For release: 10:00 a.m. (EDT), Tuesday, September 11, 2018 USDL-18-1450 

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

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

CONSUMER EXPENDITURES - 2017

Average expenditures per consumer unit1 for 2017 were $60,060, a 4.8-percent increase from 2016 

levels, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. During the same period, the Consumer Price 

Index (CPI-U) rose 2.1 percent, and average pretax incomes decreased slightly by 1.5 percent. 

Eight of the 10 largest components of household spending increased during 2017. (See table A.) The 

12.2-percent rise in education spending was the largest percentage increase among all major 

components, followed by a 10.0-percent rise in entertainment. 

Table A. Average expenditures and income of all consumer units, 2015-17

Item 2015 2016 2017 

Percent change

2015-16 2016-17 

Average income before taxes................................. $69,627 $74,664 $73,573 7.2 -1.5

Average annual expenditures................................. 55,978 57,311 60,060 2.4 4.8

Food................................................................. 7,023 7,203 7,729 2.6 7.3

Food at home.................................................. 4,015 4,049 4,363 0.8 7.8

Food away from home....................................... 3,008 3,154 3,365 4.9 6.7

Housing............................................................. 18,409 18,886 19,884 2.6 5.3

Shelter............................................................ 10,742 11,128 11,895 3.6 6.9

 Owned dwellings............................................ 6,210 6,295 6,947 1.4 10.4

 Rented dwellings............................................ 3,802 4,035 4,167 6.1 3.3

Apparel and services............................................ 1,846 1,803 1,833 -2.3 1.7

Transportation..................................................... 9,503 9,049 9,576 -4.8 5.8

Vehicle purchases............................................ 3,997 3,634 4,054 -9.1 11.6

Gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil....................... 2,090 1,909 1,968 -8.7 3.1

Healthcare......................................................... 4,342 4,612 4,928 6.2 6.9

Health insurance.............................................. 2,977 3,160 3,414 6.1 8.0

Entertainment...................................................... 2,842 2,913 3,203 2.5 10.0

Personal care products and services........................ 683 707 762 3.5 7.8

Education........................................................... 1,315 1,329 1,491 1.1 12.2

Cash contributions............................................... 1,819 2,081 1,873 14.4 -10.0

Personal insurance and pensions........................... 6,349 6,831 6,771 7.6 -0.9

 Pensions and Social Security............................. 6,016 6,509 6,353 8.2 -2.4

All other expenditures........................................... 1,847 1,897 2,010 2.7 6.0

Note: Subcategories do not sum to their respective major item category.

 

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 major expenses.
- 2 - 

Spending patterns, 2017 

 

• Spending on food increased 7.3 percent. The increase was driven by both food at home 

spending, up 7.8 percent, and food away from home spending, up 6.7 percent. 

• Housing expenditures increased 5.3 percent. Expenditures on the two primary components of 

shelter, owned dwellings and rented dwellings were up 10.4 percent and 3.3 percent, 

respectively. 

• Transportation expenditures were up 5.8 percent, driven by vehicle purchases, which were up 

11.6 percent, following a 9.1 percent decline in 2016. Gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil 

expenditures were up a modest 3.1 percent, the first increase since 2012. 

• Healthcare expenditures were up 6.9 percent, following a 6.2-percent increase in 2016. The 

largest component of healthcare, health insurance, was up 8.0 percent, following a 6.1-

percent increase in the preceding year. 

• Entertainment expenditures were up 10.0 percent, following a smaller increase of 2.5 percent 

in 2016. 

• Cash contributions remained volatile, down 10.0 percent after a 14.4-percent increase in 

2016. 

• Personal insurance and pensions declined by 0.9 percent, its first drop since 2013, driven by a 

decrease in pensions and Social Security, down 2.4 percent. 

Spending by composition of consumer unit, 2017 

Data from the Consumer Expenditure Surveys (CE) measure how consumers allocate their spending 

among the various components of total expenditures. Table B and chart 1 compare the shares allocated 

to selected expenditures by composition of consumer units. Over 10 percent of total spending for 

married-couple-only consumer units went to healthcare, almost twice as large a share as reported by 

one-parent consumer units (5.8 percent). Married-couple-with-children consumer units allocated the 

highest share of all groups to personal insurance and pensions (12.8 percent), while other-marriedcouple consumer units (those with married couples and persons other than children living in the 

consumer unit) allocated the highest share to transportation (17.3 percent). 
- 3 - 

Table B. Shares of average expenditures on selected major components by composition of consumer 

unit, 2017

Item Married 

couple only

Married couple 

with children

Other married 

couple consumer 

units

One parent, at 

least one child 

under 18

Single person 

and other 

consumer units

Food 12.0 13.6 13.3 12.9 12.9

Housing 30.3 31.9 32.5 37.7 36.1

Transportation 15.7 16.4 17.3 16.0 15.4

Healthcare 10.4 7.1 7.9 5.8 7.8

Personal insurance and 

pensions 11.5 12.8 12.0 8.6 9.7

Chart 1. Shares of average annual expenditures on selected major components by composition of 

consumer unit, 2017

0

10

20

30

40

Food Housing Transportation Healthcare Personal insurance and

pensions

Percent

Married couple only Married couple with children Other married couple consumer units

One parent, at least one child under 18 Single person and other consumer units
- 4 - 

Spending by income quintile, 2017 

Table C and Chart 2 show the percent change for expenditures by income quintile. Overall spending 

increased in all five quintiles, ranging from 3.5 percent in the lowest quintile to 6.9 percent in the 

second quintile. Food at home, food away from home, housing, healthcare, and entertainment, rose 

for all five quintiles. Apparel and services and transportation expenditures rose in four of five 

quintiles. Personal insurance and pensions spending rose in three of five quintiles. Cash 

contributions fell in three of five quintiles. 

Table C. Dollar change and percent change in average annual expenditures on major components by 

income quintile, 2016-17

Item Lowest Second Third Fourth Highest

Dollar Percent Dollar Percent Dollar Percent Dollar Percent Dollar Percent

Average annual 

expenditure change: 

Total............................ $881 3.5 $2,530 6.9 $2,806 5.9 $2,694 4.2 $4,767 4.2

Food........................... 208 5.4 693 13.9 837 13.4 321 3.8 566 4.5

 At home..................... 80 3.2 510 16.4 341 9.2 155 3.3 484 7.8

 Away from home.......... 128 9.4 183 9.8 496 19.6 165 4.5 82 1.3

Housing..................... 146 1.4 543 4.0 1,147 7.0 1,557 7.5 1,581 4.7

Apparel and services...... 18 2.1 88 7.6 -171 -11.3 93 4.7 122 3.5

Transportation............... -270 -7.2 580 9.7 68 0.8 168 1.5 2,076 12.9

Healthcare.................... 336 15.6 361 10.2 376 8.8 322 5.9 180 2.3

Entertainment................ 124 10.8 90 5.0 173 7.4 61 1.8 1,001 17.0

Cash contributions......... 92 16.5 -239 -16.7 184 14.1 -18 -1.0 -1,063 -20.3

Personal insurance and 

pensions...................... 10 1.6 655 37.1 109 2.6 -47 -0.6 -1,049 -5.4

All other expenditures 217 11.6 -241 -9.4 83 2.8 237 6.1 1,353 16.2

Chart 2. Percent change in average annual expenditures by income quintile, 2016-17

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

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

Percent
- 5 - 

Additional information 

Consumer Expenditure (CE) data include the expenditures and income of consumers, as well as the 

demographic characteristics of those consumers. Tables with more expenditure detail are available at 

www.bls.gov/cex. Published tables provide 2017 CE data by standard classifications that include income 

quintile, income decile, income class, age of reference person, size of consumer unit, number of earners, 

composition of consumer unit, region of residence, housing tenure, type of area (urban-rural), race, 

Hispanic origin, occupation, and highest education level of any member. These annual tables include 

means, shares, and standard errors. Other tables available on the website include expenditures by age, 

region, size, or gender cross-tabulated by income before taxes and other demographic variables. 

Historical tables back to 1984 and selected metropolitan area tabulations are also available. 

Standard CE midyear tables, which are similar to the annual tables but cover the third quarter of a given 

year through the second quarter of the next year, are also available and 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 1996 through 2017 CE public-use microdata, including Interview Survey data, Diary Survey data, 

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

electronic download at www.bls.gov/cex/pumd_data.htm. The Interview Survey files contain 

expenditure data in two different formats: MTBI files that present monthly values in an item-coding 

framework based on the Consumer Price Index (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 at 

www.bls.gov/cex/pumd_doc.htm. 

The change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) cited in the text was calculated as the percentage 

change between the 12-month average CPI-U for all items from January – December 2016 (240.007) 

and the 12-month average CPI-U for all items from January – December 2017 (245.120).

The 2017 Data Quality Profile, which reports quality metrics and indicators for the Interview and Diary 

Surveys regarding measurement, nonresponse, and processing error, will be available shortly after this 

release. 

Recent CE-specific articles in the BLS Beyond the Numbers web report series provide analyses of 

topical economic issues and long term spending trends, as well as comparisons of CE data to other data 

series at 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 2018. 

Also available are the Diary Survey questionnaire and a modified version of the computer assisted 

personal interview (CAPI) instrument used to collect the Interview Survey data at 

www.bls.gov/cex/csxsurveyforms.htm. 

Information on the methodology used to calculate and collect CE data is available at 

www.bls.gov/cex/ce_methodology.htm. General articles and research papers using CE data are in the 

CE research library at www.bls.gov/cex/research_papers/research-paper-catalog.htm. 

For further information, contact the Division of Consumer Expenditure Surveys, 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.