan areas---------Nonmetropolitan areas-----

Lower 2/

100
101

Moderate 3/

Higher

100
102

100
102

92

89

Northeast— ------------ ------- -----Metropolitan areas---------Nonmetropolitan areas-----

105

107

102

106

108

96

99

95

North Central— ------- ----------—
Metropolitan areas---------Nonmetropolitan areas-----

10 1
102
98

100
101

South-----------------------------------—
Metropolitan areas---------Nonmetropolitan areas-----

92

91

95

93

90
94

88

86

84

102
103
98

102

105
103

West----------------------------------------Metropolitan areas---------Nonmetropolitan a re a s ----

94

99

100
92

103
95

1/ Indexes calculated from costs of budget fo r a 4-person family . (U.S
urban average to tal budget cost fo r each standard = 100 ) .
2/ Renter family only.
2 / Weighted average
cost fo r homeowner (75 percent) and renter (25 percent) fam ilies.
4/ Weighted average cost fo r homeowner (85 percent) and renter (15 p ercent) fam ilies.

4/

28

costs of the lower budget were highest in San
Francisco, averaging $6,571, or 23 percentage
points above the Southern regional average
of small cities. In the moderate and higher
budgets, New York was the most expensive main­
land area, averaging $9,977, and $14,868 at these
levels, amounting to 24 and 30 percentage points
respectively above the costs of comparable bud­
gets in smaller places in the South.

in costs for total consumption and persona] taxes.
Federal, State, and local taxes reflect variations
in tax laws in different jurisdictions, and also
differences in the costs of all other budget
components—since these costs constitute the
base on which the tax allowances are caculated.

These extremes among individual areas,
based on total budget costs, are summarized in
the tabulation below, together with the range

Among the major components of the budgets,
the comparisons for food at home, shelter, trans­
portation, and clothing are for an equivalent, not

Variations Resulting from Differences
in Quantities and Prices

High- and[ Low-cost Areas at Three Standards of Living, Spring 1967
Areas
Living standard

High

Indexes

1/

Range

Low

High

Low

Nonmetropolitan
areas

111

88

23

Nonmetropolitan
areas

110

86

24

Nonmetrop olitan
areas

114

84

30

Nonmetropolitan
areas

111

89

22

Nonmetropolitan
areas

110

87

23

Nonmetropolitan
areas

111

85

26

(Index points)

Total budget:
Lower------------

Moderate-------

Higher-----------

San Francisco

New York

New York

Total consumption:
Lower— ---------

Moderate-------

Higher..........-

Seattle

Hartford

New York

Personal taxes:
Lower-----------

Milwaukee

Austin

133

69

64

Moderate------

Milwaukee

Austin

131

72

59

Higher---------

New York

Austin

132

69

63

1/ Excluding Honolulu.




29

an identical, list of goods and services. Thus,
for these components both the quantities (or
weights) and prices may vary from city to city.
Generally, these components, especially shelter
and tranportation, contributed most to the inter­
city differences in total consumption costs.

home was much greater: 36 percentage points
between Los Angeles and nonmetropolitan areas
in the North Central region.
Moderate and higher food budget costs were
largest in two East Coast cities: Hartford for
food at home and the New York City area for
food away from home. As in the lower budget,
Orlando was lowest for food at home and small
North Central cities for food away from home.
The range in food-at-home costs in the moderate
and higher standards (19 and 17 percentage points,
respectively) was about the same as the lower
budget. But the range of costs for restaurant
meals—50 percentage points in the moderate, and
65 in the higher—was considerably wider than in
the lower budget. The ranges for food away from
home reflected much greater variability in re s ­
taurant prices in various parts of the country than
in the costs of food bought in grocery stores.

Differences among the budget cities in the
cost of food resulted not only from variations in
prices, but also from differences in consump­
tion patterns for food at home. At each of the
three budget levels, the same U,S. Department
of Agriculture food plan allowances for food at
home were used for all cities throughout the
country, but city costs within each of the four
regions reflected regional consumption patterns
(see page 9 ). 15/ Moreover, as noted earlier,
the consumption patterns within each region
varied by budget levels.
The highest and lowest regional food costs
followed much the same pattern in all three
budgets. With one exception the Northeast had the
highest average costs, and in all cases the South
had the lowest, as shown by the indexes below
(U.S. urban average = 100).

In all three budgets, differences in food-athome costs within each region, reflecting only
differences in prices, showed the same pattern.
Only in the South were the differences between
the highest and lowest costs less than $100
(Washington, D.C. was not included in the South
for this comparison, since its costs reflect not
the regional, but the U.S. urban consumption pat­
terns). The differences were greatest in the West,
where the spread between high-cost Seattle and
low-cost San Diego ran from $160 in the lower
budget to $230 in the higher budget.

Among specific cities, the lower-budgetfood
costs were highest in the two West Coast cities—
Seattle for food at home, and Los Angeles for food
away from home. Food at home was lowest in
Orlando, which, with an index of 89 (U.S. urban
average = 100), was 19 percentage points below
Seattle, The range of costs for food away from

Shelter, often considered the prim ary factor
in determining the relative position of an area on
a scale of living costs, is subject to many local
conditions, and areas in which costs are high at
one level of living are not necessarily high at
other levels. In general, shelter costs were

15/ For an anlysis of the variations in food
costs which may be attributed to differences
in price levels among regions and cities for
food at home and five selected major food groups,
see BLS Bulletin 1570-3, op. cit., Pt. I, pp. 1-9.

Lower
Area




Home

Away

Home

Away

Total

100
108

100
109
96
89
104

100

100

107

105
100

100

100

100

100

105

105

105

108

100
92
102

100

97
93

93

106

99

91
101

Home

Total

OJ
o\

U.S. urban------------Northeast------North CentralSouth-------------West----------------

Total

Higher

Moderate

99
93
98

99
92
97

93
99

Away
100
112
96
85
105

30

higher in large metropolitan areas than in
medium-sized or small cities, for both renters and
homeowners at low, moderate, and higher levels
of living. (See tabulation below). 16/
Regionally, total shelter costs in large met­
ropolitan areas in the Northeast at the lower
standard, which covers rental costs only, aver­
aged 5 p e r c e n t below; costs in the North
Central and the West were 6 and 13 percent r e ­
spectively above the U.S. average cost of the
lower standard. On the other hand, at the mod­
erate and higher standards, which cover both
owned and rented dwellings, costs in these large
Eastern cities were substantially above those in
all other parts of the country. In medium-sized
cities (population 50,000 to 1 million), shelter
was relatively more expensive in the North Cen­
tral than in any other region at all three stand­
ards and particularly at the lower level.

16/ For a detailed discussion of shelter costs
in the autumn 1966 pricing of the moderate
standard, see BLS Bulletin 1570-3, op. cit.,
Pt. Ill, pp. 23-28.

The range in total shelter costs was 56 p er­
centage points in the lower budget, and 60 and 62
points in the moderate and higher budgets. Rental
costs were highest in Champaign-Urbana for both
the lower and moderate standards, and lowest in
Austin (for the lower budget) and small Southern
cities (for the moderate budget). In the higher
budget, New York rents were highest while those
in small Northeastern cities were lowest. Homeowner costs were highest in Boston and lowest
in small Southern cities in both the moderate and
higher budgets.
Relative costs for the transportation com­
ponent in the lower budget ranged from a high of
132 in small cities in the West to 83 in the New
York area, or 49 percentage points (with the U,S.
urban average * 100), prim arily because an
automobile was specified as a necessity for all
fam ilies living in small cities. Only half of the
fam ilies in the New York area where public
transportation facilities are more readily avail­
able owned an automobile. At the moderate stand­
ard, where the weights for automobile ownership
differed less from one place to another, costs
ranged by only 26 percentage points: from a high
of 114 in Seattle (with 95 percent ownership) to a

Corrparative Indexes of Shelter Costs, Spring 1967
(U.S. urban average cost of each budget « 100)

Total shelter
Areas

Lower 1/

Moderate 2/

Renters
Higher

Lower

Moderate

Homeowners
Higher

Moderate

Higher

Large metropolitan
areas (1 m illion or
103

107

107

103

104

Other metropolitan
areas ( 50,000 to
1 m illio n )-........

103

96

97

103

102

Nonmetropolitan
areas (2,500 to
50 , 000 ) -------------

88

81

79

88

84

more population)—

JJ
2/
3/

Renter fam ilies only.
Renter (25 percent) and homeowner (75 percent) fam ilies.
Renter (15 percent) and homeowner (85 percent) fam ilies.




111

108

107

95

95

98

70

80

81

31

low of 88 in New York (with 80 percent owner­
ship). At the higher standard, where all families
were assumed to own automobilies, the range was
only 19 percentage points, and the New York area
costs were equal to the U.S. urban average.
Costs for automobile owners were highest in
Boston and averaged $704, $1,034 and $1,248 in
the lower, moderate and higher standards re s p e c t i v e l y . At the lower end of the scale,
Orlando’ s costs were $545 in the lower budget,
Lancaster’ s $845 in the moderate, and Dayton’ s
$1,034 in the higher budget. The spread of costs
among cities decreased from 26 percentage
points in the lower to 19 percent in the higher
standard. In the three standards, there was a
pattern of higher costs in the more densely popu­
lated areas because of higher insurance rates,
and in Honolulu and Western cities where car
prices tended to exceed those in other areas.
For fam ilies who did not own automobilies,
costs of local public transportation (transit and
taxi rides) were the same for both the lower and
moderate budgets in each city. No allowances are
provided for the higher budget or for nonmetro­
politan areas, because all fam ilies are assumed
to own cars. Public transportation ranged from
$178 in San Diego to $88 in San Francisco.
Since clothing costs are affected by variations
in the kinds and quantities of clothing required by
the climate as well as by differences inprices,
they tended to be lowest in the South. Nonmetro­
politan areas in the South had the lowest costs—
$471 in the lower standard, $680 in the moderate,
and $1,052 in the higher, or about 12 percent be­
low the U.S. urban averages for the lower and
moderate, and 8 percent below for the higher.
For all three standards, clothing costs were
highest in Portland, Maine, because of both c li­
mate and price levels. Higher prices were re ­
sponsible for costs in Seattle and San Francisco,
which followed Portland in the three standards.
Costs in Portland were $604 in the lower, $861
in the moderate, and $1,273 in the higher—all of
which are 12 percent above the U.S. average
costs. Thus the full range of costs among cities
was approximately the same for all budgets.
Clothing costs were within 5 percent of the U.S.
average cost in about two-thirds of the cities in




the lower standard, three-fourths of the cities in
the moderate, and four-fifths of the cities in the
higher standard.
Variations in Costs Reflecting
P rice Differences Only
Area differences in the costs of all compon­
ents of the budgets other than food at home, shel­
ter, transportation, and clothing, are attributable
to price differences, because within eachbudget
the items and quantities priced were the same
from place to place.

Three Western cities— San Francisco, Seat­
tle, and Los Angeles—had the highest costs of
personal care in the three standards; San Fran­
cisco exceeded U,S. average costs about 17 per­
cent. Nonmetropolitan areas in the South had the
lowest costs in the lower and mode rate budgets,
$134 and $195 respectively, or 17 and 11 percent
below the U.S. averages for these budgets. Austin
had the lowest cost ($244) in the higher standard,
which was 20 percent below the U.S. average.

At all three budget levels, total medical care
costs were highest in the four California cities,
and lowest in Dayton, Cincinnati, and small cities
in the North Central and Southern regions. Only in
the Western region were a majority of the cities
above the U.S. urban average cost. Costs were
133 in Los Angeles and averaged downward 49
percentage points to 84 in the nonmetropolitan
areas of the North Central and Southern regions.
The intercity patterns of costs varied among
the three components of medical care. For ex­
ample, the widest range was found in fees for
physicians’ s visits, which had identical costs in
the three budgets. Los Angeles and New York
were highest, with indexes of 133, in contrast to
72 for small North Central and Southern cities—
a difference of 61 percentage points. San Fran­
cisco and San Diego ranked third and fifth from
the top, respectively, while Bakersfield dropped
to tenth place. A majority of cities in the West
had costs above the U.S. urban average, whereas
none of the North Central cities exceeded the
average. A majority of the ten lowest cost areas
were in this region.

32

Basic health insurance costs for the lower
and moderate budgets were above theU.S. aver­
age in a majority of North Central and North­
eastern areas, while Southern areas accounted
for 6 of the 10 lowest rankings. F ifty-six per­
centage points separated the high in MinneapolisSt. Paul (129) from Austin’ s low of 73. Insurance
in the higher budget had the same general inter­
city cost patterns as that in the basic coverage,
but the spread was only 50 percentage points
between the high (125) and the low indexes.
Recreation also cost less in nonmetropolitan
areas, where the mode of living emphasized par­




ticipant sports and organization memberships
rather than television, radios, and movies for
which allowances were higher in metropolitan
areas. Costs in the small cities of the South
were one-fourth below the ILS. average in the
lower budget, and almost one-fifth below the
average in the higher budget. San Francisco was
the most expensive area at the lower standard,
and Lancaster (where prices for tape recorders,
phonographs, etc. were high) at the moderate and
higher standards; costs in each case were about
11 percent above the U.S. averages.
************

33
Table 2.

Indexes of Comparative Costs Based on a Lower Living Standard
for a 4-Person Family 1/, Spring 1967

(U.S. Urban Average Cost - 100)
of
F a m i l y
C o s t
Area

Urban United States-------- ------------------Metropolitan areas 6/---------------------Nonmetropolitan areas 7/------------------Northeast:
Boston, Mass -------------------------Buffalo, N.Y -.........................
Hartford, C o n n --------- ----------- -—
Lancaster, P a ------- 1 ----------------New York-Northeastern N.J -------------Philadelphia, Pa.-N.J .................
Pittsburgh, Pa -----------------------Portland, Maine-----------------------Nonmetropolitan areas 7/--------------North Central:
Cedar Rapids, Iowa--------------------Champaign-Urbane, 111-----------------Chicago, 111.-Northwestern Ind---------Cincinnati, Ohio-Ky.-Ind--------------Cleveland, Ohio------------------- ---Dayton, Ohio--------------------------Detroit, Mich ------------------------Green Bay, Wis------------------------Indianapolis, Ind-------------------- —
Kansas City, Mo-Kans------------------Milwaukee, Wis------------------------Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn-------------St. Louis, Mo.-Ill.....................
Wichita, Kans— ------------------- ---Nonmetropolitan areas 7/---------------South:
Atlanta, Ga— — — — -— — — — --------- —
Austin, Tex---------------------------Baltimore, Md----------------— — -- -—
Baton Rouge, La-----------------------Dallas, Tex---------------------------Durham, N.C --------------------------Houston, Tex--------------------------Nashville, Tenn-----------------------Orlando, Fla--------------------------Washington, D.C.-Md.-Va............... Nonmetropolitan areas 7/--------------West:
Bakersfield, Calif.................... Denver, Colo--------------------------Honolulu, Hawaii----------------------Los Angeles-Long Beach, Calif----------San Diego, Calif----------------------San Francisco-Oakland, Calif-----------Seattle-Everett, Wash-----------------Nonmetropolitan areas 7J---------------

Co n s u m p t i o n
Transportation 4/

Clothing
and
oersonal care

100
103
88

100
94
126

100
102
92

100
103
87

100
104
83

112
100
116
94
95
91
92
100
86

115
100
121
94
94
89
91
98
83

95
103
104
89
83
88
98
91
129

101
105
107
101
104
102
101
108
95

100
98
102
88
108
98
96
100
94

106
103
109
103
106
103
105
110
82

99
101
102
99
99
98 <
102
95
100
101
98
97
104
101
96

117
125
111
94
103
102
94
96
114
102
108
104
101
104
104

121
132
114
94
105
103
93
94
118
102
111
106
102
104
106

93
93
91
96
100
92
99
93
97
97
95
99
103
99
123

103
100
103
98
102
99
103
99
103
102
102
102
102
99
95

93
101
103
85
91
85
99
91
91
95
94
93
93
94
83

99
100
103
104
104
104
106
98
105
102
100
103
97
101
81

96
90
98
93
96
94
95
94
93
103
89

94
94
93
93
93
91
95
91
90
99
90

96
81
104
88
97
97
90
97
95
113
83

93
76
105
86
96
96
86
94
93
U8
78

94
91
101
99
94
90
102
93
90
101
125

97
92
96
93
93
95
91
97
92
97
86

93
92
96
90
107
94
102
93
95
98
84

110
101
102
101
104
100
101
106
101
105
83

99
100
120
107
102
110
111
102

100
101
122
101
98
105
108
100

88
97
140
109
100
117
118
101

84
96
145
113
100
122
120
99

101
96
111
98
103
102
107
132

103
105
99
106
100
111
111
101

115
102
99
133
123
116
105
93

99
98
112
107
105
108
105
85

Total

Food

Total
housing 2/

100
101
94

100
101
94

100
101
94

100
102
90

106
103
109
98
102
100
99
101
96

105
102
109
98
101
99
98
101
97

105
103
108
104
107
106
102
101
100

105
106
103
96
100
98
99
97
104
101
103
102
101
101
98

104
106
104
96
100
98
100
95
103
101
101
100
101
101
98

95
89
98
91
95
94
94
93
92
104
88
98
100
122
107
101
111
110
103

Total
budget

Shelter 3/
(renter costs)

1/

Medical care 5/

Other
Family
consumption

The family consists of an employed
husband,
aged 38, a wife not employed outside the home, an 8-year-old girl,
and a
13-year-old boy.
Total housing includes shelter, household operations and housefurnishings. All families with the lower living
standard are assumed tobe
renters.
Average contract rent plus the cost of required amounts of heating fuel, gas, electricity, water, specified equipment and insurance on household contents.
4/ The average costs of automobile owners and nonowners in the lower budget are weighted by the following proportions of families: Boston, Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia,
50 percent for both automobile owners, and nonowners; all other metropolitan areas, 65 percent for automobile owners, 35 percent for nonowners; nonmetropolitan areas, 100 percent for
automobile owners.
5/
In total medical care, the average
costs of
medical insurance were weighted by the following proportions:
30 percent
for families paying
fullcost of insurance:
for families paying half cost; 44 percent for
families
covered by noncontributory insurance plans (paid by employer).
6/ For a detailed description, see the 1967 edition of the Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas, prepared by the Bureau of the Budget.
7/ Places with population of 2,500 to 50,000.

7/
37

NOTE:

See appendix A for items and quantities included in each component, and appendix B for the population weights for each city.




COMPARATIVE LIVING COSTS
MEASURED BY
URBAN FAMILY LIVING STANDARDS
(lower standard, spring 1967)

U.S. Urban A ve ra g e = 1 0 0 %

AREA
HONOLULU, HAWAII
SAN FRANCISCO-OAKLAND, CALIF.
SEATTLE-EVERETT, WASH.
HARTFORD, CONN.
LOS ANGELES-LONG BEACH, CALIF.
BOSTON, MASS.
CHAMPAIGN-URBANA, ILL.
CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA
INDIANAPOLIS, IND.
WASHINGTON, D. C.-MD.- VA.
BUFFALO, N. Y.
CHICAGO, ILL.-NORTHWESTERN, IND.
MILWAUKEE, WIS.
MINNEAPOLIS,-ST. PAUL, MINN.
NEW YORK-NORTHEASTERN, N. J.
KANSAS CITY, MO.-KANS.
PORTLAND, MAINE
ST. LOUIS, Ml-.-ILL.
SAN DIEGO, CALIF.
WICHITA, KANS.
CLEVELAND, OHIO
DENVER, COLO.
PHILADELPHIA, PA.-N. J.
DETROIT, MICH.
PITTSBURGH, PA.
BAKERSFIELD, CALIF..
BALTIMORE, MD.
DAYTON, OHIO
LANCASTER, PA.
GREEN BAY, WIS.
CINCINNATI*!, OHIO-KY.-IND.
ATLANTA, GA.
DALLAS, TEX.
DURHAM, N.C.
HOUSTON, TEX.
NASHVILLE, TENN.
ORLANDO, FLA.
BATON ROUGE, LA.
AUSTIN, TEX.




80
nr

120
~T----— •




Table 3.

Indexes of Comparative Costs Based on a Moderate Living Standard
for a 4-Person Family 1 / , Spring 1967
(U.S. Urban Average Cost «* 100)

UDGET COSTS
Total 2/
budget

Renter
families

Homeowner
families

Total 2/

Food

C: 0 S T
OF
FA]H I L Y
(: o n s u ) P T I 0 N
Housing (shelter, housefurnishingg,
household operations)
Transpor­
Shelter
tation J J
Total y
Renter and
Homeowner
owner combined
c o stsl/ costs £/

100
102
92

100
102
93

100
102
91

100
102
92

100
101
94

100
103
86

100
104
81

100
104
84

100
104
80

100
98
108

110
106
108
99
no
100
97
101
99

105
104
108
100
105
98
98
101
96

111
107
109
98
111
101
96
101
100

109
105
110
99
109
100
97
103
99

108
104
111
107
111
108
103
106
102

122
107
114
93
118
96
88
99
97

128
108
120
93
124
95
86
98
97

no
101
119
96
104
84
87
93
82

132
no
120
93
128
98
86
99
100

100
107
no
97
88
90
97
101
no

103
102
103'
97
102
95 >
99
99
102
99
105
104
101
98
94

104
105
102
96
96
98
99
97
101
101
102
103
101
100
95

103
101
103
98
103
94
99
99
102
98
106
104
101
97
93

102
104
104
98
103
96
99
96
102
99
102
100
101
98
94

97
99
100
98
97
96
102
93
98
99
97
96
102
98
93

107
113
115
98
113
93 S
95
95
106
94
no
104
101
94
93

108
116
119
99
117
92
93
95
107
92
115
106
100
92
90

116
138
118
92
99
106
89
85
107
100
104
107
100
102
96

106
112
119
100
121
89
94
97
108
91
117
105
101
90
89

102
97
93
99
99
98
98
101
105
106
100
102
103
108
105

92
88
96
92
92
95
91
92
91
102
86

95
91
100
93
96
96
94
93
93
102
89

91
87
94
92
91
95
91
92
90
102
85

93
89
94
93
93
94
93
94
92
101
87

94
93
95
95
94
91
96
91
91
101
90

83
77
90
86
86
92
83
91
89
104
76

77
72
86
83
83
90
78
88
86
104
68

88
81
107
85
100
94
85
88
98
107
77

75
69
81
83
80
90
76
87
83
104
67

98
98
97
106
99
98
105
99
97
100
107

97
100
120
103
101
108
105
98

98
101
121
106
101
111
108
88

97
100
120
102
102
107
104
97

97
100
116
102
101
107
107
97

97
99
118
98
96
103
106
96

87
98
128
98
100
108
105
91

83
97
129
98
101
no
105
87

84
100
141
112
98
127
120
94

83
96
127
95
101
106
101
85

106
104
119
101
104
106
114
111

104
103
105
106
105

102
102
105
87
100

102
102
102
102
103
104

100
104

102
100
102
98
103

86

105

100
99

100
101

102
99
103
99

102
85
99
99
109
106
104
108
105
89

COMPARATIVE LIVING COSTS
MEASURED BY
URBAN FAMILY LIVING STANDARDS
(moderate standard, spring 1967)
U.S. Urban A ve rag e = 1 0 0 %

AREA
HONOLULU, HAWAII
BOSTON, MASS.
NEW YORK-NORTHEASTERN, N. J.
HARTFORD, CONN.
SAN FRANCISCO-OAKLAND, CALIF.
BUFFALO, N. Y.
MILWAUKEE, WIS.
SEATTLE-EVERETT, WASH.
MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL, MINN.
CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA
CHICAGO, ILL.-NORTHWESTERN, IND.
LOS ANGELES-LONG BEACH, CALIF.
CHAMPAIGN-URBANA, ILL.
CLEVELAND, OHIO
INDIANAPOLIS, IND.
WASHINGTON, D. C.-MD.-VA.
PORTLAND, MAINE
ST. LOUIS, MO.-ILL.
SAN DIEGO, CALIF.
DENVER, COLO.
PHILADELPHIA, PA.-N. J.
DETROIT, MICH.
GREEN BAY, WIS.
KANSAS CITY, MO.-KANS.
LANCASTER, PA.
WICHITA, KANS.
BAKERSFIELD, CALIF.
CINCINNATI, OHIO-KY.-IND.
PITTSBURGH, PA.
BALTIMORE, MD.
DURHAM, N. C.
DAYTON, OHIO
ATLANTA, GA.
BATON ROUGE, LA.
DALLAS, TEX.
NASHVILLE, TENN.
HOUSTON, TEX.
ORLANDO, FLA.
AUSTIN, TEX.




80

37
Table 4.

B u d g e

t

Indexes of Comparative Costs Based on a Higher Living Standard
for a 4-Person Family 1/, Spring 1967

C O 8 t 8

Area
Total 2/ Renter
budget families

Homeowner
families

—'

Clothing and Medical
personal care care 8/

Other family
consumption

103

in?

100
102
90

100
102
92

100
103
85

112
105
106

106
102
104

113
105
106

111
103
108

114
101
96
97
95

113
106
95
94
90

114
100
96

111
101
97
99
96

107
102
111
106
110
106
102
103
99

124
103
110
90
122
97
91
92
94

102
101
102

102
102
103

102
101
102

100
95
99
99
100

95
101
95
97
101
101
97
97
89

100
94
99
100
101
97
105
102
98
96
92

100
103
104
95
101
96
100
95
101
98
100
98
99
97
92

98
101
101
99
98
97
103
94
100
99
98
97
104
98
92

104
112
110
91
107
96
96
95
104
95
104
99
94
92
92

91
89
101
94
100
93
92
93
$9
104
84

91
86
97
95
92
96
91
92
93
103
84

92

95

80

74

98
95
93
95
91
92
92
103
84

95
96
96
93
94
95
95
101
85

V7
95
95
91
97
91
92
101
88

89
94
91
89
84
93
94
102
76

S4
96
89
87
80
92
93
102
69

94
122
77
81
95
78
105
67

96
84
89
79
91
96
101
69

103
97
97
103
96
96
97
101

96
97
98
94
101
96
103
91

90
107
94
102
92
95
98
84

99
101
101
100
98
1001
103
98
103
101
100
100
95
100
86
101
100
100
103
103
102
99
101
99
102
84

97
100
123
105
103
108
103
95

97
103
121
109
101
108
104
93

97
99
124
104
103
107
103
96

98
99
117
104
103
107
106
94

97
102
121
100
97
105
107
95

88
97
131
102
105
107
104
90

83
95
136
104
108
108
103
82

76
111
130
126
100
120
104
71

84
92
137
101
109
107
103
84

107
97
107
102
102
105
107
106

99
100
96
103
98
109
107
98

115
102
99
133
126
117
105
93

101
100
112
105
103
107
103
90

100
opoiic

(U.S. Urban Average Costs - 100)
Cif
F a m i l y
C O 8 t
C o tii s u m p t i o n
Housing (shelter, housefurnishings,
household operations)
TransporTotal 2/ Food
Shelter
Total 3/
Renter and
Renter
Homeowner tation 7/
owner combined 4/ costs 5/ costs 6/

89

105
79

107
70

104
81

100
101

101

103
87

in?
86

131
102
114

107
90
105

92

127
120
78
70
67

111
100
103
93
100
100
96
97
102

99
105
104
99
104
101
99
108
97

100
98
102

127
95

134
104
116
90
127
91
89
91
95

107
98
96
99
94

105
104
107
107
107
104
104
104
88

106
119
113
91
111
97
94
95
107
94
108
101
93
90
89

109
124
119
75
89
112
104
78
89
95
93
98
87
91
74

106
119
112
93
114
95
93
97
110
94
110
101
94
90
92

96
94
104
92
96
92
97
95
98
99
94
95
101
103
98

102
99
100
97
102
98
101
97
100
97
100
100
101
97
99

93
101
103
86
92
86
99
92
91
95
94
93
93
95
84

70

74

1%

7h

Northeast:

New York-Northeastern N.J --Philadelphia, Pa.-N.J .......

Nonmetropolitan areas 10/---North Central:
Champa1gn-Urbana, 111*
Chicago, Ill-Northwestern IndCincinnati, Ohio— Ky.-Ind-— —
Cleveland, Ohio------------ Dayton, on 10 Detro11, Mich
Green Bay, yig--..-----.-----.*-Indianapolis, IndKansas City, Mo«—Kans--------Milwaukee, Wis————— ——
—— ——
Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn--St. Louis, Mo.-Ill-----------Wichita, Kans---------— — — —
Nonmetropolitan areas 10/---South
Atlanta, Ga
Austin, Tex---**
Baltimore , Md-------------Baton Rouge, La------ --- -Dallas, Tex------- --------Durham, N . C --------------Houston, Tex--------------Nashville, Tenn------------Orlando, Fla--------------Washington, D.C.-Md.-Va--- -Nonmetropolitan areas 10/— —
West:
Bakersfield, Calif-”---”----”"*
Denver, Colo---------— -----Honolulu, Hawaii-------------Los Angeles,-Long Beach, Calif
San Diego, Calif------------San Francisco~Oakland, Calif—
Seattle-Everett, Wash--------Nonmetropolitan areas .10/----

104
102
97
92
91

96

95

101

8

m

93

8

1/ The family consists of an employed husband, aged 38, a wife not employed outside the home,an 8-year-old girl, and a 13-year-old boy.
7/
The total represents the weighted average costs of renter and homeowner families. See the
weights cited in footnote 4.
3/ The moderate standard does not include an allowance for lodging away from home city, buc the higher standard includes $110 for metropolitan areas and $40 in nonmetropolitan
areas? These costs are not shown separately or included in any of the housing subgroups.
4/ The average costs of shelter were weighted by the following proportions: Moderate standard, 25 percent for families living in rental dwellings, 75 percent for homeowners;
higher^ standard, 15 percent for renters, 85 percent for homeowners.
5/ Average contract rent plus the cost of required amounts of heating fuel, gas, electricity,water, specified equipment, and insurance on household contents.
?/ Interest and principal payments plus taxes; insurance on house and contents; water, refuse
disposal, heating fuel, gas, electricity andspecifiedequipment ; and home repair
and maintenance costs.
7/ The average costs of automobile owners and nonowners in the moderate budget are weighted by the following proportions of families: Boston, Chicago, New York and Philadelphia,
80 percent for owners, 20 percent for nonowners; Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C., with 1.4 million of population
or more in 1960, 95 percent for automobile owners and 5 percent for nonowners; all other areas, 100 percent for automobile owners. The higher budget weight is 100 percent for
automobile owners in all areas. Moderate standard costs for automobile owners in autumn 1966 were revised prior to updating to Spring 1967 cost levels.
8/ In total medical care, the average costs of medical insurance were weighted by the following proportions: 30 percent for families paying full cost of insurance; 26 percent
for families paying half cost; 44 percent for families covered by noncontributory insurance plans (paid by employer).
9/ For a detailed description, see the 1967 edition of the Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas, prepared by the Bureau of the Budget.
10/ Places with population of 2,500 to 50,000.




COMPARATIVE LIVING COSTS
MEASURED BY
URBAN FAMILY LIVING STANDARDS
(higher standard, spring 1967)
U.S. U rb an A v e ra g e = 100%

AREA
HONOLULU, HAWAII
NEW YORK-NORTHEASTERN, N. J.
BOSTON, MASS.
SAN FRANCISCO-OAKLAND, CALIF.
HARTFORD, CONN.
BUFFALO, N.Y.
LOS ANGELES-LONG BEACH, CALIF.
MILWAUKEE, WIS.
SAN DIEGO, CALIF.
SEATTLE-EVERETT, WASH.
WASHINGTON, D. C.-MD.-VA.
CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA
CHICAGO, ILL.-NORTHWESTERN, IND.
MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL, MINN.
CHAMPAIGN-URBANA, ILL.
PHILADELPHIA, PA.-N. J.
CLEVELAND, OHIO
DENVER, COLO.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND.
DETROIT, MICH.
GREEN BAY, WIS.
BALTIMORE, MD.
KANSAS CITY, MO.-KANS.
ST. LOUIS, MO.-ILL.
BAKERSFIELD, CALIF.
LANCASTER, PA.
PORTLAND, MAINE
WICHIITA, KANS.
PITTSBURG, PA.
BATON ROUGE, LA.
DAYTON, OHIO
DURHAM, N.C.
CINCINNATI, OHIO-KY.-IND.
DALLAS, TEX.
NASHVILLE, TENN.
ORLANDO, FLA.
ATLANTA, GA.
HOUSTON, TEX.
AUSTIN, TEX.




80
i

90
1

100

^
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.. ^
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a

A
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¥1

110
i

120
r

Chapter IV. Income and Budget Costs

The lower, moderate, and higher budgets pro­
vide three measures of income adequacy for a
self-supporting family of a specific size, age,
composition, residence and employment status.
Thus, the total costs of the budgets should be
compared directly only with the total annual in­
come of urban four-person, husband-wife fam­
ilies, a nonworking wife, and a husband 35 to 44
years old, who works full-tim e.

However, none of these “ Census fam ilies” is suf­
ficiently like the “ BLS budget fam ily” to permit
a direct comparison of their median money in­
come with total budget costs. 17/

17/ The comparison is also affected by
significant differences in the survey methods,
used by the Bureau of the Census and Bureau of
Labor Statistics, to obtain complete reports
of money income, and by differences in the
definition of a family. For an evaluation of these
differences, see Statistical Evaluation Report
No. 5, Family Income Distribution Statistics
Published by Federal Agencies, issued by the
Bureau of the Budget, Office of Statistics Stand­
ards, December 1964.

Unfortunately current income estimates for
families of the budget type are not available. The
Bureau of the Census, in its Current Population
Reports, publishes annual estimates of median
total money income for nonfarm families classi­
fied by a single fam ily characteristic, as indi­
cated in the tabulation below:




Median T otal Money Income o f Nonfarm F am ilies^

1960-61 and 1966

1960-61

1966

Percent change
1960-61 -

One fu ll-tim e earner-------------

$5 ,4 12

$6,780

25

Male head, married, wife
present—not in labor
fo rce-----------------------------------

5.795

7,305

26

A ll fam ilies of 2 or more----

5.900

7,582

29

2 children under 18 years
old............................... ........

6.316

8.037

27

4 persons-------------------------------

6,552

8,1+63

29

Head 35-44 years old-------------

6,659

8,704

31

Head year-round f fu ll-tim e
worker-------------------— -------

6,969

8,859

27

Family characteristic

Source:

U.S. Department o f Commerce, Bureau o f the Census, Current

Population R eports, S e rie s P-60 and Technical Paper
Income o f Fam ilies and Persons in the United S t a te s .

39

1 7 : Trends in

the

40

On the other hand, the trend in the Census
data, between 1960-61 and 1966, rangingfrom25
to 31 percent increases in incomes for the fam­
ily types indicated in the tabulation, provides a
reasonable approximation of the increase in in­
come over this same period for the more nar­
rowly defined budget family type. In the 1960-61
BLS Survey of Consumer Expenditures, before­
tax income of budget families averaged $9,095.
Applying the trends reported in the Census data,
1966 average income before taxes for these familes must range between $11,000 and $12,000. 18/
The total costs of the budgets should also not
be compared with general levels of industrial
wages or salaries, or with average earnings in
a particular industry or occupation. Such aver­
ages relate to all workers in the industry or
occupation, including the young and inexperi­
enced. Historically, in this country, wages have
been determined through a free job market or
by collective bargaining, and generally have been
related to the skills involved in performing a job.
In this period of rising social concern for the
welfare of fam ilies, however, the question of
whether a worker is earning enough to maintain
a moderate, or a lower or higher, living stand­
ard, assuming he had a wife and 2 children to
support, is considered increasingly relevant in
evaluating specific wage or salary structures.
In such cases the earnings of workers who have
15 years or more of experience— sim ilar to the
breadwinner in the three standards—provide an
appropriate basis for comparison with the total
costs of the budgets. 19/
Finally, for the lower standard, the total cost
should not be interpreted as a goal or standard
for public assistance or welfare programs. Our
system of payments to dependent families in this
country has been developed in the context of wel­
fare legislation, concerned prim arily about chil­
dren in homes in which the breadwinner is absent,
disabled, or unemployed for varying periods of
time. The total cost of the lower budget, however,




assumes that the source of family income is from
employment and that the breadwinner’ s earnings
are sufficient to provide the level of consumption
described by the budget and to pay the amounts
specified for social security and personal income
taxes.
The lower budget cost of consumption in­
cludes only those components of fam ily living
which are consumed directly by the family. Some
of these costs are associated with the employ­
ment of the family head, for example, transpor­
tation to work, lunches away from home, work
clothing, etc. Also, the provision for a group
health insurance plan purchased through the hus­
band’ s place of employment is not applicable in
the framework of public assistance or welfare
programs. Generally, therefore, the individual
components of the cost of consumption in the
lower budget will provide the basis for more
realistic benchmark estimates for assistance
goals or standards than will the published total
cost of consumption.
Estimates of the costs of consumption for
other family types can be derived by applying
the revised equivalence scales described in
Bulletin 1570-2 to the lower, moderate, and
higher consumption totals for the 4-person fam­
ily. A method for approximating total budget
costs is also explained in that Bulletin. These
scale values can not be used, however, to esti­
mate costs of the components of the budgets.

18/ This estimate is less conservative than
the one published in Bulletin 1570-1, when Census
data for the 6-year period 1959 to 1965 were used
to determine trends because 1966 data were not
yet available.
19/ Adjustments should be made in the budget
totals, if an industry or an employer pays all
or none of the costs of health insurance, since
the published totals represent a weighted average
of methods of payment.

Chapter V. Data Sources and Estimating Methods

Concepts and general procedures used to de­
rive budget quantities and pricing specifications
for the three standards were discussed in the
Introduction. The following sections describe
sources of data and methods of estimating quan­
tities and prices for the major budget components
in detail. Appendix A shows the complete list of
items and quantities per year which were used
to determine the cost level of each living stand­
ard.

reflect the food preferences of th e income
classes containing the median incomes ($2,700,
$5,800 and $9,400) of each third of the USDA in­
come distribution for urban households. The
patterns for the region in which the city is lo ­
cated were used for each city, except Washington,
D.C. The U.S. patterns were used for Washington,
since its population comes from all parts of the
country and cannot be considered typically South­
ern.

Food

The spring 1965 price levels in each region
were determined from the average prices paid
for individual items by urban fam ilies in the
$2,000-$2,999, $5,000-$5,999, and$9,000-$9,999
income classes in the USDA survey. These prices
were weighted by factors which included the
regional preference patterns for individual items
within each major food group in the USDA plans.
Individual city prices for pricing groups (groups
of related items) were estimated from the p re­
ference-weighted regional survey averages, by
applying the spring 1965 city-to-region ratios of
prices collected by BLS for the same or com­
parable items. For all three budget levels, spring
1965 city prices were adjusted item by item to
April 1967 by changes in prices obtained for the
Consumer P rice Index for each city. The 1967
city-weighted average food group prices were
applied to the USDA food plan quantities to obtain
the final budget cots.

The Food and Nutrition Board of the National
Academy of Sciences—National Research Council
has recommended dietary allowances for cal­
ories, proteins, several minerals, and vitamins
for various sex-age groups. The U.S. Department
of Agriculture has translated these dietary all o w a n c e s into food plans at different cost
levels. 20/ The food-at-home components of the
lower, moderate, and higher budgets were based
on the USDA low-, moderate- and liberal-cost
food plans, respectively. Each plan contains 11
food categories which group foods according to
sim ilarity of nutritional values and uses in meals.
The suggested quantities furnish the NRC’ s re c ­
ommended allowances for nutrients when aver­
age food selections within each group are used.

Regional consumption patterns for specific
foods within each food group were obtained from
the USDA 1965 Household Food Consumption
Survey. Estimated costs for the three budgets

BLS food prices for the Consumer P rice In­
dex are collected regularly from a representa­
tive sample of chain and independent food stores
o f various types (e.g., groceries and meat mark­
ets), stores at different levels of annual sales
volume, and stores in downtown, neighborhood,
and suburban areas within a city. Average prices
for each food are obtained by calculating inde­
pendent and chain store averages separately.
These average prices are combined with weights
representing the relative volume of food sales
by all food stores of each type in a given city.

20/ Family Food Plans, Revised 1964, CA
62-19, November 1964, Agricultural Research
Service, United States Department of Agricul­
ture. In this revision of the food plans, the
National Research Council’ s 1963 recommended
dietary allowances, and the USDA’ s most recent
estimates of nutritive contents of foods and food
consumption patterns were used.

334-641 0 - 69 - 4




The USDA food plans provided for 21 meals per
person per week to be eaten at home or carried

41

42

from home, or 4,368 meals annually for a fam ily
of four. As shown in appendix Table A - l , the
food-at-ho me component was adjusted in each
budget to provide varying numbers of meals away from home. The smaller number of meals
at home in nonmetropolitan areas mainly r e ­
flects the purchase of more school lunches in
small cities. Quantities and prices for school
lunches were supplied by the public school
system for each area. For a description of the
derivation of quantities of lunches at work and
other meals away from home, see page 47 .
Shelter Costs
Standards for the shelter components of the
budgets were those established by the American
Public Health Association and the U.S. Public
Housing Administration. They relate to sleeping
space requirements, essential household equip­
ment (including plumbing), adequate utilities and
heat, structural condition, and neighborhood
location.
For renter fam ilies, the shelter standards
called for an unfurnished five-room unit (house
or apartment) in sound condition; a complete
private bath; a fully equipped kitchen; hot and
cold running water; electricity, central or other
installed heating; access to public transporta­
tion; schools, grocery stores, play space for
children; and location in residential neighbor­
hoods free from hazards or nuisances. For the
higher standard only, the dwelling unit might
have more than 1 private bath, and the unit might
provide extras such as a central switchboard,
secretarial, swimming, or special recreational
facilities.
Rates for dwellings which met the standards
were obtained from tenants during the regular
rent surveys for the Consumer Price Index be­
tween August 1966 and January 1967. The costs
of the rental shelter standards were calculated
from the averages of rents paid in the low, mid­
dle, and high thirds of the distributions of autumn
1966 rents for the lower, moderate, and higher
budgets respectively. The distribution used for
the higher standard included the units having
facilities which, by definition, were excluded




from the moderate and lower standards. Rents
were updated from the base pricing to FebruaryJuly 1967 by a change in the Consumer P rice
Index for contract rents in each area. Since
monthly contract rents in apartment; structures
usually include water, heat, light, cooking fuel,
refrigerator, etc., the costs for these items were
added to the contract rents for dwellings whose
tenants paid separately for them. The allowances
on which the estimates of these additional costs
were based were the same as those for homeowner fam ilies as described below. Insurance
on household contents and against injury top ersons on the property also was included in rental
housing costs at the moderate and higher levels,
and fire insurance and extended coverage pro­
visions were provided in the lower budget. The
proportions of renter fam ilies purchasing in­
surance at each level are indicated in appendix
A -2 (footnote 7).
Homeownership was specified for 75 percent
of the families at the moderate standard, and 85
percent of those at the higher level. These spe­
cifications reflect the prevailing manner of
living for urban families of the budget type as
reported in the 1960-61 Survey of Consumer
Expenditures (CES). The moderate ratio was
based on the U.S. urban average proportion; the
higher standard, on the average proportion in
income classes above the class containing the
average. The lower standard which was limited
to rental housing only reflects the prevalent
pattern at the lower end of the consumption
scale.
For homeowner families, the costs of main­
taining the shelter standards were calculated for
a five- or six-room house, with 1- or 1- 1/2 baths
for the moderate, and 1 or more baths for the
higher standard. Both standards called for a fully
equipped kitchen, hot and cold running water,
electricity, and central or other installed heat­
ing. Neighborhood specifications were the same
as described above for rental units. Costs in­
cluded mortgage principal and interest pay­
ments for a home purchased 7 years ago. These
figures were based on the average length of
homeownership for fam ilies of this types as r e ­
ported in the 1960-61 Consumer Expenditure

43

Survey. Purchase prices were determined sep­
arately for each metropolitan area (and within
areas for the city proper and the suburbs) and
for each small city. They represented the aver­
age values in the middle and upper thirds of the
distribution of market values (for the moderate
and higher standards respectively) for dwellings
in the BLS 1959-60 Comprehensive Housing Unit
Survey which met the budget housing standards.
The average U.S. urbanpurchase prices for these
dwellings were $14,480 for the moderate budget
and $19,999 for the h i g h e r budget in 196061.

Costs of fuel and utilities also were included.
The housing specifications required central
heating equipment in cities where the average
January temperature is 40 °F . or colder, except
in five cities where other installed heating equip­
ment was accepted as more typical of the manner
of living. Central or o t h e r installed heating
equipment (base burner, pipeless furnace, or
stove with flue) was required for cities having
warmer climates, except for Honolulu, and Mc­
Allen, Tex., where average January tempera­
tures were 72° and 61°, respectively. A space
heater also was included for each of the second
group of cities, except Honolulu.

Principal and interest costs were estimated
separately for conventional mortgages and mort­
gages insured by the Federal Housing Adminis­
tration or by the Veterans Administration.
Terms of the mortgages and the ratios of mort­
gage to purchase prices were based on practices
of all urban fam ilies reporting the purchase of
homes in the indicated purchase price classes
in the 1960-61 Survey of Consumer Expenditures.
For the moderate budget, payments were cal­
culated for a 15-year conventional first mort­
gage representing 75 percent of the purchase
price, and a 25-year FHA or VA mortgage for
85 percent of the purchase price. At the higher
level, the payments represented a 20 -year con­
ventional mortgage for 65 percent of the purchase
price, and 25-year FHA or VA mortgage for 80
percent of the purchase price. Payments were
combined by weights representing the distribu­
tions of various types of mortgages reported by
U.S. urban buyers in the respective purchaseprice classes. In addition, the costs included
appropriate taxes, and reflected varying assess­
ment practices and rates in individual cities. On
insurance, the moderate standard used the most
economical comprehensive homeowner’ s policy
which provided insurance up to 80 percent of the
1960-61 market value of the house, in addition to
some coverage on its contents and for injury to
persons on the property. The higher standard
budget included a policy having broader extended
coverage provisions. Allowances for repairs and
replacement costs were included, and were based
on an analysis of the 1960-61 Consumer Expen­
diture Survey data for budget-type fami­
lies. 21/




To adjust for climatic differences, fuel r e ­
quirements for maintaining an indoor winter
temperature of 70° F. were estimated. The basis
for these estimates was the amount of fuel used
to heat homes of approximately the budget spe­
cification, as reported in a 1962 trade associa­
tion survey of 62 cities supplemented by data
from individual utility companies. These data
w e r e related to annual degree days in these
cities, as recorded by the U.S. Weather Bureau.
In the BLS analysis, the quantities of fuel were
expressed in standard BTU’ s converted, for
pricing purposes, to the predominant type of
heating fuel used in each city.
Utility companies and associations estimated
electricity and other utilities for the appliances
specified in the budget. The moderate allowances
reflect normal average operation of appliances,
and allowances for the lower standard a more
economical usage. Allowances for the higher
standard provide for the operation of a dish­
washer, waste disposal, and clothes d r y e r appliances not included in the moderate and
lower standards. The moderate and higher budg­
ets also include an electricity allowance to op­
erate a window air conditioner in cities which
meet specified average monthly temperature
and relative humidity ratings; the criteria were
more stringent for the moderate than for the
higher standard. (See footnote 3 on table A-2,
Pt. C.)
21/ See Section on Other Goods and Services
(p. 45 ) for description of analytical method.

44

Transportation
For the moderate standard, a u t o m o b i l e
ownership was specified for 80 percent of the
budget fam ilies in Boston, Chicago, New York,
and Philadelphia; 95 percent of the fam ilies in
other metropolitan areas having 1.4 million
population or more in 1960; and 100 percent of
the fam ilies in all other metropolitan and non­
metropolitan areas. These proportions repre­
sented 1960-61 average ownership rates r e ­
ported in the CES data for all budget-type
fam ilies in these areas. For the lower standard
housing is restricted to rental units, which are
more likely than owned units to be located in
a centralized part of the metropolitan area.
Reflecting greater accessibility to public trans­
portation, auto ownership in this standard was
specified for one-half the fam ilies in Boston,
Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia, and about
two-thirds in all other metropolitan areas, and
was based on average ownership for renter
fam ilies of the budget type. In nonmetropolitan
areas, an automobile is a necessity, since
generally limited or no public transportation
is available. Therefore, each of the budgets pro­
vided for an automobile. The higher standard
provides an automobile for all fam ilies in both
metropolitan and nonmetroplitan areas, typical
of budget fam ilies at all income levels above
the average.
The budgets provide for the purchase of a
car every 4 years, based on the customary
purchases of fam ilies of the budget type. In the
moderate budget, the purchase is a 2 -year old
used car. This car, a trade-in, is assumed to be
the age and type of car purchased by the family
in the lower standard. The higher standard bud­
get, however, provides a new car for 60percent
of the fam ilies based on the average proportion
of new car purchasers in the 1960-61 data,
and the same car ( 2 -year old used) as in the
moderate standard for the remaining 40 percent.
The average age of the car for which mileage
and operating expenses were calculated is 4
years for the moderate and higher budgets
and 8 years for the lower budget.




The mileage for the moderate and higher
standards is the average reported by all budget
type fam ilies in 1960-61, and for the lower
standard, the average miles driven by fam ilies
owning automobiles 6 years or older. In Boston*
Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia, however,
the mileage was adjusted to reflect the lower
proportion of workers reporting the use of a
private automobile or carpool to ride to work,
compared with other metropolitan areas. These
adjustment factors were derived from data on
home-to-work travel obtained from the 1963
Passenger Transportation Survey by the Bureau
of the Census. A corresponding increase in the
allowances for public transportation in these
four areas also was made.
Of the 442 local transit trips (other than
school rides) reported by budget type fam ilies
who do not own cars, 58 percent were rides to
work by the fam ily head, and the remainder were
rides for other purposes by all family members.
As reflected in the 1960-61 expenditure data,
some family heads walk to work or have access
to a company car or other means of free trans­
portation. In table 1 transportation costs for
nonowners at the moderate standard were esti­
mated and published for all areas as a conve­
nience to budget users. However, in areas in
which 100 percent auto ownership was specified
for this standard, the estimates for nonowners
were not used to calculate the total cost of trans­
portation.
Medical Care
In all three budget standards, the medical
care allowance includes the same basic hospital
and surgical insurance for all fam ily members,
obtained by the husband through a group contract
at his place of employment. The Health Insurance
Association of Am erica estimated the costs
of a standardized contract fo r commercial car­
r ie rs in the areas priced for the budget. The con­
tract provides full care for 70 days in a room of
two beds or more for each hospital confinement,
all supplies and ancillary services normally pro­
vided, and surgical benefits. Costs also were
obtained for the Blue Cross-Blue Shield con­

45

tracts most nearly comparable to the commerical insurance provisions.
Budget costs were based on the lower of
the two premiums (for either the commercial
or Blue Plan contracts) in each area. A majority
of families of the budget type do not bear the full
cost of their health insurance, since the employer
pays part or all of the premium. The cost of
the contract selected for each area, therefore,
was weighted by the following proportions of fam­
ilies: 30 percent paying the full cost of their
insurance; 26 percent paying half the cost;
and 44 percent making no payment since the
employer pays the entire cost. 22/
The higher standard budget also includes a
supplementary major medical insurance con­
tract, which covers all family members and was
obtained by the husband through a group con­
tract where he worked. Costs of a standardized
contract in all budget areas were estimated
for the commercial carriers by the Health
Insurance Association of Am erica (Blue CrossBlue Shield contracts were not included). The
contract can supplement either the Blue Plan
or commercial insurance basic hospital-surgi­
cal contracts. The terms include:
1. An initial deductible of $100 per person
per contract year.
2. Coinsurance, the contract covers 80 per­
cent of the changes beyond the basic policy
coverage plus the $100 deductible.
3. Benefit maximums of $5,000 in any illness
or during the benefit year, and $10,000 lifetim e
for each person. The maximum are restorable
on proof of insurability.
The charges covered include: h o s p i t a l ,
surgical, non-surgical p h y s i c i a n visits for
diagnosis and treatment, private duty nursing,
prescribed drugs and medicines, X -ray serv­
ices, laboratory tests, oxygen, physiotherapy,
radium, radiation isotopes, equipment and ap­
pliances, local ambulance services.




As with the basic hospital-surgical con­
tracts, the cost of the supplementary major
medical contract was weighted to reflect those
costs borne by the employer (using the same
weights as those described above).
Quantities for medical care not covered
by insurance were derived from two sources.
Physician’ s visits and dental care were es­
timated from 1963-64 utilization data from
the National Health Survey and are the same
for all three standards. (Due to the $100 per
person deductible in the major medical insurance
for the higher standard budget, the cost of
physician’ s visits cannot be deleted from that
budget.) Allowances for eye care, prescription
and nonprescription drugs, and other m iscell­
aneous medical care were developed from the
1960-61 Consumer Expenditure Survey data.
The costs in the latter group are the same in
all three budgets except for eye glasses, where
the cost of eye glass frames varies from budget
to budget.
Average fees and prices for medical services
and supplies were those collected for the
Consumer P rice Index, and were supplemented
by prices obtained specifically for budget uses.
Other Goods and Services
Food at home, shelter, transportation, and
medical care, as specified for the budgets,
account for 69 percent of family consumption
for the lower living standard, 67 percent for
the moderate standard, and 61 percent for the

22/ See Wage and Related Benefits, Part II:
Metropolitan Areas, United States and Regional
Summaries, 1964-65 (BLS Bulletin 1430-83,
1966), pp, 97 and 106; Walter W. Kolodrubetz
“Growth in Employee - Benefit Plans, 1950-65”
Social Security Bulletin, April 1967, p. 18.

46

higher standard. The remainder includes house furnishings, household operation, clothing, per­
sonal care, education, reading, r e c r e a t i o n ,
meals away from home, alcoholic beverages,
and tobacco.
For these components, budget allowances for
the moderate standard were developed by ex­
amining the quantities of, or expenditures for,
various classes of items purchased at suc­
cessive income levels by budget-type families
found in the Bureau’ s 1960-61 Survey of Con­
sumer Expenditures. The analysis determines
the income level at which the rate of increase
in quantities purchased, or expenditures begin
to decline in relation to the rate of change in
income, i.e., the point of maximum elasticity.
The average number and kinds of items pur­
chased at these income levels are the quantities
and qualities specified for the moderate budget.
Thus, they represent a composite of individual
choices. This technique uses the consumer’ s
collective judgment as to what is adequate, and
is based on the assumption that increasing
elasticity indicates increasing urgency of de­
mand, and decreasing elasticity indicates de­
creasing urgency. The point of maximum elasti­
city has been described as the point on the in­
come scale where fam ilies stopped buying
“ more and m ore” and started buying either
“better and better” or something else less
essential to them. 23/
No separate statistical analysis was made
to define the consumption level appropriate
for the lower and the higher living standards.
Instead, budget allowances for the lower stand­
ard were most often derived at the next lower
income class below the class in which the
inflection point (point of maximum elasticity
defined as equivalent to the moderate stand­
ard) was located. Allowances for the higher
standard were obtained mostly from the next
higher income class above the class containing
the inflection point. In this unified conceptual
framework, therefore, the lower standard bud­
get describes a point on the income scale at
which families are still buying “ more and m ore,”




in contrast to the higher
which families are already
better” or something else
relation to the norms*, of the

standard budget in
buying “better and
less essential in
prevailing culture.

For a majority of the items in the housefurnishings, clothing, personal care, and recrea­
tion components, the quantities used in the
quantity-income elasticity analyses could be
standardized for quality, by use of a constant
price, across income classes; for the remainder
of the components, only expenditure-income
elasticities could be calculated. The point of
maximum elasticity for the majority of sub­
groups in the clothing component was located
in the initial (after tax) income class, $3,000$4,000, for this family type. Since there were
no budget-type fam ilies having 1960-61 after­
tax income below $3 ,000 , the clothing quantity
allowances of the moderate standard are also
used for the lower standard. Although clothing
items are identical for the three budgets, the
quantities for the higher standard are more
liberal than the moderate allowances. The major
differences in clothing costs among the three
standards, however, are due to differences in
price, and quality rather than quantity. Clothing
materials and services are provided for the
three standards. However, services such as
dressmaking, fur storage, and shoe shines, are
not included in the lower standard.

In housefurnishings, quantities at first in­
creased relatively more rapidly than income
and then increased at a relatively slower rate

23/ This technique was developed for the
original City Worker’ s Family Budget and is
described in detail in Technical Reference 10,
appendix D» It also was used, with some refine­
ments, to derive quantities for The Interim
City Worker’ s Family Budget in 1959 (Technical
Reference 5).

47

than income. This pattern was characteristic.
The inflection point, which deter mined the allow­
ances for the moderate standard, was most com­
monly in the $5,000-$6,000 income class. For
the lower standard, quantities were derived
from the next lowest income class ($4,000$5,000), and for the higher standard, from the
class above the inflection point. The moderate
and higher budgets include a window air condi­
tioner in cities which met specific summer
temperature-relative humidity levels. The high­
er budget permits air conditioning in 34 metro­
politan areas and 2 nonmetropolitan regions,
compared with 17 metropolitan and 2 nonmetro­
politan regions at the moderate standard. Major
appliances, such as a clothes dryer, dishwasher,
and waste disposal, are provided in the higher
budget but not in the moderate and lower budgets.
These items generally are associated with a
higher level of homeowner ship and a more
comfortable manner of living. A few furniture
items not generally purchased by renter fam ilies
were excluded from the lower standard budget.
The household operation point of maximum
elasticity occurred between $6,000-$7,500. Thie
lower and higher budget allowances were derived
f r o m the $5,000-$6,000 and $7,500-$10,000
classes, respectively. Costs varied among the
standards due to quantity and item differences,
since the prices in this component were for
items of standard quality. The lower standard
provides a clothes washer; no paid household
help is included. The moderate standard provides
some launderette service in addition to a wash­
ing machine. The higher standard allows some
laundry and dry cleaning for household items
and occasional household help. Except for 15
percent of the fam ilies in the lower standard,
fam ilies in the three standards had home
telephone service.
The points of maximum elasticity for read­
ing, recreation, personal care, and tobacco
were generally between $6,000-$7,500. The
lower and higher allowances were derived from
the income classes immediately below and
above the inflection point, respectively. For
personal care in the lower standard however,




allowances were obtained from two income
classes below the inflection point.
Cost differences in the reading component
reflected the variations in spending reported
by this family type in the 1960-61 Survey of
Consumer Expenditures. For recreation, the
lower standard budget provides a radio and
television set. A phonograph, records, and other
musical instruments are added for the moderate
standard and a tape recorder and some color
television (reflecting current purchasing pat­
terns) for the higher standard. The lower
standard allows movie attendance, but free sports
and cultural events are the main sources of
entertainment. Both the moderate and higher
budgets provide a variety of paid entertainment,
such as plays, concerts, sports events and
hobbies.
Personal care across standards varies in the
quantities of paid services. Family members in
the lower budget are limited to haircuts, except
for a special occasional visit to the beauty shop
by the wife. More beauty shop services are
available to fam ilies in the moderate and higher
budgets.
Cigarettes, which had been included in the
moderate standard budget for October 1966, were
deleted from all three standards for the spring
1967 pricing period, to conform to the require­
ments for improved health as formulated by the
U.S. Public Health Service. Quantities of cigars
and pipe tobacco were derived at the inflection
point in the $6,000-$7,500 income class for the
moderate standard, and from the income classes
immediately below and above the inflection point
respectively for the lower and higher standards.
Elasticities for food away from home and
alcoholic beverages were ever-increasing, and
quantities for these components at the level of
the moderate standard were derived between
$6,000-$7,500. These moderate quantities were
converted to reflect the manner of living of fam­
ilies at lower and higher income levels. Liquor
is replaced by quantities of beer in the minimum
standard, and less beer and more liquor are in­
cluded in the higher standard.

48

Lodging away from home is limited to the
higher standard because the point of maximum
elasticity was located between $10,000-$15,000.
It is assumed that fam ilies at the other standards
camped or stayed with friends or relatives during
their vacations.
Other Costs
The allowance for gifts and contributions in
the moderate standard was adjusted upward from
the ratio estimate used in the interim budget.
This adjustment, which reflected both the change
in the level of living and the increase in prices
between 1959 and 1966, approximated the allow­
ance indicated by the average of incomes $5,000$7,500 in the 1960-61 CES for this family type.
The income class ($3,000-$5,000), below the
implied class for the moderate standard, pro­
vided the ratio allowance for the lower standard,
However, the real point of maximum elasticity
in outlays for gifts and contributions in the 196061 data was between $7,500-$10,000, and this class
was the basis for the higher standard allowance.
Like gifts and contributions, the average out­
lay for life insurance in the moderate standard
was derived from an upward adjustment of the
cost estimate used in the interim revision budget.
The cost approximated the average reported by
fam ilies in the 1960-61 median income class.
The higher standard allowance was derived at
the inflection point, which was located at the next
higher income class above the median. The lower
standard allowance was obtained from the class
below the median: In each case, the annual pre­
mium pays for a policy having a face value ap­
proximately equal to 1 year's regular family
income should the breadwinner die.
Occupational expenses in the moderate budget
represent the average outlay in the median in­
come class forbudget-type fam ilies, as reported
in the 1960-61 Survey of Consumer Expenditures.
For the lower standard, expenses were calcu­
lated from the income class below the median.
The higher standard allowance, from incomes
$7,500-$10,000, showed, inparticular, the impact
of the nonreimbursed cost of using the family
automobile for business purposes, and business
and professional association dues.




Social security and Federal, State, and local
income taxes were calculated from rates ap­
plicable in 1967, as required by the level of the
total budget. Employees contributed 4.4 percent
to social security on maximum creditable earn­
ings of $6,600 at this date. (The amount of taxable
annual earnings was increased to $7,800, effec­
tive January 1, 1968, but employee contributions
continues at 4.4 percent until 1969, when the
rate is scheduled to be i n c r e a s e d to 4.8
percent).

Pricing Procedures

Because the resources of the Bureau of Labor
Statistics for work on the standard budgets did
not permit extensive collection of additional
price data for the lower and higher standard
budgets or for the repricing of the (Autumn 1966)
moderate family budget in the spring of 1967,
various procedures (described below) were used
to estimate prices for individual items. Gener­
ally, costs for most components included in the
higher and lower standard were calculated at fall
1966 prices. These costs were then adjusted
from the fall of 1966 to the spring of 1967 by
the change in the appropriate Consumer P rice
Index estimating class for each city (or region,
for nonmetropolitan areas). Some exceptions to
this procedure were made where collected prices
were readily available. The most important of
these were new and used cars; homeowners',
automobile, and health insurance premiums; and
some “ spring and summer* seasonal items of
apparel and household furnishings.

No special collection of food prices was made
for any of the three budget levels. Instead, as
explained on page 41 of this bulletin, spring 1965
average prices paid by urban fam ilies at speci­
fied income classes in each of four regions as
determined from the USDA 1965 Household Food
Consumption Study were used for the computa­
tions. Prices for individual cities were estimated
from the USDA regional averages, according to
the intercity relationships of prices collected
in 56 urban areas throughout the United States
by BLS for the Consumer P rice Index.

49

P rices used to calculate shelter costs were
taken from a number of sources. They applied
to fam ilies living in renter or owner occupied
units meeting the standards shown on page 42 .
Except for insurance, these costs were calcu­
lated for all three budget levels for the fall
of 1966 as described in Bulletin 1570-3, “ P ric ­
ing Procedures, Specifications, and Average
Prices, Autumn 1966,” pp. 23-26, and adjusted
to the Spring of 1967 by using the appropriate
changes in the CPI for each city.
As indicated earlier, the prices (and quanti­
ties) used for medical care at the higher and
lower standards were the same as those used
for the moderate budget, except that premiums
for a “ major medical* health insurance contract
were added to the higher standard to supplement
the basic hospital-surgical insurance contract,
used in both the moderate and lower standards.
Most of the prices for the other commodities
and services included in the budgets were
estimated in a number of ways. Ideally, prices
included in these budgets should represent the
specific “ narrow* qualities of goods and services
purchased by fam ilies living at the higher and
lower standards, and obtained from retailers
and service establishments patronized by these
familes. Despite the fact that few prices were
collected specifically for these budgets, esti­
mates, using the data collected for the moderate
family budget as a starting point were possible.
In some cases, for example, price data collected
for the moderate standard covered a broad range
of “qualities,” so that appropriate distinctions
could be made between the qualities represented
in the moderate budgets and those represented
in the higher and lower budgets. In other cases,
particularly those using CPI price data (e.g.,
rent, homeownership costs, and automoble pur­
chase), actual price data for items included in
the higher and lower standard already were
available. Finally, prices of a few items were
estimated from known relationships with related
items for which prices actually are collected.
For a detailed description of the specifications,
pricing and estimating procedure used in the
fall 1966 moderate budget, see BLS Bulletin
1570-3.




Estimating Procedures
In most cases, prices of commodities other
than food and shelter were estimated through
the use of several general estimating pro­
cedures, as described below. The code numbers
have been entered for each budget item in the
columns headed “ Pricingcode or estimatingprocedure” on tables A - l through A - 8 . Where
a procedure is shown, estimates usually were
based on prices corresponding to the moderate
standard pricing code. These codes and specifi­
cations are described in detail in Bulletin
1570-3. Where additional pricing was done
for the lower and higher standards, or a
specific price estimation procedure which dif­
fered from the moderate budget procedure was
used, a new pricing code is shown. The detailed
specifications for these items, together with
the calculation procedure used in each case,
are shown in appendix B. The formats of the
specifications and calculation procedures follow
those used in Bulletin 1570-3.
The general estimating procedures used to
calculate prices for items other than food and
shelter for the higher and lower standards are
as follows:
E P - 1.

The price used in this budget was the
same price used in the moderate
budget. In these cases, the quality of
the item purchased was either the
same for the respective (higher or
lower) standard as for the moderate
standard; prices for other qualities
were not available; or specifying
different qualities as, for example,
most services was not possible.
EP - 2. The price of the item was estimated
as a specified percentage ratio
(same as in moderate budget) of the
estimated or actual price of another
item in the same budget. These
ratios were based upon known price
relationships between the various
items as determined from manu­
facturer’ s prices, retail catalogs,
and other pertinent data. See ap­
pendix 1 of Bulletin 1570-3 for the
exact ratios used for each item.

50

EP - 3. The price of the item in the five
benchmark cities represents aver­
age prices representing the wide
range of “qualities” collected for the
moderate budget. In the other cities,
the prices were calculated using
ratio estimates based on t h e s e
prices. (See Bulletin 1570-3, pp. 1618 for a description of the “bench­
mark city” calculation procedure
used in the moderate budget.) The
ratios were calculated separately
for each benchmark city. For the
higher budget, they represent the
ratio of the average price of the
upper third of the array to the price
used in the moderate budget; for the
lower budget, of the lower third.
These ratios were then applied to
the prices used in the moderate
budget in the other cities within the
region in which the benchmark city
is located.
EP - 4. The price of the item was estimated
in the same manner as in 3 (above).
Arrays of prices from the bench­
mark cities, were used except that
the benchmark city average prices
and ratios were based on the aver­
age price of the upper and lower
half of the array for the higher and
lower budgets, respectively.
EP - 5. The appliance prices used in the
moderate budget represented spe­
cific makes and model numbers in
the five benchmark cities. For the




higher standard, prices for spe­
cified makes and models of a some­
what higher quality were collected
in the benchmark cities. A ratio
estimate comparing the prices of the
“higher” quality with those of the
quality used in the moderate budget
was then calculated and applied to
the moderate budget price in each
city within the respective region.
- 6 . The prices of the two items were
estimated separately. Box spring
prices were estimated using EP-3
procedure, i.e., higher and lower
thirds of the arrays of prices of
23-204 (FB-G) in benchmark cities.
Mattress prices were estimated at
same level as box springs.
- 7. In the higher budget, prices of
television sets were represented as
the ratio of the prices of the highest
one-third of the array of black-andwhite and of color television prices
to the average prices of black-andwhite sets used in the benchmark
cities for the moderate budget and
color sets of comparable (moderate)
quality. The estimated prices for
black-and-white and c o l o r tele­
vision sets then were combined by
weights (27 percent and 73 percent,
respectively). For the lower stand­
ard, prices of black-and-white sets
were sim ilarly calculated. Only the
array of black-and-white prices was
used.

A p pen dix--C on ten ts

Appendix A. Quantity budgets fo r lo w e r, m oderate, and higher liv in g standards
fo r a fo u r-p e rs o n urban fa m ily , decade of the 1960*s
Page
E xplanatory N o t e ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------T a b le s :
A - l.

F ood budget q u a n tities-----------------------------------------------------------------------------A.
Food at h o m e ------------------------------------------------------------------------------B. F ood away fro m h o m e -----------------------------------------------------------------A - 2. Housing budget quantities-------------------------------------------------------------------------A. Shelter: R enter fa m ilie s --------------------------------------------------------------B. Shelter: H om eow ner fa m ilie s -------------------------------------------------------C. Lodgin g away fro m home: a ll fa m ilie s ----------------------------------------D. H ou sefu rn ish in gs------------------------------------------------------------------------E. Household o p e ra tio n s ------------------------------------------------------------------A - 3.
Transportation budget quantities.
- :______________________________________
A . Autom obile o w n e r s _______________________________________________________
B. N onow ners of a u to m o b ile s _______________________________________________
A - 4.
Clothing budget quantities-------------------------------------------------------------------------A. H usband-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------B. B o y .----- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------C. W ife -----------------------------------------------------------D. G irl__________________________________________________________________________
E. Clothing m a te ria ls and s e r v i c e s --------------------------------------------------A - 5.
P e rs o n a l c a r e -------------------------------------------------------A -6 .
M ed ical c a r e ________________________________________________________________________
A - 7.
Other fa m ily con su m p tion --------------A.
Reading m a t e r ia ls -----------------------------------------------------------------------B. R e crea tio n --------------------------------------------------------------------C. Education------------------------------------------------------------------------------------D.
T o b a c c o -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------E. A lco h o lic b e v e r a g e s ______________________________________________________
F.
M iscellan eou s e x p e n s e s __________________________________________________
A -8 .
Other c o s ts __________________________________________________________________________
A.
Gifts and c o n tr ib u tio n s ----------------------------------------------------------------B.
L ife in su ra n ce----------------------------------------------------------------------------A - 9.
Occupational expenses and ta x e s __________________________________________________
A . Occupational e x p e n s e s __________________________________ ;________________
B.
T a x e s ----------A - 10. R atios fo r estim atin g costs of unpriced budget item s_____________________________
Appendix B. P r ic in g sp ecifica tio n s fo r item s in lo w er and higher
budgets (Supplement to 1570-3)-----------------------------------------------------------Appendix C.
Table C -l. Index of population w eights used in the
budgets--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Appendix D. Tech n ical r e f e r e n c e s ------------------------------------------------------------------------------




51

52

53
53
53
54
54
54
54
55
56
58
58
58
59
59
60
61
62
63
64
64
65
65
65
65
65
65
65
66
66
66
66
66
66
67
69
89
92

A p p e n d ix

Quantity

A

Budgets fo r L o w e r, M oderate,
H igh er L iv in g Standards

and

Explanatory Note

Q u an tities: T ables A - l through A - 9 which fo llo w in this Appendix show, fo r each component
of fa m ily liv in g , the annual a vera g e quantities of item s which w ere used to determ in e the costs of
th ree liv in g standards fo r a fa m ily of four p e r son s--an em ployed husband, age 38, a w ife not e m ­
p loyed outside the home, and two ch ildren, a g ir l age 8 and a boy of 13. The quantities a re not
v a lid fo r other s iz e s , age groups, or types of fa m ilie s .
The quantity budgets a re not designed to show how an “ a v e r a g e ” fa m ily of fou r p erson s
actu ally spends its m oney, or how a fa m ily should spend its m oney. They a re e s se n tia lly p ric in g
lis ts of item s, broadly defined, which w ere used to determ in e the gen eral le v e l of purchases fo r
each m a jo r component of the budgets. The methods and sources used to d e riv e the budget quanti­
ties a re d escrib ed in the text of this bulletin.
P r i c e s : In the determ in ation of budget costs, the le v e ls of p ric e s paid fo r item s a re as
im portant as the num bers of quantities bought. The p ric in g codes in T ables A - l through A -8
id en tify the sp ecifica tio n s, or detailed descrip tion s, of item s which w ere p ric ed . Th ese
sp ecifica tio n s co n trol the le v e ls of a vera g e p ric e s used in each budget. F o r the m oderate
standard, the sp ecifica tio n s, together with a vera g e p ric e s fo r the U.S. and 5 m etrop olita n a re a s ,
have been published in C ity W o rk e r's F a m ily Budget: P r ic in g P ro c e d u re s , S p ecification s, and%
A v e r a g e P r ic e s , Autumn 1966, Bulletin No. 1 570-3. S p ecifications fo r the lo w er and higher bud­
gets, which d iffe r fro m those used in the m oderate standard, a re shown in Appendix B of this
B ulletin. F o r item s in the lo w e r and higher budgets fo r which a vera g e p r ic e le v e ls w e re
estim ated, an E stim ating P ro c ed u re Code is indicated. Th ese codes a re explained in the text
(see p. 49).
C o s ts : F o r a m a jo rity of item s in the budget, cost is the product of quantity tim es p r ic e .
G en erally both the quantity and the p ric e le v e l in c re a s e as the livin g standard r is e s . O cc a s io n ­
a lly , h ow ever, quantities declin e, and the in crea se in cost resu lts s o le ly fro m an im p rovem en t
in quality.
F o r some budget item s fo r which no p ric in g code or p ric e estim ating proced u re is shown,
only an estim ated cost in 1966 fo r a ll c itie s is indicated. Th ese estim ates w ere obtained by up­
dating the U.S. a vera g e costs of the item , as rep orted in the 1960-61 Survey of C onsum er
Expenditures, to 1966 by change in the appropriate sub-group, group, or “ a ll ite m s ” Consum er
P r ic e Index. Costs in 1967 w ere estim ated sep a rately fo r each m etropolitan a rea and non­
m etrop olita n region by change in the C P I at the appropriate subgroup le v e l.
Table A - 10 lis ts the budget item s fo r which cu rrent costs w ere calculated as ratios of the
costs of other item s based on com parable ratios rep orted in the 1960-61 CES.
Separate quantities fo r m etropolitan and nonm etropolitan a rea s w e re used to compute item
costs. The U.S. urban a vera g e quantities and estim ated costs shown in T a b les A - l through A -9 ,
and the ra tio estim a tes fo r unpriced item s in Table A - 10 w ere d e rived by applying a w eight of
82 p ercen t to the m etropolitan quantities and 18 p ercen t to the nonm etropolitan quantities.




52

53
Table A-l.

Food Budget Quantities
Quantity

Item

L o w e r standard
Per
w eek 1

M o derate standard

Per
year 2

Per
w eek 1
A.

M ilk and m ilk products 4 ______
M eat, poultry, and fish _______ ________p o u n d ___
Eggs ------------------------------------------ ________d o z e n ___
D ry beans, peas, and n u ts ____ ________p o u n d ___
G r a in products 5 ________________ ___________ do ...
C itru s fru its and t o m a t o e s _______________ d o __
P otatoes _________________________ ___________ d o ___
Other v egetables and fru its __ ___________ d o ___
Fats and oils ___________________ ___________ d o ___
Sugar and sweets _______________ ___________ d o ___
A c c e s s o rie s :
Coffee ________________________
T ea ___________________________ ___________ d o ___
Soft drinks ___________________
Dinners 7------------------------------- —

18.
11.
2.
1.
13.
7.
10.
22.
2.
2.

00
25
08
38
00
50
00
50
12
75

884. 1
552. 6
102. 2
67. 8
638. 5
368.4
491. 2
1, 105. 2
104. 2
135. 1

( 6)
1. 60
$0. 22

19.00

B.

54-505X
E P -1
54-525X

54-51OX
54-520X
54-530X

20. 50
20. 75
2.42
. 88
11. 00
11. 75
7. 75
27. 75
2. 75
4. 25

0
9
8
9
7
1
7
8
2
9

_
-

1. 96
$0. 27

-

P r ic in g code or p rice
estim ating pro ced u re fo r:
Low er
M o d erate
H igher
standard standard standard

M e a ls , total ___________
Lunches at w o r k ---Lunches at school —
Other ------- --------------Snacks 7 ________________

927.
853.
109.
42.
597.
439.
414.
1,219.
134.
164.

( 6)
( 6)

-

Per
w eek 1

Per
y ear 2

Food at home 1
3
2

17. 50
2. 25
. 88
12. 25
9. 00
8. 50
25. 00
2. 75
3. 38

_
-

( 67
)

H ig h e r standard

Per
year 2

( 6)
( 6)
2. 11
$0. 25

-

989.
1,001.
116.
42.
530.
566.
373.
1,338.
132.
205.

0
1
8
5
7
9
9
8
7
0

_
_
_

-

Quantity p e r y ear
Low er
standard

M o d erate
standard

H igh er
standard

Food aw ay fro m home

54-515X
E P -1
54-535X

242
66
150
26
$ 62.44

270
78
150
42
$6 9.46

316
97
150
68
$71. 76

1 W eekly quantities provide fo r 84 m eals at home o r 4, 368 annually.
2 Annual quantity allow an ces shown fo r m etropolitan and nonm etropolitan a r e a s have been adjusted to exclude
the num ber of m ea ls aw ay fro m home as shown in part B fo r each budget le v e l.
F o r m etropolitan a r e a s , the
quantity allow ance pro vid es 4, 056 m ea ls at home fo r the higher budget, 4, 107 for the m oderate budget, and 4, 135
fo r the lo w er budget. F o r nonm etropolitan a r e a s , becau se of variations in the num ber of school lunches by cities,
the quantity allow ances provide fo r an av e ra g e of 4, 036 m e a ls at home fo r the h igher budget, 4,058 fo r the m oderate
budget, arid 4,083 fo r the lo w e r budget.
3 Quantities fro m the lo w -, m o d e ra te -, and lib e r a l-c o s t food plans, published by the U .S . D epartm ent of
A g ric u ltu re (see footnote 20, p . 4 l ) .
4 Includes fluid whole m ilk and m ilk products; quantities a re converted to units containing the sam e calciu m
content as m ilk, by using the follow ing equivalents:
1 cup of m ilk equals 3/4 pound of cottage cheese (c re a m e d ),
1 pound of cre a m cheese, I V 3 ounces of cheddar ch eese, or 1 scant pint of ice cre am .
5 W eight in term s of flou r and c e re a l.
1 V 2 pounds of bre a d or baked goods a r e counted as 1 pound of flou r.
6 The coffee and tea quantites shown below a r e fo r both m etropolitan and nonm etropolitan
a r e a s within a
region, and reflec t reg io n a l p referen ce patterns. Quantities fo r the m oderate budget a re a c o rrectio n of the data
published in Bulletin 1570-1, p. 24. (C o ffe e , tea, and soft drink quantities are estim ates p re p a re d by B L S fro m
U S D A survey data. )
Quantity per week (in pounds)
L o w e r________ M o derate________ H igh er
Region

C offee

Tea

N o r t h e a s t __________________
0.438 0.048
N o rth C en tral _________
562
.034
S o u th _______________________
.370
.058
W e st .......................................... 384
.028
W ashington, D. C.
(U .S . p a t t e r n ).........................432 .046

Coffee

T ea

0.438 0.044
. 522 .034
.406 .080
.464 .030
.458

.048

C offee

T ea

0. 500 0.030
.468
.032
. 574 . 048
.498
. 056
.506

.040

7
E stim ated costs in 1966 in a ll cities. Costs in 1967 w ere estim ated sep a ra tely fo r each m etropolitan a re a
and nonm etropolitan regio n by the changes in the C onsum er P r ic e Index at th e'ap p ro p riate subgroup level.




54
Table A-2.

Item

Housing Budget Quantities

P ric in g code o r p rice
estimating proced ure fo r:
L o w er
M oderate
H igher
standard standard
standard
A.

Contract rent:
Unfurnished 5-r o o m dw elling unit
containing specified installed
equipm ent------------------------------------ month —
Heating fuel:
M ost common type heating fuel used in
each c i t y -----------------------------------------------------W a t e r -------------------------------------------- cubic foot —
E lec tricity :
Lighting, refrig e ra tio n , and e lectrica l
a p p lia n c e s ---------------------- k ilow att-h our —
P o w e r fo r heating equipm ent------------ d o ------G a s :5
Cook ing-------------------------------------------therm —
Hot w ate r h eatin g------------------------------- d o ------Furnace p i l o t ------------------------------------- d o ------Refuse disposal:
T rash and garb age r e m o v a l------------------------Equipment:
R e f r i g e r a t o r _______ ______ ____________________
Rang e ________ ____ ______ ___ ________ __ ____ _

21-005X

21-01OX

21-015X

E P -1

22-748

22-750X

E P -1
-

22-500X
-

E P -1
-

E P -1
E P -1
E P -1

22-370X
22-380X
22-390X

E P -1
E P -1
E P -1

23-385X
E P -3

B.
Shelter (5 - o r 6 - room d w ellin g):
M o rtgage interest, p rin cip al payment P ro p e rty tax .
H om eow ner insurance p re m iu m -----------------R epairs and m aintenance:
R ep airs contracted out:
Painting and red e co ratio n -----------------R epair of r o o f ------- -----------------------------Othe r ----------------------------------------------------R epair m a te ria ls:
Painting and redecoration - gallons —
Othe r ----------------------------------------------------Heating fuel:
M ost common type heating fuel used in
each city .
------- cubic f o o t .
E lec tricity :
Lighting, refrig eratio n , and electrica l
— kilow att-h our —
appliances
P o w e r fo r heating equipm ent-------------d o -----G a s :5
C ook ing------------------------------------------ therm —
Hot w ate r h e atin g-------------------------------- d o -----Furnace p i l o t -------------------------------------- d o -----Refuse disposal:
T ra sh and ga rb age r e m o v a l------------------------Equipment:
R e f r i g e r a t o r ----------------- —-----------------------------R a n g e -------------------------------------------------- -----------

See footnotes at end of table.




12

(2)
14,560

(* )
14,560

( 2)
15,566

1,500
(4)

3 1,800
(4)

3 3,150
( 4)

120
300
120

120
300
120

( 6)

120
324
120

( 6)

. 06
. 06

(6)

. 06
. 06

7 1. 00

. 06
. 06

M oderate
standard

H igher
standard

H om eowner fa m ilies

21-110X
21-120X
21-140X

21-115X
21-125X
21-145X

21-527
21-437
-

E P -1
E P -1
-

. 10
. 03
(8)

. 13
. 04
(8)

21- 181
-

E P -1
“

3. 56
(8)

3. 60
(8 )

.

1. 00
1. 00
1. 00

1. 00
1. 00
1. 00

22-748

22-750X

( 2)
14,560

( 2)
15,566

22-500X
-

E P -1
-

3 1,800
(4)

3 3, 150
( 4)

22-370X
22-380X
22-390X

E P -1
E P -1
E P -1

120
300
120

120
324
120

23-984FB

E P -1

1. 00

1. 00

23-387
23-399,
23-399A/
399C

E P -5
E P -3

. 06
. 06

. 06
. 06

C.
H otels, m otels, cottages, etc

Shelter:

12

o
o

H igher
standard

M oderate
standard

12

r-

E P -5
23-387
E P -3
23-399,
23-399A /
399C
23-970X
E P -1

Renter fa m ilies 1

o
o

23-965X

-

-

H igher
standard

M oderate
standard

t-

Insurance on household co n ten ts----------------------

Shelter:

Quantity p e r y ear
L o w er
standard

-

-

Lodging away fro m home:
-

A ll fa m ilies
’ $97

55
Table A-2.

H ousing Budget Quantities— Continued

Item

.

P ric in g code o r p ric e
estim ating p ro ced u re fo r:
Low er
M oderate H igh er
standard
standard standard
D.

Household textiles:
Bedding:
S h e e ts_________________________________________
P illo w ca se s ( p a i r ) -----------------------------------P illo w s ------------------------------------------------------Blankets and q u ilt s --------------------------------—
B e d s p r e a d s --------------------------------------------- T o w els:
Bath — --------------------------------------------- -----Othe r — -----------------------------------------------------Window co v erin gs:
C u rta in s --------------------------------------- -------------D ra p e rie s ------------------------------------------------Other _ __________ ______________________________
F lo o r co verin gs:
R o o m -s iz e r u g -- --------------- ---------------------

O th e r.................. ................................................
Fu rn itu re:
Living room :
Living room s u i t e ------------------------- -----------

C h air, fu lly u p h o ls te re d ------------------—-----T a b le -----------------------------------------------------------

23-001,
E P -1
23-001A
E P -4
23-008FB E P -1
23-013,
23-013
23-013,
23-014FB
23-014FB
23-022FB E P - 3
E P -3
E P -3
23-031
E P -3

1.41

1.41

E P -3
E P -4
E P -1
-

E P -3

23-132,
23-133,
23-133A,
23-134FB
E P -2
-

B e d ................................................................
M a ttress and b e d s p r in g ----------------------------

E P -2
E P -6

D r e s s e r and c h e s t------------------------------------O th e r------------ -------------------------------------Dining room :
Dining room s u i t e --------------------------------- -

E P -2
-

E P -1
-

-

Dining room t a b l e ------------------------------------Dining room ch airs ---------------------------------Dinette set ------------------------------------------------P o rc h and g a r d e n -------------------------------------- ——
O th e r____ - ____ - ________________ ________________
E le c tr ic a l equipment and
applian ces:
Vacuum c le a n e r ---------------------------------------------W ashing m a c h in e --------------- --------------------- -----Clothes d r y e r _______ ________________ __ ____ _
D is h w a s h e r ___ - _______ - ___ - _____________ - ______
W aste d i s p o s a l----------------------------------------------T o a s t e r ---------------------------------------------——----------

E P -3

F r y e r , food m ix e r, e t c --------------------------------Ir o n ------------------------------------------------------------------

E P -1
E P -3

Sewing m a c h in e ____ __________- _- _- ____ __ ____
A ir cond itioner----------------------------------------------F a n ------------------------------------- ------------ -----------

E P -1
E P -1

E P -1
E P -1
23-252
-

E P -1
23-420X
-

H ig h e r
standard

2.

10

.86

.86

. 15

. 15

.95
. 22

. 34
. 39

. 34
.39

. 36
. 36

23-050FB E P - 3
-

1. 26

1. 26

( 8)

( 8)

1. 97
( 8)

23-085,
E P -1
23-085A
23-091FB E P - 3
-

.84

.84

.86

. 23
( 8)

. 23
( 8)

. 52
( 8)

.06

. 06

. 09

23-335,
E P -3
23-335A,
23-336,
23-377FB
-

E P -3




M o derate
standard

H ou sefu rnishings

E P -4

S o fa ----------------------------------------------- ------- O th e r------------------------------------------------------- B edroom :
B ed ro o m s u ite -------------------------------------------

See footnotes at end of table,

Quantity p e r y e a r
Low er
standard

( 8)

23-132,
23-133,
23-133A

23-132,
23-133,
23-133A,
23-134FB
23-130X
E P -2
23-169FB 23-169,
23-170FB
23-192
E P -4
23-211,
23-211
A & B
23-200X
23-204X,
23-204
23-210X
23-228,
23-228A
23-23 OX
23-240X
23-220X
23-250X
-

23-411
23-423
-

23-465
AUX
23-470X
23-471
AUX
23-460X
23-440X
23-450X

( 8)

(8)

. 01

. 04

. 04

.09
-

.09
. 08

. 11
. 08

. 02

. 04
( 8)

. 04
( 8)

-

E P -3

. 03

. 03

. 05

E P -2
E P -6

. 01
. 26

. 02
. 36

. 04
. 36

E P -2
-

. 01
-

. 01
-

. 04
( 8)

E P -4

-

. 01

. 01

E P -2
E P -2
E P -2
23-252
-

. 03
. 02
. 25
( 8)

. 04
. 05
. 03
. 30
( 8)

. 04
. 06
. 04
.91
( 8)

E P -4
E P -5
23-429
23-430X
23-500X
E P -3

. 05
.09
. 03

. 07
. 15
. 03

. 10
. 15
. 05
. 02
. 02
. 06

E P -1
E P -3

. 04
.09

. 10
. 09

. 19
. 13

E P -1
23-441
E P -1

. 04
. 06

. 04

. 05

( 10)
. 06

( l° )
. 08

56
Table A-2.

Housing Budget Quantities— Continued
P r ic ir lg code o r p ric e
estim ati rig p ro ced u re for:
Low er
M oderate
H igher
standard standard
standard

Item

D.
H o u s e w a re s, ta b le w a re s , m iscellan eou s
equipment:
H eate r, r o o m - s i z e ------------------------------ —------C a rp et s w e e p e r ---------------------------------------------D is h e s, s e t ------------------------------------------------------

O ther s erv in g p i e c e s ------------------------------------Ligh t b u l b s -----------------------------------------------------L a m p ---------------------------------------------------------------M iscellan eo u s equipm ent-----------------------------O ther:
S erv icin g , r e p a ir s , and r e n t a ls ----------—-----Law n m o w e r --------------------------------------------------T o o ls , p a in t b ru s h , e t c ----------------------------- —

M oderate
standard

H ig h e r
standard

H ousefurnishing s~—Continued

E P -1
E P -3

. 04
. 05
. 05

. 02
. 04
. 09

. 02
. 15

E P -1
E P -3
-

23-480X
23-591
23-531,
23-53 1C,
23-533/
534
H -954
23-608
-

E P -1
E P -3
-

( 8)
13. 00
. 24
( 8)

( 8)
15. 00
. 24
( 8)

( 8)
15.00
. 33
( 8)

23-679X
-

23-680X
-

23-681
-

( 8)
..02
9 $ 5. 75

( 8)
. 04
9 $ 8. 20

( 8)
. 07
9 $12. 00

E P -1
E P -4
E P -3

-

E.
Laun dry and cleaning sup plies:
Laun dry soap:
Soap fla k e s , c h ip s -------------- 13 ounces —
D etergent po w der,
g r a n u le s ---------------------------- 20 ounces —
D etergen t, li q u i d --------------- 15 ounces —
Starch , s p r a y --------------------------- 14 ounces —
B le a c h , l i q u i d ------------------------- V2 gallon —
F lo o r w a x --------------------------------- 27 ounces —
S couring p o w d e r --------------------- 14 ounces —
Scouring p a d s --------------------------- box of 10 —
A i r d e o d o r i z e r ------------------------ 7 ounces —
O t h e r ---------------------------------------------------------------P a p e r sup plies:
P a p e r n a p k in s -------------------------- box of 80 —
T o ilet t i s s u e -------------------- 6 5 0 -sheet r o ll —
P a p e r tow els, sh elf, w ax p a p e r, fo il, etc —
S erv ice s and m iscellan eou s supplies:
L a u n d e re tte s ---------------------------------- pound —
Laundry sent ou t--------------------- 10 pounds —
D ry cle an in g sent o ut—---------------------------------H ousehold h e l p --------------------------------- days —
M iscellan eo u s s u p p li e s --------------------------------Com m unications:
R esidential telephone se rv ic e :
B a s ic c h a r g e ---------------------------------------------Long d is ta n c e --------------------------------------------O ther c h a rg e s -------------------------------------------P o s t a g e -------------------------------------------------------- Stationery, greeting c a rd s, e t c -------------------

Quantity p e r y e a r
Low er
standard

Household operations

E P -1

H -802

E P -1

4. 04

4. 37

4.88

E P -1
E P -1
E P -1
E P -1
E P -1
E P -1
E P -1
-

H -804
H -807
H -9 5 2 F B
H -9 5 0 F B
H -9 5 1 F B
H -9 5 3 F B
H-901
H -906
-

E P -1
E P -1
E P -1
E P -1
E P -1
E P -1
E P -1
E P -1
-

55. 10
24. 24
3. 78
12.88
3. 23
14.47
4. 64
_

59. 88
26. 32
4. 10
13. 94
4. 09
18. 34
5.86
3.93

( 8)

( 8)

66. 74
29. 33
4. 58
15. 57
5. 18
23. 23
7.44
4.99
( 8)

E P -1
E P -1

H -764
H -799

E P -1
E P -1
-

12. 92
80. 00

15. 20
95. 34

-

-

-

-

34-754
-

-

-

-

-

-

EP- 1
-

-

22-620X
-

E P -1
23-924
-

23-931
-

2 2 -6 2 IX
-

_
_

-

( 8)
-

( 8)
139.30

-

-

( 8)

( 8)

11 12. 00
9 $12. 38
9 $9. 70

18. 95
95. 34
( 8)
139.30
18. 24
11 $6. 78
5. 09
( 8)

12. 00
( 8)
9 $16. 05
9 $ 12.55

12. 00
,
(8)
9 $ 10. 80
9 $ 20. 60
9 $ 15.45

1 A llo w an c es specified fo r fu el, u tilities, and equipment do not apply when the cost of these item s is included
in the monthly rent.
2 Heating fuel requ irem ents v a ry with the length and s everity of the cold season, type of stru ctu re, and type
of heating equipment.
The variatio n caused by clim ate is m ea su red in standard B ritish th e rm a l units (B .t . u. )
(co n vertible to equivalent quantities of fuel oil, gas, etc. ) and the n o rm al num ber of annual d e gree days in a given
city, deriv e d fro m annual data published by the U. S. W eather B u re au . (A de gree day is a unit, b ased upon tem ­
p e ra tu re differen ce and tim e, which m ea su res the differen ce between the a v e ra g e tem peratu re fo r the day and 65° F.
when the m ean tem peratu re is le s s than 65° F . ; the num ber of de gree days fo r any one day is equal to the num ber
of Fahren heit d e gree s differen ce between the a v e ra g e and 65° F . ) The a v e ra g e num ber of B. t. u. 's re q u ire d in a
given city m ay be computed as fo llo w s:
M illio n of B .t .u . *s = -302.817962 + 110.285800 tim es the lo garith m of the
n o rm al num ber of annual d egree days.
The quantity of any type of heating fuel used in a given city can be determ ined by converting the req u ire d num ber
of B . t . u . 's into quantities of the type of fuel used. In the determ ination of the total amount of fuel re q u ire d , both
the a v e ra g e B .t .u . content and an assum ed efficien cy facto r must be taken into consideration fo r each sp ec ified fuel.




57
F ootnotes— Continued
3 An additional 1, 250 kw. -h r s . w as allow ed fo r operation of a window a ir conditioner in cities which m et the
c rite ria specified in footnote 10.
4 The kw. -h r s . of e lectricity req u ire d to operate gas o r oil heating equipment v a ry ac cording to the amount
of fuel used.
The a v e ra g e re q u ire d num ber of k w .- h r s . assu m ed h ere is 0.25 p e r therm of gas and 0.44 p e r
gallo n of fuel oil.
5 In cities w h ere either electricity o r oil w as the predom inant fuel u sed fo r cooking and/or hot w ate r heating,
it w as substituted fo r gas. In the lo w e r and m oderate standards, the annual allow an ces fo r electricity a r e : Cooking,
1,800 k w .- h r s . ; hot w ate r heating, 5,220 k w .- h r s .
F o r o il, the annual req u irem en t of hot w ate r heating is
232 gallons.
In the h igher standard, the annual allow ances fo r e lectricity a r e : Cooking, 1,800 k w .- h r s . ; hot w ate r
heating, 5,580 k w .- h r s .
F o r o il, the annual requ irem ent of hot w a te r heating is 248 gallon s.
°
Cost is included in the rent.
7 The proportion s of fa m ilie s with insurance on household contents a r e : L o w e r standard, 15 percen t; m oderate
standard, 33 percen t; and h igh er standard, 50 percent.
8 See table A - 10.
9 E stim ated cost in 1966.
See footnote 7 table A - l .
10 F o r the m oderate standard, an annual allow ance of 0. 04 a ir conditioners is lim ited to 19 a re a s that had
an av e ra g e Ju ly -A u gu st tem peratu re of 85° and o v e r, and a rela tive humidity of at le ast 85 percent; an a v e ra g e
July—August tem peratu re of 90° o r o v er, r e g a r d le s s of relative humidity; o r, fo r Lo s A n geles only, an av e rage
July—August tem peratu re close to 85° and relative humidity n e a rly 85 percen t, as repo rted by U. S. W eather B ureau .
F o r the h igher standard, the c r it e r ia w e r e expanded to include a ll cities that had an a v e ra g e July—August te m p e ra ­
ture of 80° o r o v er, r e g a r d le s s of relativ e hum idity, ap plicable to 34 of the m etropolitan a re a s and to non­
m etropolitan a re a s in 2 regio n s.
11 Telephone s e rv ic e is provid ed fo r 85 percen t of the fa m ilie s in m etropolitan a r e a s , and fo r a ll fa m ilie s
in nonm etropolitan a r e a s .

334-641 0 - 69 - 5




58
Tabic A-3.

Transportation Budget Quantities
P ric in g code o r p ric e
estim ating p ro ced u re fo r :
Low er
H igh er
M oderate
standard
standard standard

Item

A.
P riv a te transportation:
Replacem ent of a u to m o b ile *------------------------A utom obile operating expenses:
G a s o lin e ------------------------------------- gallon —
M o tor o i l ------ ------------------------------ quart —
L u b r ic a t io n -----------------------------------------------A n t i f r e e z e --------------------------------- gallon —
T i r e s ----------------------------------------------------------B a t t e r y ------------------------------------------------------R e p airs and p a rts :
M otor tuneup------------------------------------- —
F ro n t-en d alig n m e n t---------------------------B ra k e s r e li n e d ------------------------------------O ther r e p a i r s --------------------------------------O ther operating expenses -----------------------Insurance:
P u b lic l i a b i li t y ------------------------------------C o m p re h e n siv e ------------------------------------R egistratio n fe es:
S tate------------------------------------------------------L o c a l-----------------------------------------------------Inspection f e e - ------------------------------------------P e r s o n a l p ro p erty t a x -----------------------------O p e ra t o r 's p e r m it ----------------- ren ew al —
T o lls , p ark in g, fin es, e t c ----------------------P u b lic transportation:
L o c a l:
School f a r e s ---------------------------------- ride —
A ll other f a r e s ------------------------------ d o -----Out of c i t y -------------------------------------------------------

M oderate
standard

H ig h e r
standard

Autom obile ow ners 1

41-025X

41-030X

41-035X

0. 250

0. 253

E P -1
E P -1
E P -1
E P -1
41-193
E P -1

41-065
41-097
41-355
41-110X
41-161
41-226FB

E P -1
E P -1
E P -1
E P -1
E P -1
E P -1

(M
(l )
2. 00
( 2)
1. 07
. 38

2. 00
(2)
1. 28
. 33

2. 00
(2 )
1. 28
. 33

E P -1
E P -1
E P -1
-

41-483
E P -1
41-675
E P -1
4 1-643FB E P -1
-

.85
. 11
. 16

1. 00
. 24
.29

1. 00
. 24
.29

(!)

(!)

( 3)

( 3)

(!)
( 3)

E P -1
-

41-807
4 1 -8 1 OX

41-805X
E P -1

1. 00
-

1. 00
. 50

1. 00
. 50

E P -1
E P -1
E P -1
EP- 1
-

41-870
41-871FB
41-880FB
41-902
-

E P -1
E P -1
E P -1
E P -1
-

1. 00
1. 00

1. 00
1. 00

1. 00
1. 00

(!)

(!)
(5)
2. 00
( 3)

(!)
(5 )
2. 00
( 3)

E P -1
E P -1
-

42-010X
42-020X
-

E P -1
E P -1

( 6)
(7 )
8 $ 8. 17

( 6)
(7 )
8 $ 22. 7 1

B.
P u b lic transportation:
L o c a l:
School f a r e s ---------------------------------- ride —
A ll other f a r e s ------------------------------ d o -----Out of c i t y -------------------------------------------------------

Quantity p e r y e a r
Low er
standard

42-010X
42-020X
-

42-010X
42-020X
■

0. 253
( ' )

(l )
i1 )

(5 )
2. 00
( 3)

( 6)
(7 8
)
0
1
9

n

Nonow ners of autom obiles 1

9 148
9442

-

9 148
9442
10 $60. 11

-

-

-

1 The m ode of transportation within cities and m etropolitan a r e a s is related to location, s iz e , and c h a ra c ­
te ristic s of the community.
The tabulation b elow shows the weights by which the a v e ra g e costs of autom obile
ow ners and nonowners w e re com bined, and the annual allow ances fo r gaso lin e and m otor oil which v a ry by
the
num ber of' m ile s driven .
Lower standard_____________________________ Moderate standard______________ Higher standard

New York ----------------- --------------Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago —
Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit,
St. Louis, Baltimore, Wash­
ington, San Francisco, and
Los Angeles — — — ------ ------A ll other metropolitan areas-----Nonmetropolitan areas --------------

Motor Miles
oil
driven

Auto
owners

Nonowners

Gasoline

Percent

Percent

Gallon Quart Number Percent

50
50

50
50

482.2
520.0

65
65
100

35
35
-

557.6
557.6
557.6

Auto
owners

Nonowners

Gasoline

Motor
oil

Miles ; Auto
driven j owners

Percent

Gallon Quart Number; Percent

19.0
20.5

7,233
7, 800

80
80

20
20

553.0
598.8

21. 8
23.6

8,295
8,982

100
100

22.0
22.0
22.0

8,364
8,364
8,364

95
100
100

5
-

644.6
644.6
661.2

25.4
25.4
26. 1

9,669
9,669
9,918

100
100
100

Nonowners

Gaso­
line

Percent

Gallon Quart Number

_

-

Motor
oil

Miles
driven

553.0
598.8

21.8
23.6

8,295
8,982

644.6
644.6
661.2

25.4
25.4
26.1

9,669
9,669
9,918

The annual allow ance is 1.25 gallons fo r a ll cities that had an a v e ra g e m inim um tem peratu re of 3 2 °-1 5 °
during January. F o r cities that had January m inim um tem peratu res below 15 , the allow ance is 2.00.
No an ti­
fre e z e is pro vid ed fo r m ild clim ate cities.
3 See table A - 10.
4 The num ber of inspections req u ired by law in each city.
5 Cost req u ire d by law in each city.
6 The annual allow ance fo r the 3 budget le v e ls is 183 rides in B oston, N e w Y o rk , P h iladelp h ia, and Chicago;
51 in other m etropolitan a r e a s ; and 53 in nonm etropolitan a re a s .
7 The annual allow ance fo r the 3 budget le v els is 220 rides in B oston, N e w Y o rk , P h ilad elp h ia, and Chicago;
97 in other m etropolitan a r e a s ; and 56 in nonm etropolitan a r e a s .
8 E stim ated cost in 1966 in a ll cities.
See footnote 7 table A - 10.
9 The annual allow ance fo r m etropolitan a re a s only.
10 E stim ated cost in 1966 in m etropolitan a re a s only.
See footnote 7 table A - l .
* The age of ca r pu rch ased w as a 6 -y e a r old in the lo w e r budget; a 2 -y e a r old in the m oderate budget;
and
a new c a r (60 percen t of the fa m ilie s ) or a 2 -y e a r old ca r (40 percen t of the fa m ilie s ) in the h ig h er budget.
the replacem en t rates indicated above, the ca r traded in w as 10 y e a rs old in the lo w e r (no allow ance
Applying
given), 6 y e a rs old in the m oderate, and 4 o r 6 y e a rs old in the h igh er budget.
http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/
2

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

59
Table A-4.

Clothing Budget Quantities
P r ic in g code or p ric e
estim ating p ro ced u re fo r:

Quantity p e r y e a r

Item
Low er
standard

M oderate
standard

H igh er
standard
A.

Jackets, sport coats* -----------------------------------S w ea te rs----------------------------------------------------------R aincoats*-------------------------------------------------------Suits:
Y e a r-ro u n d w eigh t*-----------------------------------T ro p ic a l w eight*------------- -----------Slacks:
D r e s s ---- -------- ---------------------------------

E P -3
31-005X
E P -3
E P -2
E P -3
E P -2

—

E P -3

W o r k ---------------------------------- -----------------------Shorts, w alkin g*---------------------------------------------S hirts:
D r e s s ---------------------------------------------------- —

E P -1
E P -2
E P -3

W o r k -----------------------------------------------------------

E P -1

S p o rts ____________________________________ —
Other o u t e r w e a r * ------------------------------------------U n d erw ea r, nightw ear:
U n d ersh o rts, b r i e f s -------------------------------------U n d ersh irts -----------------------—— ---------------------Other u n d e rw e a r*------------------------------------------P a ja m a s ----------------------------------------------------------B a t h r o b e s ____________________-___________________
H o s ie r y ------------------------------------------- p a ir -----------

E P -3

F o o tw ear:
Shoes:
Street-------------------------------------- do----------------

W o r k -------------------------------------- do---------- —
L o a f e r s-________________________ do___________
H o u s e s lip p e r s -----------------------do---------------R u b b ers, ga lo sh es, b o o ts *------- do---------------Other fo o tw ear*----------------------------------------------H ats, glo v e s, a c c e s s o r ie s :
H ats:
F e lt * -----------------------------------------------------------S tra w *_- _____ ________________ __ ___________
G lo v e s:
D r e s s * ----------------------------------- p a i r -------------W ork *--------------------------------------- do--------------T ie s , handkerchiefs--------------------------------------J e w elry , w a tc h e s ------------------------------------------Other a c c e s s o r ie s * -----------------------------------------

See footnotes at end of table,




-

E P -3
E P -3
-

E P -3
E P -1
E P -3

33-001,
33-002,
33-002A
E P -1
E P -2
E P -2
E P -1
-

31-018
s e rie s
31-010X
31-154
31-020X
31-052,
31-053
31-050X
31-086,
31-087
s e r ie s
31-171
31-080X
31-273,
31-273A
31-222,
3I-222A
31-292
-

H igh er
standard

Husband

0. 12

0. 12

0. 12

31-005X
E P -3
E P -2

. 52
. 24
. 11

. 53
. 24
. 11

. 58
. 24
. 14

E P -3

. 27

.28

. 32

E P -2

. 08

. 10

E P -3

1. 23

1. 24

1.40

E P -1
E P -2

2. 10
. 11

2. 10
. 11

2. 15
. 15

E P -3

1.49

1. 50

1. 73

E P -1

1. 22

1. 22

1. 29

E P -3

1. 82

1.83
( 1)

2. 12
(* )
4. 80
4. 22
.40
. 05
10. 29

E P -3

-

31-342FB E P -3
31-324
E P -1

C )

31-376FB E P -3
31-370X
31-375X
E P -3
31-409,
31-409A

. 37
. 04
9. 94

4. 77
3. 94
i1)
. 37
. 04
9.99

33-001,
33-002,
33-002A
33-046
E P -1
33-01 OX E P - 2
E P -2
33-050X
33-226FB E P -1

.95

.96

1. 07

.61
. 27
. 13
. 18
(M

. 61
. 27
. 13
. 18
(M

. 59
. 31
. 19
. 21
(M

. 17
. 07

. 19
. 07

. 20
. 09

. 13
1.92
2 $3. 04
2 $3. 48
(* )

. 15
2. 09
2 $3. 12
2 $3. 92
(M

. 18
2. 14
2 $ 3. 37
2 $ 3. 92
(M

-

-

33-002,
13 3 -002A

-

-

E P -3
E P -1

3 1-427FB E P - 3
31-420X
E P -1

E P -1
E P -1

31-430X
31-440X

-

-

-

-

_

M oderate
standard

00
o

O u terw ea r:
T opcoats* — -------------------------------------- —-----------

Low er
standard

E P -1
E P -1
~

4.76
3. 94
n

n

60
Table A-4.

Clothing Budget Quantities— Continued
P r ic in g code o r p rice
estim ating p ro ced u re fo r:

Item

Low er
standard

M oderate
standard

Quantity per y e a r

H igh er
standard

Low er
standard
B.

O u te rw e a r:
O v e r c o a t * ------------------------------------- ------------------ E P - 3
Jackets, sports c o a t s * ------------------------------------ E P - 3
S w M t P i 's *
- E P -3
R aincoats _____
E P -3
S u its ----- ------------ ------ --- ------------ — _____ E P - 1
S la c k s ---------------------------- ------------------- ------ — E P - 1
D u n gare es
----------- ----------------- - — — — E P - 1
S h o r ts ___ __________________________ __ ________ _ E P - 2
Bathing t ru n k s __ - _______ __ ____________ _________ E P -1
S h irts :
D re s
_____ „_______ t.—,T
T
..
E P -2
__
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_™
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_r
_
_m
_
_T
-r
,__________r
_
_
_
_ E P -3
SpO r t S -TT—
.-.I----,.--_
Other o u t e r w e a r * ___________________________________________________
U n d e rw e a r, nightw ear:
U n d e r s h o r t s -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E P - 3
—

U n d e rs h irts — —
P a ja m a s -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------B a t h r o b e s — -------------------------------- ---------------------- — —
H o s ie r y :
Socks_
_
_
_
_
__
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_►
»_
_
_p a ir _
_
_
_
Other h o s ie r y * --------------- ------------------------ -------- _ ------F o o tw e ar:
Shoes, stre et— ----------------------— - p a ir —
Sne ake r s
r
—
..--—
_
_
_
__
_
_
_
_r
_
_
_
_do ______
--------------—
---------do —
H o u s e s lip p e rs _
R u b b e r s , galo sh es, b o o ts * — --------------------do —
H ats, glov e s, a c c e s s o r ie s :
G l o v e s * __________________________________________________________do ______
------- ------Other a c c e s s o r ie s * --------------- — -------------

-------

See footnotes at end of table




—

-----------

—

M oderate
standard

H ig h e r
standard

B oy

31-570X
31-662
31-714FB
31-577
31-660X
31-646FB
31-732FB
31-640X
31-650X

E P -1
E P -3
£ P -3
E P -3
E P -1
E P -3
E P -1
E P -2
E P -1

0. 21
1.00
. 68
. 10
. 25
3. 25
2. 27
. 22
.4 2

0. 23
1.03
. 74
. 11
. 26
3.51
2. 36
. 24
. 47

0. 25
1. 29
. 80
. 12
. 26
4. 15
2. 27
.41
.55

31-810X
31-817FB

E P -2
E P -3

1.61
4. 46

1.69
4. 61

1. 84
4.95

i1)

C)

V)

E P -3

5. 18

5. 18

5. 39

E P -2
E P -2
E P -1

31-832,
31-832A
31-830X
31-840X
31-850X

E P -2
E P -2
31-855X

4.01
.59
. 10

4.01
.59
. 10

4.56
.71
. 10

E P -3

31-883FB

E P -3
-

11. 65

11.89

13. 18

(M

(M

(l )

2.54
1. 24
. 15
. 22

2. 70
1. 30
. 18
. 23

2.86
1. 37
. 25
. 29

78

.79

-

-

-

-

E P -3
E P -3
E P -2
E P -2

33-542FB
33-586
33-550X
33-560X

E P -3
E P -3
E P -2
E P -2

E P -1

31-860X

E P -1

"

.

l1)

.92

(M

61
Table A -4.

Clothing Budget Quantities— Continued
P r ic in g code or p ric e
estim ating p ro ced u re fo r:

Item

Low er
standard

M oderate
standard

Quantity p e r y e a r

H igher
standard
C.

O u terw ear:
Coats:
H eavyw eight*-

E P -3

Lightw eight — ----C arcoats, jackets
S w ea te rs-----—
—

E P -2
E P -1
E P -3

S u its --------------------------D re sses:
S t r e e t -------------------

E P -1
E P -3

E P -3

Hou s e — ^-----------------— —-----Skirts, ju m p e rs, c u lo tte s ----B lou ses, s h i r t s ------------ - ■ 1■■

-

E P -3
E P -3
32-165X
32-175X
-

S la c k s --------------------------------------Dungarees, blue je a n s -----------Shorts, pedal p u s h e r s * ----------Other o u t e r w e a r * -------------------U n derw ear, nightw ear:
Slips, petticoats— ----------------G ir d le s --------------------------------------

E P -3
E P -3

B r a s s i e r e s -------------------------------

32-391,
32-392FB
32-313,
32-314FB
E P -1
E P -3
32-345X
-

P anties, b r ie fs —--------------------Nightgow ns------------------------------P a ja m a s ------------------------- — —■
—
Robes, housecoats— ------------ —
Other u nderw ear, n igh tw ear*
H osiery:
S tockin gs----------------------------------

p a ir —— E P -3

A n k le t s ------------------------------------Footw ear:
Shoes:
Street-----------------------------------

— do—

— do—

E P -3

C asu al --------------------------------House s lip p e r s --------------------R u bbers, galosh es, b o o ts * —
Other fo o t w e a r * ---------------------Hats, gloves, a c c e s s o r ie s :
H a t s * ---------------------------------------G l o v e s * ------------------------------------P u rs e s , handbags-------------------Jew elry, w a tc h e s -------------------Other a c c e s s o r ie s * -----------------

— do—
— do—
— do—

E P -3
E P -3
E P -2
-

See footnotes at end of table,




E P -3
p a ir —— E P -3
E P -1

32-001,
32-002
s e rie s
32-01 OX
32-105
32-118,
32-118A
32-120X
32-222,
32-223,
32-226,
32-226A
32-248
-

32-144,
32-144A
32-172
32-170X
32-180X
*
32-287
32-378,
32-378B
32-391
32-313
32-327FB
32-339FB
32-340X
-

Low er
standard

M oderate
standard

H igher
standard

W ife

E P -3

0. 18

0. 21

0. 23

E P -2
E P -3
E P -3

. 13
. 10
. 69

. 15
. 11
. 79

. 16
. 12
. 95

E P -1

. 14

. 15

. 17

E P -3

1. 49

1. 65

1. 93

E P -1

. 54
2 $3. 51
1. 43

. 57
2 $3. 51
1. 61

. 61
2 $5. 62
1. 99

E P -3
32-165X
E P -1
-

. 66
. 06
. 73
(M

. 79
. 07
. 84

. 91
. 07
1. 07

(l>

( l )

E P -3
E P -3

1. 38
. 48

1. 40
. 55

1. 52
. 74

32-391,
32-392FB
32-313,
32-314FB
E P -3
E P -1
32-345X
-

2. 66

2. 70

2. 97

4. 66

4. 72

4. 98

. 56
. 37
. 22
(M

. 58
. 37
. 23
(M

. 62
. 46
. 24
n

12. 49

12. 49

13. 68

2 $0. 78

2 $0, 78

2 $0. 84

-

E P -3

h

32-405,
32-405A
-

E P -3

33-271,
33-272
33-361
33-406
33-41 OX
-

E P -3

1. 30

1. 37

1. 63

E P -3
E P -3
E P -2
-

1. 37
. 42
. 13
(M

1. 41
. 42
. 13
(M

1. 59
. 50
. 15

32-432FB
32-443
32-450X

E P -3
E P -3
32-455X

_

-

_

-

-

-

. 56
. 51
.9 0
2 $3. 83
(M

.
.
1.
2 $5.
(M

64
60
00
02

(l >
.
.
1.
2 $ 15.
n

81
74
10
60

62
Table A-4.

Clothing Budget Quantities— Continued
P r ic in g code or p ric e
estim ating pro ced u re fo r:

Quantity p e r y e a r

Item
L o w er
standard

M oderate
standard

H igher
standard
D.

O u terw ea r:
Coats:
H eav y w eigh t*------- --------------------------------------L ig h tw eigh t*-------- — —-.. ...... — ------------------R a in c o a t s * --------------------------------------------------------

E P -3
32-555X
E P -3

J ack ets--------------------------------- ------- --------------------- 32-575X
S w e a te rs ------------ ------------ ---------------------------------- E P - 3
D r e s s e s -------------------------------------------------------------- E P -3
S k irts -----------------------------------------------------------------

E P -3

E P -3
S la c k s ---------------------------------------------------------------- E P - 2
O v e ra lls , blue je a n s -------------------- ------------------- 32-715X
Shorts ---------------------------------------------------------------- E P -1
P la y suits — — ----------—— — , — — -------------------- E P -1
Other o u t e r w e a r * ------------------------------------——■
U n d erw ea r, nightw ear:
Slips, petticoats----------— -------- ------------------------ E P -3
P an ties, b r i e f s ------------------------------------------------ E P -3
U n d e rs h irts ------------------------------------------------------P a ja m a s , n igh tgo w n s-------------------------------------- 32-855X
B a t h r o b e s ---------------------------------------------------------- E P - 3
Other u n derw ear, n ig h t w e a r* -----------------------H o siery :
Anklets, so c k s-------------------------------------- p a ir - — E P - 3
Other h o s ie r y * -----------------------------------F o o tw e ar:
Shoes:
S treet--------------- — ..... ................ ... - p a ir — E P - 3
B lo u s e s -------------------------------------------------------------

E P -2
C a s u a l -------------------------------------------------do—
H ouses U pp ers — ------------------------------ do—
E P -2
Boots, r u b b e r s * ------------------------------------- do—
E P -3
■ -------Other fo o t w e a r * --------------------------------Hats, gloves, a c c e s s o r ie s :
E P -1
H a t s * ......— --------- ---------- —... .......................
G loves * --------------------- ----------------- --- p a ir —
E P -1
Other a c c e s s o r i e s * -----------------------------------------_
See footnotes at end of table,




Low er
standard

M o derate
standard

H igher
standard

G ir l

32-554FB
32-550X
32-579,
32-579A
32-580X
32-631FB
32-744,
32-744A
32-644,
32-644A
32-657 FB
32-710X
32-720X
32-730X
32-740X
-

E P -3
32-555X
E P -3

0. 31
. 14
. 18

0. 34
. 14
. 21

0. 36
. 19
. 21

E P -2
E P -3
E P -3

. 29
1. 02
2. 76

. 34
1. 03
2. 78

. 44
1. 12
2. 94

E P -3

. 77

. 81

. 91

E P -3
E P -2
32-715X
32-735X
E P -1
-

1.29
2 $0. 92
1. 27
. 25
1. 41
. 63

32-801
32-827FB
32-860X
32-866
-

E P -3
E P -3
E P -2
E P -3
-

2.
6.
2 $0.
1.
.

32-891FB
-

E P -3
-

9. 01
(M

9. 17
(l )

9. 73
(l >

33-541, A
33-541B
33-766
33-76'OX
33-770X
33-901 F B
-

E P -3

2. 28

2. 29

2. 41

E P -2
E P -2
E P -3
-

1. 70
. 31
. 37
(l )

1. 72
. 33
. 37
(l )

1. 84
. 39
. 39
(l )

32-870X
32-880X

32-875X
E P -1
■

. 55
. 75
(M

. 58
. 77
(M

. 68
. 93
(M

-

( l )

06
73
71
12
14

( l )

1.
2 $1.
1.
.
1.
.

31
23
29
26
45
63

( l )

2.
6.
2 $1.
1.
.
n

08
80
00
14
15

1. 48
2 $1. 49
1. 36
. 41
1. 58
. 68
(M
2.
6.
2 $1.
1.
.
n

17
96
37
29
18

63
Table A -4.

Clothing Budget Quantities— Continued
P r ic in g code or p ric e
estim ating pro ced u re fo r:

Item

Low er
standard

M oderate
standard
E.

M a te ria ls :
W ool, w ool blends
Cotton, cotton blends ■

y a rd s ------- do-

E P -1
E P -3

■do•do-

E P -1
E P -3

Rayon, acetate-----------Nylon, or Ion, dacron Other y ard goods
Notions (yarn , pins, etc. ) S erv ice s:
Cleaning and p re s s in g :
M e n 's s u it s --------------------

■g a rm e n t-

E P -3

W om enl s d r e s s e s -

---------- do-

E P -3

-

34-420X
34-438,
34-438A,
34-449
AUX.
34-460X
34-469 F B
-

-

Other c le a n in g -----------------------------------------Shoe re p a ir:
M en 's and b o y s' half soles and
h e e l s --------------------------------------- num ber W om en 's and g i r l s 1 h e e l s ------- -----— doShoe shines, polish, laces, etc.
Other clothing s e r v i c e s -------------------- 1
2

E P -1
E P -1

H igher
standard

Quantity per y ear
Low er
standard

M oderate
standard

H igher
standard

Clothing m a te ria ls and s e rv ic e s

E P -1
E P -3

0. 55
9. 54

0. 61
9. 17

1. 42
7. 60

E P -1
E P -3

. 20

. 21
. 08
(l)
(l )

. 51
. 22
( L)

-

-

n

-

(l)

( l )

34-708,
34-708A
34-731,
34-731A
-

E P -3

9. 25

10. 05

17. 43

E P -3

5. 64

6. 51

8. 93

( l )

t 1)

( l )

34-639FB
34-662,
34-662A

E P -1
E P -1

. 88
2. 81

. 88
3. 14

1. 09
4. 05

n

(M
(M

C)

-

-

-

-

-

-

(M

( l )

1 See table A - 10.
s 7 on T able A - l .
2 Estim ated cost in 1966. See a lso foo
The b a sic clothing budget is the U. S.
* E xplanatory note:
Quantities of s ta rre d item s v a ry fro m city to city,
av e ra g e quantity, both fo r m etropolitan and fo r nonm etropolitan a r e a s ,
For each city o r m etropolitan are a, the
quantities of clothing a r t ic le s specified fo r each budget a r e adjusted upw ard or downward in accordan ce with lo ca l
clim atic conditions, on the b a s is of the n o rm al num ber of annual d e g re e days as published by the U. S. W eather
B ureau.
A tabulation, showing the quantities of specified item s of clothing re q u ire d in m etropolitan a re a s when
the no rm al num ber of annual d e gree days a v e ra g e 0 and 8, 392, and in nonm etropolitan a r e a s when the a v e ra g e
is 489 and 10,864, a r e a v a ila b le upon request.
(F o r definition of d e g re e days, see footnote 2, table A -2 . )
The
quantities req u ire d fo r specific cities w e re determ ined by stra ig h t-lin e interpolation.




64
Table A-5.

Personal Care

P r ic e code or price
estimating procedure for:
M oderate
H igher
Lo w er
standard standard standard
S ervices:
Husband:
H aircut --------------------------------------------------------W ife:
H aircut --------------------------------------------------------P erm anent wave _____________________________
Shampoo and s e t ----------------------------------------M anicure _____________________________________
Tinting and coloring ----------------------------------Boy:
H a i r c u t ________________________________________
G irl:
H aircut ___________ __________________________
Fam ily:
Other __________________________________________
Supplies:
Toilet snap _
____ m edium b a r —
T oothpaste------------- ------------------------- ounce —
Shaving c r e a m ____________ __________ ounce —
Cleansing t i s s u e ___________ box 200 double —
Sham poo________________________________ ounce —
Face pow der-----------------------------------------------------Home perm anent kit--------------------------- r e fill —
Sanitary supplies ------------------------box of 12 —
O th e r-----------------------------------------------------------------

1 Estim ated cost in 1966.
2 See table A - 10.

Quantity per year
Low er
standard

M oderate
standard

H igher
standard

E P -1

52-697

E P -1

18. 9

23. 2

24. 9

E P -1
E P -1
E P -1
-

52-753
52-825
52-849
-

E P -1
E P -1
E P -1
-

1. 6
.7
-

3. 0
.9
4. 6
( 2)

3. 8
1. 1
16. 3
1$ 2. 99
( 2)

E P -1

52-729FB

E P -1

10.4

12. 8

13. 3

E P -1

52-730X

52-735X

.7

1. 3

2. 2

-

( 2)

( 2)

-

E P -1
E P -1
E P -1
E P -1
E P -1
E P -1
E P -1
“

-

52-001
52-025
52-073
52-625
52-193AUX
52-529
52-649AUX

E P -1
E P -1
E P -1
E P -1
E P -1
E P -1
E P -1

105. 1
64.4
21. 1
25. 3
47. 5
‘ $1. 85
1. 5
20. 7
( 2)

116. 2
64. 4
21. 1
27. 3
47. 5
1 $ 1. 98
. 6
20. 7
( 2)

See also footnote 7 on table A - l .

Table A-6. Medical Care12
i
Item

Quantity per year

P ric in g code
A ll standards

Health insurance:
H o s p ita l-s u rg ic a l contract _________________
Supplem entary m ajo r m ed ical contract 1 __
M e d ical c a re not covered by insurance:
P h y sic ia n s' visits:
Home ________________________________________
O f f i c e ________________________________________
H ospital (nonsurgical) ____________________
Other m ed ical ca re ___________________________
Dental care:
F illin gs ____________ _______________________
E xtractions __________________ ________ __
Cleaning and e x a m in atio n ________________
Other dental ca re _______ ________________
Eye care:
Exam ination for g la s se s _________________
E y e g la ss e s
Othe r ________________________________________
D rugs:
P r e s c r i p t io n ________________________________
N onp r e s c r ipti on:
Vitam ins _________________________________
Other ____________________________________
A pplian ces and supplies __________________

1 F o r higher budget only.
2 See table A - 10.




51-940X
51-950X

51-202
51-201
51-838FB
51-465
51-466
51-469FB
51-518, 51-519
51-518, 51-520,
51-521FB

_

51-061 through
51-181
51-001

_
-

1. 00
1. 00

.6
13. 1
1.4
( 2)
3. 55
1. 07
5. 01
( 2)
.44
. 70
( 2)
15. 9
4. 3
( 2)
( 2)

142. 1
64.4
21. 1
32. 3
47. 5
1 $4. 29
.6
20. 7
( 2)

65
Table A-7.

Item

Other Family Consumption

P ric in g code or p rice
estim ating procedu re for:
L o w er
H igher
M oderate
standard standard
standard
A.

N e w sp a p ers (su b s c rip tio n )--------------------------------

E P -1

Books (not s c h o o l)---------------------------------------------M a g a z in e s -------------------------------------------— -----------Other reading e x p en ses-------------------------------------

-

53-806,
53-807,
53-810,
53-811
"

Tape r e c o r d e r ____ ________________________ ___
Phonographs ---------------------------------------------- —
M u sic al in stru m ents-------------------------------------R e p airs, including p a r t s -----------------------------Phonograph records -------------------------------------A dm ission s:
M ovies:
A d u lts --------------------------------------------------------Child r e n _____________________________- ____ ____
Other a d m is s io n s ---------------------- -------------------Other recreation :
Participan t sports —-------------------------------------Toys and play equ ipm en t------------------------——
Club dues, m e m b e rsh ip s -------- — -------- -------H obb i e s ____ - ___ __ ____ __________ ___________ __
P e t s , pet supplies, and other
recreation e x p e n s e s --------------------------- —----

E P -7
E P -3

-

E P -1
E P -1
-

353-001
53-033,
53-033A,
53-034
53-082FB
53-177

53-612
53-613
-

-

E P -1

-

1. 03

1. 06

1 $8.41
1 $7. 28
(2)

1 $16.67
1 $13.89
(2)

1 $30.46
1 $22. 79
(2 )

. 10
. 31

. 10
. 38

. 13
. 39

1 $15.94
-

. 10
(2)
1 $18.52
4. 96

. 06
. 15
(2)
1 $19.87
6. 03

E P -1
E P -1
-

8. 16
23.83
-

9. 07
26. 01
1 $10. 14

11. 55
27. 84
1 $20. 25

-

(2)
-

-

E P -7
E P -3

53-097
E P -1
E P -1

C ig a r s ------------------------------------- —------------ each —
P ipe to b a c c o ---------------- — --------------------ounce —
P ipe and sm o k e r1s s u p p lie s -------------------- ----------

54-002,
54-006
54-078FB 54-077
54-079FB
54-153,
54-153FB 54-153,
54-154FB
54-154FB
-

E P -1
-

W in e ------------------------------------------- Vs gallon —
Aw ay fro m h o m e-------------------------------------------------

-

54-309
54-384,
54-399
54-429,
54-431
-

(2)
1 $30. 05

1 $48. 28

1 $55.50

1 $63. 94

Tobacco
*40. 9
92. 9
43. 3
( 2)

86.6
20. 9

77. 3
18. 6

38. 9
-

26. 2
4 .4

12. 5
9. 1

E P -1

-

4.7

4. 7

-

-

(2)

(2)

(2 )

(2)

A lcoholic b ev e rage s

E P -1
54-401FB

M iscellan eous expenses:
M iscellan eous expenses away fro m home city, bank s e rv ice ch arges,
le gal expenses, allow ances to children, m usic and dancing lessons
fo r children (except fo r lo w er standard), and other expenses that
cannot be allocated elsw h ere.

M iscellan eo u s expenses

(* )

Estim ated cost in 1966.
See footnote 7 table A - l .
See table A - 10.
Specification rev ised beginning with spring 1967 pricin g period.
Quantities deleted fro m m oderate standard beginning with spring 1967 p ricin g period.




(* )
(* )

(2)

F.

1
?
3
4

0

(p

(2)

E.
At home:
B e e r and a l e ------------ ---------------72 ounces —
Liq u o rs (w hiskey, e t c )------------ V5 gallon —

(*>
(?)

Education

1 $44. 12

D,.

C ig a r e t t e s ------------------------------------------ carton —

Recreation

1 $20. 03

-

-

H igher
standard

1. 00

C.
School and college:
Books, supplies, tuition, fe e s , e t c ------------

M oderate
standard

Reading m ate ria ls

B.
Radios, m u sical instrum ents, etc:
T elevision s e t s ---------------------------------------------Radio s ___________________ ____ __ ___________ __

Quantity p e r y e a r
Low er
standard

66
Tabic A-8.

Other Costs
Quantity p e r y e a r

Item

Low er
standard
A.

G ifts and contributions:
C h ris tm a s , birthday, and other presen ts to p e rso n s outside the im m ediate
fa m ily ; and contributions to re lig io u s, w e lfa r e , m ed ical, educational,
and other o rgan izations.

H ig h e r
standard

G ifts and contributions

( ')

(* )
B.

L ife insurance policy:
A policy to provide fo r the fa m ily during a pe rio d of adjustm ent in event of
the death of the brea d w in n e r.

M o derate
standard

2$ 1 2 0 . 0 0

(M

L ife insu rance

2$ 160.00

2$ 240.00

1 See table A - 10.
2 E stim ated cost in a ll cities.

Table A-9. Occupational Expenses and Taxes
Quantity p e r y e a r
Low er
standard
A.
O ccupational expenses:
Dues to unions, b u sin ess, and p ro fe s s io n a l associatio n s; lice n ses, tools,
and sp ec ia l equipment other than clothing re q u ire d fo r the jo b ; non­
re im b u rse d costs fo r tra v e l o r fo r use of the fam ily* s ca r fo r bu sin ess.

M o derate
standard

Occupational expenses

^ O .O O

^ s o .o o
B.

T axe s :
E m ployee contributions fo r F e d e r a l old-age, s u r v iv o rs * , d isability insurance,
and M e d icare (O A S D H I); fo r tem p o rary disab ility and unemployment taxes
w h ere re q u ire d by State law .
P e r s o n a l incom e taxes (F e d e r a l, State, and lo c a l), and capitation taxes.

1

E stim ated costs in a ll cities.




H ig h e r
standard

^ s s .o o

T axe s

A s re q u ire d by the le v e l of the
total budget.
Rates ap plicable in 1967 in each
city; in m etropolitan a r e a s , the
ap plicable rates in each u rban
part w e re used.

67
Table A-10.

Ratios for Estimating Costs o f Unpriced Budget Items

(F o r items fo r which it w as not p o ssib le to derive a quantity, a cost was estim ated as a ratio of the cost of one
o r m ore closely related item s. The ratios w e re based on expenditures reported at the inflection point,
or the income class below or above the inflection point (in the 1960—61 CES data), fo r the lo w er,
m oderate, and higher budgets respectively. The item s fo r which costs w e re estim ated, the
"b a s e " item s to which these costs w e re related, and the ratios a re shown below )
Ratio of estim ated to b ase cost:
Item
Estim ated
Shelter: Hom eowner fa m ilie s —
Other rep a irs contracted out-----------------------Other rep a ir m a te ria ls ----------------------------------

L o w er
standard

M oderate
standard

| H igher
i standard

(P e rcen t

B ase

120. 6

121. 3

76. 1

96.4

20. 4
54. 4

20. 4
54. 4

51.2

66.9

66. 9

157. 1

Item ized r e p a i r s --------------------Paint and decorating
m a te ria ls -------------- ----------------

H ousefurnishings:
Household textiles:

21.8

F lo o r coverings, furniture:
Other living room fu r n it u r e -------------------Other bedroom fu r n it u r e -------------------------

H ou sew ares, tab le w ares, m iscellaneous
equipment:
Other serving p i e c e s ------------------------------M iscellan eous equipm ent------------------------Other:
Servicing, re p a irs , r e n t a ls -------------------Household operations:
Other laundry and cleaning s u p p lie s -----------

Item ized living room
fu r n it u r e --------------------------- —
Item ized bedroom
fu r n it u r e -------------------------------

5. 0

7. 5

7. 2

Sets of d is h e s -------------------------F u rn itu re, equipment, and
h o u s e w a re s ---------------------------

266. 9

96. 0

88. 1

10.4

9.7

12. 2

Furniture and equ ipm en t-------

11. 3

11.6

12. 7

20. 3
119. 5

20. 9
150. 0

23. 0
197. 0

10. 7
-

20 . 8
25. 0

32.4
40. 5

62. 1
2. 7
2. 3

53. 2
5. 3
4. 0

53. 2
5. 3
4. 0

5. 7
7. 0
2. 2

6. 0

8 .4
8. 3
5. 4

Item ized laundry and
cleaning s u p p lie s ----------------P a p e r tow els, shelf, w ax p a p er, fo il, etc — Item ized paper p ro d u c ts-------M iscellan eous supplies (can dles, m atches,
flo w e rs , seeds, e t c )---- ------------------------------ Item ized laundry, cleaning,
and paper s u p p lie s --------------Communication:
Long distance tele p h o n e-------------------------- B a s ic telephone s e r v i c e -------Transportation:
Other rep a irs
—
—____________ Itemized rep a irs
Other operating expenses ----------------------------- Item ized operating expenses —
T o lls, parking, fin es, e t c --------------------------- Item ized operating expenses —
Clothing: Husband—
Other o u t e rw e a r * ---------------------- —----------------- Item ized o u t e r w e a r ---------------Item ized underw ear
f'lth'^r 'ln ^ r w ^ a r*
........
Itemized footwear - __________
Other footw ear*
—
—
Other a c c e s s o rie s * --------------------------------------- Total clothing-------------------------Clothing: Boy---Other o u t e rw e a r * ------------------------------------------- Item ized o u t e r w e a r ---------------Other h o s i e r y * ___ __ - __ ___ _____ _______ ___ ___ S o c k s---------------------------------------Other a c c e s s o r ie s * --------------------------------------- Total clothing---------------------- —
Clothing: W ife”
Itemized outerw ear - _______ —
Other o u terw ear*
Other underw ear and n ig h tw e a r*----------------- Item ized underw ear,
n ig h tw e a r------------- ---------------DlVusi* foofnrAa
....
Itemized fnntwear
Other a c c e s s o r ie s * --------------------------------------- Total clothing-------------------------Clothing: G ir l—
Other o u t e rw e a r *------------------------------------------ Item ized o u t e r w e a r ---------------Other underw ear and n ig h tw e a r*----------------- Item ized u nderw ear,
n ig h t w e a r -----------------------------O fV i a r V » n o m
_... .
Socks
Other fo o tw e a r * --------------------------------------------- Item ized fo o t w e a r -----------------Other a c c e s s o rie s * --------------------------------------- Total clothing--------------------------

See footnotes at end of table.




10.8

-

-

3. 3
7. 1

.8

7. 5
2. 6
.7

5.4
2.4
4. 5

5. 0
1. 7
4. 1

3. 7
2. 5
5.8

17. 0

19. 1

18. 6

2. 6
.7
1. 1

2. 8
1. 1
1. 2

3. 2
3. 2
1. 3

22. 6

25. 3

24.8

2.9
10. 3
1.6
2. 7

3. 1
9. 1
2. 2
2.9

.6

1.8
7. 1
2. 5
3.7

68
Table A-10.

Ratios for Estimating Costs o f Unpriced Budget Items— Continued

(F o r item s fo r which it w as not p o ss ib le to d e riv e a quantity, a cost w as estim ated as a ratio of the cost of one
o r m o re clo sely related item s. The ratios w e re based on expenditures repo rted at the inflection point,
o r the incom e c la ss b elow o r above the inflection point (in the 1960~61 CES data), fo r the lo w e r,
m o derate, and high er budgets resp ec tiv e ly . The item s fo r which costs w e re estim ated, the
" b a s e " item s to which these costs w e r e related, and the ratios a re shown belo w )
Ratio of estim ated to b ase cost:
Item

Low er
standard

E stim ated

B ase

Clothing m a te ria ls and s e r v ic e s :
M a te r ia ls :
O ther y a rd goods -------------------------------------Notions (y a rn , pins, etc. ) ----------------------S e rv ic e s :
Other cleaning
- ------- ---------- Shoe shines, polish , la c e s , e t c ------------O ther clothing s e r v i c e s ---------------------------P e r s o n a l c a re :
S e rv ic e s:
Tinting and c o lo r in g ------------------------- —----F a m ily : O t h e r -------------------------------------- —
Supplies:
O t h e r ----------------------------------------------------------M e d ical c a r e : 1
py m edical f'are
- —- __ - _______
Other dental c a r e ------------------------------------------Other eye c a r e ----------------------------------------------O ther n o np rescrip tion d r u g s --------------- —-----A p p lian ces and s u p p li e s -------------------------------Reading m a te ria ls :
Other e x p e n s e s ----------- -----------------------------------R ecreation:
M u s ic a l in s tru m e n ts --------------------------------------

Other rec re ation :
P articipan t s p o r t s -------------------------------------

Toys and play eq u ip m en t------------------------Club dues, m e m b e r s h ip s -------------------—
H o b b ie s ----------—-----------------------------------------Tobacco:
P ip e and s m o k e r ’s supplies ------------------------A lco h o lic b e v e r a g e s :
A w ay fro m h o m e --------------------------------------------M iscellan eo u s expenses

_

_

_____

_ __

Gifts and c o n trib u tio n s --------------------------------------

M oderate
standard

H ig h e r
standard

(P e rc e n t)

Item ized y a rd g o o d s -----------Total y a rd g o o d s -------------------

2. 0
85. 3

7. 2
100. 1

5 .4
75. 6

Item ized cleaning,
p r e s s in g -----------------------------Shoe re p a irs ------------------------Item ized clothing s e rv ic e s —

26. 1
42. 0
-

24.8
42. 6
13. 3

20. 5
43.8
14.4

Item ized s e rv ic e s fo r w ife —
Item ized s e r v i c e s ----------------

-

2. 9
1. 2

11. 6
1. 0

107. 9

140. 9

Item ized s u p p lie s ----------------P h y s ic ia n ’s office visits
Item ized dental p ro c e d u re s —
Total of ey e g la s s e s and
ex a m in a tio n ----------------------Vitam ins -------------------------------Total of p re s c rip tio n and
n onprescription d r u g s ------Item ized reading
m a t e r i a l s ----------------------------

83.9
_
-

16. 5
91. 1

-

4. 6
268. 0
8. 5

2. 2

Total cost of ra d io s, t e le ­
v isio n sets and
p h on ograph s------- ------ ------ —
Total cost of rad io s,
m u sic al instrum ents,
etc. , and a d m is s io n s --------

do
do
do
Item ized tobacco products —
Item ized alcoholic
b e v e r a g e s ---------------------------A ll other costs of fam ily
consumption ----------------------Total cost of fam ily con­
sumption, le s s m is c e l­
laneous expenses ---------------

_
-

22. 0
-

1. 7

1.9

28. 9

27. 1

37.
24.
8.
22.

43.
21.
17.
24.

9
1
3
6

1. 1

1. 5

1.4

21. 6

21. 6

21.6

.7

1. 2

1. 6

3. 0

3. 5

5. 0

1 M e d ic a l ca re ratios fo r lo w er and higher standards a r e the sam e as fo r those fo r m oderate standard.
* See explanatory note table A - 4.




3
4
3
1

Appendix B

P r ic in g Specifications

The
p r ic e s fo r
d escrib ed
as fo r the

specifications shown on the fo llow in g pages a re those used to co lle c t or estim ate
the lo w e r and higher standards which d iffe r fr o m those used in the m oderate standard,
in Appendix 1 of Bulletin 1 570-3. The coding system fo r the specifications is the same
m oderate budget.




70

FOOD

Food Away F r o m Home

LU NC H
54-505 (X)
Description: Entrees under these
general descriptions:
1. Roast beef sandwich
2. Hamburger sandwich
3. Bacon, Lettuce, and tomato
sandwich
4. Tuna fish sandwich
A beverage was added to complete the
meal; “ h ig h -p ric e d ” outlets w ere e x ­
cluded.
LU N C H
54-515 (X)
Description: Same as 54-510 (X) (see
bulletin 1570-3) except that “ low p r ic e d ” outlets w ere excluded.
DINNER
54-525 (X)
Description: Same as 54-530 (X) (see
bulletin 1570-3) except that “ highp r ic e d ” outlets w ere excluded.
DINNER
54-535 (X) 1
*
Description: Entrees under these
general descriptions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Ground beef patty
Round steak
Veal Cutlet
Ham
Chicken
F is h




An a ppetizer, 2 vegetables, a b e ve ra g e,
bread and butter, and a d e s s e r t w e r e
added to these entrees to com plete the
meal.
Special Instructions: Where any of the
specified item s w ere not included, the
a la carte p r ic e (s) was added to the
cost of the entrees. “ L o w - p r i c e d ” out­
lets w ere excluded.

71

HOUSING
Rent and Homeowner Shelter Costs

RENTAL, COSTS
Contract Rent
21-005 (X)
Description: A rental unit meeting the
same general description as that used
for the moderate standard (see bul­
letin 1570-1).
Estimating Procedure: The rental cost
for the lower standard was calcu­
lated as the average rent fo r the
lower third of the distribution of
rents fo r units meeting the stand­
ard. Where facilities usuallycovered by rent were not included,
estimates of the cost of these items
were added to the contract rent.
Contract Rent
21-015 (X)
Description: A rental unit meeting the
same general description as that
used for the moderate standard (see
bulletin 1570-1) but with no r e s t r ic ­
tions on the number of baths or extra
facilities and services such as
switchboard, secretarial, swimming,
or special recreational facilities.
Estimating Procedure: The rental cost
for the higher standard was calcu­
lated as the average rent fo r the
upper third of the distribution of
rents for units meeting the above
standard. Estimates of the cost fo r
fuel and utilities were added to the
contract rent.




INSURANCE ON HOUSEHOLD
CONTENTS
23-965 (X)
Description: Annual premium fo r tenants
for coverage that includes:
1. F ir e and extended coverage insur­
ance on unscheduled personal
property contained in the rental
unit.
2. Deductible: A $50 deductible ap­
plies to loss from windstorm and
hail.
HOMEOWNER COSTS
The items fo r homeowner costs fo r the
higher standard were calculated fo r a 5 or
6-room dwelling meeting all the criteria
specified fo r the moderate standard (see
bulletin 1570-3), but with no restrictions
on the number of baths.
MORTGAGE IN TE R E ST AND P R IN C IP A L
PAYMENTS
21-115 (X) 1
Description: Annual payments for 3 types
of loans fo r a home purchased 7 years
ago were combined by weights r e p r e ­
senting the distribution of type of
mortgage reported by U.S. urban
buyers in the specified purchase
price class.
1. Conventional - 65 percent of pur­
chase price, 20-year term (rate fo r
A p r il 1961 fo r city proper
and
suburbs weighted together by indi­
vidual city weights).
2. F H A — 80 percent of purchase price,
25-year (statutory maximum rate as
of A p r il 1961, including mortgage
insurance premium, 6 percent).

72

HOUSING
Rent and Homeowner Shelter Costs

3. V A - 80 percent of purchase
p ric e , 25-year term (statutory
rate as of A p r il 1961, 5 l/4 p e r ­
cent).
Method of Calculating Costs:
See pages 23-25 of bulletin 1570-3
and page 49 of this bulletin.
P R O P E R T Y TAXE S
21-125 (X)
Description: Same as 21-120 (X) (see
bulletin 1570-3) except that the
specified value of the home was
higher.
P R O P E R T Y INSURANCE
FOR HOMEOWNER
21-145 (X)
Description: Same as 21-140 (X) (see
bulletin 1570-3) except that insurance
costs w ere based on a higher home
value and the annual premium fo r the
broad fo rm comprehensive hom e­
ow ner’ s policy.




73

HOUSING
Household T e x tiles

PILLO W
23-014 (F B )
Description: Bed pillow, cotton c o ver ;
(zipper closure excluded); packaged
in polyethylene.
M a t e r ia ls :
P illo w fillin g : White goose feathers;
weight, 2 to 3 pounds. C ove r: Eight
ounce cotton ticking; corded edge.
Size:
Cut size: 22x28 inches
Standard size: 21x27 inches
Thickness: 3 to 8 inches
Estimating P ro c ed u re: Same as E P - 3
except that the a r r a y of p r ic e s used
included both 23-013 (F B - G ) and
23-014 (F B ) in .the fiv e benchmark
cities. The ratio of the average p rice
of the upper or lo w er third of the c o m ­
bined a rr a y was applied to the p ric e
used in the m oderate standard in other
citie s.

334-641 0 - 69 - 6




74

HOUSING
F urniture

L IV IN G ROOM SUITE

C O C K T A IL T A B L E

23-134 (F B )

23-170 (F B )

Description: Sofa and lounge chair;
(sold either fr o m open stock or
as a suite with matching or
harmonizing chair) premium grade:
promotionals excluded.

Description: P re m iu m grade; walnut,
ch erry, pecan, or teak wood.
Style: Modern or contem porary; oval
or rectangular; may have shelf
and/or drawer.

Style: Modern or contemporary.
Construction: K iln dried hardwood
fra m e, co rn er blocked, c r o s s -b ra c e d ,
double doweled, screw ed and glued,
hard or soft edge w ell padded, s e l f ­
decked, may have exposed wood arm s
or legs, padded outside arm s and
backs, Scotchgard or Zepel stain
resistant finish.
R e v e rs ib le seat and p illo w back
cushions (sofa may have tight back
cushion), concealed zipper cushion
c o v e r s , snug fit, compact and smooth
cushions, latex or urethane foam/
p o lye ster core.
C oilsp rin gs fastened to fra m e and/or
webbing; or sinuous construction, no
sag, zipper or arch types.
Covering: (Good quality)
Synthetic, natural or blend fib ers,
100% fla x excluded; flat, pile or t e x ­
ture weaves.
Size: Sofa platform length 60 to 90 inches.
Estimating P ro c ed u re: Same as E P - 3
except that the a r r a y or p ric es used
included 23-132, 23-133 (F B - G ), and
23-134 (F B ) in the fiv e benchmark
cities. The ratio of the average price
of the upper or low er third of the c o m ­
bined a r r a y was applied to the p rice
used in the moderate standard in other
cities.




Construction: A l l pieces fra m ed and
braced throughout, m ortis ed and
tenoned or doweled, glued and
screwed. Table Top: Veneer su r­
face and base, if any, machined
smooth and clean, oiled and handrubbed finish. Edges, rails and
legs: Solid wood.
S iz e : Approx. 42, 48 or 54 inches.
Estimating P roc e d u r e : Same as E P - 3
except that the a r r a y of p r ic e s
used included both 23-169 (F B -G )
and 23-170 (F B ) in the fiv e bench­
mark cities. The ratio of the
avera ge p ric e of the upper or low er
third of the combined a r r a y was
applied to the p ric e used in the
m oderate standard in other cities.

75

HOUSING
Furniture

L A W N CHAIR
23-252 (C P I)
Style: Folding chair
Construction: One-inch polished
aluminum tubing.
Webbing: Approx. 4 to 6 v e r tic a l
and 8 to 10 horizontal webs of saran,
velon, or polypropelene, approx.
2 l/4 inches wide.
A rm rests: Double tubular, or 1piece flat.
S iz e :
Seat: Approx. 21 to 23 inches.
Height: Approx. 30 to 32 inches.
Special Instructions: T h ree volume
s e lle r s p riced in each outlet in the
five benchmark cities.
Method of Calculating A v e r a g e P r ic e :
Method I (see bulletin 1570-3).




76

HOUSING
Housewares, Tablew a re and Miscellaneous Equipment

L A W N MOWER
23-679 (X)
A p ric e of $26.25 was estimated fo r
all cities , based on averaged retail
p rice estim ates fo r a hand m ow er
fro m m a il- o r d e r catalogs.
L A W N MOWER
23-681 (C P I)
Style: Lawn m ow er, power; rotary
type; push type; hand propelled;
19 to 22 inch cutting width.
Construction: Steel die cast aluminum
alloy or fib e r g la s s housing (deck);
tubular steel or aluminum handle;
engine control (throttle); alloy
steel blade; wheels, adjustable fo r
cutting height, with rubber tire s;
may be offset; discharge chute on
side; may have lea f mulcher attach­
ment.
Engine: 4 cy cles.
Type of starting: R e c o il or impulse.
Special Instructions: Th ree volume
s e lle r s p riced in each outlet in the
fiv e benchmark cities.
Method of Calculating A v e r a g e P r ic e :
Method I (see bulletin 1570-3).




77

HOUSING
E le c t r ic a l Equipment and Appliances

R E F R IG E R A T O R

Method of Calculating A v e r a g e P r ic e :
Method I (see bulletin 1570-3).

23-385 (X)
P r i c e estimated in each city as 60.48
percent of average p ric e of r e f r i g e r a t o r f r e e z e r , 23-387 (C P I), moderate standard,
based on m a il- o r d e r catalog p r ic e r e l a ­
tionships.
WASHING MACHINE
23-420 (X)
P r ic e estimated in each city as 62.49
percent of average pric e of washing
machine, 23-423 (C P I), moderate
standard, based on m a il- o r d e r
catalog price relationships.
C LO TH E S DRYER
23-429 (C P I)
Style: E le c t r ic , sem i-deluxe model,
not installed; thermostatic t e m ­
perature control; automatic shut­
off; safety switch on door (shuts
off machine when door is opened);
may have in terio r light; lint trap;
no-vent models excluded.
Construction: Sheet steel e x te rio r
and fra m e work; steel drum, rustproofed with porcelain, zinc or
sim ila r coating, excluding stainless steel drums; white baked
enamel or a c r y lic enamel e x te r io r ,
may have porcelain enamel top;
may operate on either 11 5 or 230
volts, 60 cycle e le c t r ic a l current.
Special Instructions: One model each
of two manufacturers pric ed in
each outlet.

3.14-641 0 - 6 9 - 7




DISHWASHER
23-430 (X)
P r i c e estimated in each city as 94.4
percent of a vera ge p ric e of washing
machine, 23-423 (C P I), moderate
standard, based on m a il- o r d e r catalog
pric e.
FOOD W A STE DISPOSER
23-500 (X)
A p r ic e of $60.00 was estimated fo r all
c ities , based on a vera g e retail
p r ic e estim ates fr o m m a il- o r d e r
catalogs.
AIR CONDITIONER
23-441 (C P I)
Style: Standard window-type (excluding
porta ble-type); thermostatic con­
tro l; installation charges not in ­
cluded.
E le c t r ic a l C h a ra cteris tics :
B .T.U . hourly rating: 9,000 to
12 , 000 .
Volts and a m p eres: 115 volts, 7 l/2
to 12 am p eres; or 230 volts, 7 to 9
am peres.
Special Instructions: Th ree volume
s e lle r s pric ed in each outlet in the
fiv e benchmark cities.
Method of Calculating A v e r a g e P r i c e :
Method I (see bulletin 1570-3)

78

HOUSING
Household Operations

LAUNDRY, FLATW O RK

T E L E P H O N E SERVICE

23-924 (C P I)

22-621 (X)

Description: Finished s e r v ic e , all
washed and ironed and ready fo r use,
fo r a 10 pound bundle of laundry,
flat work only, including any bundle
or s e r v ic e charge or insurance.

Description: Monthly rate, local
residential telephone s e r v ic e ;
1-party unlimited rate

Special Instructions: D elivered and
cash, c a r r y and c a ll- f o r s e r v ic e
priced in each outlet.
Method of Calculating A vera g e P r i c e :
Method II a (see bulletin 1570-3).
A v e r a g e s Weighted as fo llows:
D elivered: 50 percent
Cash, c a r r y and c a l l - f o r : 50 percent
G E N E R A L HOUSEWORK
W ITH LA U N D R Y
23-931 (C P I)
Description: Cash entering wage fo r
day w orker fo r an 8-hour day;
including transportation allowance;
general housework with laundry
(washing and/or ironing) excluding
heavy cleaning.
Method of Calculating A v e r a g e P r ic e :
Method II a (see bulletin 1570-3)




79

TR ANSPOR T A T IO N
P r iv a t e Transportation

A U T O M O B IL E PURCHASE
41-025 (X)
The purchased car was considered to
be a 1961 model, without allowance fo r
trade-in, since the p re viou sly owned car
was scrapped. Estim ated 1961 p ric es
of fu ll-sia ed C hevrolets and F ords
(as described fo r 41-035 (X), the
higher standard trade-in) w ere used
fo r this standard, except that the full
retail price was used, rather than the
wholesale price.
R E P L A C E M E N T OF A U T O M O B IL E
41-035 (X)
The replacement of an automobile in­
cluded the purchase of a new car fo r
60 percent of the fa m ilies and , fo r the
remaining 40 percent, a used car of
the same age permitted by the m o d e r ­
ate standard. As in the moderate
standard, the replacement cost is the
difference in price between the pu r­
chased car and the traded-in car.
The purchased car was a new (1967)
model or a 2 l/2 yea r old (1965) m odel.
F o r the new car, C P I average pric es
fo r Chevrolet Impala and F ord
Galaxie 500 2-door hard tops w ere
combined (d e a le r ’ s concessions w ere
deducted). F o r the 29 la rg e s t cities
(having I960 populations of 250,000 or
m o r e ) individual city a vera g es were
used. F o r the remaining cities, r e ­
gional-stratum a vera g es w ere used,
because dealer samples are too small
to perm it calculation of relia ble a v e r ­
age pric es in these cities. P r ic e s of
the 2 l/2 year old (1965) car are based
on average transaction (r e ta il) p ric es
as reported to the National Automobile
Dealers A ssociation (N AD A ) fo r fu ll-




size F o rd s and C hevrolets. The p ric es
fo r traded-in (1960 model) cars w ere
estimated fro m N A D A data and adjusted
to approximate wholesale lev els . N A D A
p ric e data are state averages reported
separately fo r Chevrolets and F ord s .
C P I w eights--60 percent C hevrolet and
40 percent F o r d - - w e r e used to combine
p r ic e s of each make fo r each model
year.
TIR E R E T R E A D
41-193 (C P I)
Description: F u ll tire retread applied
to ca rca ss meeting the following
description:
Type: Tubeless; low p ressu re
Size: 7.50 x 14
C arcass: Rayon and nylon cord
Tread: Regular; excluding snow or
or mud treads
P ly rating: 4
M aterial: Rubber; synthetic or synthetic
and natural rubber.
Method of Calculating A v e r a g e P r i c e :
Method I (see bulletin 1570-3)
P U B LIC

L IA B IL IT Y IN SU R A N C E

41-805 (X)
Description: Same as 41-807 (C P I)
(see bulletin 1570-3) except fo r the
following co vera g e:
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

$25,000 to $50,000 bodily injury
$10,000 p rop erty damage
$1,000 m edical payments
Uninsured m otorist co vera g e
where mandatory--$1 0,000/20,000
bodily injury or statutory lim its,
if higher.

80

C L O T H IN G
M en's Clothing

J A C K E T or S P O R T C O A T
31-005 (X)
P r i c e estim ated in each city as 163
percent of avera g e p ric e of boys* sp ort­
coat, 31-662 (F B - G ), benchmark cities,
and 31-662 (C P I), non-benchmark cities ,
as estim ated fo r the res p ec tiv e higher
or lo w er standard, based on m a il- o r d e r
catalog p r ic e relationships.

Estimating P ro c ed u re: Same as E P - 3
except that the a r r a y of p r ic e s in ­
cluded both 33- 001 (C P I) and 33-002
(F B -G ) in the fiv e benchmark cities.
The ratio of the a vera g e p r ic e of the
upper or low er third of the combined
a r r a y was applied to the p r ic e used
in the m oderate standard in other
cities.
B AT H R O B E

B AT H R O B E

31-855 (X)

31-375 (X)

A pric e of $4.99 was estim ated fo r all
cities , based on avera g e reta il p r ic e
estim ates fr o m m a il- o r d e r catalogs.

A p ric e of $10.92 was estimated fo r all
cities, based on average retail pric e
estim ates fro m m a il- o r d e r catalogs.
S T R E E T SHOES
33-001 (C P I)
Style: Oxford
M aterial:
Upper: Smooth calf, medium quality
Outsole: Leather, se m i-fin e grade,
8 to 9 irons
Insole: Leather or non-leather,
medium quality
Lining: L ea th er or non-leather,
medium quality
Heel: Rubber
Construction: Goodyear welt; medium
quality workmanship
Size Range: 6 l/2 to 12, A to D




81

CLOTHING
Women’ s Apparel
DUNGAREES, BLUE JEANS

BRASSIERE

32-165 (X)

32-392 (FB)

Same price as boys’ dungarees,
31-732 (FB-G), benchmark cities and
31- 732 (FB), non-benchmark cities,
moderate standard.

Style: Bandeau; adjustable straps.

SHORTS, PEDAL PUSHERS
32- 175 (X)
Same price as girls’ shorts,
32-730 (X), moderate standard.
PANTIES

F abric:
Cups: Nylon lace or nylon tricot
or batiste of polyester/nylon/
cotton blends.
Cup lining: Cotton, nylon
marquisette, or nylon tricot.
Sides: Spandex
Straps: Nylon ribbon or cotton
adjustable stetch; excluding
continuous stretch straps.

32-314 (FB)
Style: Brief
Fabric: Warp knit (2-bar tricot);
nylon yarn, 40 denier
Construction: Full cut, clean work­
manship; overlock or merrowed
seams; double crotch; may have
concealed gusset; elasticized waist,
l/2 or 5/8 inch exposed elastic.
Size Range: Regular (small, medium
and largeK
Estimating Procedure: Same as EP-3
except that the array of prices
included both 32-313 (FB-G) and
32-314 (FB) in the five benchmark
cities. The ratio of the average
price of the upper or lower third
of the combined array was applied
to the price used in the moderate
standard in other cities.




Construction: Clean workmanship.
Cups: Three sections, may have
side stays.
Size Range: Regular

Estimating Procedure: Same as EP-3
except that the array of prices
included both 32-391 (FB-G) and
32-392 (FB) in the five benchmark
cities. The ratio of the average
price of the upper or lower third
of the combined array was applied
to the price used in the moderate
standard in other cities.

82

CLOTHING
Women’ s Apparel

ROBE, HOUSECOAT
32-345 (X)
Same price as g i r l s ’ robe, 32-866
(F B -G ), benchmark cities and 32-866
(C P I), non-benchmark cities, fo r the
respective standard.
PURSE, HANDBAG
32-455 (X)
A price of $10.46 was estimated fo r
all cities, based on average retail
price estimates from m a il-o rd e r
catalogs.




83

C LO T H IN G
G i r l s ’ A ppa rel

C O A T , LIG H T W E IG H T

P A J A M A S , NIGHTGOWNS

32-555, ( X )

32-855 (X)

P r i c e estimated in each city as 70
percent of avera ge p r ic e of g i r l s ’
heavyweight coat, 32-554 (F B -G ),
benchmark cities and 32-554 (F B ),
non-benchmark cities, fo r the
r espective standard, based on m ail­
order catalog p r ic e relationships.

P r i c e estim ated in each' city as
66 percent of a vera g e p r ic e of
w om en’ s pajamas, 32-339 (F B - G ) ,
benchmark cities and 32-339 (F B ),
non-benchmark cities, lo w er standard,
based on m a il- o r d e r catalog p ric e
relationships.

JA C K E T

HAT

32-575 (X)

32-875 (X)

A p r ic e of $5.97 was estim ated fo r
all cities based on a vera ge r e ta il
p r ic e estimate fr o m m a il- o r d e r
catalogs.
SHORTS
32-735 (X)
A pric e of $4.00 was estim ated fo r
all cities, based on a vera g e re ta il
p r ic e estimate fr o m m a il- o r d e r
catalogs.
O V E R A L L S , B LU E JEANS
32-715 (X)
Same pric e as boys’ dungarees,
31-732 (F B -G ), benchmark cities and
31-732 (F B ), non-benchmark cities,
moderate standard.




Same as E P - 3 except that ratios w ere
based on the p r ic e a rra y s fo r the
woman’ s hat 32-432 (F B -G ). The ratio
of the a vera ge p r ic e of the upper
third of the a r r a y was applied to the
p ric e used in the m oderate standard
in the fiv e benchmark and other cities.

84

PERSO N AL CARE
S e rv ice s

G IR L S ’ H A IR C U T
52-735 (X)
Same p r ic e as woman’ s haircut,
52-753 (C P I).




85

M ED ICAL CARE

S U P PL E M E N T A L MAJOR
M EDICAL INSURANCE
51-950 (X)
F o r a description of the plan included
in the higher budget, see page 45
of this bulletin.




8

6

OTHER F A M I L Y C O NS U M PTIO N
R ecreation

T A P E RECORDER
53-097 (C P I)
Style: P o rta b le, stereophonic model
(rec ord s and plays stereo), 4
track, 2 to 4 speeds, dual speakers
and microphones; or, monophonic
model, records only monophonic and
plays monophonic or stereophonic;
im ported or domestic manufacture.
Excluding battery powered r e c o r d e r s ,
tape decks, and professional models.
Construction:
Case: Lightweight; metal, plastic,
or fabric co vered wood; co m pletely
self-contained.
Tape Capacity: Tape ca rtrid ge s or
3 to 7 inch standard reels.
Special Instructions: One model each
of two manufacturers priced in
each outlet.
Method of Calculating A v e r a g e P r ic e :
Method I (see bulletin 1 570-3)




87

OTHER F A M I L Y C O N S U M PTIO N
Tobacco

CIGAR
54-078 (FB )
Description:
F i l l e r : A ll domestic tobacco
Binder and wrapper: Domestic
shade grown tobacco.
Size: Regular excluding c ig a r illo s
or s im ila r sizes.

Estim ating P roc e d u r e : Same as E P - 3
except that the average p ric e of
54-079 (F B ) was used in place of
the upper third of the a r r a y of
p ric es in the fiv e benchmark cities.
The ratio was applied to the p rice
used in the moderate standard in
other cities.
P I P E TOB AC CO
54-154 (F B )

Estimating P roced u re: Same as E P - 3
except that the average pric e of
54-078 (F B ) was used in place of
the low er third of the a r r a y of
p ric es in the five benchmark cities.
The ratio was applied to the p rice
used in the moderate standard in
other cities.
CIGAR
54-079 (FB )
Description:
F i l l e r : A ll domestic tobacco; or,
all Puerto Rico, Phillippine
Republic, Central or South A m e r ic a ,
or Indonesia tobacco; or any blend
of these combinations.
Binder and wrapper: Domestic or
import, shade grown (dom estic),
Sumatra, Java, Puerto Rico,
Phillippine Republic, Central or
South A m e r ic a or Indonesia tobacco.
Size: Regular; excluding c ig a r illo s or
s im ila r sizes.




Description: A ll domestic or domestic
with im ported tobacco; aromatic or
special fla v o rs such as rum, maple,
walnut and sim ila r fla vo rs .
Size: 1 to 2 ounce packageEstimating Proc ed u re: Same as E P - 3
except that the a r r a y of p ric es
used included both 54-153 (F B ) and
54-154 (F B ) in the five benchmark
cities. The ratio of the average
p ric e of the upper or low er third
of the combined a rra y was applied
to the p ric e used in the moderate
standard in other cities.

8 8

O TH ER F A M IL Y C O N S U M PTIO N
A lco h o lic B ev era g e s

LIQUOR A T HOME
54-401 (F B )
D escription : Straight bourbon
whiskey, 4 y ea rs old or m ore,
1 0 0 p ro o f, bottled in bond
Unit: F ifth ; or quart
Brand: N ation ally a d vertised and
distributed.
E stim atin g P ro c ed u re: Same as E P -3
except that the a vera ge p ric e
of 54-401 (F B ) was used in
place of the upper third of
the a rr a y of p ric e s in the fiv e
benchmark c itie s . The ratio
was applied to the p ric e used in
the m oderate standard in other
c itie s .




Appendix C
T able C - l

Index of Population Weights U sed in the Budgets fo r 3 Standards of L ivin g
fo r an U rb an F a m ily of 4 P e rs o n s 1

A re a

Population
weights

100.00

N o r th e a s t 4 ------- --------------------------------------Boston, M a s s -------------------------------------B uffalo, N. Y --------------------------------------Ha rtf o r d , Conn----------------------------------L a n ca ste r, P a ----------------------------------N ew Y ork —N o rth eastern N ew J e rse y
P h iladelphia, P a .—N. J-----------------------P ittsb u rgh , P a ----------------------------------P ortlan d, M a i n e --------------------------------Nonm etropolitan a re a s 3 --------------------

30 66
2 54
2. 45

North C entral 4 ---------------------------------------C edar Rapids, Iow a -------------------------Cham paign—U rb an a, 111--------------------Chicago, 111.—N orth w estern Indiana Cincinnati, Ohio—Ky._ In d------------------Cleveland, O h io ---------------------------------Dayton, O h io --------------------------------------D etroit, M ic h -------------------------------------G re en B ay, W i s ---------------------------------Indianapolis, Ind--------------------------------Kansas City, M o.—Kans -------------------M ilw auk ee, W i s ---------------------------------M inneapolis—St. P a u l, M i n n ------------St. Lo u is, M o.—I ll ----------------------------W ichita, K a n s ------------------------------------Nonm etropolitan a re a s 3 -------------------

28. 38
1. 26
2. 26
6. 98
. 63
i. 85
1. 70
3. 13
. 57
. 86
. 77
1.26
.91
1.33
1. 14
3. 73

81. 70
18.30

68
1. 76
13. 10
4. 35
1*. 65
. 68
3. 45

Population
weights

United States urban population— Continued
South 4 ----------------------------------------------------------Atlanta, Ga -------------------------------------------Austin, T e x -------------------------------------------B a ltim o re , M d --------------------------------------Baton Rouge, L a ----------------------------------D a lla s , T e x -------------------------------------------D urham , N. C -----------------------------------------Houston, T e x -----------------------------------------N a sh v ille , T en n-------------------------------------O rlando, F l a ------------------------------------------Washington, D. C.—M d.—V a ------------------Nonm etropolitan a re a s 3 ------------------------

22. 72
1. 64
( 5)
1.59
1. 32
2. 64
1. 17
. 76
1. 34
2. 30
1. 28
8. 68

W e s t 4 ----------------------------------------------------------B a k e rs fie ld , C a lif --------------------------------D enver, C o l o -----------------------------------------Los A n ge les- Long B each, C a li f ----------San D iego, C a l i f ------------------------------------San F ra n c is c o —Oakland, C a l i f -------------Seattle—E verett, W a s h -------------------------Nonm etropolitan a re a s 3 ------------------------

17. 75
2. 26
1.31
5. 20
2. 37
2. 26
1. 99
2. 36

Honolulu, H aw aii 6 --------------------------------------

. 41

;

A nch orage, A la s k a 6 -----------------------------------

0
0
o

United States urban population ------------------M etropolitan are as 1
2 -----------------------------Nonm etropolitan a re a s 3 -------------------------

A re a

1 The weight in each urban a re a is the total population of 4 -p e rs o n , hu sban d-w ife fa m ilies having children
aged 6 through 17 y e a r s , 1 fu ll-tim e ea rn er in the fam ily; i. e, , the fam ily type in the 1960—61 S urvey of Consum er
Expenditures m ost c lo sely approxim ating the fa m ily fo r which the 3 budgets w e re constructed. F o r an explanation
of the sam ple selection, see MT echn ical Note— the R evised City Sam ple fo r the Consum er P r ic e Index, " Monthly L a b o r
R e v ie w , O ctober I960, pp. 1078-1083. (A ls o issued as B L S Reprint 2352.)
2 F o r a detailed description, see the 1967 edition of the Standard M etropolitan S tatistical A r e a s , p re p a re d by
the B u reau of the Budget.
3 P la c e s having population of 2, 500 to 50, 000.
4 Regions as defined by the B u re au of the Census:
Northeast-— Connecticut, M ain e, M assach u setts, N ew
H am psh ire, N ew J e rs e y , N ew Y o rk , Pen nsylvania, Rhode Island, and V erm ont; North C en tral— Illin o is , Indiana,
Iowa, K an sas, M ichigan, M innesota, M is s o u ri, N e b ra sk a , North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and W isconsin ; South—
A lab am a, A rk a n sa s, D e la w a re , D is tric t of C olum bia, F lo r id a , G e o rg ia , Kentucky, Lou isian a, M a ry la n d , M is s is s ip p i,
N orth C aro lin a, O klahom a, South C a ro lin a , T en n essee, T ex a s, V irg in ia , and W est V ir g in ia ; and W e st— A lask a,
A riz o n a , C a lifo rn ia,
C olorado, H aw aii, Idaho, Montana, N evada, N ew M e xic o, O regon , Utah, Washington, and
Wyom ing.
3 A population weight fo r A ustin is not shown sep a ra tely becau se the sam ple which represented this type of
city w o rk e r fa m ily was not sta tistically significant.
T h e re fo re , the weight was imputed to other cities of the sam e
siz e (50,000—250,000 population) in the South.
6 Honolulu and A n ch orage w e re sep a ra te sam pling strata in the B L S 1960—61 C onsu m er E xpenditure S u rvey,
and, th e re fo re, a re not included in the total weight for the W est.
H onolulu's weight is in the United States and
m etropolitan are a totals; A n c h o ra g e 's weight is in the United States and nonm etropolitan a re a totals.




89




Appendix D
Technical References
1

.

B rackett, Jean C. , "In te r c ity D ifferen c es in F a m ily Food Budget C o s t s ," M onthly L a b or
R e v ie w , O ctober 1963, pp. 1189—1194.
An analysis of the e ffe c ts on food budget cost estim a tes of using fo r a ll c ities a
single set o f w eights rep resen tin g urban U. S. food pattern s, or d iffe re n t w eights fo r
each c ity re fle c tin g the food p re fe re n c e s of the reg ion in which the c ity is located.
A lso presen ts a discu ssion o f the conceptual im plication s o f va ry in g the w eights in a
p la c e -to -p la c e com parison of fa m ily livin g costs.

2.

C lo re ty , Joseph A . , "Consum ption S tatistics:
Buying Habits Change, chapter X , 1959, pp.

A T ech n ica l C o m m en t," How A m e rica n
217—242.

Includes a section on "Standard Budgets as In dicators o f P r o g r e s s " (pp. 232—242).
A ls o presen ts in sum m ary fo rm a rep resen ta tive c r o s s -s e c tio n of budgets com p iled in
this country during the 2 0 th century, showing a vera ge d o lla r cost fig u res fo r the total
and fo r the m a jo r components o f each budget.
3.

L a m a le, H elen H. , "Changes in Concepts of Incom e A dequ acy O ve r the L a s t C e n tu ry ,"
Journal of the A m e rica n E conom ic A s s o c ia tio n , M ay 1958, pp. 291—299.
An analysis of the relationship o v e r tim e betw een actual le v e ls of livin g in the
United States and the goals or standards of livin g which have been accepted in d iffe re n t
h is to r ic a l p eriod s and fo r d iffe re n t pu rposes; and a discu ssion o f the im plication s in
this relationship fo r p re sen t-d a y concepts o f incom e adequacy.

4.

_______________________ " P o v e r ty :
July 1965, pp. 822-827.

The

W ord

and the

R e a lity ",

M onthly

Labor

R e v ie w ,

D iscusses the ro le o f standard budgets in p rovid in g an in te llig ib le definition of
p o verty , fo r use in evaluating incom e adequacy fo r d iffe re n t fa m ily types and in d if fe r ­
ent g eogra p h ical locations and fo r estim atin g the extent of p o v e rty in the United States.
5.

-------------------------------- * M a rg a re t S. Stotz , -"The In terim C ity W o r k e r 's F a m ily B u d g et,"
Monthly L a b or R e v ie w ,." August I960, pp. 785—808.
E stim a tes of the cost o f a "m o d es t but adequate" standard o f livin g fo r a husband,
w ife , and two ch ildren (livin g in rented housing), at autumn 1959 p r ic e s , in 2 0 la rg e
cities and th eir suburbs (Atlanta, B a ltim o re, Boston, C hicago, Cincinnati, C levelan d,
D etroit, Houston, Kansas C ity, L os A n g eles , M in neapolis, New Y o rk , Ph ilad elph ia,
Pittsbu rgh , P o rtla n d , O reg. , St. L ou is, San F ra n c isc o , Scranton, Seattle, and W ash ­
ington, D. C. ) Includes a d etailed lis t of the goods and s e r v ic e s con sid ered n e c e s s a ry
by fo u r-p e rs o n fa m ilie s to m aintain the sp ec ified livin g standard as determ in ed by le v e ls
o f livin g actu ally ach ieved in the 1950's, and d esc rib es how this rep re se n ta tive lis t was
developed and p ric ed .
(See R e fe re n ce No. 10 fo r d escrip tio n o f o rig in a l B LS C ity
W o rk e r's F a m ily B u d g et.)

6

.

Orshansky, M o llie , "B u dget fo r an E ld e r ly Couple: In terim R e vis io n by the Bureau o f
L a b or S ta tis tic s ," S ocial S ecu rity B u lletin , D ecem ber I960, pp. 26—36.
A su m m ary re p o rt on "T h e BLS In terim Budget fo r a R e tire d C ou ple".
(See
R eferen ce No. 7. ) Includes a discu ssion o f variou s conceptual prob lem s encountered
in developing norm ative livin g costs estim ates fo r a r e tir e d couple, and some of the
lim itation s o f this p a rtic u la r budget fo r the multitude o f purposes fo r which budgets
fo r o ld er persons and fa m ilie s are needed.




91

92
7.

Stotz, M a rg a re t S. , nThe B LS In terim Budget fo r a R e tire d
R e v ie w , N ovem b er I960, pp. 1141—1157.

C o u p le ," M onthly L a b o r

E stim a tes of the cost of a "m o d es t but adequate" standard o f livin g fo r a man
age 65 o r o v e r and his w ife (liv in g in rented housing), at autumn 1959 p r ic e s , in
20 la rg e c itie s and th eir suburbs (c itie s are the sam e as those lis te d in R e fe re n c e No. 5).
Includes a deta iled lis t of the goods and s e r v ic e s co n sid ered n e c e s s a ry fo r r e tir e d
couples to m aintain the sp e c ifie d liv in g standard as determ in ed b y le v e ls of liv in g
actu ally ach ieved in the 1950's; and d e sc rib es how this rep re se n ta tive lis t was d e ­
velop ed and p ric ed .
(See R e fe re n ce No. 11 fo r descrip tio n o f o rig in a l Budget fo r an
E ld e r ly Couple. )
8.

U. S. D epartm ent o f L a b o r, Bureau o f L a b o r S tatistics, "E stim a tin g Equ ivalent Incom es o r
Budget C osts by F a m ily T y p e ," M onthly L a b or R e v ie w , N ovem b er I960, pp. 1197—1200.
D es crib e s a scale fo r m easu ring the r e la tiv e a fte r -ta x incom e req u ire d by fa m ilie s
o f d iffe rin g com position to m aintain the same le v e l o f m a te r ia l w e ll-b e in g , or fo r
estim atin g com parable costs of goods and s e r v ic e s fo r fa m ilie s of d iffe re n t age, s iz e ,
and type.
(Scale values cannot be used to estim ate r e la tiv e costs of components o f
fa m ily budgets— food, housing, taxes, insurance, e t c . )

9.

R ep ort of the A d v isory C om m ittee on Standard Budget R e s e a r c h ,
June 1963, 26 pp.
M em b ers o f the B LS A d v is o r y C om m ittee on Standard Budget R esea rch :
P r o fe s s o r Gwen B y m e rs , D epartm ent of Household E con om ics and M anagem ent,
C o rn ell U n iv e rs ity ; Ithaca, N. Y.
D orothy M. Durand, P r iv a te consultant on the developm en t and use o f standard
budgets; S carsd ale, N. Y.
G ertrude Lotw in , Home E conom ics Consultant, State of New J e r s e y D ivisio n o f
W e lfa re ; Trenton, N. J.
C h arles A. P e a r c e , D ir e c to r , D ivision of R e se a rch and S tatistics, D epartm ent
o f L a b o r, State o f New Y o rk ; New Y o rk , N. Y.
L a z a r e T e p e r, D ir e c to r , R e se a rch D epartm ent, Internation al L a d ie s ' G arm ent
W o r k e r s ' Union, A F L - C IO ; New Y o rk , N. Y.
G ertrude S. W e iss, C hairm an, Consultant; W ashington, D. C.
C. A sh le y W righ t, E con om ist, Standard O il Com pany ( N . J . ) ; New Y o rk , N. Y..
Contains recom m endations o f this com m ittee o f ex p erts on the needs fo r variou s types
o f budgets, g en e ra l concepts o f the standards o f liv in g to be d esc rib ed by the budgets,
and tech n ical and other prob lem s a ssocia ted w ith estim atin g and publishing budget costs.
Includes a se lec te d b ib liograp h y on the m a jo r uses of standard budgets.

W o rk e rs ' Budgets in the United States: C ity F a m ilie s and Single
1 0 * ____
P e rs o n s , 1946 and 1947, (B LS B u lletin 927, 1948) 55 pp.
D es crib e s concepts, defin ition s, and techniques used
C ity W o r k e r 's F a m ily Budget fo r a fo u r-p e rs o n fa m ily ,
s e r v ic e s p ric e d , and 1946—47 cost estim a tes fo r 34 c itie s .
su rve y o f fa m ily budgets, and su m m ary data on State budgets
11

in developing the o rig in a l
deta iled lis t o f goods and
A ls o contains an h is to r ic a l
fo r single w om en w o rk e rs .

. U .S . D epartm ent o f Health, Education, and W e lfa re , S ocial S ecu rity A d m in istration ,
" A Budget fo r an E ld e r ly C o u p le ," S ocial S ecu rity B u lletin , F eb ru a ry 1948, pp. 4-12.
Contains estim a tes o f the cost o f a "m o d es t but adequate" standard o f liv in g fo r
a couple age 65 o r o ld e r, at M a rch 1946 and June 1947 p r ic e s , in eight la rg e c itie s .
(Concepts and techniques used to com p ile this budget w ere the sam e as those em p loyed
in developing the o rig in a l BLS C ity W o r k e r 's Budget.
See R e fe re n ce No. 10.)




U. S. G O V E R N M E N T P R IN T IN G O F F IC E : 1969 O - 334-641