1 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Housing Expenditures by State: Pandemic effects 

on Consumer Spending on Housing

Grayson Armstrong

Economist

Division of Consumer Expenditure Surveys
2 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

State Weights

2016: First test 

estimates produced 

for 3 states

2018: First official 

weights published 

using 2016 data

2019: New York and 

Texas weights added
3 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

How do they work?

◼ Suppose the population of 

New Jersey was 20. 

◼ Each consumer unit in New 

Jersey is re-weighted to 

represent the population of 

New Jersey instead of the 

national population.

National Weight: 100

NJ Weight: 10

National Weight: 120

NJ Weight: 8

National Weight: 80

NJ Weight: 2
4 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

How well do they work?

◼ Compare population targets to US Census. 

1. Add up the weights for Florida from PUMD.

~8.5 Million Consumer Units (CU)

2. Compute average number of people per CU 

with the weight. 

2.4 people per CU

3. Multiply and compare to Census value. 

8.5 * 2.4 = 20.4 million people

Approximately equal to the 20.6 million 

reported Florida population. 
5 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Using the weights

◼ By applying the weights to national expenditures, we can get statistically 

meaningful estimates across certain states

◼ Particularly interesting when comparing states to trends across all CUs

◼ Average shelter costs across the states vs. all CUs 2019 – 2021

◼ New Jersey not included due to lack of sample consistency
6 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Average Annual Expenditures

 $-

 $20,000.00

 $40,000.00

 $60,000.00

 $80,000.00

 $100,000.00

 $120,000.00

 $140,000.00

2019 2020 2021 2019 2020 2021 2019 2020 2021 2019 2020 2021 2019 2020 2021

NY CA FL TX All CUs

Average Annual Expenditures by State

Average Annual Expenditure Average Housing Expenditure Shelter (Rent / Rent Equivalence) Utilities (Total) Property Tax
7 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

State Comparisons

◼ Californian CUs have the highest annual expenditures, Floridian 

CUs the lowest

◼ COVID dip in expenditures present in all states

Largest drop from TX CUs – $6,994 between 2019 & 2020

Smallest drop from NY CUs – only $705

◼ Expenditure on Housing rose in NY and CA, remained stable in 

TX and FL
8 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Homeownership

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

2019 2020 2021 2019 2020 2021 2019 2020 2021 2019 2020 2021 2019 2020 2021

NY CA FL TX All CUs

Proportion of Homeownership

Proportion of Homeownership Proportion of Renters
9 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

State Comparisons

◼ Florida and Texas have higher proportions of homeownership 

than New York and California

◼ All states saw a small decrease in proportion of renters in 2020, 

and an increase in 2021

◼ The number of CUs in Florida and Texas increased over the 3 

year period, whereas New York and California were steady 
10 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

National Trend Comparison

◼ FL and TX have similar homeownership rates to the national 

average, CA and NY about 10% lower

◼ NY and CA spend more on housing than the national average, 

about 4k-5k

◼ NY spend almost double on property tax than the national 

average
11 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Conclusion

◼ The state weights can be used to produce estimates of average 

annual expenditures and shares for selected states. Those 

examined here are close, but not identical to, national estimates

◼ The weights can be used to better aggregate and account for 

geographical patterns in spending where possible

◼ Our example shows clear patterns by income level that appear 

across state data as well as at the national level
12 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Interested?

◼ State Tables can be found on our Geographic Tables page

◼ State Weights are now available on the Public Use Microdata 

page
Contact Information

13 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Grayson Armstrong

Economist

Division of Consumer Expenditure Survey

(202)-691-6519

Armstrong.Grayson@bls.gov