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Consumer expenditures in 2020

Consumer Expenditures in 2020 will highlight spending patterns and 

expenditure changes for 2020, the most recent data processed by the U.S. 

Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Consumer Expenditure Surveys (CE). 

Consumer expenditures were noticeably affected by the COVID-19 

pandemic, which began in March 2020. Some changes were expected (for 

example, expenditures for food away from home and public transportation 

decreased sharply), but others are surprising (for example, expenditures 

for healthcare were nearly unchanged, decreasing slightly). (See chart 1.)

This report includes tables and charts featuring integrated data from the 

Diary and Interview Survey portions of the CE. (For details about the CE, 

see the technical notes.) The text includes analyses of data from several of these tables. The incomes and expenditures 

shown in these tables and throughout this report are expressed as nominal values, representing spending in U.S. dollars 

as reported by survey consumers.1 The CE survey collects information from the reference person of consumer units.2

Overview

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 affected spending across 14 major spending categories differently from 

2019 to 2020.3 (See chart 1.)

December 2021 | Report 1096
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Average annual expenditures decreased 2.7 percent between 2019 and 2020 (from $63,036 to $61,334, respectively), 

compared with a 3.0-percent increase from 2018 to 2019 (from $61,224 to $63,036). At the same time, income before 

taxes increased by 1.8 percent between 2019 and 2020 (from $82,852 to $84,352, respectively), compared with a 5.4-

percent increase from 2018 to 2019 (from $78,635 to $82,852).

Prices rose by 1.2 percent from 2019 to 2020, as measured by the average annual change in the Consumer Price Index 

for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U, U.S. city average, all items, base period 1982–84=100), compared with the 

aforementioned 2.7-percent decrease in spending. From 2018 to 2019, prices increased by 1.8 percent, compared with 

the 3.0-percent increase in spending.

Developments in 2020

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 affected consumer spending patterns across the United States. Stay-athome orders affected expenditures for retail outlets, entertainment venues, and even transportation providers, as people 

worked from home and stopped commuting. Out of the 14 major expenditure categories, 9 exhibited declines in 

spending: food, apparel and services, alcoholic beverages, transportation, healthcare, entertainment, personal care 

products and services, education, and tobacco products and smoking supplies. Average annual expenditures increased 

for only five major categories: housing, reading, cash contributions, personal insurance and pensions, and 

miscellaneous. (See table A.)
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The largest percentage declines in expenditures were 23.8 percent in apparel and services, followed by 17.8 percent in 

personal care products and services, 17.4 percent in alcoholic beverages, 11.9 percent in education, and 10.4 percent in 

food. The largest percentage increases in spending were 23.9 percent in reading, followed by 14.4 percent in cash 

contributions.

Item

2017 2018 2019 2020 Percent change

2017–18 2018–19 2019–20

Number of consumer units (in thousands)[1] 130,001 131,439 132,242 131,234 [2] [2] [2]

Consumer unit characteristics:

Income before taxes $73,573 $78,635 $82,852 $84,352 6.9 5.4 1.8

Age of reference person 50.9 51.1 51.6 52.2 [2] [2] [2]

Average number in consumer unit:

People 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 [2] [2] [2]

Children under 18 .6 .6 .6 .6 [2] [2] [2]

Adults 65 and older .4 .4 .4 .4 [2] [2] [2]

Earners 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 [2] [2] [2]

Vehicles 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 [2] [2] [2]

Percent homeowner 63 63 64 66 [2] [2] [2]

Average annual expenditures $60,060 $61,224 $63,036 $61,334 1.9 3.0 -2.7

Food 7,729 7,923 8,169 7,316 2.5 3.1 -10.4

Food at home 4,363 4,464 4,643 4,942 2.3 4.0 6.4

Cereals and bakery products 564 569 583 640 .9 2.5 9.8

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs 944 961 980 1,075 1.8 2.0 9.7

Dairy products 450 449 455 474 -.2 1.3 4.2

Fruits and vegetables 837 858 876 977 2.5 2.1 11.5

Other food at home 1,568 1,627 1,749 1,776 3.8 7.5 1.5

Food away from home 3,365 3,459 3,526 2,375 2.8 1.9 -32.6

Alcoholic beverages 558 583 579 478 4.5 -.7 -17.4

Housing 19,884 20,091 20,679 21,409 1.0 2.9 3.5

Shelter 11,895 11,747 12,190 12,604 -1.2 3.8 3.4

Owned dwellings 6,947 6,678 6,797 7,473 -3.9 1.8 9.9

Rented dwellings 4,167 4,249 4,432 4,408 2.0 4.3 -.5

Other lodging 782 821 961 722 5.0 17.1 -24.9

Utilities, fuels, and public services 3,836 4,049 4,055 4,158 5.6 .1 2.5

Household operations 1,412 1,522 1,570 1,465 7.8 3.2 -6.7

Housekeeping supplies 755 747 766 837 -1.1 2.5 9.3

Household furnishings and equipment 1,987 2,025 2,098 2,346 1.9 3.6 11.8

Apparel and services 1,833 1,866 1,883 1,434 1.8 .9 -23.8

Transportation 9,576 9,761 10,742 9,826 1.9 10.1 -8.5

Vehicle purchases (net outlay) 4,054 3,975 4,394 4,523 -1.9 10.5 2.9

Gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil 1,968 2,109 2,094 1,568 7.2 -.7 -25.1

Other vehicle expenses 2,842 2,859 3,474 3,471 .6 21.5 -.1

Public and other transportation 712 818 781 263 14.9 -4.5 -66.3

Healthcare 4,928 4,968 5,193 5,177 .8 4.5 -.3

Entertainment 3,203 3,226 3,090 2,912 .7 -4.2 -5.8

Personal care products and services 762 768 786 646 .8 2.3 -17.8

Table A. Average annual expenditures and characteristics of all consumer units, 2017–20

See footnotes at end of table.
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Footnotes

[1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands.

[2] Data not applicable.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys, September 2021.

Two categories exhibited moderate expenditure decreases: entertainment (5.8 percent) and transportation (8.5 percent). 

Moderate to small decreases were observed for tobacco products and smoking supplies (1.6 percent) and healthcare 

(nearly unchanged, at 0.3 percent). Categories that exhibited small to moderate increases included miscellaneous (0.9 

percent), personal insurance and pensions (1.1 percent), and housing (3.5 percent).

Expenditure shares

Expenditure shares are important both in the short run, to provide a snapshot of the typical allocation of family spending, 

and in the long run, to reflect the changes in the economic standard of living. For example, smaller shares spent on food 

and other life necessities mean more is available to spend on entertainment, education, cash contributions, or other 

items that are not considered essential.

The eight largest categories by dollar spent (housing, transportation, food, personal insurance and pensions, healthcare, 

entertainment, cash contributions, and apparel and services) accounted for 93.7 percent of total spending in 2020, with 

the housing share alone accounting for more than one-third (34.9 percent) of total spending. Therefore, small 

percentage changes in housing expenditures may drive the change in total spending. (See chart 2 and table B.) The six 

smallest categories by dollar spent are combined into all other expenditures category, which accounts for 6.3 percent of 

total spending. The all other expenditures category includes: alcoholic beverages, personal care and products, reading, 

education, tobacco products and smoking supplies, and miscellaneous expenditures. Shares of selected expenditure 

categories from 2017–20 are in chart 2.

Item

2017 2018 2019 2020 Percent change

2017–18 2018–19 2019–20

Reading 110 108 92 114 -1.8 -14.8 23.9

Education 1,491 1,407 1,443 1,271 -5.6 2.6 -11.9

Tobacco products and smoking supplies 332 347 320 315 4.5 -7.8 -1.6

Miscellaneous 1,010 993 899 907 -1.7 -9.5 .9

Cash contributions 1,873 1,888 1,995 2,283 .8 5.7 14.4

Personal insurance and pensions 6,771 7,296 7,165 7,246 7.8 -1.8 1.1

Life and other personal insurance 418 465 520 486 11.2 11.8 -6.5

Pensions and Social Security 6,353 6,831 6,645 6,760 7.5 -2.7 1.7

Table A. Average annual expenditures and characteristics of all consumer units, 2017–20
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Expenditure shares of all 14 major categories from 2017 to 2020 are shown in table B. Expenditure shares decreased 

for seven major categories, increased for six categories, and were unchanged for one category. (See table B.) The 

largest increase in expenditure shares was a 2.1-percentage-point increase in housing to 34.9 percent in 2020, driven 

by double-digit growth (11.8 percent) in household furnishings and equipment, and 9.9 percent growth in owned 

dwellings from 2019 levels. Expenditures on miscellaneous household equipment, a key component of household 

furnishings and equipment, increased by 20.1 percent.4 The main portion of owned dwellings is mortgage interest and 

charges, which increased by 7.3 percent while the spending on rent, the main portion of rented dwellings, declined 

slightly by 0.8 percent. The decline in total non-housing expenditures combined with the increase in total housing 

expenditures results in the increased share of housing expenditures.

The largest decrease in spending share was a 1.1-percentage-point decline in food, driven by an almost one-third 

decline (32.6 percent) in the level of spending for food away from home, followed by decreases of 1.0 percentage point 

in transportation, and 0.7 percentage point in apparel and services.

Spending category 2017 2018 2019 2020

Average annual expenditures 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Table B. Percentage distribution of total annual expenditures by major category for all consumer units, 

Consumer Expenditure Surveys, 2017–20

See footnotes at end of table.
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Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Expenditures by income quintiles

Consumer units (CUs) in all except the highest income quintile experienced increases in income before taxes in 2020. 

(See table C.) Income growth across income quintiles displayed a pattern such that the lower income quintiles had 

higher increases. The lowest income quintile had the largest income growth of 9.9 percent followed by the second, third, 

and fourth income quintiles. Income declined for the highest income quintile CUs in 2020 compared to 2019. The highest 

income quintile includes both 9th and 10th income decile CUs, where the 9th decile experienced income increases and 

the 10th decile experienced income declines. The income declines for the 10th decile CUs were in wages, selfemployment, and interest, dividends, rental, and other property income.5

Consumer expenditures decreased for the second, third, and highest income quintiles in 2020. These were the first 

declines in expenditures for any quintiles after 4 consecutive years of increases in all individual quintiles. (See chart 3.) 

The largest decline in spending was a 5.5-percent decrease in the highest income quintile. Despite the increases in 

income by the second and third income quintiles, their expenditures declined due to sharp decreases in food away from 

Spending category 2017 2018 2019 2020

Food 12.9 12.9 13.0 11.9

Food at home 7.3 7.3 7.4 8.1

Food away from home 5.6 5.6 5.6 3.9

Alcoholic beverages .9 1.0 .9 .8

Housing 33.1 32.8 32.8 34.9

Shelter 19.8 19.2 19.3 20.5

Utilities, fuels, and public services 6.4 6.6 6.4 6.8

Household operations 2.4 2.5 2.5 2.4

Housekeeping supplies 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.4

Household furnishings and equipment 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.8

Apparel and services 3.1 3.0 3.0 2.3

Transportation 15.9 15.9 17.0 16.0

Vehicle purchases (net outlay) 6.7 6.5 7.0 7.4

Gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil 3.3 3.4 3.3 2.6

Other vehicle expenses 4.7 4.7 5.5 5.7

Public and other transportation 1.2 1.3 1.2 .4

Healthcare 8.2 8.1 8.2 8.4

Entertainment 5.3 5.3 4.9 4.7

Personal care products and services 1.3 1.3 1.2 1.1

Reading .2 .2 .1 .2

Education 2.5 2.3 2.3 2.1

Tobacco products and smoking supplies .6 .6 .5 .5

Miscellaneous 1.7 1.6 1.4 1.5

Cash contributions 3.1 3.1 3.2 3.7

Personal insurance and pensions 11.3 11.9 11.4 11.8

Life and other personal insurance .7 .8 .8 .8

Pensions and Social Security 10.6 11.2 10.5 11.0

Table B. Percentage distribution of total annual expenditures by major category for all consumer units, 

Consumer Expenditure Surveys, 2017–20
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home, apparel and services, and transportation expenditures. The lowest and the fourth income quintile had increases in 

incomes and spending, while the highest income quintile had decreases in income and spending. The spending decline 

with the highest income quintile was greater than the combined increases by other income quintiles, resulting in the 

overall decline in average annual expenditures in 2020 for all CUs.

Housing was the only major expenditure category for which all income quintiles spent more in 2020 than in 2019 (table 

C). The lowest income quintile had the largest increase in housing expenditures, at 6.8 percent, and the highest income 

quintile had the smallest increase in spending, at 0.9 percent. However, spending in housing by other income quintiles 

did not display any patterns. Regardless of quintile, average annual spending declined in all quintiles for three major 

expenditure categories: food, apparel and services, and transportation in 2020. The largest declines were in apparel and 

services. Those declines occurred in the fourth income quintile (34.8 percent), second income quintile (30.8 percent), 

and the highest income quintile (21.0 percent). In some quintiles, double-digit declines in spending occurred. In the third 

quintile, there were declines of 17.5 percent in apparel and services, 16.1 percent in food, and 10.3 percent in 

entertainment. In the second income quintile, spending declined by 13.2 percent in both transportation and all other 

expenditures. In the highest income quintile, there were declines of 13.0 percent in entertainment, 12.5 percent in food, 

12.4 percent in transportation, and 10.5 percent in all other expenditures.

Cash contributions increased in the first through fourth income quintiles, but declined slightly in the highest income 

quintile.6 The largest increases in cash contributions were 35.3 percent in the third income quintile, followed by 32 
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percent in the fourth income quintile, 18 percent in the second income quintile, and 15.6 percent in the lowest income 

quintile.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Expenditures on housing

On average, housing expenditures account for the largest share of total expenditures. For this reason, it is worth noting 

that housing expenditures increased by 3.5 percent from 2019 to 2020 (table A), and the share of housing expenditures 

increased by 2.1 percentage points to 34.9 percent of total spending (table B). Total expenditures declined by 2.7 

percent, while non-housing cost, an estimate deducting housing spending from total spending, declined by 5.7 percent, 

supporting the increase in the share of housing expenditures. The homeownership rate increased by 2 percentage 

points to 66 percent in 2020, recovering to 2000–02 and 2008–10 levels (chart 4). The rate of renters declined to 34 

percent in 2020, the lowest rate since 2010. This may not reflect the real change in housing tenure, and instead may be 

attributable to change in data collection methodology during the COVID-19 pandemic.7 The homeownership rate 

between 2003 and 2007 was higher than the current level, peaking in 2004. In the last two decades, the homeownership 

rate was lowest in 2015 and 2016, when the percentage of renters was at its peak.

Item

Lowest quintile Second quintile Third quintile Fourth quintile Highest quintile

Dollar Percent Dollar Percent Dollar Percent Dollar Percent Dollar Percent

Income before taxes $1,190 9.9 $1,782 5.4 $2,649 4.7 $3,831 4.1 -$479 -0.2

Average annual expenditures $52 0.2 -$582 -1.4 -$1,502 -2.8 $769 1.1 -

$6,731 -5.5

Food -$301 -6.8 -$460 -7.9 -$1,205 -16.1 -$548 -6.0 -

$1,742 -12.5

Food at home $309 11.1 $148 4.0 -$192 -4.3 $538 10.4 $688 9.7

Food away from home -$610 -37.9 -$607 -27.8 -$1,014 -32.9 -

$1,087 -28.0 -$2,431 -35.4

Housing $786 6.8 $965 6.5 $434 2.4 $1,278 5.7 $343 0.9

Apparel and services -$56 -6.8 -$384 -30.8 -$267 -17.5 -$782 -34.8 -$751 -21.0

Transportation -$218 -4.8 -$942 -13.2 -$661 -6.7 -$300 -2.3 -

$2,370 -12.4

Healthcare -$80 -2.8 $196 5.0 $270 5.8 $51 0.8 -$484 -5.8

Entertainment $83 7.5 $49 2.7 -$234 -10.3 $125 3.7 -$888 -13.0

Cash contributions $101 15.6 $208 18.0 $469 35.3 $696 32.0 -$11 -0.2

Personal insurance and pensions -$9 -1.5 $107 5.3 -$18 -0.4 $373 4.3 $91 0.5

All other expenditures -$254 -12.0 -$322 -13.2 -$290 -9.2 -$123 -3.0 -$918 -10.5

Table C. Dollar change and percentage change in income and average annual expenditures on major 

categories by income quintiles, 2019–20.
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Expenditures on gasoline

As noted before, the COVID-19 pandemic directly affected how consumers lived and worked. Stay-at-home orders, 

increased teleworking, and individual concerns about being exposed to or transmitting the COVID-19 virus outside the 

home meant that consumers drove less. As a result, it is not surprising that gasoline expenditures fell from 2019 to 2020. 

In fact, overall, expenditures for gasoline declined more than 24 percent in that period.8

Prices for gasoline also fell during this period. (See chart 5A.) Whether or not a decline in purchases caused the drop in 

price, expenditures and price are directly related. Gasoline provides a simple example of this. That is, expenditures on 

gasoline (G) equal the price per gallon (P) times the number of gallons purchased (Q); that is, G = PQ. Therefore, it is 

not clear that a drop in expenditures is the result of a drop in price, quantity purchased, or both. It is even possible for 

expenditures to drop when price drops and quantity purchased increases, if the percentage drop in price is larger than 

the percentage increase in quantity. (Similarly, if price rises by a smaller percentage than quantity purchased drops, 

expenditures fall when prices rise.)
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For this reason, chart 5B shows gasoline expenditures from the Consumer Expenditure Surveys (CE) divided by 

average prices of gasoline, as published by BLS as part of the CPI. This ratio yields the estimated average gallons of 

gasoline purchased. This initial ratio is then divided by 52, the number of weeks per year, because the gasoline 

expenditures in CE are annual, and, presumably, most readers are more accustomed to thinking of their gasoline 

purchases (expenditures or gallons) in weekly rather than annual terms. Also, note that because BLS produces price 

indexes and average price estimates only for urban consumers, the CE data in charts 5A and 5B are for urban 

consumers only. Similarly, the CPIs and average price estimates are for gasoline only and not for gasoline, motor oil, 

and other fuels as shown in the published CE tables. Therefore, gasoline data from CE are taken from the detailed 

tables that are described near the end of this report. (See section titled, “Detailed tables, 1984–20.”)
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Taken together, charts 5A and B display some interesting findings about gasoline expenditures. First, chart 5A shows 

that in percentage terms, gasoline prices declined less from 2019 to 2020 than did expenditures. The only other time this 

happened in the period covered by the graphs (2008 through 2020) was from 2012 to 2014 (i.e., 2012 to 2013, and then 

2013 to 2014), although the difference in rates of decline for prices and quantities purchased was less sharp than it was 

from 2019 to 2020. In all other periods, the rate of change was either the same for prices and expenditures, or prices fell 

more sharply than expenditures, indicating that quantities purchased usually rose when prices fell. This is borne out 

when looking at results for 2014 to 2015. Chart 5A shows a much sharper decline in prices than expenditures over this 

period, and chart 5B shows an increase in gallons per week purchased in this period. The results in 2020 are consistent 

with the presumption that consumers were driving less because of the COVID-19 pandemic, regardless of how prices 

changed.

Similarly, the charts offer an opportunity to compare two different periods of economic contraction. According to the 

National Bureau of Economic Research, a recession started in December 2007 and ended in June 2009.9 The next 

recession was much shorter, starting in February 2020 and ending in April that year.10 The first of these was largely 

attributed to financial developments, such as the bursting of a housing bubble that preceded it.11 The second was during 

the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chart 5A shows that in the financial recession, declines in gasoline prices and expenditures were indistinguishable. 

Consistent with this, chart 5B shows that quantities purchased were nearly unchanged from 2008 to 2009.12 However, 

the decrease in quantity purchased for gasoline between 2019 and 2020 (1.28 gallons per week) is second only to the 

decrease shown between 2009 and 2010 (1.36 gallons per week), a period when gasoline prices rose sharply (more 
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than 18 percent). Again, prices declined from 2019 to 2020, and gallons per week purchased (12.3 gallons per week) 

were lower than at any time in the period covered in chart 5B.

Finally, the detailed tables show some interesting changes in purchasing patterns. Gasoline expenditures are collected 

both in the Interview Survey and the Diary Survey but are published in tables based solely on Interview Survey results. 

The detailed tables that are available online show that the quarterly percent reporting expenditures for gasoline for all 

consumer units (urban and rural) was virtually unchanged from 2019 to 2020: nearly 89 percent each year.13 However, 

the Diary Survey results tell a different story: the percent reporting weekly expenditures fell nearly 9 percentage points 

(from 56.71 to 48.01).14 In contrast, from 2018 to 2019, the percent reporting fell just over 2 percentage points (58.84 to 

56.71). Putting the results of the Interview and Diary Surveys together, consumers were still using vehicles to the extent 

that they continued needing to purchase gasoline at least once every 3 months (Interview Survey); however, their use 

was reduced, as evidenced by fewer purchases each week (Diary Survey).15

Expenditures on food

This section of the report includes data on expenditures on food by income quintile and by generation.

By income quintile

In 2020, expenditures on food away from home declined for all income quintiles. Expenditures on food at home 

decreased only in the third income quintile. Food away from home expenditures declined by all income quintiles, which 

offset the increases in expenditures in food at home in four income quintiles, resulting in a double-digit decline in food 

expenditures. (See table C.)

The largest percentage decline in total food expenditures, 16.1 percent, appeared for the third income quintile, and was 

driven by a decline of 32.9 percent in food away from home expenditures, and a 4.3-percent decline in food at home 

expenditures. The largest declines in food away from home were 37.9 percent in the lowest income quintile, and 35.4-

percent in the highest income quintile. Declines in food away from home expenditures ranged from 27.8 percent for the 

second income quintile to 37.9 percent for the lowest income quintile.

By generation

In addition to quintile, BLS provides Consumer Expenditure Surveys (CE) tables based on the birth year of the reference 

person. The CE data are categorized into distinct generational groups: post-Millennials (1997 or later), Millennials 

(1981–96), Generation X (1965–80), Baby boomers (1946–64), and Silent and Greatest (GI) generations (1945 or 

earlier).16 Generational tables are available from 2016 onward.17 However, starting in 2019, BLS adjusted generations 

of birth years by merging the Silent and GI generations into one age group (born 1945 or earlier) and separating the 

Millennial and post-Millennial generations into two groups (those born 1981 through 1996 and those born 1997 or later). 

These changes reflect the decreasing number of living persons born in the first period and the increasing number born in 

the last period.

Spending on food at home and food away from home show distinctive patterns across generations in the 2020 CE data. 

Following the patterns of 2018 and 2019, the share of total food spending allocated to food at home increases with age 

of reference person, while the share allocated to food away from home decreases with age of reference person. (See 

chart 6.) Compared with 2019, the proportion of total food expenditures allocated to food away from home declined in 

2020 for all CUs. Even so, the post-Millennials generation spent 44 percent of total food expenditures on food away from 
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home, while the Silent and GI generations spent 25 percent in 2020. (See chart 6.) Some of the difference may be 

directly attributable to life-cycle effects. For example, the youngest members of the Silent and GI generations turned 75 

in 2020, well into the retirement age range, and retirees may have more time to prepare meals at home than those still 

working. In addition, members of these generations may have age-related health constraints that limit their access to 

restaurants. Silent and GI generations households may have higher risks from COVID-19 that further limited their 

access during the pandemic period. Nevertheless, other factors, such as income and family size, differ by generation 

and undoubtedly influence the allocation of the food budget as well.

Expenditures on apparel and services by size of consumer 

units

The largest percentage decline in spending was in apparel and services, where average spending declined 23.8 percent 

for all consumer units (CUs) from 2019 to 2020. (See table A.) The declines occurred regardless of the size of the CU. 

(See chart 7.) Percentage declines in spending by size of the CU ranged from 14.0 percent for one person CUs to 37.4 

percent for three person CUs. The magnitude of the decline increased with CU size for one, two, and three person CUs 

but diminished for four and five person CUs, each of which had similar declines, respectively at 20.6 percent and 20.5 

percent.
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Expenditures on healthcare and its components by age of 

reference person

Although the Consumer Expenditure Surveys (CE) do not collect information on health status, they do collect information 

on age. Older people are generally assumed to be at higher risk of incurring healthcare expenditures than younger 

people, especially during a pandemic. Therefore, an exploration in spending changes by age group from the prepandemic year of 2019 to 2020 is expected to be an interesting story.

Healthcare spending is made up of of four components: health insurance, medical services, prescription and nonprescription drugs, and medical supplies. Health insurance alone accounts for more than two-thirds of total healthcare 

cost in 2019 and 2020. Health insurance expenditures increased by 3.9 percent for all consumer units (CUs), which was 

offset by declines in the other three components. As a result, total healthcare expenditures for all CUs declined 0.3 

percent in 2020. (See table A.)

Given the relationship between health and age, expenditures by age group are interesting to examine. This is 

particularly true for 2020, when older consumers were disproportionately affected by the pandemic.18 Across all age 

groups, those ages 25–34 years and 45–54 years spent more on healthcare in 2020 than in 2019, while all other age 

groups spent less. The increase in healthcare spending by those 25–34 years old was mainly driven by increases in 

spending in health insurance and drugs, while the increase in spending by those 45–54 years old was driven by 
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increased spending in health insurance and medical services. (See chart 8.) Not surprisingly, CUs ages 65 and older 

spent more on health insurance in 2020 than in 2019. Among the healthcare components, the largest decline in 

spending was 33.1 percent in medical services by those under 25 years, and the largest increase was 55.8 percent in 

medical supplies also by the under-25-years age group.19

Among the components of healthcare, spending on health insurance declined only for those under 25 years (4.6 

percent) and between the ages of 35–44 years (1.6 percent); for the remaining age groups, expenditures on health 

insurance rose from 2019 to 2020. The largest percentage increase in health insurance spending, 9.9 percent, was 

observed for those ages 25–34 years; the smallest increase, 0.9 percent, was observed for those ages 55–64 years. 

Those ages 45–54 spent more on average in medical services in 2020 than in 2019. However, all other age groups 

spent less. The declines ranged between 12.4 percent for those aged 25–34 years to 33.1 percent for those under 25 

years. Spending on drugs increased only for two age groups: 25–34 years and 65–74 years. Spending on medical 

supplies increased for three age groups: under 25 years, 35–44 years, and 65–74 years.

Notes

1 Unlike real-dollar expenditures, nominal dollar expenditures are not adjusted for price change over time but reflect 

prices at the time of purchase. The terms “nominal” and “real” are identical to the terms “current” and “constant,” which 

are also used to describe expenditures, incomes, or other items denominated in dollar terms.
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2 The reference person is the first member mentioned by the respondent when asked to "Start with the name of the 

person or one of the persons who owns or rents the home." It is with respect to this person that the relationship of the 

other consumer unit members is determined. A consumer unit consists of either: (1) all members of a particular 

household who are related by blood, marriage, adoption, or other legal arrangements; (2) a person living alone or 

sharing a household with others or living as a roomer in a private home or lodging house or in permanent living quarters 

in a hotel or motel, but who is financially independent; or (3) two or more persons living together who use their income to 

make joint expenditure decisions.

3 These data have been published in The Economics Daily earlier in 2021. See “Spending on 9 of the 14 major 

components of household spending decreased from 2019 to 2020,” https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2021/spending-on-9-

of-the-14-major-components-of-household-spending-decreased-from-2019-to-2020.htm.

4 Miscellaneous household equipment includes a list of items, those with noticeable increase are given here with the 

percent increase in parentheses: outdoor equipment (+440.2 percent), office furniture for home use (+143.7 percent), 

indoor plants, fresh flowers (+59.21 percent), computer and computer hardware for nonbusiness use (+41.9 percent), 

lawn and garden equipment (+38.8 percent), computer accessories (+18.9 percent).

5 Spending by deciles is taken from detailed tables. For more information, see “Detailed tables, 1984–2020” section.

6 Cash contributions include cash contributed to persons or organizations outside the consumer unit, including alimony 

and child support payments; support for college students; gift to non-CU members of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds; 

cash contributions to religious, educational, charitable, or political organizations; and other cash gifts.

7 Starting on March 19, 2020, CE in-person data collection ceased for both the Interview and Diary Surveys, and all inperson interviews were transitioned to telephone interviews. While data could be collected in person starting in July of 

2020, the initial contact attempt was to be over the phone. This restriction, as well as limited availability of telephone 

numbers, may have contributed to measurement issues with renters in the CE.

8 Detailed tables cited later in this report for 2019 and 2020. While table A in this report shows expenditures for gasoline, 

motor oil, and other fuels, the detailed tables break out gasoline by itself. The detailed tables for all consumer units are 

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

9 National Bureau of Economic Research, “US Business Cycle Expansions and Contractions,” www.nber.org/research/

data/us-business-cycle-expansions-and-contractions.

10 National Bureau of Economic Research, “US Business Cycle Expansions and Contractions,” www.nber.org/research/

data/us-business-cycle-expansions-and-contractions.

11 See Geoffrey Paulin, "Housing and expenditures: before, during, and after the bubble," Beyond the Numbers, vol. 7, 

no. 10 (June 2018), www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-7/housing-and-expenditures-before-during-and-after-the-bubble.htm.

12 The chart shows quantities purchased were 14.41 gallons per week in 2008, and 14.57 gallons per week in 2009, a 

difference of about 1.25 pints, or less than 0.2 gallons, per week.

13 The exact figures are 88.61 percent in 2019 and 88.77 percent in 2020.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Page 17

14 As noted in the text, the online tables are for all consumer units, urban and rural, and show gasoline results from the 

Interview Survey. However, detailed tables showing results from the Diary Survey only, whether for all consumer units or 

for urban or rural consumers separately, are available on request. The same applies to detailed tables showing results 

from the Interview Survey only. See “Detailed tables, 1984–2020,” for information on requesting these tables.

15 To see this, suppose all consumer units who used to use their vehicles to go to the grocery store each week changed 

to bi-weekly trips because of the pandemic. If every third trip required purchasing gasoline, this would happen once 

every 3 weeks in 2019, but only every 6 weeks in 2020. Since a quarter includes 13 weeks, these consumers would still 

be reporting gasoline expenditures at least once per quarter in the Interview Survey but would be less likely to report 

expenditures in any given week of that quarter in the Diary Survey.

16 See “The Whys and Hows of Generations Research,” (Pew Research Center, September 2015), https://

www.pewresearch.org/politics/2015/09/03/the-whys-and-hows-of-generations-research/. Further, as the oldest members 

of the Millennial generation are well into adulthood, a new classification of “post-Millennials,” also known as “Generation 

Z,” has appeared to describe those who were born after 1996. For more details on this cohort see Michael Dimock, 

“Defining generations: where Millennials end and Generation Z begins,” (Pew Research Center, January 2019), https://

www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/01/17/where-millennials-end-and-generation-z-begins/. The CE data in this report 

merge the GI and Silent generations, and distinguish Millennials and post-Millennials. The GI generation is also called 

the Greatest generation. "GI" stands for "government issue," and is a common term to refer to soldiers. "GI generation" 

refers to the fact that members of this generation experienced World War II or its aftermath in their youth. Even though 

not all members were "GIs," the experience of soldiers profoundly shaped domestic policy during and after the 

war. "Greatest generation" derives from a book title, the text of which refers specifically to the other members of this 

generation, who experienced both the Great Depression as children and came of age during World War II.

17 Prior to this, these tables were available unofficially, for research purposes, starting in 2014. (See www.bls.gov/cex/

csxresearchtables.htm.) For a paper analyzing the last calendar-year research table (2015), see “Fun facts about 

Millennials: comparing expenditure patterns from the latest through the Greatest generation,” Monthly Labor Review, 

March 2018 (https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2018/article/fun-facts-about-millennials.htm; https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/

2018/article/pdf/fun-facts-about-millennials.pdf).

18 The demographic segments most vulnerable to COVID-19 are identified by Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC) at “People with certain medical conditions,” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, October 

2021), www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/people-with-medical-conditions.html.

19 For those in the 25–34 year old group, spending on prescription drugs and especially for non-prescription vitamins 

increased. This offset a decrease in expenditures for non-prescription drugs.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Page 18

Statistical Tables

Item All consumer 

units

Less than 

$15,000

$15,000 to 

$29,999

$30,000 to 

$39,999

$40,000 to 

$49,999

$50,000 to 

$69,999

$70,000 to 

$99,999

$100,000 to 

$149,999

$150,000 to 

$199,999

$200,000 and 

more

Number of consumer units (in 

thousands)[1] 131,234 13,714 19,663 12,848 11,274 16,684 19,678 18,849 8,336 10,188

Consumer unit characteristics:

Income before taxes $84,352 $7,489 $22,130 $34,766 $44,719 $59,191 $83,593 $120,944 $171,127 $318,252

Age of reference person 52.2 54.7 60.9 54.6 52.7 50.6 48.4 47.6 49.2 49.5

Average number in consumer unit:

People 2.5 1.7 1.8 2.1 2.3 2.5 2.7 3.0 3.2 3.2

Children under 18 .6 .3 .3 .4 .5 .6 .7 .8 .8 .8

Adults 65 and older .4 .4 .6 .6 .5 .5 .3 .2 .3 .2

Earners 1.3 .4 .5 .9 1.1 1.3 1.7 1.9 2.1 2.2

Vehicles 1.9 1.0 1.2 1.6 1.7 1.9 2.2 2.5 2.7 2.7

Percent homeowner 66 42 56 57 58 62 70 80 86 90

Average annual expenditures $61,334 $28,235 $31,604 $40,689 $44,081 $51,285 $63,592 $83,050 $100,484 $145,402

Food 7,316 4,226 4,087 5,756 5,783 6,026 7,475 9,901 11,002 14,066

Food at home 4,942 3,254 3,007 4,040 4,023 4,088 5,044 6,538 6,996 8,883

Cereals and bakery 

products 640 433 412 520 512 523 658 847 846 1,160

Meats, poultry, fish, and 

eggs

1,075 762 608 892 929 916 1,061 1,405 1,546 1,913

Dairy products 474 309 297 377 371 398 498 648 648 814

Fruits and vegetables 977 668 593 814 764 832 972 1,293 1,386 1,744

Other food at home 1,776 1,084 1,097 1,438 1,446 1,420 1,855 2,345 2,569 3,252

Food away from home 2,375 971 1,080 1,716 1,761 1,938 2,432 3,364 4,006 5,183

Alcoholic beverages 478 124 184 216 320 350 444 610 1,228 1,261

Housing 21,409 12,163 13,483 15,404 16,942 18,511 21,926 26,257 32,804 46,591

Shelter 12,604 7,581 8,143 9,001 10,160 10,786 12,570 15,508 19,274 27,432

Owned dwellings 7,473 2,623 3,401 3,972 4,691 5,427 7,312 10,935 14,471 20,885

Rented dwellings 4,408 4,597 4,523 4,819 5,142 5,001 4,707 3,751 3,282 3,194

Other lodging 722 361 219 210 327 358 551 822 1,521 3,354

Table 1. Income before taxes: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

See footnotes at end of table.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Page 19

Footnote

[1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands.

Item All consumer 

units

Less than 

$15,000

$15,000 to 

$29,999

$30,000 to 

$39,999

$40,000 to 

$49,999

$50,000 to 

$69,999

$70,000 to 

$99,999

$100,000 to 

$149,999

$150,000 to 

$199,999

$200,000 and 

more

Utilities, fuels, and public 

services 4,158 2,638 3,002 3,446 3,687 4,035 4,556 5,050 5,463 6,568

Household operations 1,465 541 803 1,020 1,007 1,122 1,461 1,688 2,768 4,127

Housekeeping supplies 837 404 545 596 590 775 943 1,103 1,258 1,462

Household furnishings 

and equipment 2,346 998 991 1,340 1,499 1,793 2,396 2,909 4,042 7,002

Apparel and services 1,434 796 779 851 1,160 1,208 1,145 2,037 2,276 3,405

Transportation 9,826 4,388 4,666 6,491 7,378 9,225 11,098 14,888 14,404 19,397

Vehicle purchases (net 

outlay) 4,523 1,996 1,797 2,376 3,006 4,044 4,940 7,785 6,619 9,804

Gasoline, other fuels, 

and motor oil 1,568 816 914 1,284 1,421 1,658 1,859 2,054 2,179 2,258

Other vehicle expenses 3,471 1,483 1,838 2,703 2,859 3,300 4,069 4,720 5,014 6,469

Public and other 

transportation 263 93 118 127 92 223 230 329 593 866

Healthcare 5,177 2,267 3,594 4,180 4,386 4,958 5,745 6,508 7,662 8,997

Entertainment 2,912 1,075 1,395 2,101 1,811 2,004 2,694 4,331 5,236 7,654

Personal care products and 

services 646 289 345 464 495 539 652 934 961 1,400

Reading 114 41 94 100 74 102 90 127 210 259

Education 1,271 1,020 283 426 360 688 893 1,494 2,426 5,901

Tobacco products and 

smoking supplies 315 300 289 368 353 367 351 305 250 190

Miscellaneous 907 416 500 614 681 759 1,059 1,186 1,656 1,750

Cash contributions 2,283 678 906 1,589 1,232 1,923 2,695 2,587 3,829 7,102

Personal insurance and 

pensions 7,246 454 997 2,130 3,106 4,625 7,327 11,885 16,539 27,429

Life and other personal 

insurance 486 172 234 267 309 325 479 683 796 1,523

Pensions and Social 

Security 6,760 282 763 1,863 2,797 4,300 6,847 11,202 15,743 25,906

Table 1. Income before taxes: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

See footnotes at end of table.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Page 20

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Item All consumer units Lowest 20 percent Second 20 percent Third 20 percent Fourth 20 percent Highest 20 percent

Number of consumer units (in thousands)[1] 131,234 26,295 26,268 26,330 26,209 26,133

Lower limit [2] [2] $24,010 $45,265 $75,890 $124,432

Consumer unit characteristics:

Income before taxes $84,352 $13,219 $34,550 $59,422 $97,221 $218,191

Age of reference person 52.2 58.3 55.2 50.8 47.8 49.0

Average number in consumer unit:

People 2.5 1.7 2.1 2.5 2.9 3.2

Children under 18 .6 .3 .5 .6 .7 .8

Adults 65 and older .4 .5 .6 .5 .3 .2

Earners 1.3 .4 .8 1.3 1.8 2.1

Vehicles 1.9 1.0 1.6 1.9 2.3 2.7

Percent homeowner 66 48 57 63 74 87

Average annual expenditures $61,334 $28,724 $39,890 $51,543 $71,942 $114,840

Food 7,316 4,099 5,399 6,300 8,532 12,245

Food at home 4,942 3,099 3,820 4,230 5,736 7,817

Cereals and bakery products 640 425 486 543 756 988

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs 1,075 669 856 944 1,225 1,681

Dairy products 474 303 353 410 577 725

Fruits and vegetables 977 622 767 838 1,108 1,549

Other food at home 1,776 1,081 1,357 1,496 2,070 2,874

Food away from home 2,375 1,000 1,580 2,070 2,795 4,427

Alcoholic beverages 478 150 235 369 509 1,126

Housing 21,409 12,317 15,770 18,509 23,889 36,645

Shelter 12,604 7,548 9,366 10,759 13,879 21,525

Owned dwellings 7,473 2,861 4,117 5,479 8,867 16,097

Rented dwellings 4,408 4,433 4,967 4,922 4,360 3,354

Other lodging 722 254 282 358 653 2,073

Utilities, fuels, and public services 4,158 2,757 3,438 4,018 4,739 5,848

Household operations 1,465 616 1,006 1,123 1,572 3,014

Housekeeping supplies 837 466 604 732 1,080 1,300

Table 2. Quintiles of income before taxes: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

See footnotes at end of table.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Page 21

Footnotes

[1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands.

[2] Not applicable.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Item All consumer units Lowest 20 percent Second 20 percent Third 20 percent Fourth 20 percent Highest 20 percent

Household furnishings and equipment 2,346 929 1,355 1,877 2,619 4,958

Apparel and services 1,434 762 862 1,263 1,463 2,820

Transportation 9,826 4,363 6,218 9,189 12,610 16,796

Vehicle purchases (net outlay) 4,523 1,858 2,286 4,050 6,105 8,344

Gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil 1,568 817 1,253 1,624 1,953 2,199

Other vehicle expenses 3,471 1,587 2,559 3,324 4,274 5,624

Public and other transportation 263 101 120 191 278 629

Healthcare 5,177 2,775 4,146 4,964 6,087 7,931

Entertainment 2,912 1,192 1,894 2,034 3,513 5,940

Personal care products and services 646 301 454 573 736 1,169

Reading 114 68 86 99 112 204

Education 1,271 637 364 682 1,134 3,553

Tobacco products and smoking supplies 315 281 355 366 331 240

Miscellaneous 907 418 630 783 1,136 1,572

Cash contributions 2,283 750 1,365 1,797 2,871 4,646

Personal insurance and pensions 7,246 610 2,113 4,615 9,020 19,952

Life and other personal insurance 486 177 291 349 537 1,079

Pensions and Social Security 6,760 433 1,823 4,265 8,484 18,873

Table 2. Quintiles of income before taxes: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

Item All consumer 

units

Lowest 10 

percent

Second 10 

percent

Third 10 

percent

Fourth 10 

percent

Fifth 10 

percent

Sixth 10 

percent

Seventh 10 

percent

Eighth 10 

percent

Ninth 10 

percent

Highest 10 

percent

Number of consumer units 

(in thousands)[1] 131,234 13,028 13,267 13,096 13,172 13,220 13,110 13,082 13,127 13,120 13,013

Lower limit [2] [2] $14,484 $24,010 $34,569 $45,265 $59,034 $75,889 $96,098 $124,434 $178,532

Consumer unit characteristics:

Income before taxes $84,352 $7,121 $19,207 $29,361 $39,709 $51,748 $67,161 $85,470 $108,931 $147,049 $289,919

Table 3. Deciles of income before taxes: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

See footnotes at end of table.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Page 22

Item All consumer 

units

Lowest 10 

percent

Second 10 

percent

Third 10 

percent

Fourth 10 

percent

Fifth 10 

percent

Sixth 10 

percent

Seventh 10 

percent

Eighth 10 

percent

Ninth 10 

percent

Highest 10 

percent

Age of reference person 52.2 54.1 62.4 57.3 53.0 51.7 49.8 47.9 47.6 48.5 49.5

Average number in consumer unit:

People 2.5 1.7 1.7 2.0 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8 2.9 3.1 3.3

Children under 18 .6 .3 .3 .4 .5 .5 .6 .7 .7 .8 .9

Adults 65 and older .4 .4 .6 .7 .6 .5 .4 .3 .3 .2 .2

Earners 1.3 .4 .5 .7 1.0 1.2 1.5 1.7 1.8 2.1 2.2

Vehicles 1.9 1.0 1.1 1.5 1.7 1.8 2.0 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.7

Percent homeowner 66 41 55 58 56 60 66 70 78 83 90

Average annual 

expenditures $61,334 $28,042 $29,396 $37,763 $42,006 $47,897 $55,216 $64,170 $79,696 $92,179 $137,659

Food 7,316 4,082 4,115 5,250 5,549 6,136 6,464 7,635 9,428 10,759 13,729

Food at home 4,942 3,170 3,028 3,722 3,918 4,074 4,386 5,187 6,285 7,032 8,601

Cereals and bakery 

products 640 418 431 476 496 517 569 686 826 845 1,131

Meats, poultry, fish, 

and eggs 1,075 747 591 779 934 913 975 1,064 1,387 1,493 1,869

Dairy products 474 302 304 349 358 381 438 520 634 662 787

Fruits and vegetables 977 646 597 772 762 798 877 990 1,225 1,428 1,670

Other food at home 1,776 1,056 1,105 1,346 1,367 1,465 1,528 1,927 2,213 2,604 3,144

Food away from home 2,375 913 1,087 1,528 1,631 2,061 2,078 2,448 3,143 3,727 5,128

Alcoholic beverages 478 125 174 205 264 386 352 438 580 959 1,293

Housing 21,409 12,142 12,489 15,133 16,403 17,465 19,560 22,172 25,601 28,784 44,559

Shelter 12,604 7,603 7,495 8,988 9,741 10,310 11,211 12,789 14,966 16,702 26,386

Owned dwellings 7,473 2,598 3,120 3,856 4,378 4,992 5,969 7,403 10,326 11,987 20,241

Rented dwellings 4,408 4,630 4,239 4,863 5,070 5,011 4,832 4,773 3,948 3,519 3,188

Other lodging 722 375 135 270 294 307 410 613 692 1,197 2,957

Utilities, fuels, and 

public services 4,158 2,643 2,870 3,307 3,570 3,816 4,223 4,605 4,872 5,336 6,365

Household operations 1,465 540 692 973 1,040 1,052 1,195 1,489 1,655 2,068 3,968

Housekeeping supplies 837 391 541 604 603 741 722 997 1,163 1,209 1,391

Household furnishings 

and equipment 2,346 965 892 1,261 1,449 1,545 2,209 2,291 2,946 3,468 6,450

Apparel and services 1,434 772 752 855 870 1,312 1,214 1,190 1,736 2,442 3,199

Table 3. Deciles of income before taxes: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

See footnotes at end of table.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Page 23

Footnotes

[1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands.

[2] Not applicable.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Item All consumer 

units

Lowest 10 

percent

Second 10 

percent

Third 10 

percent

Fourth 10 

percent

Fifth 10 

percent

Sixth 10 

percent

Seventh 10 

percent

Eighth 10 

percent

Ninth 10 

percent

Highest 10 

percent

Transportation 9,826 4,387 4,340 5,634 6,799 8,415 9,970 11,594 13,622 15,487 18,115

Vehicle purchases (net 

outlay) 4,523 2,019 1,700 1,996 2,574 3,677 4,426 5,385 6,823 7,882 8,810

Gasoline, other fuels, 

and motor oil 1,568 817 816 1,157 1,349 1,504 1,745 1,902 2,004 2,124 2,274

Other vehicle expenses 3,471 1,470 1,701 2,357 2,761 3,062 3,587 4,053 4,495 5,025 6,228

Public and other 

transportation 263 80 123 123 116 171 212 255 301 456 803

Healthcare 5,177 2,178 3,363 4,067 4,223 4,702 5,229 5,597 6,575 7,011 8,859

Entertainment 2,912 1,096 1,288 1,893 1,894 1,910 2,158 2,899 4,126 4,822 7,068

Personal care products 

and services 646 283 318 380 527 532 614 629 843 993 1,347

Reading 114 43 94 107 64 103 95 87 137 163 245

Education 1,271 1,065 218 379 349 497 868 897 1,370 1,739 5,380

Tobacco products and 

smoking supplies 315 302 262 351 359 346 386 339 323 289 191

Miscellaneous 907 437 399 662 597 758 808 1,098 1,175 1,406 1,738

Cash contributions 2,283 679 821 1,217 1,513 1,416 2,181 1,969 3,769 2,876 6,431

Personal insurance and 

pensions 7,246 454 764 1,629 2,595 3,920 5,315 7,625 10,411 14,446 25,504

Life and other personal 

insurance 486 173 181 288 294 331 368 462 611 733 1,427

Pensions and Social 

Security 6,760 280 583 1,341 2,301 3,589 4,948 7,163 9,800 13,713 24,077

Table 3. Deciles of income before taxes: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

Item All consumer units Northeast Midwest South West

Number of consumer units (in thousands)[1] 131,234 22,965 27,907 50,574 29,788

Table 4. Region of residence: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

See footnotes at end of table.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Page 24

Item All consumer units Northeast Midwest South West

Consumer unit characteristics:

Income before taxes $84,352 $95,329 $78,558 $78,080 $91,964

Age of reference person 52.2 53.6 52.4 51.9 51.5

Average number in consumer unit:

People 2.5 2.4 2.4 2.5 2.6

Children under 18 .6 .5 .6 .6 .6

Adults 65 and older .4 .4 .4 .4 .4

Earners 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.2 1.4

Vehicles 1.9 1.6 2.1 1.9 2.0

Percent homeowner 66 62 70 68 61

Average annual expenditures $61,334 $68,596 $59,667 $55,797 $66,769

Food 7,316 8,294 6,921 6,477 8,398

Food at home 4,942 5,803 4,664 4,310 5,639

Cereals and bakery products 640 793 619 555 688

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs 1,075 1,285 941 975 1,215

Dairy products 474 587 454 395 541

Fruits and vegetables 977 1,224 874 824 1,150

Other food at home 1,776 1,914 1,775 1,561 2,045

Food away from home 2,375 2,491 2,257 2,167 2,759

Alcoholic beverages 478 587 500 382 539

Housing 21,409 25,195 19,268 19,029 24,548

Shelter 12,604 15,342 10,674 10,755 15,439

Owned dwellings 7,473 8,786 6,949 6,516 8,577

Rented dwellings 4,408 5,525 3,012 3,639 6,162

Other lodging 722 1,032 713 600 700

Utilities, fuels, and public services 4,158 4,364 4,002 4,176 4,114

Household operations 1,465 1,523 1,380 1,401 1,605

Housekeeping supplies 837 901 922 735 882

Household furnishings and equipment 2,346 3,064 2,290 1,962 2,508

Apparel and services 1,434 1,800 1,515 1,191 1,496

Transportation 9,826 9,035 10,281 9,745 10,146

Vehicle purchases (net outlay) 4,523 3,684 4,998 4,699 4,427

Table 4. Region of residence: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

See footnotes at end of table.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Page 25

Footnote

[1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Item All consumer units Northeast Midwest South West

Gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil 1,568 1,337 1,547 1,587 1,735

Other vehicle expenses 3,471 3,650 3,427 3,302 3,660

Public and other transportation 263 364 309 156 325

Healthcare 5,177 5,006 5,739 5,098 4,916

Entertainment 2,912 3,113 3,368 2,378 3,242

Personal care products and services 646 659 673 568 747

Reading 114 128 113 106 116

Education 1,271 2,368 937 1,069 1,082

Tobacco products and smoking supplies 315 313 347 339 246

Miscellaneous 907 1,098 808 816 1,007

Cash contributions 2,283 2,632 2,197 2,008 2,561

Personal insurance and pensions 7,246 8,367 7,000 6,591 7,724

Life and other personal insurance 486 564 499 491 404

Pensions and Social Security 6,760 7,803 6,502 6,099 7,320

Table 4. Region of residence: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

Item

All consumer 

units

Outside urban 

area

Urban consumer units

All urban 

consumer units

Less than 

100,000

100,000 to 

249,999

250,000 to 

999,999

1,000,000 to 

2,499,999

2,500,000 to 

4,999,999

5,000,000 and 

more

Number of consumer units (in 

thousands)[1] 131,234 24,743 106,492 15,140 8,274 29,613 16,392 15,495 21,578

Consumer unit characteristics:

Income before taxes $84,352 $83,596 $84,527 $63,717 $70,302 $79,918 $86,210 $107,657 $93,020

Age of reference person 52.2 55.2 51.5 52.6 52.3 52.2 50.4 50.3 51.1

Average number in consumer unit:

People 2.5 2.6 2.5 2.5 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.6

Children under 18 .6 .6 .6 .6 .5 .5 .5 .6 .6

Adults 65 and older .4 .5 .4 .4 .4 .4 .4 .4 .4

Table 5. Population size of area of residence: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

See footnotes at end of table.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Page 26

Item

All consumer 

units

Outside urban 

area

Urban consumer units

All urban 

consumer units

Less than 

100,000

100,000 to 

249,999

250,000 to 

999,999

1,000,000 to 

2,499,999

2,500,000 to 

4,999,999

5,000,000 and 

more

Earners 1.3 1.2 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.3 1.4

Vehicles 1.9 2.5 1.8 2.0 1.9 1.8 1.8 1.7 1.4

Percent homeowner 66 83 62 64 67 64 62 63 54

Average annual expenditures $61,334 $59,128 $61,850 $52,961 $52,550 $59,633 $61,875 $72,842 $66,698

Food 7,316 6,588 7,489 6,528 5,797 7,255 7,811 8,752 7,932

Food at home 4,942 4,572 5,029 4,434 3,689 5,044 5,105 5,665 5,382

Cereals and bakery 

products 640 604 648 551 449 685 677 716 665

Meats, poultry, fish, and 

eggs

1,075 976 1,099 961 794 1,096 1,008 1,244 1,270

Dairy products 474 468 475 433 373 480 485 504 504

Fruits and vegetables 977 844 1,008 831 688 1,003 1,004 1,162 1,147

Other food at home 1,776 1,680 1,799 1,657 1,385 1,779 1,932 2,040 1,797

Food away from home 2,375 2,016 2,460 2,094 2,108 2,211 2,705 3,087 2,550

Alcoholic beverages 478 341 510 444 399 458 533 716 504

Housing 21,409 18,424 22,103 17,413 17,935 20,090 21,775 26,923 26,526

Shelter 12,604 9,506 13,323 9,185 9,913 11,699 13,463 16,978 17,034

Owned dwellings 7,473 7,309 7,511 5,188 5,868 7,038 7,690 10,072 8,446

Rented dwellings 4,408 1,417 5,103 3,535 3,569 3,926 5,098 5,948 7,804

Other lodging 722 781 709 462 476 735 674 958 783

Utilities, fuels, and public 

services 4,158 4,331 4,118 4,030 3,992 4,128 4,080 4,301 4,109

Household operations 1,465 1,379 1,484 1,181 1,316 1,419 1,468 1,908 1,559

Housekeeping supplies 837 977 803 794 697 786 764 901 830

Household furnishings and 

equipment 2,346 2,231 2,374 2,223 2,016 2,056 2,000 2,835 2,994

Apparel and services 1,434 1,087 1,516 1,147 1,212 1,346 1,482 1,854 1,903

Transportation 9,826 11,030 9,546 9,138 10,221 9,763 9,812 9,513 9,093

Vehicle purchases (net 

outlay) 4,523 5,362 4,328 4,318 5,476 4,776 4,371 3,819 3,615

Gasoline, other fuels, and 

motor oil 1,568 1,939 1,482 1,608 1,530 1,486 1,456 1,406 1,445

Table 5. Population size of area of residence: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

See footnotes at end of table.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Page 27

Footnote

[1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Item

All consumer 

units

Outside urban 

area

Urban consumer units

All urban 

consumer units

Less than 

100,000

100,000 to 

249,999

250,000 to 

999,999

1,000,000 to 

2,499,999

2,500,000 to 

4,999,999

5,000,000 and 

more

Other vehicle expenses 3,471 3,547 3,453 3,057 3,060 3,312 3,646 3,859 3,635

Public and other 

transportation 263 182 282 155 154 189 339 429 399

Healthcare 5,177 5,941 4,999 4,796 4,870 5,144 5,210 5,225 4,668

Entertainment 2,912 3,457 2,784 2,678 2,235 2,704 2,833 3,232 2,813

Personal care products and 

services 646 497 681 576 651 687 647 799 699

Reading 114 110 115 119 135 97 99 153 114

Education 1,271 948 1,347 602 944 1,284 977 1,947 1,959

Tobacco products and 

smoking supplies 315 418 291 449 289 317 301 240 172

Miscellaneous 907 937 900 833 797 903 750 1,165 903

Cash contributions 2,283 2,446 2,245 2,870 1,339 2,396 2,096 3,091 1,451

Personal insurance and 

pensions 7,246 6,905 7,325 5,368 5,727 7,188 7,548 9,230 7,961

Life and other personal 

insurance 486 582 463 385 416 491 473 498 467

Pensions and Social 

Security 6,760 6,323 6,862 4,983 5,311 6,697 7,075 8,732 7,494

Table 5. Population size of area of residence: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

Item

All consumer units Urban Rural

Total Central city Other urban

Number of consumer units (in thousands)[1] 131,234 120,806 48,469 72,337 10,429

Consumer unit characteristics:

Income before taxes $84,352 $86,405 $79,294 $91,170 $60,560

Age of reference person 52.2 51.9 50.2 53.0 56.2

Table 6. Type of area: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

See footnotes at end of table.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Page 28

Item

All consumer units Urban Rural

Total Central city Other urban

Average number in consumer unit:

People 2.5 2.5 2.4 2.5 2.5

Children under 18 .6 .6 .5 .6 .6

Adults 65 and older .4 .4 .4 .4 .6

Earners 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.1

Vehicles 1.9 1.9 1.6 2.1 2.4

Percent homeowner 66 65 53 72 80

Average annual expenditures $61,334 $62,366 $57,565 $65,555 $49,271

Food 7,316 7,472 7,080 7,721 5,409

Food at home 4,942 5,020 4,701 5,222 3,984

Cereals and bakery products 640 648 593 683 539

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs 1,075 1,097 1,064 1,118 813

Dairy products 474 476 436 501 447

Fruits and vegetables 977 1,000 950 1,033 689

Other food at home 1,776 1,799 1,658 1,888 1,496

Food away from home 2,375 2,452 2,379 2,499 1,425

Alcoholic beverages 478 499 495 501 222

Housing 21,409 21,978 21,004 22,620 14,820

Shelter 12,604 13,092 12,928 13,202 6,944

Owned dwellings 7,473 7,686 6,188 8,689 5,009

Rented dwellings 4,408 4,667 6,099 3,708 1,412

Other lodging 722 740 642 805 523

Utilities, fuels, and public services 4,158 4,170 3,840 4,391 4,022

Household operations 1,465 1,505 1,419 1,563 998

Housekeeping supplies 837 817 730 872 1,076

Household furnishings and equipment 2,346 2,393 2,087 2,591 1,779

Apparel and services 1,434 1,486 1,407 1,536 808

Transportation 9,826 9,822 8,623 10,626 9,866

Vehicle purchases (net outlay) 4,523 4,519 3,818 4,990 4,568

Gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil 1,568 1,540 1,338 1,676 1,893

Other vehicle expenses 3,471 3,495 3,158 3,721 3,187

Table 6. Type of area: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

See footnotes at end of table.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Page 29

Footnotes

[1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Item

All consumer units Urban Rural

Total Central city Other urban

Public and other transportation 263 268 309 241 218

Healthcare 5,177 5,140 4,475 5,585 5,610

Entertainment 2,912 2,882 2,609 3,065 3,313

Personal care products and services 646 667 640 684 400

Reading 114 116 122 112 91

Education 1,271 1,346 1,316 1,365 410

Tobacco products and smoking supplies 315 301 276 318 471

Miscellaneous 907 911 823 971 857

Cash contributions 2,283 2,325 1,903 2,607 1,795

Personal insurance and pensions 7,246 7,422 6,793 7,844 5,201

Life and other personal insurance 486 489 426 532 446

Pensions and Social Security 6,760 6,933 6,368 7,312 4,755

Table 6. Type of area: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

Item

All 

consumer 

units

Married couple consumer units One parent, at 

least one child 

under 18

Single person and 

other consumer 

units Total Married 

couple only

Married couple with children Other married 

couple consumer 

Total units Oldest child 

under 6

Oldest child 

6 to 17

Oldest child 

18 or older

Number of consumer units 

(in thousands)[1] 131,234 63,670 28,407 29,930 5,395 14,323 10,212 5,332 6,461 61,103

Consumer unit characteristics:

Income before taxes $84,352 $114,565 $97,059 $131,521 $120,459 $131,948 $136,768 $112,654 $48,496 $56,660

Age of reference person 52.2 51.8 59.8 44.4 33.5 41.4 54.4 50.6 40.2 53.9

Average number in consumer unit:

People 2.5 3.2 2.0 4.0 3.5 4.2 3.9 4.9 3.0 1.7

Children under 18 .6 .8 [2] 1.6 1.5 2.2 .6 1.3 1.7 .2

Table 7. Composition of consumer unit: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

See footnotes at end of table.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Page 30

Item

All 

consumer 

units

Married couple consumer units One parent, at 

least one child 

under 18

Single person and 

other consumer 

units Total Married 

couple only

Married couple with children Other married 

couple consumer 

Total units Oldest child 

under 6

Oldest child 

6 to 17

Oldest child 

18 or older

Adults 65 and older .4 .5 .9 .1 [3] [3] .3 .7 [3] .4

Earners 1.3 1.6 1.1 2.0 1.7 1.8 2.5 2.3 1.1 1.0

Vehicles 1.9 2.4 2.3 2.5 2.0 2.3 3.0 2.6 1.3 1.4

Percent homeowner 66 80 84 77 67 77 82 79 42 53

Average annual 

expenditures $61,334 $78,600 $69,617 $87,920 $77,298 $88,945 $91,890 $74,728 $47,053 $44,876

Food 7,316 9,482 7,813 10,973 9,015 10,938 11,922 10,408 6,374 5,168

Food at home 4,942 6,431 5,205 7,432 6,206 7,468 7,935 7,633 4,273 3,467

Cereals and bakery 

products 640 837 659 998 826 1,035 1,024 926 604 439

Meats, poultry, fish, 

and eggs 1,075 1,409 1,148 1,581 1,220 1,601 1,714 1,881 1,020 735

Dairy products 474 627 498 745 679 730 795 688 356 328

Fruits and 

vegetables 977 1,268 1,036 1,458 1,336 1,412 1,576 1,493 777 697

Other food at home 1,776 2,291 1,864 2,651 2,145 2,690 2,825 2,645 1,516 1,270

Food away from 

home 2,375 3,051 2,608 3,541 2,809 3,470 3,987 2,775 2,101 1,701

Alcoholic beverages 478 649 743 607 581 554 695 359 143 338

Housing 21,409 25,629 22,737 28,460 29,182 28,654 27,783 25,160 18,799 17,296

Shelter 12,604 14,631 12,988 16,353 16,379 16,871 15,611 13,722 11,552 10,603

Owned dwellings 7,473 10,415 9,255 11,633 10,831 12,141 11,346 9,749 4,393 4,734

Rented dwellings 4,408 3,092 2,546 3,563 4,985 3,593 2,769 3,361 6,813 5,525

Other lodging 722 1,124 1,187 1,157 563 1,138 1,497 611 346 343

Utilities, fuels, and 

public services 4,158 5,062 4,518 5,401 4,276 5,354 6,062 6,059 3,833 3,250

Household operations 1,465 1,923 1,414 2,468 4,822 2,356 1,380 1,576 1,180 1,017

Housekeeping 

supplies 837 1,135 1,019 1,242 1,055 1,002 1,659 1,180 547 559

Table 7. Composition of consumer unit: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

See footnotes at end of table.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Page 31

Footnotes

[1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands.

[2] No data reported.

Item

All 

consumer 

units

Married couple consumer units One parent, at 

least one child 

under 18

Single person and 

other consumer 

units Total Married 

couple only

Married couple with children Other married 

couple consumer 

Total units Oldest child 

under 6

Oldest child 

6 to 17

Oldest child 

18 or older

Household 

furnishings and 

equipment

2,346 2,877 2,798 2,996 2,650 3,070 3,070 2,623 1,687 1,867

Apparel and services 1,434 1,755 1,305 2,238 2,319 2,285 2,145 1,541 1,478 1,096

Transportation 9,826 12,915 10,419 15,266 11,442 15,746 16,605 13,020 7,329 6,871

Vehicle purchases 

(net outlay) 4,523 6,248 4,928 7,670 5,355 8,417 7,846 5,299 2,665 2,922

Gasoline, other fuels, 

and motor oil 1,568 1,993 1,587 2,289 1,739 2,285 2,587 2,496 1,416 1,141

Other vehicle 

expenses

3,471 4,346 3,644 4,922 4,082 4,673 5,709 4,850 3,055 2,603

Public and other 

transportation 263 328 261 384 266 370 462 374 193 204

Healthcare 5,177 7,007 7,532 6,628 6,231 6,211 7,415 6,330 2,866 3,516

Entertainment 2,912 3,852 3,638 4,272 2,784 4,457 4,761 2,711 2,141 2,016

Personal care products 

and services 646 797 756 839 697 874 863 791 739 478

Reading 114 136 159 119 112 113 130 107 56 97

Education 1,271 1,777 861 2,741 868 2,787 3,664 1,253 611 815

Tobacco products and 

smoking supplies 315 299 275 278 183 289 315 540 258 338

Miscellaneous 907 1,037 1,141 936 531 959 1,113 1,051 905 771

Cash contributions 2,283 3,090 4,176 2,224 1,398 2,445 2,350 2,169 1,176 1,558

Personal insurance and 

pensions 7,246 10,175 8,060 12,339 11,956 12,633 12,129 9,288 4,181 4,518

Life and other 

personal insurance 486 721 699 759 549 731 909 621 182 273

Pensions and Social 

Security 6,760 9,454 7,362 11,580 11,407 11,902 11,220 8,667 3,999 4,245

Table 7. Composition of consumer unit: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

See footnotes at end of table.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Page 32

[3] Value is too small to display.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Item

All consumer 

units

Less than college graduate College graduate

Total Less than high 

school graduate

High school 

graduate

High school graduate 

with some college

Associate's 

degree Total Bachelor's degree

Master's, professional, 

doctoral degree

Number of consumer units 

(in thousands)[1] 131,234 69,920 6,931 24,577 24,531 13,881 61,314 35,342 25,972

Consumer unit characteristics:

Income before taxes $84,352 $53,066 $31,292 $44,994 $58,245 $69,079 $120,028 $102,814 $143,453

Age of reference person 52.2 53.3 56.5 55.6 51.7 50.4 50.9 49.9 52.4

Average number in consumer unit:

People 2.5 2.4 2.3 2.2 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.5 2.7

Children under 18 .6 .6 .7 .5 .6 .6 .6 .5 .6

Adults 65 and older .4 .4 .5 .5 .4 .4 .4 .4 .4

Earners 1.3 1.1 .8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.5 1.5 1.5

Vehicles 1.9 1.7 1.2 1.6 1.9 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1

Percent homeowner 66 59 47 56 60 66 74 70 80

Average annual 

expenditures $61,334 $45,754 $33,654 $39,024 $50,003 $55,828 $78,989 $70,283 $90,601

Food 7,316 5,766 4,836 5,152 6,037 6,700 9,025 8,237 9,994

Food at home 4,942 4,034 3,526 3,779 4,086 4,590 5,939 5,345 6,665

Cereals and bakery 

products 640 518 490 496 512 578 773 714 845

Meats, poultry, fish, 

and eggs 1,075 940 802 938 904 1,077 1,224 1,118 1,354

Dairy products 474 382 382 355 387 414 575 509 655

Fruits and vegetables 977 765 733 689 776 877 1,210 1,073 1,377

Other food at home 1,776 1,430 1,119 1,301 1,508 1,643 2,157 1,932 2,434

Food away from home 2,375 1,732 1,310 1,374 1,951 2,110 3,086 2,892 3,328

Alcoholic beverages 478 256 122 194 270 397 722 659 800

Housing 21,409 16,558 13,127 14,369 18,167 19,157 26,928 24,336 30,422

Shelter 12,604 9,298 7,450 8,329 9,975 10,738 16,374 14,771 18,555

Owned dwellings 7,473 4,581 2,639 3,652 5,096 6,286 10,771 9,192 12,920

Table 8. Highest education level of any member: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

See footnotes at end of table.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Page 33

Item

All consumer 

units

Less than college graduate College graduate

Total Less than high 

school graduate

High school 

graduate

High school graduate 

with some college

Associate's 

degree Total Bachelor's degree

Master's, professional, 

doctoral degree

Rented dwellings 4,408 4,452 4,715 4,482 4,571 4,056 4,359 4,622 4,000

Other lodging 722 265 96 195 308 396 1,244 957 1,635

Utilities, fuels, and 

public services 4,158 3,749 2,924 3,485 3,982 4,217 4,624 4,407 4,920

Household operations 1,465 940 524 809 1,081 1,142 2,062 1,681 2,583

Housekeeping supplies 837 684 982 557 654 784 1,004 891 1,143

Household furnishings 

and equipment 2,346 1,887 1,248 1,189 2,475 2,276 2,863 2,587 3,221

Apparel and services 1,434 1,080 1,061 958 1,165 1,131 1,826 1,484 2,250

Transportation 9,826 8,565 5,440 6,996 9,634 11,008 11,262 10,967 11,660

Vehicle purchases (net 

outlay) 4,523 4,018 2,313 3,147 4,564 5,445 5,100 4,993 5,245

Gasoline, other fuels, 

and motor oil 1,568 1,494 1,126 1,344 1,607 1,745 1,653 1,678 1,618

Other vehicle expenses 3,471 2,909 1,749 2,420 3,315 3,633 4,110 3,982 4,282

Public and other 

transportation 263 144 252 85 148 185 399 313 516

Healthcare 5,177 3,970 2,605 3,645 4,313 4,616 6,550 5,705 7,698

Entertainment 2,912 2,156 2,391 1,774 2,118 2,758 3,767 3,200 4,512

Personal care products 

and services 646 455 293 365 520 568 860 782 958

Reading 114 69 56 47 68 114 164 122 218

Education 1,271 422 142 236 612 555 2,239 1,659 3,027

Tobacco products and 

smoking supplies 315 442 425 482 416 423 170 200 130

Miscellaneous 907 709 339 626 734 996 1,131 1,027 1,269

Cash contributions 2,283 1,126 748 992 1,258 1,317 3,602 2,987 4,439

Personal insurance and 

pensions 7,246 4,179 2,069 3,185 4,691 6,089 10,743 8,919 13,224

Life and other personal 

insurance 486 309 136 253 350 420 688 543 886

Pensions and Social 

Security 6,760 3,871 1,933 2,932 4,341 5,669 10,055 8,376 12,339

Table 8. Highest education level of any member: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

See footnotes at end of table.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Page 34

Footnote

[1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Item

All consumer units Homeowner Renter

Total Homeowner with mortgage Homeowner without mortgage

Number of consumer units (in thousands)[1] 131,234 86,366 50,889 35,477 44,868

Consumer unit characteristics:

Income before taxes $84,352 $100,004 $118,281 $73,788 $54,222

Age of reference person 52.2 55.9 50.1 64.3 45.0

Average number in consumer unit:

People 2.5 2.6 2.9 2.1 2.3

Children under 18 .6 .6 .8 .3 .6

Adults 65 and older .4 .5 .3 .8 .2

Earners 1.3 1.3 1.7 .9 1.2

Vehicles 1.9 2.2 2.3 2.1 1.2

Percent homeowner 66 100 100 100 [2]

Average annual expenditures $61,334 $69,527 $79,367 $55,128 $45,579

Food 7,316 8,154 8,982 6,820 5,709

Food at home 4,942 5,527 5,977 4,798 3,820

Cereals and bakery products 640 714 768 627 496

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs 1,075 1,216 1,324 1,042 805

Dairy products 474 531 573 463 364

Fruits and vegetables 977 1,084 1,162 958 772

Other food at home 1,776 1,981 2,151 1,707 1,382

Food away from home 2,375 2,628 3,005 2,022 1,890

Alcoholic beverages 478 573 664 427 296

Housing 21,409 22,866 27,294 16,447 18,609

Shelter 12,604 12,384 15,686 7,648 13,026

Owned dwellings 7,473 11,317 14,713 6,447 73

Rented dwellings 4,408 128 111 152 12,648

Other lodging 722 939 862 1,049 305

Table 9. Housing tenure: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

See footnotes at end of table.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Page 35

Footnotes

[1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands.

[2] Not applicable.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Item

All consumer units Homeowner Renter

Total Homeowner with mortgage Homeowner without mortgage

Utilities, fuels, and public services 4,158 4,829 5,131 4,395 2,866

Household operations 1,465 1,782 2,004 1,461 854

Housekeeping supplies 837 1,010 1,067 918 503

Household furnishings and equipment 2,346 2,861 3,406 2,024 1,359

Apparel and services 1,434 1,528 1,784 1,121 1,254

Transportation 9,826 11,178 12,695 9,001 7,223

Vehicle purchases (net outlay) 4,523 5,295 5,983 4,308 3,037

Gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil 1,568 1,723 1,945 1,406 1,270

Other vehicle expenses 3,471 3,892 4,473 3,059 2,659

Public and other transportation 263 267 294 228 257

Healthcare 5,177 6,309 6,229 6,424 2,999

Entertainment 2,912 3,579 3,868 3,167 1,629

Personal care products and services 646 722 809 586 502

Reading 114 139 133 152 65

Education 1,271 1,445 1,757 994 938

Tobacco products and smoking supplies 315 289 300 272 365

Miscellaneous 907 1,082 1,176 941 570

Cash contributions 2,283 2,965 2,668 3,390 970

Personal insurance and pensions 7,246 8,699 11,007 5,387 4,449

Life and other personal insurance 486 634 713 521 200

Pensions and Social Security 6,760 8,064 10,294 4,866 4,249

Table 9. Housing tenure: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

Item

All consumer units Single consumers Consumer units of two or more people

No earner One earner No earner One earner Two earners Three or more earners

Table 10. Number of earners in consumer unit: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

See footnotes at end of table.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Page 36

Item

All consumer units Single consumers Consumer units of two or more people

No earner One earner No earner One earner Two earners Three or more earners

Number of consumer units (in thousands)[1] 131,234 16,677 22,450 13,439 25,891 41,106 11,671

Consumer unit characteristics:

Income before taxes $84,352 $22,280 $59,567 $38,487 $75,232 $125,613 $148,441

Age of reference person 52.2 70.7 46.7 68.2 50.5 44.5 48.9

Average number in consumer unit:

People 2.5 1.0 1.0 2.3 3.0 3.1 4.5

Children under 18 .6 [3] [3] .2 1.0 .9 1.0

Adults 65 and older .4 .7 .1 1.4 .5 .2 .2

Earners 1.3 [3] 1.0 [3] 1.0 2.0 3.4

Vehicles 1.9 1.0 1.2 1.9 1.9 2.3 3.0

Percent homeowner 66 59 46 81 65 72 76

Average annual expenditures $61,334 $29,700 $45,701 $50,104 $59,760 $78,249 $93,322

Food 7,316 3,570 4,799 6,761 7,356 8,852 12,614

Food at home 4,942 2,838 2,826 4,953 5,209 5,802 8,382

Cereals and bakery products 640 372 332 682 679 751 1,087

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs 1,075 582 539 1,059 1,169 1,264 1,959

Dairy products 474 288 274 501 491 552 781

Fruits and vegetables 977 580 575 1,022 1,030 1,121 1,645

Other food at home 1,776 1,016 1,106 1,687 1,839 2,114 2,911

Food away from home 2,375 732 1,972 1,808 2,147 3,050 4,232

Alcoholic beverages 478 149 471 377 408 619 726

Housing 21,409 13,243 17,808 17,837 21,354 25,981 28,108

Shelter 12,604 8,386 11,191 9,872 12,332 15,235 15,831

Owned dwellings 7,473 3,737 4,711 6,726 7,149 10,038 10,670

Rented dwellings 4,408 4,417 6,029 2,204 4,522 4,324 3,860

Other lodging 722 232 451 941 661 873 1,300

Utilities, fuels, and public services 4,158 2,550 2,734 4,210 4,451 4,809 6,191

Household operations 1,465 864 933 1,247 1,413 2,070 1,579

Housekeeping supplies 837 483 534 864 863 942 1,466

Household furnishings and equipment 2,346 960 2,416 1,644 2,296 2,925 3,041

Apparel and services 1,434 596 1,151 862 1,396 1,890 2,276

Table 10. Number of earners in consumer unit: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

See footnotes at end of table.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Page 37

Footnotes

[1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands.

[2] Data are likely to have large sampling errors.

[3] Not applicable.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Item

All consumer units Single consumers Consumer units of two or more people

No earner One earner No earner One earner Two earners Three or more earners

Transportation 9,826 3,577 6,621 6,477 9,242 13,577 16,852

Vehicle purchases (net outlay) 4,523 1,508 2,763 2,506 4,035 6,776 7,689

Gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil 1,568 539 1,094 1,156 1,582 2,024 2,787

Other vehicle expenses 3,471 1,442 2,483 2,672 3,386 4,453 5,917

Public and other transportation 263 89 281 142 239 324 459

Healthcare 5,177 3,945 2,651 7,326 5,435 5,742 6,775

Entertainment 2,912 1,205 2,480 2,638 2,998 3,651 3,688

Personal care products and services 646 327 494 538 662 775 1,026

Reading 114 117 83 134 130 109 129

Education 1,271 433 671 702 1,076 1,624 3,467

Tobacco products and smoking supplies 315 187 264 297 357 344 419

Miscellaneous 907 510 773 963 937 1,017 1,212

Cash contributions 2,283 1,565 1,779 4,564 2,481 1,995 2,223

Personal insurance and pensions 7,246 276 5,657 629 5,928 12,072 13,808

Life and other personal insurance 486 245 231 513 475 643 757

Pensions and Social Security 6,760 31[3] 5,426 116 5,453 11,428 13,051

Table 10. Number of earners in consumer unit: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

Item

All consumer units One person Two or more people

Total Two people Three people Four people Five or more people

Number of consumer units (in thousands)[1] 131,234 39,127 92,107 43,169 19,028 16,628 13,283

Consumer unit characteristics:

Income before taxes $84,352 $43,674 $101,631 $88,115 $103,701 $122,777 $116,123

Age of reference person 52.2 56.9 50.2 55.9 48.0 43.8 42.7

Table 11. Size of consumer unit: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

See footnotes at end of table.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Page 38

Item

All consumer units One person Two or more people

Total Two people Three people Four people Five or more people

Average number in consumer unit:

People 2.5 1.0 3.1 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.7

Children under 18 .6 [2] .8 .1 .6 1.5 2.6

Adults 65 and older .4 .4 .4 .7 .3 .1 .2

Earners 1.3 .6 1.6 1.2 1.8 2.0 2.3

Vehicles 1.9 1.1 2.2 2.1 2.2 2.4 2.5

Percent homeowner 66 52 72 74 68 72 70

Average annual expenditures $61,334 $38,895 $70,870 $63,254 $69,740 $84,056 $80,954

Food 7,316 4,279 8,609 7,179 8,203 10,963 11,027

Food at home 4,942 2,831 5,840 4,791 5,520 7,407 7,848

Cereals and bakery products 640 349 763 614 709 988 1,060

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs 1,075 557 1,296 1,057 1,227 1,599 1,815

Dairy products 474 280 556 451 528 729 733

Fruits and vegetables 977 577 1,147 944 1,090 1,489 1,481

Other food at home 1,776 1,068 2,077 1,725 1,966 2,603 2,759

Food away from home 2,375 1,448 2,769 2,388 2,683 3,555 3,179

Alcoholic beverages 478 335 539 616 451 585 354

Housing 21,409 15,867 23,764 21,272 23,225 28,205 27,097

Shelter 12,604 9,995 13,712 12,374 13,664 15,921 15,361

Owned dwellings 7,473 4,296 8,823 7,870 8,413 10,976 9,811

Rented dwellings 4,408 5,342 4,012 3,622 4,547 4,031 4,488

Other lodging 722 358 877 882 704 915 1,063

Utilities, fuels, and public services 4,158 2,655 4,796 4,237 4,823 5,370 5,857

Household operations 1,465 904 1,703 1,300 1,696 2,662 1,823

Housekeeping supplies 837 512 974 877 835 1,290 1,111

Household furnishings and equipment 2,346 1,800 2,579 2,484 2,207 2,962 2,946

Apparel and services 1,434 917 1,654 1,298 1,391 2,396 2,296

Transportation 9,826 5,324 11,738 9,791 12,636 13,869 14,113

Vehicle purchases (net outlay) 4,523 2,228 5,498 4,525 6,332 6,534 6,171

Gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil 1,568 858 1,870 1,513 1,856 2,249 2,579

Other vehicle expenses 3,471 2,039 4,079 3,516 4,141 4,767 4,960

Table 11. Size of consumer unit: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

See footnotes at end of table.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Page 39

Footnotes

[1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands.

[2] Not applicable.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Item

All consumer units One person Two or more people

Total Two people Three people Four people Five or more people

Public and other transportation 263 199 291 238 307 320 402

Healthcare 5,177 3,202 6,016 6,287 5,778 6,103 5,369

Entertainment 2,912 1,938 3,326 3,110 3,139 4,092 3,354

Personal care products and services 646 423 741 690 688 874 823

Reading 114 97 121 136 93 124 107

Education 1,271 570 1,569 936 1,936 2,530 1,902

Tobacco products and smoking supplies 315 231 350 322 394 339 392

Miscellaneous 907 661 1,011 1,083 763 1,039 1,105

Cash contributions 2,283 1,688 2,535 3,267 1,580 1,577 2,726

Personal insurance and pensions 7,246 3,363 8,895 7,266 9,464 11,360 10,287

Life and other personal insurance 486 237 591 552 616 684 567

Pensions and Social Security 6,760 3,126 8,304 6,714 8,849 10,676 9,720

Table 11. Size of consumer unit: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

Item All consumer units Under 25 years 25–34 years 35–44 years 45–54 years 55–64 years 65 years and older 65–74 years 75 years and older

Number of consumer units (in thousands)[1] 131,234 5,040 20,985 22,307 22,605 25,104 35,194 20,444 14,750

Consumer unit characteristics:

Income before taxes $84,352 $44,259 $79,858 $104,121 $116,195 $94,864 $52,290 $60,079 $41,495

Age of reference person 52.2 21.9 29.9 39.4 49.6 59.7 74.3 69.2 81.4

Average number in consumer unit:

People 2.5 2.1 2.7 3.4 2.9 2.2 1.7 1.9 1.6

Children under 18 .6 .3 .9 1.4 .7 .2 .1 .1 [2]

Adults 65 and older .4 [2] [2] [2] [2] .1 1.4 1.4 1.3

Earners 1.3 1.5 1.5 1.6 1.8 1.4 .5 .6 .3

Vehicles 1.9 1.3 1.7 1.9 2.2 2.2 1.7 1.9 1.4

Table 12. Age of reference person: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

See footnotes at end of table.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Page 40

Item All consumer units Under 25 years 25–34 years 35–44 years 45–54 years 55–64 years 65 years and older 65–74 years 75 years and older

Percent homeowner 66 17 43 62 71 74 80 80 79

Average annual expenditures $61,334 $38,070 $57,641 $74,156 $74,783 $64,937 $47,579 $52,356 $40,839

Food 7,316 4,526 7,048 9,343 8,783 7,292 5,698 6,288 4,829

Food at home 4,942 2,604 4,383 6,202 5,783 5,076 4,204 4,591 3,632

Cereals and bakery products 640 359 539 867 736 625 549 578 505

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs 1,075 570 957 1,277 1,264 1,183 899 987 770

Dairy products 474 212 432 584 550 461 430 477 359

Fruits and vegetables 977 514 837 1,211 1,126 1,008 866 939 759

Other food at home 1,776 949 1,618 2,263 2,107 1,799 1,460 1,610 1,239

Food away from home 2,375 1,923 2,665 3,141 3,000 2,217 1,494 1,696 1,197

Alcoholic beverages 478 225 481 551 547 563 363 462 217

Housing 21,409 14,745 21,220 26,354 24,425 21,379 17,435 18,492 15,937

Shelter 12,604 9,819 13,210 15,209 14,547 12,362 9,915 10,322 9,350

Owned dwellings 7,473 1,120 5,461 9,034 9,583 8,292 6,654 7,501 5,480

Rented dwellings 4,408 8,454 7,481 5,438 4,015 2,958 2,631 2,110 3,353

Other lodging 722 245 268 737 948 1,112 630 711 517

Utilities, fuels, and public services 4,158 2,315 3,556 4,528 4,957 4,508 3,783 4,013 3,465

Household operations 1,465 638 1,502 2,165 1,499 1,262 1,240 1,227 1,259

Housekeeping supplies 837 344 682 826 1,007 1,003 786 824 729

Household furnishings and equipment 2,346 1,628 2,271 3,627 2,415 2,244 1,711 2,107 1,134

Apparel and services 1,434 1,164 1,703 2,010 1,884 1,208 821 960 617

Transportation 9,826 7,300 10,277 12,617 12,316 10,287 6,221 7,676 4,205

Vehicle purchases (net outlay) 4,523 3,466 4,886 6,401 5,595 4,689 2,462 3,333 1,254

Gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil 1,568 1,370 1,658 1,910 2,017 1,638 989 1,194 705

Other vehicle expenses 3,471 2,293 3,460 3,972 4,403 3,649 2,603 2,932 2,150

Public and other transportation 263 171 273 335 302 311 166 217 96

Healthcare 5,177 1,350 3,320 4,579 5,465 5,684 6,668 6,695 6,627

Entertainment 2,912 1,266 2,570 3,628 3,175 3,521 2,293 2,723 1,682

Personal care products and services 646 468 648 742 834 627 505 536 462

Reading 114 51 85 101 116 101 157 131 196

Education 1,271 2,264 1,148 1,114 2,611 1,259 450 416 497

Tobacco products and smoking supplies 315 237 293 349 408 385 207 272 117

Table 12. Age of reference person: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

See footnotes at end of table.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Page 41

Footnotes

[1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands.

[2] Value is too small to display.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Item All consumer units Under 25 years 25–34 years 35–44 years 45–54 years 55–64 years 65 years and older 65–74 years 75 years and older

Miscellaneous 907 317 651 977 1,094 990 921 1,022 779

Cash contributions 2,283 380 833 1,912 2,141 3,161 3,119 2,983 3,308

Personal insurance and pensions 7,246 3,776 7,363 9,881 10,984 8,479 2,721 3,700 1,365

Life and other personal insurance 486 75 231 468 643 617 513 610 380

Pensions and Social Security 6,760 3,701 7,132 9,413 10,342 7,862 2,208 3,090 985

Table 12. Age of reference person: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

Item All consumer 

units

Birth year of 1997 or 

later

Birth year from 1981 to 

1996

Birth year from 1965 to 

1980

Birth year from 1946 to 

1964

Birth year of 1945 or 

earlier

Number of consumer units (in 

thousands) [1] 131,234 3,585 32,968 36,023 43,311 15,348

Consumer unit characteristics:

Income before taxes $84,352 $38,635 $84,975 $113,455 $78,508 $41,876

Age of reference person 52.2 21.1 31.9 47.3 64.1 81.1

Average number in consumer unit:

People 2.5 2.0 2.9 3.0 2.0 1.6

Children under 18 .6 .3 1.1 .9 .1 [2]

Adults 65 and older .4 [2] [2] .1 .7 1.3

Earners 1.3 1.4 1.6 1.7 1.1 .3

Vehicles 1.9 1.3 1.8 2.1 2.1 1.4

Percent homeowner 66 14 47 69 77 79

Average annual expenditures $61,334 $36,512 $61,236 $75,087 $59,131 $41,206

Food 7,316 4,283 7,527 9,048 6,811 4,902

Food at home 4,942 2,393 4,770 5,978 4,874 3,658

Cereals and bakery products 640 331 600 802 607 509

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs 1,075 553 1,014 1,284 1,095 779

Dairy products 474 195 463 560 475 359

Table 13. Generation of reference person: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

See footnotes at end of table.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Page 42

Item All consumer 

units

Birth year of 1997 or 

later

Birth year from 1981 to 

1996

Birth year from 1965 to 

1980

Birth year from 1946 to 

1964

Birth year of 1945 or 

earlier

Fruits and vegetables 977 467 915 1,177 974 768

Other food at home 1,776 846 1,778 2,155 1,723 1,244

Food away from home 2,375 1,890 2,757 3,070 1,937 1,245

Alcoholic beverages 478 173 517 542 507 227

Housing 21,409 13,573 22,283 25,327 20,057 15,976

Shelter 12,604 9,164 13,652 14,759 11,438 9,384

Owned dwellings 7,473 949 6,202 9,535 7,964 5,501

Rented dwellings 4,408 7,936 7,051 4,344 2,527 3,367

Other lodging 722 280 398 880 948 516

Utilities, fuels, and public 

services 4,158 2,123 3,785 4,854 4,273 3,476

Household operations 1,465 555 1,754 1,641 1,249 1,250

Housekeeping supplies 837 240 709 954 924 733

Household furnishings and 

equipment 2,346 1,491 2,383 3,119 2,172 1,132

Apparel and services 1,434 1,230 1,742 1,921 1,088 636

Transportation 9,826 7,304 10,790 12,529 9,006 4,312

Vehicle purchases (net outlay) 4,523 3,678 5,210 5,957 4,016 1,311

Gasoline, other fuels, and motor 

oil 1,568 1,341 1,725 1,979 1,428 717

Other vehicle expenses 3,471 2,122 3,578 4,278 3,289 2,175

Public and other transportation 263 163 276 316 273 109

Healthcare 5,177 1,139 3,570 5,217 6,187 6,634

Entertainment 2,912 1,199 2,784 3,376 3,174 1,741

Personal care products and 

services 646 462 684 791 573 474

Reading 114 53 87 110 114 198

Education 1,271 2,916 1,080 2,096 875 482

Tobacco products and smoking 

supplies 315 248 307 385 336 122

Miscellaneous 907 307 720 1,054 1,001 838

Cash contributions 2,283 363 1,137 2,098 3,123 3,256

Personal insurance and pensions 7,246 3,263 8,008 10,594 6,280 1,408

Table 13. Generation of reference person: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

See footnotes at end of table.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Page 43

Footnotes

[1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands.

[2] Value is too small to display.

[3] Data are likely to have large sampling errors.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Item All consumer 

units

Birth year of 1997 or 

later

Birth year from 1981 to 

1996

Birth year from 1965 to 

1980

Birth year from 1946 to 

1964

Birth year of 1945 or 

earlier

Life and other personal 

insurance 486 66[3] 285 594 620 384

Pensions and Social Security 6,760 3,197 7,723 10,000 5,660 1,023

Table 13. Generation of reference person: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

Item All consumer units Under 30 years 30 and older Under 50 years 50 and older Under 55 years 55 and older Under 65 years 65 and older

Number of consumer units (in thousands)[1] 131,234 14,345 116,889 59,039 72,195 70,936 60,298 96,040 35,194

Consumer unit characteristics:

Income before taxes $84,352 $61,864 $87,111 $91,100 $78,833 $96,538 $70,015 $96,100 $52,290

Age of reference person 52.2 25.3 55.5 35.9 65.5 38.6 68.2 44.1 74.3

Average number in consumer unit:

People 2.5 2.3 2.5 3.0 2.1 2.9 1.9 2.7 1.7

Children under 18 .6 .5 .6 1.1 .2 1.0 .1 .8 .1

Adults 65 and older .4 [2] .5 [2] .7 [2] .9 .1 1.4

Earners 1.3 1.5 1.3 1.6 1.0 1.6 .9 1.6 .5

Vehicles 1.9 1.5 2.0 1.8 2.0 1.9 1.9 2.0 1.7

Percent homeowner 66 28 70 52 77 56 77 61 80

Average annual expenditures $61,334 $47,829 $62,996 $64,896 $58,408 $66,876 $54,807 $66,370 $47,579

Food 7,316 5,660 7,522 8,005 6,746 8,124 6,362 7,907 5,698

Food at home 4,942 3,294 5,146 5,167 4,755 5,258 4,567 5,211 4,204

Cereals and bakery products 640 429 666 681 605 690 580 673 549

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs 1,075 698 1,122 1,106 1,050 1,124 1,018 1,140 899

Dairy products 474 303 495 492 459 500 443 490 430

Fruits and vegetables 977 628 1,020 1,007 952 1,021 925 1,017 866

Other food at home 1,776 1,237 1,843 1,881 1,689 1,924 1,601 1,891 1,460

Table 14. Selected age of reference person: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

See footnotes at end of table.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Page 44

Footnotes

[1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands.

[2] Value is too small to display.

Item All consumer units Under 30 years 30 and older Under 50 years 50 and older Under 55 years 55 and older Under 65 years 65 and older

Food away from home 2,375 2,366 2,376 2,838 1,991 2,865 1,795 2,696 1,494

Alcoholic beverages 478 374 491 494 465 504 447 520 363

Housing 21,409 17,700 21,866 23,053 20,063 23,391 19,077 22,865 17,435

Shelter 12,604 11,485 12,741 13,831 11,600 14,024 10,933 13,589 9,915

Owned dwellings 7,473 2,948 8,028 7,083 7,792 7,590 7,336 7,773 6,654

Rented dwellings 4,408 8,292 3,932 6,239 2,911 5,803 2,767 5,060 2,631

Other lodging 722 245 781 509 897 631 830 756 630

Utilities, fuels, and public services 4,158 2,865 4,317 4,059 4,239 4,220 4,085 4,295 3,783

Household operations 1,465 983 1,524 1,667 1,299 1,648 1,249 1,547 1,240

Housekeeping supplies 837 518 876 766 895 803 876 855 786

Household furnishings and equipment 2,346 1,848 2,408 2,730 2,031 2,697 1,933 2,579 1,711

Apparel and services 1,434 1,267 1,455 1,837 1,102 1,817 982 1,658 821

Transportation 9,826 9,183 9,905 11,402 8,536 11,451 7,914 11,147 6,221

Vehicle purchases (net outlay) 4,523 4,551 4,520 5,608 3,636 5,487 3,389 5,279 2,462

Gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil 1,568 1,533 1,573 1,804 1,375 1,831 1,259 1,780 989

Other vehicle expenses 3,471 2,878 3,543 3,709 3,276 3,838 3,039 3,788 2,603

Public and other transportation 263 221 269 280 250 295 227 299 166

Healthcare 5,177 2,173 5,546 3,913 6,211 4,258 6,258 4,631 6,668

Entertainment 2,912 2,001 3,024 2,929 2,897 3,003 2,805 3,138 2,293

Personal care products and services 646 581 654 714 591 723 556 698 505

Reading 114 67 120 92 132 97 134 98 157

Education 1,271 1,789 1,208 1,340 1,215 1,683 787 1,572 450

Tobacco products and smoking supplies 315 262 321 334 299 343 281 354 207

Miscellaneous 907 576 948 828 971 871 949 902 921

Cash contributions 2,283 589 2,490 1,382 3,020 1,557 3,137 1,976 3,119

Personal insurance and pensions 7,246 5,608 7,447 8,573 6,160 9,054 5,118 8,904 2,721

Life and other personal insurance 486 139 528 372 579 426 556 476 513

Pensions and Social Security 6,760 5,469 6,918 8,201 5,582 8,628 4,562 8,428 2,208

Table 14. Selected age of reference person: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

See footnotes at end of table.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Page 45

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Item

"All consumer units" "Hispanic or Latino" Not Hispanic or Latino

Total "White and all other races" "Black or African-American"

Number of consumer units (in thousands)[1] 131,234 18,621 112,613 95,918 16,695

Consumer unit characteristics:

Income before taxes $84,352 $66,696 $87,271 $91,880 $60,790

Age of reference person 52.2 45.2 53.4 53.9 50.4

Average number in consumer unit:

People 2.5 3.1 2.4 2.3 2.4

Children under 18 .6 .9 .5 .5 .6

Adults 65 and older .4 .2 .4 .5 .3

Earners 1.3 1.6 1.2 1.3 1.2

Vehicles 1.9 1.7 1.9 2.0 1.4

Percent homeowner 66 52 68 72 47

Average annual expenditures $61,334 $52,540 $62,783 $65,467 $47,308

Food 7,316 6,893 7,385 7,652 5,834

Food at home 4,942 4,644 4,990 5,133 4,155

Cereals and bakery products 640 577 650 667 552

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs 1,075 1,131 1,066 1,070 1,047

Dairy products 474 425 482 507 330

Fruits and vegetables 977 1,005 972 998 822

Other food at home 1,776 1,505 1,820 1,891 1,404

Food away from home 2,375 2,249 2,395 2,518 1,680

Alcoholic beverages 478 251 515 566 215

Housing 21,409 19,693 21,691 22,307 18,138

Shelter 12,604 12,089 12,689 13,024 10,766

Owned dwellings 7,473 5,534 7,794 8,361 4,535

Rented dwellings 4,408 6,306 4,095 3,784 5,879

Other lodging 722 249 801 879 352

Utilities, fuels, and public services 4,158 4,135 4,162 4,184 4,037

Household operations 1,465 979 1,545 1,636 1,018

Housekeeping supplies 837 643 868 913 605

Table 15. Hispanic or Latino origin of reference person: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

See footnotes at end of table.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Page 46

Footnote

[1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Item

"All consumer units" "Hispanic or Latino" Not Hispanic or Latino

Total "White and all other races" "Black or African-American"

Household furnishings and equipment 2,346 1,847 2,428 2,551 1,712

Apparel and services 1,434 1,610 1,406 1,420 1,320

Transportation 9,826 10,197 9,764 10,074 7,985

Vehicle purchases (net outlay) 4,523 4,528 4,522 4,758 3,167

Gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil 1,568 1,879 1,517 1,535 1,415

Other vehicle expenses 3,471 3,525 3,462 3,507 3,204

Public and other transportation 263 265 263 274 199

Healthcare 5,177 3,284 5,490 5,831 3,530

Entertainment 2,912 1,740 3,105 3,381 1,507

Personal care products and services 646 583 657 673 560

Reading 114 59 123 132 68

Education 1,271 540 1,392 1,497 793

Tobacco products and smoking supplies 315 171 339 356 240

Miscellaneous 907 732 936 986 648

Cash contributions 2,283 1,019 2,492 2,714 1,216

Personal insurance and pensions 7,246 5,769 7,490 7,879 5,254

Life and other personal insurance 486 251 525 536 458

Pensions and Social Security 6,760 5,518 6,965 7,343 4,796

Table 15. Hispanic or Latino origin of reference person: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

Item

All 

consumer 

units

Selfemployed 

workers

Wage and salary earners Retired All other, 

including not 

reporting Total wage 

and salary 

earners

Managers and 

professionals

Technical, sales 

and clerical 

workers

Service 

workers

Construction 

workers and 

mechanics

Operators, 

fabricators and 

laborers

Number of consumer 

units (in thousands)[1] 131,234 8,723 80,648 35,091 19,357 16,381 3,533 6,286 27,957 13,906

Consumer unit characteristics:

Table 16. Occupation of reference person: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

See footnotes at end of table.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Page 47

Item

All 

consumer 

units

Selfemployed 

workers

Wage and salary earners Retired All other, 

including not 

reporting Total wage 

and salary 

earners

Managers and 

professionals

Technical, sales 

and clerical 

workers

Service 

workers

Construction 

workers and 

mechanics

Operators, 

fabricators and 

laborers

Income before taxes $84,352 $132,856 $99,938 $131,207 $82,635 $71,446 $74,593 $67,156 $42,397 $47,878

Age of reference 

person

52.2 51.0 45.3 45.8 44.2 45.6 42.2 46.4 73.9 49.4

Average number in consumer unit:

People 2.5 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.5 2.7 2.8 2.7 1.7 2.7

Children under 18 .6 .7 .7 .7 .7 .7 .8 .7 .1 .8

Adults 65 and older .4 .3 .2 .2 .2 .2 .1 .2 1.3 .2

Earners 1.3 1.8 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.6 1.8 .2 .7

Vehicles 1.9 2.2 2.0 2.1 1.9 1.7 2.1 2.2 1.7 1.5

Percent homeowner 66 72 63 71 58 50 63 62 80 51

Average annual 

expenditures $61,334 $82,320 $66,893 $80,855 $59,168 $53,604 $57,401 $52,065 $46,111 $46,107

Food 7,316 7,648 7,959 9,240 7,176 7,134 6,500 5,900 5,862 6,306

Food at home 4,942 5,110 5,175 5,974 4,507 4,827 4,067 4,142 4,376 4,618

Cereals and 

bakery products 640 652 666 767 562 644 540 521 581 599

Meats, poultry, 

fish, and eggs 1,075 1,220 1,108 1,244 947 1,127 888 890 930 1,076

Dairy products 474 477 489 576 428 419 439 374 444 445

Fruits and 

vegetables 977 991 1,015 1,181 895 943 718 779 898 906

Other food at 

home 1,776 1,769 1,898 2,204 1,675 1,693 1,483 1,578 1,523 1,593

Food away from 

home 2,375 2,539 2,784 3,267 2,669 2,307 2,433 1,758 1,486 1,688

Alcoholic beverages 478 559 554 753 490 326 376 297 376 177

Housing 21,409 28,193 22,940 26,871 20,856 19,526 19,190 18,319 16,990 16,901

Shelter 12,604 16,080 13,698 16,127 12,391 11,946 11,046 10,213 9,669 9,980

Owned dwellings 7,473 10,612 8,007 10,469 6,849 5,449 5,818 5,730 6,383 4,597

Rented dwellings 4,408 4,306 4,933 4,625 5,006 5,896 4,667 4,066 2,679 4,907

Other lodging 722 1,163 757 1,033 537 601 560 416 607 476

Table 16. Occupation of reference person: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

See footnotes at end of table.
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Item

All 

consumer 

units

Selfemployed 

workers

Wage and salary earners Retired All other, 

including not 

reporting Total wage 

and salary 

earners

Managers and 

professionals

Technical, sales 

and clerical 

workers

Service 

workers

Construction 

workers and 

mechanics

Operators, 

fabricators and 

laborers

Utilities, fuels, and 

public services 4,158 4,618 4,302 4,639 4,082 3,943 4,035 4,183 3,736 3,881

Household 

operations 1,465 1,863 1,595 2,095 1,329 1,091 1,072 1,239 1,215 963

Housekeeping 

supplies 837 1,033 870 1,034 799 668 888 641 766 633

Household 

furnishings and 

equipment

2,346 4,599 2,476 2,976 2,255 1,878 2,149 2,043 1,603 1,443

Apparel and services 1,434 1,969 1,609 1,893 1,405 1,412 1,659 1,067 833 1,257

Transportation 9,826 11,543 11,256 12,465 10,279 9,850 11,866 10,831 6,243 7,648

Vehicle purchases 

(net outlay) 4,523 5,098 5,269 5,967 4,565 4,538 5,321 5,419 2,699 3,506

Gasoline, other 

fuels, and motor oil 1,568 1,834 1,784 1,783 1,707 1,703 2,329 1,930 965 1,362

Other vehicle 

expenses

3,471 4,231 3,893 4,301 3,744 3,382 4,052 3,309 2,441 2,612

Public and other 

transportation 263 380 310 414 264 227 164 173 138 169

Healthcare 5,177 6,185 4,804 5,871 4,350 3,661 3,437 3,984 6,526 3,994

Entertainment 2,912 5,387 2,963 3,788 2,533 1,988 3,042 2,101 2,425 1,928

Personal care 

products and services 646 710 722 893 669 563 524 432 528 403

Reading 114 170 95 140 67 52 47[2] 60 156 100

Education 1,271 2,328 1,453 2,185 1,128 836 719 378 342 1,427

Tobacco products and 

smoking supplies 315 277 330 240 353 377 465 558 219 446

Miscellaneous 907 1,241 952 1,129 742 757 1,406 863 830 592

Cash contributions 2,283 2,758 1,945 2,707 1,561 1,101 1,586 1,276 3,409 1,677

Personal insurance 

and pensions 7,246 13,350 9,310 12,679 7,560 6,020 6,583 6,000 1,373 3,250

Table 16. Occupation of reference person: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

See footnotes at end of table.
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Footnotes

[1] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands.

[2] Data are likely to have large sampling errors.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Item

All 

consumer 

units

Selfemployed 

workers

Wage and salary earners Retired All other, 

including not 

reporting Total wage 

and salary 

earners

Managers and 

professionals

Technical, sales 

and clerical 

workers

Service 

workers

Construction 

workers and 

mechanics

Operators, 

fabricators and 

laborers

Life and other 

personal insurance 486 715 489 696 384 306 211 290 506 282

Pensions and Social 

Security 6,760 12,636 8,821 11,983 7,176 5,714 6,372 5,710 867 2,968

Table 16. Occupation of reference person: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

Item

All consumer units White and all other races, and Asian Black or African-American

Total White and all other races[1] Asian

Number of consumer units (in thousands)[2] 131,234 113,870 107,717 6,154 17,364

Consumer unit characteristics:

Income before taxes $84,352 $88,023 $86,770 $109,945 $60,276

Age of reference person 52.2 52.5 52.9 46.0 50.2

Average number in consumer unit:

People 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.8 2.4

Children under 18 .6 .6 .6 .7 .7

Adults 65 and older .4 .4 .4 .3 .3

Earners 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.5 1.2

Vehicles 1.9 2.0 2.0 1.6 1.4

Percent homeowner 66 69 69 58 47

Average annual expenditures $61,334 $63,446 $63,227 $67,306 $47,389

Food 7,316 7,523 7,458 8,521 5,923

Food at home 4,942 5,055 5,013 5,703 4,176

Cereals and bakery products 640 651 645 752 561

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs 1,075 1,080 1,065 1,310 1,047

Table 17. Race of reference person: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

See footnotes at end of table.
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Item

All consumer units White and all other races, and Asian Black or African-American

Total White and all other races[1] Asian

Dairy products 474 494 497 453 336

Fruits and vegetables 977 999 976 1,351 827

Other food at home 1,776 1,831 1,830 1,836 1,406

Food away from home 2,375 2,468 2,446 2,818 1,746

Alcoholic beverages 478 515 527 326 226

Housing 21,409 21,899 21,697 25,482 18,177

Shelter 12,604 12,872 12,642 16,911 10,842

Owned dwellings 7,473 7,914 7,822 9,530 4,581

Rented dwellings 4,408 4,178 4,028 6,809 5,919

Other lodging 722 781 792 573 341

Utilities, fuels, and public services 4,158 4,181 4,195 3,921 4,009

Household operations 1,465 1,534 1,522 1,730 1,012

Housekeeping supplies 837 870 884 656 611

Household furnishings and equipment 2,346 2,442 2,454 2,264 1,702

Apparel and services 1,434 1,442 1,445 1,393 1,382

Transportation 9,826 10,105 10,198 8,468 7,996

Vehicle purchases (net outlay) 4,523 4,726 4,808 3,291 3,192

Gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil 1,568 1,593 1,600 1,469 1,404

Other vehicle expenses 3,471 3,513 3,526 3,287 3,192

Public and other transportation 263 272 263 422 209

Healthcare 5,177 5,431 5,460 4,924 3,511

Entertainment 2,912 3,125 3,194 1,998 1,495

Personal care products and services 646 659 656 701 560

Reading 114 120 122 103 69

Education 1,271 1,346 1,256 2,936 779

Tobacco products and smoking supplies 315 327 335 176 237

Miscellaneous 907 946 950 874 651

Cash contributions 2,283 2,450 2,514 1,329 1,187

Personal insurance and pensions 7,246 7,558 7,415 10,074 5,195

Life and other personal insurance 486 492 490 520 446

Pensions and Social Security 6,760 7,067 6,925 9,554 4,749

Table 17. Race of reference person: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, 2020

See footnotes at end of table.
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Footnotes

[1] All other races includes Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, American Indian or Alaska Native, and approximately 2 percent reporting more than one race.

[2] Data are rounded to the nearest thousands.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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Technical Notes

The principal objective of the Consumer Expenditure Surveys (CE) is to collect information on the buying habits of U.S. 

consumers. Consumer expenditure data are used in a variety of research activities by government, business, labor, and 

academic analysts. In addition, the data are required for the regular revision of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) market 

basket.

First collected in 1888, the CE was conducted approximately every 10 years through the 1972–73 survey; annual 

collection began in late 1979. Since then, the CE has been conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for BLS. The CE 

consists of two surveys, each with independent samples that were first implemented in the 1972–73 series. There is a 

Diary Survey completed by participating consumer units (CUs) for two consecutive 1-week periods, and an Interview 

Survey in which expenditures of CUs are obtained in four interviews over the course of 10 months, conducted at equally 

spaced, 3-month intervals (e.g., January, April, July, and October). The results in this report are based on integrated data 

from both surveys. Survey participants record dollar amounts for goods and services purchased during the reporting 

period, regardless of whether payment is made at the time of purchase. Expenditure amounts include all sales and 

excise taxes for items purchased by the CU. All business-related expenditures are excluded from both surveys, as are 

most items for which the CU is reimbursed. However, the Interview Survey collects information on insurance 

reimbursements for medical care costs.

The Diary Survey is designed to capture expenditures on small, frequently purchased items that are normally more 

difficult for respondents to recall buying over an extended period. Respondents keep detailed entries of expenses for 

food and beverages—both for food at home (e.g., purchased from grocery stores, convenience stores, farmers markets) 

and food away from home (e.g., purchased from restaurants, carry out, employer and school cafeterias)—and for 

tobacco, housekeeping supplies, nonprescription drugs, personal care products and services, apparel, and any other 

goods or services purchased within the period. Although this survey was designed to collect information on expenditures 

that are not recalled easily over an extended period, respondents are asked to report all expenses that the CU incurs 

during the survey week, except those spent while traveling overnight or longer.

The Interview Survey is designed to capture expenditure data that respondents can reasonably recall for a period of 3 

months or longer. In general, these expenditures are relatively large, such as expenditures for real property, 

automobiles, and major appliances, and/or they occur on a regular basis, such as rent, utility payments, and insurance 

premiums. The Interview Survey also collects data on expenditures incurred on out-of-town trips (excluding the portion, if 

any, made for business purposes). Including global questions on food spending, it is estimated that about 95 percent of 

expenditures are covered in the Interview Survey. A global question is one that collects broad, general information on the 

item of interest. For example, the Diary Survey collects detailed information on purchases of food at home, such as rice 

or chuck steak. In contrast, the Interview Survey asks the global question, “What has been (your/your household’s) usual 

WEEKLY expense for grocery shopping?” Nonprescription drugs, household supplies, and personal care items are 

excluded from collection in the Interview Survey.

For the Diary Survey, the U.S. Census Bureau draws a sample of 17,800 addresses per year for the CE, with 

approximately 15,000 of those addresses found to be occupied housing units. The other 2,800 addresses are generally 

nonexistent, nonresidential, or vacant. Approximately 6,700 of those occupied housing units respond to the survey, and 

each of those households completes two weekly diaries for a total of 13,400 weekly diaries per year.
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Similarly, for the Interview Survey, the U.S. Census Bureau visits 13,175 addresses per quarter (as opposed to weekly), 

with 11,000 of those addresses having occupied housing units. Then, approximately 5,000 of those occupied housing 

units respond to the survey for a total of 5,000 interviews per quarter. Each CU is interviewed once per quarter, for four 

consecutive quarters. With the rotating panel, some CUs rotate out of the survey each quarter, while others rotate in. 

Data from both the Diary and Interview Surveys are collected on an ongoing basis in 91 geographic areas of the United 

States.

Integrated data from the Diary and Interview Surveys provide a more complete accounting of consumer expenditures 

and income than either survey is designed to do on its own. One reason is that data on some expenditure items are 

collected in only one of the surveys. For example, the Diary Survey does not collect information on reimbursements or 

expenses incurred by CU members while away from home overnight or longer. Examples of expenditures for which 

reimbursements are included in the Interview Survey are medical care; automobile repairs; and construction, repairs, 

alterations, and maintenance of property. Similarly, the Interview Survey collects only global, not detailed, expenditures 

on food at or away from home. For items that are unique to one survey or the other, the choice of which survey to use as 

the source of data is obvious. However, there is considerable overlap in coverage between the surveys, and integrating 

the data involves ascertaining which is the appropriate survey from which to select specific expenditure items. When 

data are available from both surveys, the CE program uses statistical methods to decide which survey is more reliable. 

In this way, some items are selected from the Interview Survey, and others are selected from the Diary Survey. The CE 

program reviews the survey source every 2 years for this purpose. See “CE Source Selection for Publication Tables” in 

the Consumer Expenditure Survey Anthology, 2011 (BLS Report, no. 1030) for source selection details.

As noted above, the CPI market basket is revised in accordance with results from the CE. However, the population 

coverage of the CE differs from the CPI. The CE data cover the total population including rural areas, whereas the CPI 

covers only the population in urban and metropolitan areas. With the latest CPI geographic revisions, BLS is making 

efforts to align the urban areas sampled by the CPI and the CE.

Definitions of components also differ between the CE and CPI. For example, homeownership is treated differently in the 

two surveys: actual expenditures of homeownership are reported in the CE, whereas the CPI uses a rental equivalence 

approach that estimates the change in the cost of obtaining, in the rental marketplace, services equivalent to those 

provided by owner-occupied homes. (For an overview of the CPI methodology, see the Handbook of Methods section on 

the Consumer Price Index.)

Interpreting the data

Expenditures are averages for consumer units (CUs) with specified characteristics, regardless of whether any particular 

unit incurred an expense for a specific item during the recordkeeping period. Therefore, the average expenditure shown 

for an item may be considerably lower than the average expenditure by the CUs that purchased the item. The less 

frequently an item is purchased, the greater the difference between the average for all CUs and the average for those 

purchasing the item. Similarly, an individual CU may spend more or less than the average, depending on the unit’s 

characteristics. For example, factors such as income, age of family members, and geographic location of the CU 

influence its expenditures. In addition, even within groups with similar characteristics, the distribution of expenditures 

varies substantially, as personal preference, prices, and other factors not collected in the Consumer Expenditure 

Surveys (CE) (e.g., health status of CU members) also influence expenditures. These points should be considered when 

comparing reported averages with the individual circumstances of any CU of interest. Users of these survey data should 
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•

•

•

also keep in mind that the data reflect conditions at the time they were collected, which may be different than current 

circumstances. For example, prices may have changed. For example, all prices, as measured by the CPI-U, increased 

1.2 percent from 2019 to 2020 (annual average index); undoubtedly, some prices rose more than the average (1.2 

percent), some rose less, some stayed the same, and some have even declined within this period, or after 2020. In 

addition, sample surveys are subject to two types of error: sampling and non-sampling. Sampling errors occur because 

the data are collected from a sample representing the population, rather than from the entire population. Therefore, the 

mean of the sample may differ from the mean that would be obtained if data from the entire population were available. 

Non-sampling errors result from the inability or unwillingness of respondents to provide correct information, differences 

in interviewers’ abilities, mistakes in recording or coding, and other processing errors. For additional information on 

these types of errors see the sampling and non-sampling errors question on the CE FAQs page.

Standard tables, 1960–61, 1972–73, 1984–2020

Tables in this report include integrated data from both the Diary Survey and Interview Survey 

components of the CE, enabling data users to associate the full range of expenditures with 

consumers’ demographic characteristics. Users can access the CE tables beginning with 1960–61, 

which have more detail than is given in this report. Also available are tables showing average annual 

data over a 2-year period for

income before taxes, cross-tabulated by age, CU size, or region;

single consumers by sex of reference person cross-tabulated by either income (of the CU) or age (of reference 

person); and

selected metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), such as New York City, Chicago, Dallas, and San Francisco.

Detailed tables, 1984–2020

In addition, BLS also produces detailed CE prepublication tables, which contain additional sub-categories of spending by 

demographic characteristics, but also have larger variances. A table showing results for all consumer units including the 

most detailed breakdown of expenditures is available at www.bls.gov/cex/tables.htm#topline. Detailed level tables by 

demographics are available by request; email: CEXInfo@bls.gov.

Public use microdata

The 2020 CE public use microdata (PUMD), including the Interview Survey files, Diary Survey files, and paradata 

(information about the data collection process) are available at www.bls.gov/cex/pumd.htm. The Interview Survey files 

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

based on the CPI-U pricing scheme, FMLI files that present user-friendly summary expenditure variables, and detailed 

data files that organize expenditures by the section of the Interview questionnaire in which they are collected (called 

“EXPN” files). Expenditure values on detailed data 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. The Diary Survey 

files contain expenditure data in two different formats: EXPD files that present weekly values in the same item-coding 

framework based on the CPI-U pricing scheme, and FMLD files that present user-friendly summary expenditure 
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variables. Documentation of the CE PUMD, its conventions, files, sample code, and methodology can be found at 

www.bls.gov/cex/pumd-getting-started-guide.htm.

Beginning with the 2013 PUMD, new estimates of local, state, and federal tax liabilities were included. The CE 

introduced these estimates to improve the quality of surveyed tax liabilities, which suffered from low item response. For 

more information on the improvements, see Improving Data Quality in the Consumer Expenditure Survey with TAXSIM, 

and for new applications of the tax estimates, see New estimates of Personal Taxes in the Consumer Expenditure 

Survey. Free public-use microdata are available at PUMD data files from the years 1980 to 2020.

Other survey information

Other survey information available on the website includes answers to frequently asked questions and a glossary of 

terms. Beginning with the CE 2000 data, estimates of standard errors for integrated Diary and Interview Survey data are 

also available.

The CE program also publishes expenditure data within the context of various topics of interest in Beyond the Numbers. 

As of December 2021, recent articles are: How have healthcare expenditures changed? Evidence from the Consumer 

Expenditure Surveys and How does consumer spending differ among households in California, Texas, and New York? A 

new BLS data product can tell us. Additional CE articles are presented in the Monthly Labor Review (MLR). As of 

December 2021, the most recent analytical MLR article that features CE data is, “Assessing Consumer Expenditure 

Surveys data quality through the lens of data use.” In addition, the CE research library includes general articles and 

research papers using CE data, including documents.

Information on the methodology used to calculate and collect CE data, including the CE data quality profile, can be 

found in the CE Handbook of Methods.

Upcoming events

BLS sponsors a CE symposium and a microdata users’ workshop. Both events are free, although registration is 

required. The CE Symposium focuses on survey methodology, and typically features economists and statisticians who 

work on the CE survey, other BLS surveys, and researchers who are not affiliated with BLS. The symposium typically 

meets on one day. The workshop is held over 3 days, starting with presentations designed for those who have never 

used the data and building to expert topics. The workshop also features presentations from researchers not affiliated 

with BLS, who describe the nature of their projects, specific files, and variables they use, the problems (and solutions) 

they have encountered working with the data, and any other relevant topics. The workshop also features opportunities to 

meet with an expert from the CE staff to discuss any aspect of a current or potential project, general or specific, about 

which the attendee has questions or concerns.

More information about these events is available on the CE website (www.bls.gov/cex/csxannualworkshop.htm). Reports 

on these events are also published in the Monthly Labor Review (MLR). The most recent report available at the time of 

publication of this news release describes the 2020 events (www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2021/article/consumer-expendituresurvey-methods-symposium-and-microdata-users-workshop-2020.htm). Reports on earlier events are available on the 

CE MLR publications webpage (www.bls.gov/cex/csxart.htm).
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Contact information

For more detailed information on the availability of current and earlier data, contact the Division of Consumer 

Expenditure Surveys, Office of Prices and Living Conditions, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE, 

Washington, DC 20212-0001; call (202) 691-6900; email: CEXInfo@bls.gov; or visit the Consumer Expenditure Surveys

page. Information in this publication is in the public domain and, with appropriate credit, may be reproduced without 

permission. Upon request, the information in this report will be made available to individuals who are sensory-impaired. 

Voice phone: (202) 691-5200. Federal Relay Service: 1-800-877-8339.