For release: 10:00 a.m. (EDT), Friday, April 15, 2016 USDL-16-0749 

Technical Information: (202) 691-6900 • CEXInfo@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/cex

Media Contact: (202) 691-5902 • PressOffice@bls.gov

CONSUMER EXPENDITURES MIDYEAR UPDATE -- JULY 2014 

THROUGH JUNE 2015 AVERAGE

Average expenditures per consumer unit1 for July 2014 through June 2015 were up 5.9 percent 

compared with the July 2013 through June 2014 midyear average, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 

(BLS) reported today. Average incomes also increased, up 6.6 percent. 

All major components of household spending, with the exception of cash contributions, increased over 

the 12 months ending June 2015. (See table A.) The 19.2-percent rise in education spending was the 

largest percentage increase among all major components, followed by a 12.6-percent rise in apparel and 

services spending and an 11.7-percent increase in healthcare spending. 

Table A. Average expenditures and income of all consumer units

Item

July 2013 - 

June 2014 

Average

July 2014 - 

June 2015 

Average

Percent change

July 2013 - June 2014 

to

July 2014 - June 2015 

Income before taxes.......................... $64,432 $68,662 6.6

Average annual expenditures............... 51,933 54,992 5.9

 Food............................................. 6,665 6,887 3.3

 Housing......................................... 17,377 18,128 4.3

 Apparel and services....................... 1,674 1,885 12.6

 Transportation................................ 9,104 9,315 2.3

 Vehicle purchases........................ 3,353 3,723 11.0

 Gasoline..................................... 2,379 2,094 -12.0

 Healthcare..................................... 3,919 4,379 11.7

 Health insurance........................... 2,505 2,972 18.6

 Entertainment................................. 2,560 2,782 8.7

 Education.................................... 1,143 1,362 19.2

 Cash contributions........................... 1,790 1,761 -1.6

 Personal insurance and pensions........ 5,551 6,048 9.0

 All other expenditures........................ 2,150 2,445 13.7

Note: Subcategories do not sum to 100%.

 

1 Consumer units include families, single persons living alone or sharing a household with others but who are financially 

independent, or two or more persons living together who share expenses.
- 2 - 

Spending patterns, July 2014 – June 2015 compared with July 2013 – June 2014

• Transportation expenditures edged up 2.3 percent to $9,315. Within transportation, two 

underlying components moved considerably in opposite directions, vehicle purchases up 11.0 

percent and gasoline down 12.0 percent. 

• Healthcare spending rose 11.7 percent to $4,379 for July 2014 through June 2015. The level 

of spending for healthcare has increased every year annually from 1996 through 20142. The 

most recent increase was driven by an 18.6-percent increase in average household health 

insurance expenditures. This increase was due to both additional consumer units reporting 

quarterly health insurance expenditures, up over 3 percentage points from the previous 

midyear period, and higher expenditures by those reporting health insurance expenditures. 

• Apparel and services spending increased 12.6 percent to $1,885, after falling 1.9 percent 

during the previous midyear period. Increases were seen across all components of this 

category: men and boys, women and girls, children under 2, footwear, and other apparel 

products and services. 

• Education spending increased 19.2 percent to $1,362. The rise was driven by increases in 

spending on college tuition and finance charges for student loans. 

• Categories of entertainment and personal insurance and pensions expenditures increased 8.7 

percent and 9.0 percent respectively, reversing declines of the previous midyear period. 

Spending by selected demographics

Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) data measure how consumers allocate their spending among the 

various components of total expenditures. Table B and chart 1 compare the share allocated to selected 

expenditures by income quintiles. The lowest income quintile allocated larger shares to food and 

housing than all other quintiles. The highest income quintile allocated a larger share to personal 

insurance and pensions (including payments for life insurance, other nonhealth insurance, pensions, and 

Social Security) than any other group. No clear pattern existed for the shares allocated to transportation 

and healthcare among the income quintile groups. 

Table B. Shares of average expenditures on selected major components by income quintiles, July 2014 

through June 2015 

Item

Income quintiles

Lowest 20th

percent

Second 20th

percent

Third 20th

percent

Fourth 20th

percent

Highest 20th

percent

Food.................................... 15.7 14.3 12.7 12.5 11.2

Housing............................... 40.0 36.4 34.2 32.0 30.3

Transportation....................... 14.5 17.1 18.9 18.4 15.8

Healthcare............................ 7.3 10.0 9.0 8.5 6.7

Personal insurance & pensions. 2.2 5.0 8.3 11.5 15.8

 

2 A change in interview collection methods for health insurance occurred for 2014 data. For details, please see the previous 

news release www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/cesan_09032015.pdf. 
- 3 - 

Chart 1. Shares of average expenditures on selected major components by income quintiles, July 2014 

through June 2015 

Table C and chart 2 show expenditures and income before taxes by quintile from July 2013 through 

June 2015. All quintiles showed increases in both average annual expenditures and in income before 

taxes across the 12 months ending June 2015. 

Table C. Percent change in average annual expenditures and income before taxes by income quintile

 

Average annual expenditures Income before taxes

Income quintile July 2013 -

June 2014 

July 2014 -

June 2015 

Percent

change

July 2013 -

June 2014 

July 2014 -

June 2015 

Percent 

change

Lowest 20th percent $22,981 $24,455 6.4 $9,818 $10,666 8.6

Second 20th percent 32,778 34,645 5.7 26,369 27,711 5.1

Third 20th percent 43,739 45,546 4.1 45,724 48,661 6.4

Fourth 20th percent 59,250 62,912 6.2 74,410 79,773 7.2

Highest 20th percent 100,979 107,424 6.4 166,048 176,583 6.3

.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

35.0

40.0

45.0

Food Housing Transportation Healthcare Personal insurance and

pensions

Percent

Lowest 20 percent Second 20 percent Third 20 percent Fourth 20 percent Highest 20 percent
- 4 - 

Chart 2. Percent change in average annual expenditures and income before taxes by income quintile, July 

2014 – June 2015 compared with July 2013 – June 2014 

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

9.0

10.0

Lowest 20 percent Second 20 percent Third 20 percent Fourth 20 percent Highest 20 percent

Percent

Income before taxes Average annual expenditures
- 5 - 

Other available data 

Standard CE midyear tables can be found at www.bls.gov/cex/midyear.htm. Data tables with the most 

detailed subcategories of expenditures can be obtained by sending a request to cexinfo@bls.gov. 

The 2014 Annual Report, “Consumer Expenditures in 2014,” which will be available in June, will 

include a brief discussion of expenditure changes in 2014 and tables with data classified by the standard 

characteristics that are included on the website. Future articles in the BLS Beyond the Numbers web 

report series will highlight recent trends in prices and spending in the U.S. economy, and will feature CE 

data. Recent CE-specific articles provide analyses of topical economic issues and long term spending 

trends, as well as comparisons of CE data to other data series (see www.bls.gov/cex/csxwebarticles.htm 

and www.bls.gov/cex/cecomparison.htm). Additional methodological and analytical articles using CE 

data will be published in 2016. All data published in the Annual Report and posted to the website are 

integrated from the two CE components—the quarterly Interview Survey and weekly Diary Survey. 

Other survey information available on the Internet includes answers to frequently asked questions, a 

glossary, and analytical articles that use CE data. Also available are the Diary Survey questionnaire form 

and a modified version of the computer assisted personal interview (CAPI) instrument used to collect 

the Interview Survey data.

The 1996 through 2014 CE public-use microdata, including Interview Survey data, Diary Survey data, 

and paradata (information about the survey process), are available on the CE website for free electronic 

download. The Interview files contain expenditure data in two different formats: MTBI files that present 

monthly values in an item-coding framework based on the CPI pricing scheme, and EXPN files that 

organize expenditures by the section of the Interview questionnaire in which they are collected. 

Expenditure values on EXPN files cover different time periods depending on the specific questions 

asked, and the files also contain relevant non-expenditure information not found on the MTBI files. For 

releases prior to 1996, users can continue to purchase USB flash drives using the public-use microdata 

order form (see www.bls.gov/cex/pumdhome.htm). 

The 2015 Annual News Release, data tables, and public-use microdata are planned for release at the end 

of August 2016. Public-use microdata are not released on a rolling half-year basis.

The annual CE Microdata Users' Workshop and Survey Methods Symposium will be held July 12-15, 

2016, at the BLS national office. Registration is free. More information and the registration form are

available at www.bls.gov/cex/csxannualworkshop.htm. 

For further information, contact the Division of Consumer Expenditure Survey, Office of Prices and 

Living Conditions at (202) 691-6900 or by email at cexinfo@bls.gov. Information in this release will be 

made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; 

Federal Relay Service: 1 (800) 877-8339.