Consumer Expenditure

Survey, 2006–2007

U.S. Department of Labor

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

July 2010

Report 1021
Consumer Expenditure

Survey, 2006–07

U.S. Department of Labor 

Hilda Solis, Secretary

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Keith Hall, Commissioner

July 2010

Report 1021
ii

Preface

This report presents detailed information from the 

Consumer Expenditure Survey for 2006 and 2007, 

using combined—or integrated—data from the Diary 

and Interview components of the survey. Integrated data 

provide a complete accounting of consumer expenditures and 

income, which neither component alone was designed to do.

The Consumer Expenditure Survey program provides a 

continuous and comprehensive flow of data on the buying 

habits of American consumers for use in a variety of economic 

research and in support of periodic revisions of the Consumer 

Price Index (CPI). The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) 

makes data available in news releases, reports, bulletins, and 

articles in the Monthly Labor Review; on CD-ROMs; and on 

the Internet. Appendix D of this report presents a list of BLS 

publications and other resources, along with information on 

how to obtain them.

This report was prepared in the Office of Prices and Living Conditions, Division of Consumer Expenditure Surveys, 

under the general direction of Steve Henderson, Chief of 

the Branch of Information and Analysis. Brett Creech, Jeff 

Crilley, Ann Foster, Peggy Murphy, William Passero, Laura 

Paszkiewicz, John Rogers, and Nick Zwileneff made major 

contributions in preparing tables and text. Processing of data 

was completed under the direction of Carolyn Pickering, Chief 

of the Branch of Production and Control, and Lavern James, 

Chief of the Division of Consumer Expenditure Information 

Systems. Ramakrishna Aitha and Chro Muhammad assisted 

in data processing. David Swanson, Chief of the Statistical 

Methods Division, provided statistical assistance on data 

reliability. Sharon Krieger and Barry Steinberg contributed

to the description of survey methods in appendix B. The

U.S. Census Bureau, under contract with BLS, carried out

data collection for both the Interview and Diary components of the survey. Monica Rose Gabor, of the Office

of Publications and Special Studies, edited this report; and 

Phyllis Lott, of the same office, provided typesetting and

layout services.

This report, Consumer Expenditure Survey 2006–07, is the 

final in a series of biennial reports that will be published in 

favor of more timely means of disseminating the information. 

Much of the content (and current versions) will be available 

on the CE website, and analytical and survey methods articles 

will be available in future CE anthologies. If you have any 

questions about this transition, please email cexinfo@bls.gov.

Sensory-impaired individuals may obtain information in 

this publication upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; 

TDD message referral phone: 1 (800) 877-8339. Material in 

this publication is in the public domain and, with appropriate 

credit, may be reproduced without permission. For further 

information, call (202) 691-6900.
iii

Contents

Page

Introduction.............................................................................................................................................................................. 1

Data Highlights 2006 and 2007 ............................................................................................................................................... 3

Chart 1. Share of total transportation expenditures to transportation subcomponents,

Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2003–07, in percent................................................................................................... 4

Chart 2. Share of total housing expenditures for housing subcomponents, Consumer Expenditure Survey,

1987, 1997, and 2007, in percent ................................................................................................................................. 4

Text table 1. Average annual expenditures of all consumer units and percent changes,

Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2005–07..................................................................................................................... 5

Text table 2. Component shares of total annual expenditures, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2004–07..................... 6

Interpreting the Data ................................................................................................................................................................ 7

Data comparison articles:

Consumer Expenditure Survey Compared with National Health Expenditure Accounts................................................... 8

Text table 3. Comparison of aggregate expenditures for healthcare: Consumer Expenditure Survey and

National Health Expenditure Accounts, 2004–07 ........................................................................................................ 9

Measuring the Impact of Income Imputation in the Consumer Expenditure Survey: A Multi-year Comparison of

Income Data with Estimates from the Current Population Survey................................................................................... 10

Text table 4. Aggregate pretax income and ratios for Current Population Survey (CPS) and for three alternative

measures of Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE), by total and source of income, 2002–07 ...................................... 13

Text table 5. Aggregate pretax income and percent distribution, total and by reported and allocated status,

by source of income, Current Population Survey (CPS) and three alternative measures of

Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE), 2004–07 ........................................................................................................... 16

Consumer Expenditure Survey Compared with the American Community Survey........................................................... 20

Text table 6. Comparison of housing and fuel expenditures: Consumer Expenditure Survey, and

American Community Survey (ACS), 2006–07........................................................................................................... 22

Special topic articles

Computer Ownership Continues to Rise............................................................................................................................. 23

Chart 3. Percent of computer ownership, all consumer units, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2003–07...................... 23

Text table 7. Average number of computers owned, all consumer units and computer owners

Consumer Expenditure Interview Survey, 2000–07..................................................................................................... 24

Chart 4. Percent of computer ownership by age group, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2000 and 2007 ..................... 24

Chart 5. Percent of computer ownership by education level, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2000 and 2007............. 25

Text table 8. Average number of computers owned by all consumer units and computer owners, classified

by age, education level, and race, Consumer Expenditure Interview Survey, 2000 and 2007 .................................... 26

Chart 6. Percent of computer ownership by race, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2000 and 2007 .............................. 26

Chart 7. Percent of computer ownership by income quintile, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2004 and 2007 ............ 27

Text table 9. Average number of computers owned by all consumer units and computer owners, classified

by income quintile, Consumer Expenditure Interview Survey, 2004 and 2007........................................................... 27
iv

Page

A Comparison of Expenditures by Opposite-sex Unmarried Partners with Opposite-sex Married Couples,

without Children................................................................................................................................................................ 28

Chart 8. Distribution of age of reference person by couple type, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2004–07 ................ 29

Chart 9. Income before taxes and income before taxes per earner by age group and couple type,

Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2004–07..................................................................................................................... 29

Text table 10. Demographic summary statistics by age, income and couple type,

Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2004–07.................................................................................................................... 30

Text table 11. Expenditure levels by age, income and couple type, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2004–07............. 34

Text table 12. Expenditure shares by age, income and couple type, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2004–07............ 39

Appendixes: 

Appendix A. Glossary ........................................................................................................................................................ 43

Appendix B. Integration and survey methods..................................................................................................................... 49

Table B-1. Analysis of response in the 2006-2007 Interview Survey............................................................................ 52

Table B-2. Analysis of response in the 2006-2007 Diary Survey .................................................................................. 52

Appendix C. Survey source of data for integrated tables, 2007.......................................................................................... 54

Appendix D. Consumer Expenditure Survey resources...................................................................................................... 62

Monthly Labor Review articles....................................................................................................................................... 62

Bulletins and reports....................................................................................................................................................... 63

Microdata files on CD-ROM.......................................................................................................................................... 63

Online tables via the Internet.......................................................................................................................................... 63

Reference tables:

Selected characteristics and annual expenditures, 2007, by:

1. Quintiles of income before taxes (PDF) 

2. Income before taxes (PDF) 

3. Higher income before taxes (PDF) 

4. Age of reference person (PDF) 

5. Size of consumer unit (PDF) 

6. Composition of consumer unit (PDF) 

7. Number of earners (PDF) 

8. Housing tenure and type of area (PDF) 

9. Race of reference person (PDF) 

10. Hispanic or Latino origin of reference person (PDF) 

11. Region (PDF) 

12. Occupation (PDF) 

13. Education (PDF) 

Selected characteristics and annual expenditures, 2006, by:

14. Quintiles of income before taxes (PDF) 

15. Income before taxes (PDF) 

16. Higher income before taxes (PDF) 

17. Age of reference person (PDF) 

18. Size of consumer unit (PDF) 

19. Composition of consumer unit (PDF) 

20. Number of earners (PDF) 

21. Housing tenure and type of area (PDF) 

22. Race of reference person (PDF) 

23. Hispanic or Latino origin of reference person (PDF) 

24. Region (PDF) 

25. Occupation (PDF) 

26. Education (PDF) 

Contents—Continued
v

Selected Metropolitan Statistical Areas, 2006–07 

27. Northeast (PDF) 

28. Midwest (PDF) 

29. South (PDF) 

30. West (PDF) 

Selected characteristics and annual expenditures, 2006–07, cross-tabulated by: 

Age of reference person and income before taxes: 

31. Age under 25 (PDF) 

32. Age 25–34 (PDF) 

33. Age 35–44 (PDF) 

34. Age 45–54 (PDF) 

35. Age 55–64 (PDF) 

36. Age 65 and older (PDF)

Region of residence and income before taxes: 

37. Northeast (PDF) 

38. Midwest (PDF) 

39. South (PDF) 

40. West (PDF) 

Size of consumer unit and income before taxes: 

41. One person (PDF) 

42. Two or more persons (PDF) 

43. Two persons (PDF) 

44. Three persons (PDF) 

45. Four persons (PDF) 

46. Five or more persons (PDF) 

Selected characteristics and annual expenditures of single consumer units, 2006–07, cross-tabulated by: 

Sex and age of reference person: 

47. Single men (PDF) 

48. Single women (PDF) 

Sex and income before taxes: 

49. Single men (PDF) 

50. Single women (PDF) 

Shares of average annual expenditures, 2007, by: 

51. Quintiles of income before taxes (PDF) 

52. Income before taxes (PDF) 

53. Higher income before taxes (PDF) 

54. Age of reference person (PDF) 

55. Size of consumer unit (PDF) 

56. Composition of consumer unit (PDF) 

57. Number of earners (PDF) 

58. Housing tenure and type of area (PDF) 

59. Race of reference person (PDF) 

60. Hispanic or Latino origin of reference person (PDF) 

61. Region (PDF) 

62. Occupation (PDF) 

63. Education (PDF) 

Contents—Continued
vi

Aggregate expenditure shares, 2007, by: 

64. Quintiles of income before taxes (PDF) 

65. Income before taxes (PDF) 

66. Higher income before taxes (PDF) 

67. Age of reference person (PDF) 

68. Size of consumer unit (PDF) 

69. Composition of consumer unit (PDF) 

70. Number of earners (PDF) 

71. Housing tenure and type of area (PDF) 

72. Race of reference person (PDF) 

73. Hispanic or Latino origin of reference person (PDF) 

74. Region (PDF) 

75. Occupation (PDF) 

76. Education (PDF) 

Contents—Continued
1

How much do Americans spend in a year, and how do 

they allocate those expenditures? In 2007, data from 

the Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) showed that 

on average, consumer units1 spent $49,638—an increase of 

2.6 percent from 2006. This followed a 4.3-percent increase 

in spending in 2006 and a 6.9-percent increase in 2005. (See 

text table 1.) These spending increases occurred during a 

period of moderate inflation and strong economic growth. 

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3.2 percent in 2006 

and 2.8 percent in 2007.2 The civilian unemployment rate was 

4.6 percent in both 2006 and 2007.3 Gross domestic product 

(GDP), measured in current dollars, rose 6.1 percent in 2006 

and 4.8 percent in 2007. Disposable personal income, in 

current dollars, rose 6.4 percent in 2006 and 5.5 percent in 

2007. 4

The major components of spending—food, housing, apparel 

and services, transportation, healthcare, entertainment, cash 

contributions, and personal insurance and pensions—account 

for about 94 percent of consumer units’ average annual 

expenditures in the CE. In 2007, changes in expenditures 

varied among the major components. All major components 

showed an increase in expenditures except for cash 

contributions, which decreased by 2.6 percent. The increases 

ranged from a 13.6-percent increase for entertainment—the 

largest increase—to a 0.4-percent increase for food and for 

apparel and services, the smallest increases. 

Expenditures on food increased 3.0 percent in 2006 and 0.4 

percent in 2007. However, because of increased spending in 

other areas, the share of average annual expenditures spent on 

food fell from 12.6 percent in 2006 to 12.4 percent in 2007. 

(See text table 2.) Spending on food at home increased by 3.6 

percent in 2006, and 1.4 percent in 2007. In 2006, expenditures on fruits and vegetables experienced the largest increase 

of all the food-at-home subcomponents, 7.2 percent, those on 

meats, poultry, fish and eggs, increased 4.3 percent, and dairy 

expenditures were the only subcomponent that decreased, 

falling 2.6 percent. In 2007, spending on meats, poultry, fish, 

and eggs decreased by 2.5 percent, while all other subcomponents increased, accounting for the overall increase in spending on food at home. The increases ranged from a 1.4-percent 

increase in spending on fruits and vegetables to a 5.2-percent 

increase in spending on dairy products. The share of expenditures spent on food at home also declined from 7.1 percent in 

2006 to 7.0 percent in 2007. Expenditures on food away from 

home increased by 2.3 percent in 2006 but then decreased by 

1.0 percent in 2007. The share of expenditures spent on food 

away from home declined from 5.6 percent in 2006 to 5.4 

percent in 2007. 

Housing expenditures in 2007 represented 34.1 percent of 

all expenditures, a slight increase over the 33.8 percent they 

represented in 2006. This compares with 32.1 percent in 2004 

and 32.7 in 2005. Expenditures on housing increased by 3.4 

percent in 2007, after an increase of 7.9 percent in 2006. Expenditures on all housing subcomponents (shelter, utilities, fuels, and public services; household operations; housekeeping 

supplies; and household furnishings and equipment) increased 

in both 2006 and 2007, except for household furnishings 

and equipment, which decreased in 2006 and housekeeping supplies, which decreased in 2007. Shelter expenditures 

increased by 9.9 percent in 2006, followed by a 3.6-percent 

increase in 2007. Shelter includes items such as mortgage 

interest, property taxes, maintenance and repair, insurance 

expenses, rent, and vacation homes. The 2006 increase was 

driven by a 12.4-percent increase in mortgage interest. Spending on shelter accounted for almost 60 cents of every dollar 

spent on housing. Expenditures on utilities, fuels, and public 

services increased 2.4 percent in 2007 following a 6.7-percent increase, in 2006. The 2006 increase was driven by a 

9.6-percent increase in expenditures on electricity and by a 

7.6-percent increase in expenditures on natural gas. Spending 

on utilities, fuels, and public services accounted for about 21 

cents of every dollar spent on housing. Household furnishings and equipment expenditures rose 5.2 percent in 2007, 

after declining 3.3 percent in 2006. This subcomponent includes such items as furniture, floor coverings, small and major appliances, linens and draperies and other miscellaneous 

equipment. Expenditures on household operations increased 

18.4 percent in 2006 followed by a 3.8-percent increase in 

2007. The 2006 increase was driven largely by a 17.8-percent 

increase in spending on day care centers, nursery and preschools, a 23.9-percent increase in spending on housekeeping 

services, and a 13.5-percent increase in spending on gardening and lawn care service. 

Spending on apparel and services increased 0.4 percent 

Introduction

1A consumer unit comprises 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. Financial independence is determined by the three major expense 

categories: Housing, food, and other living expenses. To be considered financially independent, at least two of the three major expense categories have to 

be provided entirely, or in part, by the respondent.

2Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov/cpi, 2009 3Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov/cps, 2009 4Bureau of Economic Analysis, www.bea.gov/national/index.htm#gdp, 

and www.bea.gov/national/nipaweb/TableView.asp#Mid, 2009
2

in 2007, after decreasing 0.6 percent in 2006. The increase 

in 2007 was driven by a 7.6-percent increase in spending on 

footwear. For all other subcomponents expenditures decreased 

in 2007, ranging from a decline of 3.1 percent for apparel 

for children under 2 to a 0.3-percent decline for women’s 

and girls’ apparel. The share of total annual expenditures 

on apparel and services has declined steadily over the long 

term from 5.9 percent in 1987 to 5.0 percent in 1997 and 3.8 

percent in 2007. In 2005, the share spent on clothing was 4.1 

percent; in 2006 it was 3.9 percent 

Transportation expenditures rose 2.9 percent in 2007, following a 2.0-percent increase in 2006. Expenditures on gasoline and motor oil rose significantly in both 2006 and 2007, 

10.6 percent and 7.0 percent, respectively. This followed increases of 26.0 percent in 2005 and 19.9 percent in 2004. In 

2006, gasoline and motor oil spending was 26.2 percent of total transportation spending and in 2007, it rose to 27.2 percent 

of the total. Public transportation spending, which includes 

such items as airplane and train fares, as well as intra-city 

transit fares, rose by 12.7 percent in 2006 and by 6.5 percent 

in 2007. Spending on vehicle purchases was the only subcomponent of transportation to decrease in 2006 and 2007. 

Expenditures on vehicle purchases declined by 3.5 percent in 

2006 and by 5.2 percent in 2007. The share of total annual 

expenditures on vehicle purchases declined from a share of 

7.6 percent in 2005 to 7.1 percent in 2006 and to 6.5 percent 

in 2007. 

Health care expenditures, out-of-pocket only, rose 3.1 percent, in 2007 and 3.8 percent in 2006, after rising 3.5 percent 

in 2005. The health insurance subcomponent of health care 

rose 5.5 percent in 2007, following a 7.6-percent increase in 

2006. These expenditures include only what the consumer 

unit paid for health insurance, not any amount paid for by a 

third party, such as an employer. In 2007, health insurance 

expenditures accounted for 54.2 percent of total health spending, which was up from 53.0 percent in 2006, and 51.1 percent, in 2005. Spending on the drugs subcomponent of health 

care declined 6.4 percent in 2007, following a 1.3-percent 

decrease in 2006. This subcomponent includes prescription 

drugs, non-prescription drugs, and non-prescription vitamins. 

Spending on medical services, which includes such items as 

dental and eye-care services, lab tests and x-rays, and physicians’ services, rose 5.8 percent in 2007, after declining 1.0 

percent in 2006. Expenditures on medical supplies rose 0.9 

percent in 2007, after rising 11.4 percent in 2006. Medical 

supplies, which includes such items as eyeglasses and contact 

lenses, hearing aids, and supportive and convalescent medical 

equipment, represented about 4.0 percent of total health care 

spending in both 2006 and 2007.

Entertainment expenditures remained nearly constant in 

2006, declining by 0.5 percent but then rose by 13.6 percent 

in 2007. This followed a 7.7-percent increase in spending 

on entertainment in 2005. Expenditures on audio and visual 

equipment and services, which includes televisions, rose 8.9 

percent in 2007, another 2.0 percent in 2006, and 12.7 percent, 

in 2005. This subcomponent represents a little over a third of 

total entertainment spending. Fees and admissions—the second largest subcomponent—showed expenditure increases of 

8.6 percent in 2007 and 3.1 percent in 2006. Expenditures on 

pets, toys, hobbies, and playground equipment increased by 

35.9 percent in 2007, following a 1.9-percent decline, in 2006. 

NOTE: The large change seen in 2007 is not typical of this 

item. It was driven mainly by a change in the survey source 

for the data which changed from the Interview Survey to the 

Diary Survey. (See appendix B. Survey methods for a detailed 

explanation of source selection.) The subcomponent of other 

supplies, equipment, and services includes such items as recreational vehicles, boats, campers, and sports and exercise equipment. It represents a little under a fifth of total entertainment 

expenditures. Because some of these items tend to be large 

and are purchased infrequently, this category tends to show 

expenditure fluctuations across years. Spending increased 9.3 

percent in 2007, after declining 8.3 percent in 2006. 

Spending on cash contributions, which includes, among 

other things, contributions to charities, contributions to 

religious organizations, child support, and support for college 

students, fell by 2.6 percent, in 2007, following increases of 

12.4 percent in 2006 and 18.1 percent in 2005. The decrease 

in 2007, was driven by decreases in contributions to churches 

and religious organizations and to educational institutions. 

Both these items had increased significantly, in 2006, relative 

to 2005 and were main drivers of the 12.4-percent increase in 

2006.

Spending on personal insurance and pensions rose by 1.3 

percent, in both 2006 and 2007, following a 7.9-percent increase in 2005. Both increases were due largely to expenditure increases in pensions and Social Security, which represents well over 90 percent of total expenditures on personal 

insurance and pensions. The pensions and Social Security 

subcomponent rose 1.6 percent in 2007 and 2.6 percent in 

2006. Spending on life and other personal insurance declined 

by 4.0 percent in 2007 and by 5.5 percent in 2006. For the 

sixth straight year in 2007 spending on life and other personal 

insurance declined. 

Expenditure shares, which show the percent distribution 

among components, do not fluctuate much over time and are 

more useful for identifying long-term spending trends than 

examining percent changes in expenditures from one year to 

the next. Of the major components of spending, the shares 

for food, housing, apparel and services, and personal insurance and pensions changed only slightly in 2007 from those 

in 2006. For example, the share for housing was 34.1 percent 

in 2007 and 33.8 percent in 2006, while the share for food was 

12.4 percent in 2007 and 12.6 percent in 2006. Shares for 

health care and transportation were the same in both years, 5.7 

and 17.6 percent, respectively. Only the share for entertainment in 2007, at 5.4 percent, seemed to diverge from the long 

term trend; the shares for the years 2004–06 were 5.1, 5.1, and 

4.9 percent, respectively. This divergence in the entertainment 

share can be traced back to a change in the survey source for 

several items that are classified as entertainment expenditures. 

(Again, see appendix B. Survey methods.) 
3

acteristics. Included in this report are 13 tables classifying 

data by 13 standard characteristics, for 2006 and 2007. Also 

included are 4 tables for selected metropolitan areas in each 

of the 4 regions of the country; 16 tables that cross-tabulate 

the data by income before taxes and: age of the reference 

person, region of residence, or size of the consumer unit; 4 

tables that show data for single persons cross-tabulated by 

sex and age or by sex and income; 13 tables showing shares 

of total expenditures for 13 standard characteristics; and 13 

tables showing aggregate expenditure shares for 13 standard 

characteristics. Cross-tabulations and metropolitan area tables 

include data that are annual averages over the 2 years, 2006 

and 2007, to provide reliable estimates. Also, for the crosstabulations, some classes are combined to make estimates reliable. For example, the standard age classification includes 

data for age classes 65 to 74 years and 75 years and older; 

but for the cross-tabulations, these classes are combined into 

one class—ages 65 years and older. Appendix A provides a 

glossary of terms used in this report. Appendix B contains a 

detailed description of survey procedures, including methods 

used to select the survey source of data from the Diary and 

Interview components of the survey. Appendix C shows the 

survey source—Diary or Interview—for expenditure items. 

Appendix D provides information on Consumer Expenditure 

Survey resources.

Looking at the share of different subcomponents of 

transportation and housing over time reveals some interesting trends. As can be seen in chart 1, from 2003 

to 2007, the share of total transportation expenditures for vehicle purchases steadily decreased; and the share for gasoline 

and motor oil steadily increased. Chart 2 shows the shares of 

total housing expenditures that were allocated to the various 

subcomponents in 1987, 1997, and 2007. Over that period, 

the shares of shelter and household operations rose, while the 

shares of utilities, fuels and public services, housekeeping 

supplies, and household furnishings and equipment declined. 

Text table 1 shows consumer unit5 (CU) characteristics; 

income; and expenditures for 2005, 2006, and 2007, and percent changes over the periods 2005–2006 and 2006–2007. 

Text table 2 shows expenditure shares for 2004 through 2007. 

Data shown are integrated data from the Diary and Interview 

Surveys, unless otherwise noted. (See appendix B.) Integrated 

data from the current, ongoing survey have been published 

since 1984.

Integrated data are presented in 75 reference tables, which 

show average annual expenditures, for 2006 and 2007, for the 

total population, tabulated by selected socioeconomic charData Highlights 2006 and 2007

5The terms consumer unit and household are used interchangeably throughout the text for convenience.
4

Chart 1. Share of total transportation expenditures of transportation subcomponents, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2003–07

Share

(percent)

50

0

10

20

30

40

60

Vehicle purchases 

(net outlay)

Other vehicle Gasoline and motor oil Public transportation

purchases

Share

(percent)

50

0

10

20

30

40

60

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Chart 2. Share of total housing expenditures for housing subcomponents, Consumer Expenditure Survey 1987, 1997, and 2007

Share

(percent)

Shelter Household furnishings 

and equipment

Household 

operations

Utilities, fuels, and 

public services

Share

(percent)

1987 1997 2007

50

0

10

20

30

40

60

70

50

0

10

20

30

40

60

70

Housekeeping 

supplies
5

Text table 1. Average annual expenditures of all consumer units and percent changes, Consumer Expenditure 

Survey, 2005–07

Item 2005 2006 2007

Percent change

2005–06 2006–07

Annual expenditures........................................................ $46,409 $48,398 $49,638 4.3 2.6

 Food .............................................................................. 5,931 6,111 6,133 3.0 0.4

 At home 3,297 3,417 3,465 3.6 1.4

 Cereals and bakery products..................................... 445 446 460 0.2 3.1

 Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs.................................... 764 797 777 4.3 -2.5

 Dairy products ........................................................... 378 368 387 -2.6 5.2

 Fruits and vegetables ................................................ 552 592 600 7.2 1.4

 Other food at home.................................................... 1,158 1,212 1,241 4.7 2.4

 Away from home.......................................................... 2,634 2,694 2,668 2.3 -1.0

 Alcoholic beverages....................................................... 426 497 457 16.7 -8.0

 Housing ......................................................................... 15,167 16,366 16,920 7.9 3.4

 Shelter ......................................................................... 8,805 9,673 10,023 9.9 3.6

 Utilities, fuels, and public services............................... 3,183 3,397 3,477 6.7 2.4

 Household operations.................................................. 801 948 984 18.4 3.8

 Housekeeping supplies ............................................... 611 640 639 4.7 -0.2

 House furnishings and equipment............................... 1,767 1708 1,797 -3.3 5.2

 Apparel and services ..................................................... 1,886 1,874 1,881 -0.6 0.4

 Transportation................................................................ 8,344 8,508 8,758 2.0 2.9

 Vehicle purchases (net outlay) .................................... 3,544 3,421 3,244 -3.5 -5.2

 Gasoline and motor oil................................................. 2,013 2,227 2,384 10.6 7.0

 Other vehicle expenses............................................... 2,339 2,355 2,592 0.7 10.1

 Public transportation.................................................... 448 505 538 12.7 6.5

 Health care .................................................................... 2,664 2,766 2,853 3.8 3.1

 Entertainment ................................................................ 2,388 2,376 2,698 -0.5 13.6

 Personal care products and services ............................ 541 585 588 8.1 0.5

 Reading ......................................................................... 126 117 118 -7.1 0.9

 Education....................................................................... 940 888 945 -5.5 6.4

 Tobacco products and smoking supplies....................... 319 327 323 2.5 -1.2

 Miscellaneous................................................................ 808 846 808 4.7 -4.5

 Cash contributions......................................................... 1,663 1,869 1,821 12.4 -2.6

 Personal insurance and pensions ................................. 5,204 5,270 5,336 1.3 1.3

 Life and other personal insurance ............................... 381 322 309 -15.5 -4.0

 Pensions and Social Security...................................... 4,823 4,948 5,027 2.6 1.6
6

Text table 2. Component shares of total annual expenditures, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2004–07

Item 2004 2005 2006 2007

Total expenditures .................................................................................... 100 100 100 100

 Food ....................................................................................................... 13.3 12.8 12.6 12.4

 At home ................................................................................................ 7.7 7.1 7.1 7.0

 Away from home................................................................................... 5.6 5.7 5.6 5.4

 Alcoholic beverages................................................................................ 1.1 0.9 1.0 0.9

 Housing .................................................................................................. 32.1 32.7 33.8 34.1

 Apparel and services .............................................................................. 4.2 4.1 3.9 3.8

 Transportation......................................................................................... 18 18 17.6 17.6

 Vehicle purchases ................................................................................ 7.8 7.6 7.1 6.5

 Gasoline and motor oil.......................................................................... 3.7 4.3 4.6 4.8

 Other vehicle expenses........................................................................ 5.5 5.0 4.9 5.2

 Public transportation............................................................................. 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.1

 Health care ............................................................................................. 5.9 5.7 5.7 5.7

 Entertainment ......................................................................................... 5.1 5.1 4.9 5.4

 Personal care products and services ..................................................... 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.2

 Reading .................................................................................................. 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2

 Education................................................................................................ 2.1 2.0 1.8 1.9

 Tobacco products and smoking supplies................................................ 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7

 Miscellaneous......................................................................................... 1.6 1.7 1.7 1.6

 Cash contributions.................................................................................. 3.2 3.6 3.9 3.7

 Personal insurance and pensions .......................................................... 11.1 11.2 10.9 10.8

 Life and other personal insurance ........................................................ 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6

 Pensions and Social Security............................................................... 10.2 10.4 10.2 10.1
7

Several factors should be considered when interpreting 

the expenditure data, especially when relating averages 

to individual circumstances. Data are averages for the 

total population—urban and rural. Because not all consumer 

units purchased all items during the survey period, the mean 

expenditure for an item is usually considerably lower than the 

expenditure by those consumer units that purchased it. In addition, the less frequently an item is purchased, the greater the 

difference between the average for all consumer units and the 

average of those purchasing the item. For instance, reference 

table 1 shows average expenditures for new cars and trucks 

of just $1,572, because relatively few consumer units actually 

purchased a new vehicle. Of course, the average cost for those 

who did make this purchase would be substantially higher. 

For example, if 8 percent of the households reported purchasing a new car or truck in 2007, the average expenditure on new 

cars and trucks for those households would be $19,650. Even 

if all consumer units purchased a particular item, an individual 

consumer unit may have spent more (or less) than the average 

for that item. Even within a group with similar characteristics, 

there may be significant variation, because income, family 

size, age of family members, geographic location, and individual tastes and preferences influence expenditures.

Due to small sample sizes, special caution must be exercised when using data from the Metropolitan Statistical Area 

(MSA) tables (reference tables 27–30). Despite using 2 years’ 

worth of data to increase sample sizes, average expenditures 

for the most detailed items may not be reliable, because there 

may be few reports of expenditures for those items. Additionally, even a small number of unusually large purchases, or 

increases (or decreases), in the number of expenditures for 

infrequently reported items, can cause large changes in means 

from one year to the next.

Expenditures reported here are direct out-of-pocket expenditures. Indirect expenditures—which can be significant—

may be reflected elsewhere. For example, rental contracts 

often include utilities. Renters with such contracts would

record no direct expense for utilities and, therefore, appear to 

have lower utility expenses than do those who reported utility 

costs. Also, employers or insurance companies frequently pay 

some consumer costs. Therefore, consumer units with members whose employers pay for all or part of their health or life 

insurance would have lower direct expenses for these items, 

than would those whose members pay the entire amount 

themselves.

In addition, caution should be used in interpreting changes 

in expenditures over a short time span. Average amounts spent 

on different expenditure components may fluctuate from year 

to year, due to changes in economic conditions. For example, 

a decrease in the supply of food products as a result of poor 

weather conditions, or a decrease in the oil supply arising 

from cutbacks in oil production, might result in sharp price increases and short-term changes in expenditure levels. A lessvolatile measure of expenditure patterns is the share of total 

expenditures spent on major categories of consumption over a 

period of several years.

Interpreting the Data
8

Past Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) biennial reports included comparisons of CE data to those from other sources to check for consistency of results. Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) from the Bureau of 

Economic Analysis were used to make detailed comparisons 

with a range of CE spending categories. Less-detailed comparisons of CE out-of-pocket health care expenditures were 

made with those from the National Health Expenditure Accounts (NHEA) of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid 

Services of the Department of Health and Human Services. 

The purpose of this article is to examine the latest CE estimates of aggregate health-care expenditures and how they 

compare with NHEA data, but in more detail than previously 

shown.

Published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid 

Services of the U.S. Department of Health and Human 

Services, the National Health Expenditure Accounts (NHEA) 

are the official estimates of total health care spending in the 

United States. Dating back to 1960, the NHEA measures annual 

aggregate U.S. spending for health care goods and services, 

public health activities, program administration, the net 

cost of private insurance, and research and other investment 

related to health care. 

The Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) and the NHEA 

differ in the population covered. The CE is designed to be 

representative of the U.S. civilian noninstitutuionalized population which includes everyone living in the U.S., who is not 

in an institution, such as a nursing home or prison, and who is 

not living on a military base. The NHEA covers a larger population because all persons, both military and civilian, living in 

the U.S. are part of the resident population.

CE health care data are direct out-of-pocket expenditures 

net of any reimbursements. These data include payments 

directly to the providers of care, such as hospitals, and to third 

parties, such as insurance companies for private group or 

individual health insurance coverage and the Federal Government for premiums to the Medicare Supplementary Trust 

Fund (Part B, C, and D coverage). In the NHEA, household 

spending for health care also includes direct spending and 

amounts paid to third party insurers. 

The CE obtains information from individual consumer 

units, while the NHEA uses many secondary data sources, 

such as the American Hospital Association Annual Survey 

and the Census Bureau’s Services Annual Survey. The CE 

and NHEA also differ in how spending is categorized. In the 

NHEA, the type of establishment providing a service generally determines what is included in a spending category, while 

CE usually categorizes spending by the type of service provided. For example, the CE has separate categories for inpatient hospitalization and other medical services (outpatient 

hospital care, emergency room services, etc.), but the NHEA 

places these services in its Hospital Care category.6

The two data sources differ somewhat in the items covered. 

For example, the CE does not have a category that specifically 

requests information about home health-care outlays. In the 

NHEA, the Home Health Care category includes freestanding home health agencies, while hospital-based home health 

care is in the Hospital Care category. The NHEA includes 

employee and self-employment contributions to the Medicare 

Hospital Insurance Trust Fund (Part A coverage) in household 

spending for insurance coverage, in addition to premiums to 

the Medicare Supplementary Insurance Trust Fund, while the 

CE only includes the latter in its health insurance estimates. 

 Text table 3 shows CE estimates of aggregate expenditures 

for healthcare and CE/NHEA out-of-pocket spending ratios. 

Categories have been aligned to make them as comparable 

as possible. In 2007, CE aggregate medical care expenditures 

(excluding nursing home care) were $340.9 billion, or 67 percent of the NHEA out-of-pocket estimate of $506.1 billion 

(excluding nursing home and home health care expenditures). 

Of the CE total, $185.6 billion was spent on health insurance, 

$72.0 billion on medical commodities, and $83.3 billion on 

medical services. These amounts were 67 percent, 72 percent, 

and 64 percent, respectively, of the NHEA estimates. 

For all expenditure categories, CE-to-NHEA ratios varied 

over the 2004–07 period. These results may reflect the variability of health care expenses and/or year-to-year fluctuations, due to random sampling variation which affects survey 

data bases. The differences between CE and NHEA estimates 

may also reflect survey differences in population, concepts, 

and scope.

Consumer Expenditure Survey

compared with National Health

Expenditure Accounts

6 The NHEA defines the population used in its data tables as the U.S 

Census resident population plus the net undercount. For more information about 

the National Health Expenditure Accounts see “National Health Expenditure

Accounts, Definitions, Sources and Methods, Department of Health and 

Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Baltimore, 

Md., www.cms.hhs.gov/NationalHealthExpendData/downloads/dsm-07.pdf 

and “Health Expenditures by Sponsors: Business, household and government, 

www.cms.hhs.gov/NationalHealthExpendData/06_NationalHealthAccountsBusinessHouseholdGovernment.asp#TopOfPage
9

Text table 3. Comparison of aggregate health care expenditures: Consumer Expenditure Survey and National Health

Expenditure Accounts, 2004–07

Expenditure category

Aggregate consumer expenditures

Consumer Expenditure Survey

(in billions)

Ratio of Consumer Expenditure

Survey to National Health

Expenditure Accounts1

2004 2005 2006 2007 2004 2005 2006 2007

Health care, total2 ...................... 294.6 309.4 326.7 340.9 .70 .70 .68 .67

 Health insurance3 .................... 154.9 159.7 174.1 185.6 .70 .68 .67 .67

 Medical commodities, total ...... 69.1 73.7 75.6 72.0 .77 .73 .74 .72

 Prescription drugs.................. 40.6 47.6 46.7 43.2 .88 .83 .87 .85

 Medical supplies and ............

 nonprescription drugs......... 18.9 17.0 18.2 18.4 .62 .53 .55 .53

 Medical equipment ................ 9.6 9.1 10.7 10.4 .73 .70 .69 .69

Medical services, total ............... 70.6 76.1 77.0 83.3 .65 .66 .63 .64

 Professional services.............. 54.1 58.3 58.8 63.2 .60 .61 .58 .59

 Physicians services ............. 17.0 18.1 20.0 20.6 .42 .42 .43 .42

 Dental services.................... 28.0 29.8 28.4 29.4 .73 .78 .71 .70

 Other professional

 services .............................

9.1 10.3 10.5 13.3 .66 .72 .70 .84

 Hospital care........................... 16.4 17.8 18.2 20.0 .88 .90 .85 .86

1National Health Expenditure Accounts data exclude nursing home 

and home health care spending. 2Consumer Expenditure Survey data exclude nursing home care 

spending. 3 Includes premiums for private health insurance and premiums paid 

to the Medicare Supplementary Insurance Trust Fund.

NOTE: Sums may not equal totals due to rounding. Expenditure categories have been adjusted to make the two surveys as comparable 

as possible. 

SOURCE: The National Health Expenditure Accounts (NHEA) data 

used to compute the CE/NHEA ratios are from U.S. Department of 

Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medcaid Services, “National Health Expenditures by Type of Service and Source 

of Funds: Calendar Years 1960-2007,” http://www.cms.hhs.gov/

NationalHealthExpendData/02_NationalHealthAccountsHistorical.asp#TopOfPage and Health Expenditures by Sponsors: Business, Household, and Government,” http://www.cms.hhs.gov/

NationalHealthExpendData/06_NationalHealthAccountsBusinessHouseholdGovernment.asp#TopOfPage. Because retrospective adjustments to NHEA data are made when new data are issued, 

CE/NHEA ratios may differ from those published in previous years. 
10

From 1980—the year the Consumer Expenditure Survey 

(CE) became a continuous survey—until 2004, no 

procedures were employed to produce estimates for 

sources of income that respondents acknowledged receiving, 

but for which they did not provide values. However, the 

release of 2004 data marked the introduction of imputation 

for missing income responses. With a number of years of 

imputed income data now available, it is possible to evaluate 

the impact and efficacy of imputation by comparing pre- and 

post-imputation estimates of CE income with estimates from 

the Current Population Survey (CPS), a large-scale household 

survey that has employed imputation in producing its income 

estimates for many years. 

Background

Survey managers have applied various methods developed 

by the statistics community for imputing missing income values when survey participants fail to provide a response. The 

choice of an appropriate imputation procedure depends on an 

accurate assessment of the distribution of missing values and 

the relationship of nonresponse to socioeconomic characteristics of the sample population. To the extent the chosen procedure misidentifies the mechanism leading to nonresponse, the 

resulting imputed values will lead to biased and inconsistent 

results when used for analytical purposes.

CE survey managers have been particularly concerned 

about the ramifications of selecting an improper procedure, 

because sampled consumer units (CUs) report expenditure 

data which are expected a priori to be highly correlated with 

income. Consequently, imputation for missing income was 

not done; and CE data releases from 1972 to 2003 instead 

identified sample households as either “complete” or “incomplete” income respondents.7

Given the unique requirements any income imputation 

procedure would have to satisfy, CE and Census staff began 

a systematic search for an appropriate method. While this research continued, changes were made in the collection instruments in 2001 to improve the reporting of income. Bracketing 

questions were added to follow the existing questions, so that 

if a respondent initially refused to report or did not know the 

amount received, the bracket question asked the respondent 

to select a range which best reflected the amount received. 

These bracketed responses added a layer of complexity to the 

task of choosing an imputation method.

Once the research was completed, the method chosen for the 

CE was a regression-based procedure that would preserve both 

means and variances for each source of income. The process 

produces five imputed values for each missing observation. 

The first step is to run a regression to obtain coefficients to 

use in creating imputed values. Random noise is then added to 

each coefficient and the resulting “shocked” coefficient is used 

to estimate an imputed value. Additional noise is added to the 

estimated values to insure that CUs with similar demographic 

characteristics do not receive similar imputed income. 

After the five imputed values are created for each missing

value, an estimate representing the mean of those five values 

is calculated. Reported specific values are retained as is.

If a respondent reports the value falls within a bracket, the 

imputed values must fall within the range defined for that 

bracket. 

In a small number of instances, a CU will report not

receiving income from any source. Since this is extremely unlikely, the income imputation procedure is run for such CUs 

with an additional step. A logistic regression based on the 

characteristics of the CU, such as retirement or student status, 

is run first to impute receipt status (yes or no) for each source 

of income. For those sources of income that a CU is imputed 

to have received, the model is run to produce imputed income 

values.

Data collection

By comparing CE income estimates with another established 

source of income data over a time period covering pre- and 

post-imputation years, one can measure both the impact

of imputation on the relationship of aggregate CE income

to the independent source, and the efficacy and quality

of the imputation method in producing comparable estimates to that source. For this study, CE income data are compared with similar data from the CPS for the years 2002 to 

2007.

Comparisons of mean or aggregate pre-tax income

between the CE and the CPS have been a staple feature of 

Measuring the Impact of Income Imputation in

the Consumer Expenditure Survey: A Multi-year 

Comparison of Income Data with Estimates

from the Current Population Survey

7See Thesia I. Garner and Laura Blanciforti, “Household Income Reporting: 

An Analysis of U. S. Consumer Expenditure Survey Data,” Journal of Official 

Statistics, Vol. 10, No. 1, 1994, pp. 69-91 for more details.
11

BLS publications for almost 20 years.8 These published comparisons were based on CE data before imputation and CPS 

data that included imputed values.

Income estimates for the CE are from the Interview Survey 

component of the survey, while the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) is the source of comparable CPS 

income data. 

The difference in timing of the collection of income data 

between the CE and the CPS poses challenges in constructing matching time periods for comparison purposes. The 

Interview Survey uses a rotating sample design, whereby 

sample units are being introduced every month. Income 

data are collected during the 2nd and 5th interviews, covering the 12 months prior to the month of interview. Thus, 

a CU undergoing their 2nd interview in June 2009 would 

report wage income received from June 2008 through May 

2009.

The ASEC is conducted annually in March—though a limited number of eligible households are interviewed in February and April—and collects data on the previous calendar 

year’s income from all sources. Households completing the 

ASEC in March 2009 report income for the 2008 calendar 

year. Conducting the ASEC in March is believed to provide 

better income data, because most households would either be 

completing or have just completed preparing tax returns and, 

thus, would be more likely to remember income sources and 

amounts.

While the structure and wording of income questions are 

similar in the CE and the CPS, there are differences that can 

affect the estimates. In the CE, the respondent reports the 

amount received from earned income, Social Security, Railroad Retirement, and Supplemental Security Income for each 

CU member age 14 years and over individually. For each of 

the remaining sources of income, the respondent reports the 

amount received by the consumer unit as a whole. In comparison, for the ASEC, the respondent is directed to report the 

amount received for each source of income by each individual 

household member 15 years or older.

The CE respondent is asked about the amount received 

over the last 12 months for each source of income, with the 

exception of Social Security/Railroad Retirement. As noted 

earlier, if the respondent either refuses or does not know the 

amount received, a card with ranges or brackets of income is 

shown to the respondent who is asked to report which bracket 

best reflects the amount received. In the ASEC, respondents 

are asked to report the amount received over the calendar year. 

Based on the response, they may also be asked for the periodicity of the report (weekly, monthly, etc.).

With respect to the contents of the income questions, in 

general where the Interview Survey questionnaire collects 

data for an income source in one question, the ASEC contains 

multiple questions, each collecting a portion of the data for 

that source. These questions also ask for income data from 

additional sources. For example, the Interview Survey instrument collects pension and annuity income in one question. 

The ASEC does so in three questions. One collects such income resulting from retirement, a second collects such income 

resulting from disability, and the third collects such income 

originating as a survivor’s benefit. Each of these ASEC questions also asks about other sources for retirement, disability, 

and survivor’s benefit income besides pensions and annuities. 

Three sources of income that are exceptions to this general 

rule are: wages and salaries, self-employment income, and interest income.

Comparison of CE and CPS income:

Sources and time Periods

The ASEC is designed to cover the civilian noninstitutional 

population, plus those military personnel who live with at 

least one other civilian adult, on or off base. The CE is also 

designed to represent the civilian noninstitutional population, 

plus a portion of the institutional population.

ASEC income data used in this article are derived from a 

table which CPS produces annually for its internal use. For 

each income source, the table shows the count of persons and 

mean amount of income, in total, by those directly reporting income, and by those for which imputation is done. The 

means and numbers of persons reporting each type of income 

are multiplied together to obtain aggregate income.

The income categories shown here are a subset of the 

categories that can be constructed from the detailed income 

sources reported for the CE and the ASEC. In addition to total 

aggregate income, results are shown for the following categories: wage and salary income; net nonfarm self-employment 

income; Social Security and Railroad Retirement income; 

pensions and annuities; interest; and dividends, rents, royalties, estates and trusts.

As noted earlier, annual estimates of income for the CPS 

match the calendar year, while the annual estimates of income 

for the CE Interview Survey cover the year prior to the month 

of interview. Thus, the creation of an estimator comparable to 

the CPS has to be resolved for CE income. After due consideration, three estimators of CE income were chosen.

The first replicates the method used for producing income 

estimates in CE publications.9

 Annual income reported by 

CUs in their second or fifth interview is divided by 12, thus 

creating a monthly amount, and then assigned to each of the 3 

months covered by the interview. Second-interview income is 

carried forward through the third and fourth interviews until 

income data is collected again at the fifth interview. The annual CE estimate for any calendar year will be calculated from 

all income assigned to that year. 

8See text tables 6 and 7, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1987, Bulletin 2354, 

June 1990; text tables 8 and 9, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1990–91, 

Bulletin 2425, September 1993; text tables 6 and 7, Consumer Expenditure 

Survey, 1992–93, Bulletin 2462, September 1995; text tables 10 and 11, 

Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1994–95, Bulletin 2492, December 1997; 

text tables 8 and 9, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1996–97, Report 935, 

September 1999; text tables 20 and 21, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1998–

99, Report 955, November 2001; text tables 3–6, Consumer Expenditure 

Survey, 2002–2003, Report 990, March 2006. 9 Ibid.
12

Compared with the CPS estimate, this method creates an 

estimate using a significant amount of income reported from 

an earlier time period. Using 2008 as an example, the first 

month whose interviews would be used in the CE estimate

is February 2008. One-twelfth of the income reported in

that interview would be assigned to January 2008. However, the 12-month reference period for reporting would run

from February 2007 through January 2008, meaning 11 

months of the reference period were outside the calendar year 

of interest.

In fact, the only month whose interviews would span a 

recall period matching the ASEC calendar year is January 

of the following year. (For calendar year 2008, interviews 

conducted in January 2009 would have an annual reference 

period from January 2008 to December 2008.) This forms 

the basis for the second method of calculating CE estimates 

Only 2nd and 5th interviews conducted in January of the following year are used to construct the estimate. While such 

interviews exactly match the period covered by the ASEC, 

the number of interviews is very small at about 1/6th of the 

total number of interviews conducted in any one quarter. 

This would be detrimental to the statistical reliability of the 

estimate, potentially leading to wide annual swings in the 

estimate, particularly for some of the more thinly reported 

categories of income. 

Because of the conceptual attractiveness of the second 

method in matching the ASEC time period, the third method 

for creating CE estimates essentially expands on it. Centering 

on January interviews, this method adds 2nd and 5th interviews conducted between October of the previous year and 

April of the current year, or three months before and after 

January, to expand the number of interviews used to create the 

estimate. For all three methods, weighting adjustments are 

made to insure that the aggregate estimates are representative 

of the entire population. 

Comparison of CE with CPS: Results

Levels and ratios

The impact of imputation in the CE can be seen in text table 

4 that shows aggregate incomes, total and by source, from the 

CE and CPS, along with the ratio of CE to CPS estimates for 

the years 2002–07. The CE did not impute in the first 2 years 

of this period, so the estimates are based on all reported income, regardless of whether the CU was considered a complete or incomplete income respondent.

Imputation significantly raises CE total income, bringing it 

into near equality with CPS estimates. On average, imputation adds about 20 percentage points to the CE/CPS ratio. For 

the pre-imputation years of 2002–-03, the mean CE/CPS ratio 

for total income, taking into account each estimator of CE income, is about 0.75. The average ratio for the post-imputation 

years of 2004–07 rises to about 0.94.

This increase in the ratio for total income is largely driven 

by the increase in wage and salary income after imputation 

was introduced in the CE. Wage and salary income comprises 

about 80 percent of total CE income and 77 percent of total 

CPS income over this period. Before imputation, CE total 

income averages about $1,650 billion less than CPS total 

income, with CE wage and salary income trailing CPS wage 

and salary income by about $1,123 billion. The CE/CPS 

ratio for wage and salary income averages about 0.78. After 

imputation, the gaps between total income and wage and 

salary income in the CE and CPS narrow to an average of 

about $446 billion and $143 billion, respectively. Wage and 

salary income for the CE almost matches the CPS, with an 

average ratio of more than 0.97.

Social Security and Railroad Retirement income is the next 

largest component of total income in the CE and CPS. The 

story here is similar to the one for wage and salary income. 

The mean 2002–03 CE/CPS ratio is just over 0.80 [.8045], 

while the 2004–07 ratio increases to about 0.95.

Imputation in the CE has a larger impact on the CE/CPS 

ratio for nonfarm self-employment income, the third largest 

contributor to total income, than for any other component of 

income. In fact, the ratio rises more than 50 percentage points 

after imputation, going from about 0.63 to about 1.15, making 

it the only source of income for which the CE estimate is, on 

average, higher than the CPS estimate.

Pension and annuity income is the next largest component of total income. Similar to Social Security/Railroad

Retirement income, the CE/CPS ratio rises an almost

equivalent amount after imputation. For 2002–03, the ratio 

averagesjust under 0.81, increasing to slightly under 0.94

for 2004–07.

No other income component represents as much as 2 

percent of total income in the CE. For the CPS, however, 

two categories—interest and dividends, rents, royalties, 

estates and trusts—each make up more than 2 percent of 

total income. As such, the CE/CPS ratios for these items are 

fairly low, and historically have been among the lowest in the 

published tables. While still averaging 42 percent of the CPS 

estimate, the 2007 CE/CPS ratio rose 10 percentage points 

over the average of the previous 3 years. In addition, interest 

income is one of the few components whose CE/CPS ratio 

does not increase appreciably after imputation. The aggregate 

pre-imputation interest income estimate in the CE is about 28 

percent of the CPS estimate. After imputation, the CE interest 

income estimate increases to more than 34 percent of the CPS 

estimate. 

The initial level of the CE/CPS ratio is higher for income from dividends, rents, royalties, estates, and trusts than

for interest income, and imputation has a marked impact on 

the ratio. The ratio for 2002–03 averages midway between 

0.42 and 0.43, and increases to an average of 0.51 after

imputation. 

To complete the picture on the impact of imputation on the 

relationship between CE with CPS estimates, the next section 

looks more closely at the magnitude of imputation as it affects 

the aggregate estimates for total income and each source of 

income over the 2004–07 period where imputation is done for 

both surveys.
13

Text table 4. Aggregate pretax income and ratios for Current Population Survey (CPS) and for three alternative measures of

Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE), by total and source of income, 2002–07

[In billions of dollars]

Year and survey

Total Wage and salary 

income

Nonfarm selfemployment income

Social Security and 

Railroad Retirement 

income

Aggregate CE/CPS

ratio Aggregate CE/CPS

ratio Aggregate CE/CPS

ratio Aggregate CE/CPS

ratio

2002

 CPS............................................. 6,515.7 5,078.4 302.6 389.8

 CE, reference year 2002 ............. 4,629.0 71.0 3,736.3 73.6 197.8 65.4 312.9 80.3

 CE, January 2003........................ 4,858.1 74.6 3,880.9 76.4 204.3 67.5 299.1 76.7

 CE, October 2002 - April 2003..... 4,838.7 74.3 3,890.2 76.6 198.6 65.6 315.9 81.0

2003

 CPS ............................................. 6,707.2 5,157.1 331.6 410.1

 CE, reference year 2003 ............. 5,007.9 74.7 4,042.1 78.4 194.6 58.7 325.4 79.3

 CE, January 2004........................ 5,328.2 79.4 4,295.7 83.3 210.7 63.5 343.8 83.8

 CE, October 2003 - April 2004..... 5,109.5 76.2 4,125.7 80.0 194.3 58.6 334.7 81.6

2004

 CPS ............................................. 6,939.6 5,346.6 321.7 431.8

 CE, reference year 2004 ............. 6,322.2 91.1 5,021.3 93.9 338.4 105.2 400.0 92.6

 CE, January 2005........................ 6,689.9 96.4 5,119.7 95.8 566.6 176.1 431.0 99.8

 CE, October 2004 - April 2005..... 6,636.6 95.6 5,206.3 97.4 435.1 135.2 411.4 95.3

2005

 CPS ............................................. 7,352.4 5,630.6 366.5 449.2

 CE, reference year 2005 ............. 6,872.5 93.5 5,432.6 96.5 430.1 117.4 431.0 96.0

 CE, January 2006........................ 6,872.1 93.5 5,394.3 95.8 558.5 152.4 441.1 98.2

 CE, October 2005 - April 2006..... 6,940.3 94.4 5,522.8 98.1 423.4 115.5 441.9 98.4

2006

 CPS ............................................. 7,800.6 5,967.4 407.7 471.5

 CE, reference year 2006 ............. 7,170.8 91.9 5,718.6 95.8 414.0 101.5 446.0 94.6

 CE, January 2007........................ 7,332.3 94.0 5,994.1 100.4 445.0 109.1 409.1 86.8

 CE, October 2006 - April 2007..... 7,286.8 93.4 5,815.2 97.5 380.1 93.2 452.2 95.9

2007

 CPS ............................................. 8,013.6 6,141.5 390.6 500.2

 CE, reference year 2007 ............. 7,559.1 94.3 6,047.3 98.5 390.8 100.1 464.6 92.9

 CE, January 2008........................ 7,674.0 95.8 6,179.7 100.6 307.2 78.7 462.8 92.5

 CE, October 2007 - April 2008..... 7,610.1 95.0 6,094.2 99.2 369.3 94.6 483.8 96.7
14

Text table 4. Continued—Aggregate pretax income and ratios for Current Population Survey (CPS) and for three alternative 

measures of Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE), by total and source of income, 2002–07 

[In billions of dollars]

Year and survey

Pensions and annuities Interest

Dividends, rents, royalties,

and

estates and trusts

Aggregate CE/CPS

ratio Aggregate CE/CPS

ratio Aggregate CE/CPS

ratio

2002

 CPS................................................ 262.5 145.4 119.7

 CE, reference year 2002 ................ 178.7 68.1 36.9 25.4 50.3 42.1

 CE, January 2003........................... 217.4 82.8 39.8 27.4 48.9 40.9

 CE, October 2002 - April 2003........ 203.4 77.5 41.7 28.7 57.3 47.8

2003

 CPS ................................................ 276.3 148.3 152.4

 CE, reference year 2003 ................ 226.3 81.9 47.9 32.3 60.7 39.8

 CE, January 2004........................... 252.6 91.5 38.2 25.7 63.2 41.5

 CE, October 2003 - April 2004........ 231.8 83.9 43.4 29.2 65.6 43.0

2004

 CPS ................................................ 291.9 163.2 157.0

 CE, reference year 2004 ................ 280.1 96.0 59.0 36.2 85.3 54.3

 CE, January 2005........................... 300.0 102.8 59.0 36.1 50.6 32.2

 CE, October 2004 - April 2005........ 316.3 108.3 49.8 30.5 81.0 51.6

2005

 CPS ................................................ 310.3 186.9 169.8

 CE, reference year 2005 ................ 290.4 93.6 61.9 33.1 99.9 58.8

 CE, January 2006........................... 268.1 86.4 37.6 20.1 45.1 26.6

 CE, October 2005 - April 2006........ 291.1 93.8 61.3 32.8 71.9 42.3

2006

 CPS ................................................ 314.9 229.2 186.7

 CE, reference year 2006 ................ 283.5 90.0 69.7 30.4 106.9 57.3

 CE, January 2007........................... 213.6 67.8 66.8 29.1 80.1 42.9

 CE, October 2006 - April 2007........ 302.6 96.1 85.7 37.4 109.5 58.6

2007

 CPS ................................................ 323.3 242.8 191.0

 CE, reference year 2007 ................ 302.0 93.4 97.0 39.9 112.8 59.1

 CE, January 2008........................... 338.8 104.8 112.6 46.4 137.0 71.7

 CE, October 2007 - April 2008........ 300.1 92.8 94.9 39.1 109.7 57.4
15

The role of imputation

Text table 5 shows the percentage of CE and CPS aggregate 

income for the sources included in text table 4 accounted for 

by imputation for the 4 years imputation has been done in 

the CE. Looking at total income, more than 38 percent of the 

CE aggregate is attributable to imputation compared with over 

32 percent in the CPS. The percentage of imputed income in 

the CE has risen each year since the inception of imputation, 

while the percentage has remained stable in the CPS. Even 

though the CPS aggregates are larger than CE aggregates, 

a difference ranging between $390 and $537 billion, the 

dollar amounts imputed in the CE are uniformly larger than 

the amounts imputed in the CPS. The difference in imputed 

aggregate income has risen from about $35 billion in 2004 to 

about $562 billion in 2007.

As noted earlier, wage and salary income is the predominant 

component of total income, and consequently the contribution 

of imputation to aggregate wage and salary income essentially 

matches the contribution to total income. Imputation is a 

bigger factor in the CE estimates than the CPS estimates, both 

in terms of percentage of the estimate and actual dollar value. 

The percent of CE wage and salary income resulting from 

imputation has risen each year since 2004, going from 37.0 

percent in 2004 to 41.9 percent in 2007. Over the same period, 

imputation accounts for about 30 percent of CPS wage and 

salary income. The amount imputed in the CE exceeds that 

imputed in the CPS by about $220 billion for 2004, rising to 

about $755 billion in 2007.

The two components of total income representing retirement income show remarkably similar patterns with each 

other and in relation to the CPS. Though starting from a lower 

level, the average percentage of imputed income in the CE 

estimates for Social Security and Railroad Retirement income 

and income from pensions and annuities increases each year 

from 2004 to 2007. For Social Security and Railroad Retirement, the percentage goes from 20.2 percent to about 23.6 

percent; for pensions and annuities, the percentage rises from 

18.3 percent in 2004 to 21.8 percent in 2007. Nonresponse 

has been less of an issue for the CE than for the CPS, as on 

average, the CPS imputes 33.6 percent of Social Security and 

Railroad Retirement income and 32.6 percent of income from 

pensions and annuities over the 4 years. With one exception, 

the income directly reported is about $20 billion to $55 billion 

more for Social Security income and $10 billion to $60 billion 

more for income from pensions and annuities in the CE than 

in the CPS.

Over one-half of the CE estimates for nonfarm selfemployment income is derived from imputation. As with 

the sources previously mentioned, the average percentage 

of imputed income rises each year, but there is a sizable 

15-percentage-point increase from 57.5 percent to 72.6 

percent between 2005 and 2007. Imputation in the CPS 

averages 42.7 percent over the 4-year period. The amount 

imputed in the CE estimates is significantly greater than the 

amount imputed in the CPS each year, though somewhat 

paradoxically, the average difference is smallest, at about $92 

billion in 2007, the year in which imputed income comprises 

the largest proportion of the CE estimate.

Interest income and, to a lesser degree, income from 

dividends, rents, royalties, and estates and trusts show sharply 

different response patterns between the CE and the CPS. The 

percentage of imputed income in the CE estimates for this 

category has ranged from 45.8 percent to 58.6 percent. The 

endpoints of the range are from 2004 and 2005, respectively, 

years where the percentage of income imputed in the CE 

estimate derived from January interviews only differed 

considerably from the percentage of income imputed for 

estimates derived by the other two variables. In 2006 and 

2007, all three estimators displayed similar percentages of 

imputed income. The CPS derives an average of 71.9 percent 

of their annual estimates from imputation, and the actual 

dollar amounts imputed dwarf the amounts of imputed interest 

income in the CE by $100 billion to $120 billion.

After averaging about 37 percent from 2004 to 2006, the 

average percentage of imputed income for CE dividends, 

rents, royalties, estates and trusts leaped to over 51 percent 

in 2007. CPS estimates for dividends, rents, royalties, and 

estates and trusts have consisted of a steadily increasing 

percentage of imputed income over the 4-year period, rising 

from 47.9 percent in 2004 to 51.1 percent in 2007, matching 

the CE imputation percentage. In actual dollar amounts, the 

CPS uniformly imputes much higher amounts than the CE; 

on average, $86.8 billion dollars are imputed annually in the 

CPS, compared with $50.4 billion in the CE.
16

Text table 5. Aggregate pretax income and percent distribution, total and by reported and allocated status, by source of

income, Current Population Survey (CPS) and three alternative measures of Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE), 2004–07

[In billions of dollars]

Year, category of income,

and survey Total Reported Percent reported Allocated Percent allocated

2004

 Total aggregate income:

 CPS................................................ 6,939.6 4,603.6 66.3 2,336.0 33.7

 CE, reference year 2004 ................ 6,322.2 3,944.6 62.4 2,377.5 37.6

 CE, January 2005 .......................... 6,689.9 4,318.1 64.5 2,371.7 35.5

 CE, October 2004 - April 2005 ....... 6,636.6 4,274.2 64.4 2,362.3 35.6

 Wage and salary income:

 CPS................................................ 5,346.6 3,672.9 68.7 1,673.8 31.3

 CE, reference year 2004 ................ 5,021.3 3,084.1 61.4 1,937.3 38.6

 CE, January 2005 .......................... 5,119.7 3,251.8 63.5 1,868.0 36.5

 CE, October 2004 - April 2005 ....... 5,206.3 3,331.5 64.0 1,874.8 36.0

 Nonfarm self-employment income:

 CPS................................................ 321.7 183.5 57.0 138.3 43.0

 CE, reference year 2004 ................ 338.4 145.2 42.9 193.3 57.1

 CE, January 2005 .......................... 566.6 261.2 46.1 305.4 53.9

 CE, October 2004 - April 2005 ....... 435.1 179.9 41.3 255.2 58.7

 Social Security and Railroad 

 Retirement income:

 CPS................................................ 431.8 283.1 65.6 148.6 34.4

 CE, reference year 2004 ................ 400.0 312.4 78.1 87.7 21.9

 CE, January 2005 .......................... 431.0 349.6 81.1 81.4 18.9

 CE, October 2004 - April 2005 ....... 411.4 329.9 80.2 81.5 19.8

 Pensions and annuities:

 CPS................................................ 291.9 193.6 66.3 98.4 33.7

 CE, reference year 2004 ................ 280.1 221.4 79.0 58.7 21.0

 CE, January 2005 .......................... 300.0 256.9 85.6 43.1 14.4

 CE, October 2004 - April 2005 ....... 316.3 254.5 80.5 61.8 19.5

 Interest:

 CPS................................................ 163.2 41.3 25.3 121.8 74.7

 CE, reference year 2004 ................ 59.0 27.8 47.0 31.3 53.0

 CE, January 2005 .......................... 59.0 38.8 65.9 20.1 34.1

 CE, October 2004 - April 2005 ....... 49.8 24.7 49.7 25.0 50.3

 Dividends, rents, royalties, and

 estates and trusts:

 CPS................................................ 157.0 81.8 52.1 75.3 47.9

 CE, reference year 2004 ................ 85.3 53.7 62.9 31.6 37.1

 CE, January 2005 .......................... 50.6 34.4 67.9 16.3 32.1

 CE, October 2004 - April 2005 ....... 81.0 48.6 60.0 32.4 40.0

2005

 Total aggregate income:

 CPS................................................ 7,352.2 5,026.8 68.4 2,325.7 31.6

 CE, reference year 2005 ................ 6,872.5 4,322.3 62.9 2,550.1 37.1

 CE, January 2006 .......................... 6,872.1 4,332.7 63.0 2,539.4 37.0

 CE, October 2005 - April 2006 ....... 6,940.3 4,405.6 63.5 2,534.6 36.5

 Wage and salary income:

 CPS................................................ 5,630.6 4,002.1 71.1 1,628.4 28.9

 CE, reference year 2005 ................ 5,432.6 3,376.8 62.2 2,055.8 37.8

 CE, January 2006 .......................... 5,394.3 3,400.0 63.0 1,994.5 37.0

 CE, October 2005 - April 2006 ....... 5,522.8 3,493.0 63.2 2,029.8 36.8
17

Text table 5. Continued—Aggregate pretax income and percent distribution, total and by reported and allocated status, by source of 

income, Current Population Survey (CPS) and three alternative measures of Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE), 2004–07

[In billions of dollars]

Year, category of income,

and survey Total Reported Percent reported Allocated Percent allocated

2005

Nonfarm self-employment income:

 CPS................................................ 366.5 216.4 59.1 150.1 41.0

 CE, reference year 2005 ................ 430.1 187.7 43.6 242.4 56.4

 CE, January 2006 .......................... 558.5 229.6 41.1 328.9 58.9

 CE, October 2005 - April 2006 ....... 423.4 181.0 42.8 242.3 57.2

 Social Security and Railroad

 Retirement income:

 CPS................................................ 449.2 301.8 67.2 147.5 32.8

 CE, reference year 2005 ................ 431.0 341.0 79.1 90.1 20.9

 CE, January 2006 .......................... 441.1 351.8 79.8 89.3 20.2

 CE, October 2005 - April 2006 ....... 441.9 340.3 77.0 101.6 23.0

 Pensions and annuities:

 CPS................................................ 310.3 211.4 68.1 98.8 31.9

 CE, reference year 2005 ................ 290.4 229.5 79.0 60.9 21.0

 CE, January 2006 .......................... 268.1 223.2 83.2 44.9 16.8

 CE, October 2005 - April 2006 ....... 291.1 224.9 77.3 66.2 22.7

 Interest:

 CPS................................................ 186.9 54.8 29.3 132.1 70.7

 CE, reference year 2005 ................ 61.9 29.6 47.8 32.4 52.2

 CE, January 2006 .......................... 37.6 12.7 33.6 25.0 66.4

 CE, October 2005 - April 2006 ....... 61.3 26.1 42.7 35.1 57.3

 Dividends, rents, royalties, and

 estates and trusts:

 CPS................................................ 169.8 87.3 51.4 82.5 48.6

 CE, reference year 2005 ................ 99.9 63.7 63.8 36.2 36.2

 CE, January 2006 .......................... 45.1 22.3 49.5 22.8 50.5

 CE, October 2005 - April 2006 ....... 71.9 45.7 63.6 26.2 36.4

2006

 Total aggregate income:

 CPS................................................ 7,800.6 5,226.9 67.0 2,573.7 33.0

 CE, reference year 2006 ................ 7,170.8 4,354.7 60.7 2,816.2 39.3

 CE, January 2007 .......................... 7,332.3 4,435.1 60.5 2,897.3 39.5

 CE, October 2006 - April 2007 ....... 7,286.8 4,492.4 61.7 2,794.4 38.3

 Wage and salary income:

 CPS................................................ 5,967.4 4,163.5 69.8 1,803.9 30.2

 CE, reference year 2006 ................ 5,718.6 3,447.2 60.3 2,271.5 39.7

 CE, January 2007 .......................... 5,994.1 3,685.0 61.5 2,309.1 38.5

 CE, October 2006 - April 2007 ....... 5,815.2 3,566.6 61.3 2,248.7 38.7

 Nonfarm self-employment income:

 CPS................................................ 407.7 227.3 55.7 180.4 44.2

 CE, reference year 2006 ................ 414.0 144.9 35.0 269.1 65.0

 CE, January 2007 .......................... 445.0 109.7 24.7 335.3 75.3

 CE, October 2006 - April 2007 ....... 380.1 132.8 34.9 247.3 65.1

 Social Security and Railroad

 Retirement income:

 CPS................................................ 471.5 312.7 66.3 158.8 33.7

 CE, reference year 2006 ................ 446.0 345.5 77.5 100.6 22.5

 CE, January 2007 .......................... 409.1 309.2 75.6 99.9 24.4

 CE, October 2006 - April 2007 ....... 452.2 349.9 77.4 102.3 22.6
18

Text table 5. Continued—Aggregate pretax income and percent distribution, total and by reported and allocated status, by source of

income, Current Population Survey (CPS) and three alternative measures of Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE), 2004–07

[In billions of dollars]

Year, category of income,

and survey Total Reported Percent reported Allocated Percent allocated

2006

 Pensions and annuities:

 CPS................................................ 314.9 212.0 67.3 102.9 32.7

 CE, reference year 2006 ................ 283.5 221.1 78.0 62.4 22.0

 CE, January 2007 .......................... 213.6 160.8 75.3 52.9 24.7

 CE, October 2006 - April 2007 ....... 302.6 228.1 75.4 74.5 24.6

 Interest:

 CPS................................................ 229.2 67.0 29.2 162.1 70.7

 CE, reference year 2006 ................ 69.7 31.0 44.5 38.7 55.5

 CE, January 2007 .......................... 66.8 26.9 40.3 39.9 59.7

 CE, October 2006 - April 2007 ....... 85.7 40.8 47.6 44.9 52.4

 Dividends, rents, royalties, and

 estates and trusts:

 CPS................................................ 186.7 94.8 50.8 91.9 49.2

 CE, reference year 2006 ................ 106.9 71.1 66.5 35.8 33.5

 CE, January 2007 .......................... 80.1 57.3 71.6 22.8 28.4

 CE, October 2006 - April 2007 ....... 109.5 67.6 61.7 41.9 38.3

2007

 Total aggregate income:

 CPS................................................ 8,013.6 5,425.3 67.7 2,588.3 32.3

 CE, reference year 2007 ................ 7,559.1 4,505.3 59.6 3,053.8 40.4

 CE, January 2008 .......................... 7,674.0 4,252.7 55.4 3,421.3 44.6

 CE, October 2007 - April 2008 ....... 7,610.1 4,634.0 60.9 2,976.1 39.1

 Wage and salary income:

 CPS................................................ 6,141.5 4,336.8 70.6 1,804.7 29.4

 CE, reference year 2007 ................ 6,047.3 3,590.9 59.4 2,456.4 40.6

 CE, January 2008 .......................... 6,179.7 3,343.8 54.1 2,835.9 45.9

 CE, October 2007 - April 2008 ....... 6,094.2 3,708.2 60.8 2,386.0 39.2

 Nonfarm self-employment income:

 CPS................................................ 390.6 223.9 57.3 166.6 42.7

 CE, reference year 2007 ................ 390.8 116.7 29.9 274.1 70.1

 CE, January 2008 .......................... 307.2 83.7 27.2 223.6 72.8

 CE, October 2007 - April 2008 ....... 369.3 92.2 25.0 277.1 75.0

 Social Security and Railroad

 Retirement income:

 CPS................................................ 500.2 332.8 66.5 167.4 33.5

 CE, reference year 2007 ................ 464.6 352.5 75.9 112.0 24.1

 CE, January 2008 .......................... 462.8 354.3 76.6 108.5 23.4

 CE, October 2007 - April 2008 ....... 483.8 371.4 76.8 112.4 23.2
19

Text table 5. Continued—Aggregate pretax income and percent distribution, total and by reported and allocated status, by source of 

income, Current Population Survey (CPS) and three alternative measures of Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE), 2004–07

[In billions of dollars]

Year, category of income,

and survey Total Reported Percent reported Allocated Percent allocated

2007

 Pensions and annuities:

 CPS................................................ 323.3 219.3 67.8 104.0 32.2

 CE, reference year 2007 ................ 302.0 231.2 76.5 70.9 23.5

 CE, January 2008 .......................... 338.8 266.0 78.5 72.8 21.5

 CE, October 2007 - April 2008 ....... 300.1 239.2 79.7 60.9 20.3

 Interest:

 CPS................................................ 242.8 69.4 28.6 173.5 71.4

 CE, reference year 2007 ................ 97.0 45.6 47.0 51.4 53.0

 CE, January 2008 .......................... 112.6 50.4 44.7 62.2 55.3

 CE, October 2007 - April 2008 ....... 94.9 45.8 48.2 49.1 51.8

 Dividends, rents, royalties, and

 estates and trusts:

 CPS................................................ 191.0 93.4 48.9 97.6 51.1

 CE, reference year 2007 ................ 112.8 63.3 56.1 49.5 43.9

 CE, January 2008 .......................... 137.0 50.4 54.0 86.6 63.2

 CE, October 2007 - April 2008 ....... 109.7 57.9 52.7 51.8 47.3
20

Consumer Expenditure Survey compared

with the American Community Survey

whereas ACS does. Because the two surveys sample different 

universes, they are expected to have different results.

Residency requirements. For ACS, an individual is considered 

a resident if he/she is currently staying in that household and 

has been or will be staying at that address for more than 2 

months of the year. For CE, to be considered a resident, an 

individual must reside in the address for more than 6 months 

out of a year. The difference in residency requirements has 

two significant impacts on the comparability of the surveys. 

The first is that ACS includes more individuals as members 

of the household. The resulting expectation is that ACS will 

have higher estimates for both household income and food 

stamp receipt. 

The second significant impact results because fewer 

individuals are considered usual residents by CE than by 

ACS. Since CE restricts its sample universe to households 

with at least one usual resident, the stricter definition of usual 

resident serves to further decrease CE’s sample universe. The 

expectations regarding the inclusion of additional properties 

by ACS are ambiguous. While ambiguous, this difference may 

affect all expenditure comparisons but especially mortgages, 

which for CE are broken down into primary and vacation 

home. For ACS, mortgages are not differentiated into primary 

and vacation.

Household definition. ACS includes all individuals within a 

housing unit as one household while CE divides residents of a 

housing unit into consumer units. A consumer unit is defined 

as any of the following: (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 incomes to make joint 

expenditure decisions. Financial independence is determined 

by spending behavior with regard to the three major expense 

categories: Housing, food, and other living expenses. To be 

considered financially independent, the respondent must provide at least two of the three major expenditure categories, 

either entirely or in part. 

Therefore, multiple CUs may exist in each CE housing 

unit. CE households are smaller on average: the ACS household size averages 2.6 persons, compared with 2.5 persons in 

the average CE consumer unit. 

This article compares methods and data from the Bureau 

of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey 

(CE) with those of the U.S. Census Bureau American 

Community Survey (ACS). Because of the reliability of the 

ACS in terms of response rates and sample size, CE expenditure 

data were compared with the expenditure data collected by 

ACS. The ACS collects and publishes nationwide statistics on 

socioeconomic and housing indicators/characteristics. ACS 

data are used by numerous organizations to evaluate social and 

economic changes among communities. These data have been 

used for measuring childhood poverty, public transportation 

usage, and the need for new roads and other infrastructure and 

services. 

The ACS, which replaces the decennial census longform, was fully implemented in 2006. The ACS surveys 

over 3 million addresses per year, resulting in 2 million 

final interviews. (Addresses in the sample that are not valid 

residential addresses are not interviewed.) Participation in 

the ACS is required and response rates hover in the mid-90-

percent range. With such a large sample and high response 

rate, the ACS survey is subject to less sampling error than 

is the Consumer Expenditure Interview Survey, whose 

yearly sample is about 28,000 completed interviews. The 

CE Interview Survey was used for this comparison, as it is 

the primary source of published data on the expenditure 

items compared here. Though the ACS is not designed as an 

expenditure survey, some expenditure questions are asked 

on rent, utilities, property taxes, property insurance, and 

mortgages. The ACS also includes questions on income and 

food stamp receipt. Before proceeding with the comparison, 

numerous methodological differences between the CE 

Interview Survey and ACS should be noted. 

Methods used in the surveys

Sample universe differences. ACS is a survey of all residential 

addresses including both owned and vacation homes, while 

CE includes only those residential addresses where at least 

one individual is a usual resident. Addresses which for CE 

are out of scope (because all individuals staying there have a 

usual residence elsewhere) are included in the ACS survey; 

thus, the ACS sample universe is both larger and different 

from that of CE. 

Another difference between the sample universes of the 

two surveys is the treatment of group quarters. CE does not 

include State prisons, local jails, institutional halfway houses, military on-post barracks, and correctional institutions, 
21

Expenditures. Expenditures collected by CE include all 

expenditures made by the individuals who constitute that 

consumer unit. This includes expenditures for primary 

residences, vacation homes, and also expenditures made on 

behalf of someone else for properties not owned by the CU. 

Expenditures collected by ACS refer only to those expenditures 

made with respect to that housing unit; for example, 

utilities, rent, mortgage, and fuel all refer to expenditures 

for only the specific property in the sample. ACS does not 

differentiate whether the individuals in the housing unit were 

the individuals who made the expenditures. ACS collects the 

expenditures made with regard to that housing unit regardless 

of who made them. CE, however, collects expenditures by all 

members of the consumer unit. These expenditures may or 

may not include those expenditures for the housing unit in 

the CE sample. For instance, if a CE consumer unit member 

did not pay the mortgage for the housing unit in which he/

she reside, the expenditure would not be collected in the CE 

survey, while it would be collected in ACS. However, if a 

CE consumer unit member paid the mortgage for someone 

outside their CU, that expenditure would be collected by CE 

and not by ACS.

The CE and ACS also differ in their treatment of business 

expenses. In CE expenditures for rent, mortgage, and utilities 

are reduced by the percentage reported as business expenses. 

The ACS does not reduce reported expenditures for the portion of expenses incurred for a business.

Other methodological differences. Collection and reference 

period differences exist between the two surveys. The ACS interviews each housing unit only once, while the CE Interview 

Survey is administered over a period of five quarters. Data for 

an entire year are collected by CE, while ACS collects data 

at one point for the previous year. ACS uses the date of the 

interview as the reference point or as the end of the reference 

period; CE collects expenditures made during the reference 

period, generally the previous 3 months prior to the interview 

month. ACS income data are then inflation adjusted using the 

difference between the average Consumer Price Index (CPI) 

for the 12 months in the survey year and the average CPI for 

each respondent’s 12-month reference period as the adjustment factor; CE data are not inflation adjusted. 

Administration differs between the surveys, as well. The 

ACS is intended as a self-administered survey, however, if no 

response is received, a telephone interview is attempted. If 

the telephone interview is unsuccessful, an interview in person is attempted. The CE is primarily a personal interview 

survey and is not designed to be self-administered.

Finally, differences exist in question wording and the level 

of detail requested from the respondent. Because ACS is not 

designed as an expenditure survey, the categories tend to be 

broader and more inclusive than those collected by CE. The 

CE utilizes an Information Booklet which provides specific 

examples of what should be included and excluded as well as 

detailed question wording. For example, the CE question on 

rent directs survey participants to “include any extra charges 

for garage or parking facilities, but to exclude direct payments by local, state or federal agencies.” ACS questions are 

less specific. For instance, the ACS question for rent asks the 

monthly rent for the property without any additional information on inclusions and exclusions.

In addition to methodological differences between the two 

surveys, there are differences in the way in which the estimates are produced which will result in differences in estimates. Expenditures collected by ACS for real estate taxes are 

reported on the micro data file as a range. In calculations, the 

mid-point of the range was used; values were then weighted 

and averaged. It should be noted that there is no reason to assume an even distribution across the range of values (0-$50, 

$51-$100, etc.).

Results from the surveys

The ACS data used in the comparisons in table 1 are calculated using the ACS microdata file which is top coded, imputed, and corrected through data adjustment. The published 

CE microdata are also topcoded, imputed, and data adjusted, 

however, the data used in this article are taken from detailed, 

internal use expenditure tables that are not subject to topcoding. For this report, ACS estimates were calculated using the 

provided ACS weights, averaged, and in some cases annualized. Additionally, data were subset for housing units that are 

not vacant. (Vacant households are defined as units that have 

no residents according to ACS residency rules stated earlier.)

Text table 6 shows that the Consumer Expenditure Survey 

average annual sample expenditure estimates of rented dwellings, water and sewerage maintenance, electricity, fuel oil 

and other fuels, second mortgages, property taxes, and household income are 88 to 120 percent of those from ACS. For 

2006 and 2007, estimates of natural gas are 72 percent and 

74 percent of ACS, respectively. The difference in estimates 

from CE and ACS for natural gas could be the result of the 

specificity of the questions in CE, compared with the broader 

questions asked by ACS. Differences could also have resulted 

from the price fluctuation of gas and its derivatives considering the time period differences between the two surveys and 

the adjustment of values by ACS using the CPI. 

Income estimates, which are impacted by the differences in 

household residency rules and the inclusion of all members of 

an address by ACS, compared with only members of the CU 

by CE, are 94 percent and 93 percent of ACS estimates. 

Estimates of mortgages, including mortgages for vacation homes and other properties not owned by the CU but for 

which the CU makes a payment, are 84 percent of ACS. As 

mentioned above, the ACS estimates for mortgages include 

vacation homes if the home is occupied by at least one individual for 2 months out of the year. ACS and CE estimates 

for mortgages both include property taxes and insurance, but 

only if the respondent included these items in the mortgage 

payment that they reported. 

Overall, CE estimates compare well with ACS, when 

controlling for the expected differences between the estimates 

due to differences in household definition. Furthermore, 
22

Text table 6. Comparison of characteristics and average annual expenditures for selected items, Consumer Expenditure Survey 

(CE) and American Community Survey, (ACS) 2006–07

Item

2006 2007

CE ACS Ratio of CE to 

ACS CE ACS Ratio of CE to 

ACS

Consumer unit characteristics:

 Number of persons per unit............ 2.5 2.6 0.96 2.5 2.6 0.96

 Average annual income.................. $60,533 $64,487 0.94 $63,091 $68,106 0.93

Expenditures:

 Rent................................................ $2437 $2639 0.92 $2491 $2776 0.89

 Utilities............................................ 2241 2556 0.95 2250 2551 0.88

 Water................................................ 328 311 1.05 317 321 0.99

 Electricity .......................................... 1266 1406 0.90 1302 1449 0.90

 Natural gas ....................................... 509 709 0.72 480 652 0.74

 Fuel oil and other fuels ..................... 138 130 1.06 151 129 1.17

 All mortgages.................................... 5831 6909 0.84 6278 7404 0.85

 Mortgage .......................................... 5052 6299 0.80 5432 6733 0.81

 Second mortgages ........................... 779 610 1.27 846 671 1.26

 Property tax .................................... 1648 1373 1.20 1708 1376 1.24

 Homeowner's/ renter’s insurance... 352 542 0.66 350 567 0.62

SOURCE: ACS data for 2006–07 are calculated from the Public Use 

Microdata Samples (PUMS) file available on the Internet at www.

census.gov/acs/www/Products/PUMS/index.html.

differences between the two estimates are greatest where 

methodological differences have the greatest impact, primarily 

with regards to mortgages. Unfortunately, because of the 

sharp methodological differences between the two surveys, it 

cannot be definitively concluded whether CE underestimates 

expenditures by comparing estimates with ACS. 
23

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer 

Expenditure Survey (CE) show that the percentage 

of U.S. households owning computers has risen 

steadily over this decade, and that, in 2007, approximately 

3 of every 4 consumer units10 (CUs) owned a home computer, compared with less than half of all CUs in 2000. 

CE data also show that the average number of computers 

owned in 2007 was 1.09 computers per consumer unit. 

This article provides data on computer ownership for two 

groups: All consumer units (including computer owners 

and non-owners) and computer owners (CUs that report at 

least one computer owned). The percentage of computer 

ownership and the average number of computers owned 

also are shown for CUs classified by age group, education 

level, race, and income quintile. Chart 3 shows the percentage of computer ownership for all consumer units from 

2000 to 2007.

Data are derived from an inventory of durable goods 

that are collected during the first interview of the Interview 

Survey component of the CE. The questions are asked under 

Section 1C in the Computer Assisted Personal Interview 

(CAPI) instrument. Section 1C is used to create an inventory 

of household appliances, including major kitchen appliances, 

washers and dryers, televisions, and computers. During 

this portion of the interview, a field representative asks 

the respondent how many computers the CU owns. Any 

computers owned for business purposes are excluded from 

the inventory. Using this information, statistics calculating the 

percent of CUs that report owning a computer are generated 

annually after the most recent CE data are published. 

Computer Ownership Continues to Rise

10A consumer unit is defined as members of a household related by blood, 

marriage, adoption, or other legal arrangement; a single person living alone 

or sharing a household with others but who is financially independent; or 

two or more persons living together who share responsibility for at least 2 

out of 3 major types of expenses—food, housing, and other expenses. For 

the purposes of this article, the terms consumer unit and household are used 

interchangeably.

Chart 3. Percent of computer ownership, all consumer units Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2000–07

Percent

2000

Percent

50

0

10

20

30

40

60

80

70

50

0

10

20

30

40

60

80

70

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
24

Chart 4. Percent of computer ownership, by age group, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2000 and 2007

Percent

Under 25 years 25–34 years 35–44 years 55–64 years

Percent

45–54 years

50

0

10

20

30

40

60

70

80

90

50

0

10

20

30

40

60

70

80

90

65–74 years 75 years 

and older

2000 2007

Text table 7 shows the average number of computers 

owned for all consumer units and for those who own at least 

one computer from 2000 to 2007. As mentioned above, for 

all CUs (including owners and non-owners), the average inAge

Looking at the data classified by the age of the reference person reveals that by 2007 all five of the youngest age groups11

had computer ownership rates of close to 80 percent. Chart 4 

shows the percentage of computer ownership by age group for 

2000 and 2007. In 2007, the 35-to-44 age group and the 45-to54 age group had the highest percentage of computer ownership, with about 82 percent of each group owning at least one 

computer. The 75-years-and-older age group had the smallest 

computer ownership percentage in 2007, with 37.9 percent 

owning at least one computer. However, this age group nearly 

tripled the percent of computer owners over the time period 

2000–07. The age group that had the highest percentage point 

increase from 2000 to 2007 was the 55-to-64 age group, with 

45.4 percent owning at least one computer in 2000, compared 

Text table 7: Average number of computers owned, all consumer units and computer owners, Consumer Expenditure Interview 

Survey, 2000–07

Characteristic 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Number of computers - all 

consumer units ........................

Number of computers - owners

only ..........................................

0.54

1.25

0.62

1.26

0.69

1.31

0.79

1.34

0.91

1.36

0.97

1.43

1.03

1.46

1.09

1.50

11 Age group is determined by the age of the reference person, who is the 

first person 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.”

creased from 0.54 in 2000 to 1.09 in 2007. Among those CUs 

that own at least one computer, the average number of computers owned steadily increased from 1.25 in 2000 to 1.50 in 

2007. 

with 77.7 percent in 2007, an increase of 32.3 percentage 

points. This was closely followed by the under-25 age group, 

which increased its computer ownership from 45.4 percent, 

in 2000, to 77.2 percent in 2007—a 31.8- percentage-point 

increase. It will be interesting to see in coming years whether 

the 80-percent level for the age groups is a plateau at which 

point all CUs that want to own a computer own one, and if the 

older groups end up approaching that level.

Text table 8 provides the average number of computers 

owned by age group for 2000 and 2007. Among all consumer 

units (including non-owners), the 45-to-54 age group owned 

the most computers in 2007 with 1.30 computers per CU. The 

75-and-older age group owned an average of 0.45 computers, 

which was the lowest among all age groups. Among consumer 

units that owned at least one computer, the 45-to-54 age group 

also had the highest number of computers owned, with 1.61 

computers per CU in 2007, followed closely by the 35-to-44 

age group, which owned 1.58 computers per CU.
25

Education

Analyzing the data by the education level12 of the reference 

person reveals that more education corresponds to an 

increasing likelihood of owning a computer. Chart 5 shows 

the percentage of computer ownership by education level 

for 2000 and 2007. Consumer units with reference persons 

having an advanced degree had the highest level of computer 

ownership rate in 2007, with 94.4 percent owning at least one 

computer. This was followed by CUs with reference persons 

with bachelor’s degrees, who had a computer ownership rate 

of 91.0 percent. The lowest computer ownership rate among 

education levels was for CUs with a reference person, who had 

less than a high school education. Just over 40 percent of this 

group reported owning a computer in 2007. Consumer units 

with reference person who had some college or associates 

degree had the highest percentage point increase from 2000 to 

2007, rising from 55.7 percent in 2000 to 82.0 percent in 2007. 

This was followed closely by CUs with reference person, who 

were high school graduates, increasing from 37.7 percent in 

2000, to 63.4 percent in 2007.

Chart 5. Percent of computer ownership, by education level, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2000 and 2007

Percent

Less than high 

school graduate

Percent

50

0

10

20

30

40

60

80

70

100

90

50

0

10

20

30

40

60

80

70

100

90

High school 

graduate Some college or 

associate’s degree

Bachelor’s 

degree

Advanced 

degree

2000 2007

Text table 8 provides the average number of computers 

owned by education level for 2000 and 2007. Including nonowners, CUs whose reference person had an advanced degree 

owned the most computers on average in 2007, with 1.66 computers per CU. This was followed by CUs with reference persons who had a bachelor’s degree with an average of 1.49

computers per CU. Consumer units whose reference person did not have a high school degree had the fewest

number of computers owned, on average, with 0.50 computers per CU in 2007.

Looking at consumer units who owned at least one computer, those with reference persons who had an advanced 

degree also had the highest number of computers owned on 

average in 2007 with 1.77 computers. This was followed by 

CUs whose reference persons had bachelor’s degrees, with an 

average of 1.65 computers owned per CU. The less-than-highschool-graduate group had the fewest number of computers 

owned, with 1.26 in 2007. 

12Education level is defined as the number of years of formal education of 

the reference person, on the basis of the highest grade completed. If enrolled 

at time of the interview, the interviewer records the grade currently attended. 

Persons not reporting the extent of their education are classified under no 

school or not reported.
26

Chart 6. Percent of computer ownership, by race, Consumer Expenditure Survey 2000 and 2007

Percent

Asian

Percent

Black

50

0

10

20

30

40

60

70

80

90

50

0

10

20

30

40

60

70

80

90

White and all other 

races

2000 2007

Race

Looking at the data classified by the race13 of the reference 

13Race of the reference person of the consumer unit. Families are included 

in three racial groups: Black or African-American; Asian; and White and All 

Other Races. The “All Other Races” group comprises such races as Native 

Americans, Alaskan Natives, Pacific Islanders, and those reporting more than 

one race.

Text table 8. Average number of computers owned by all 

consumer units and by computer owners, classified by age, 

education level, and race, Consumer Expenditure Interview 

Survey, 2000 and 2007

Characteristic

All consumer

units

Computer

owners

2000 2007 2000 2007

Age

 Under 25........................ 0.50 1.06 1.21 1.39

 25-34 years.................... 0.57 1.09 1.21 1.43

 35-44 years.................... 0.69 1.28 1.25 1.58

 45-54 years.................... 0.71 1.30 1.32 1.61

 55-64 years.................... 0.51 1.14 1.24 1.48

 65-74 years.................... 0.33 0.84 1.18 1.37

 75 years and older........ 0.14 0.45 1.12 1.22

Education

 Less than high

 school graduate ........... 0.16 0.50 1.11 1.26

 High school graduate..... 0.39 0.82 1.15 1.31

 Some college or

 associates degree........ 0.62 1.19 1.23 1.46

 Bachelor's degree.......... 0.84 1.49 1.33 1.65

 Advanced degree........... 0.95 1.66 1.36 1.77

Race

 Asian............................. 0.72 1.46 1.30 1.75

 Black............................. 0.34 0.78 1.17 1.32

 White and All Other

 Races......................... 0.56 1.12 1.25 1.50

person shows that Asians had the highest levels of ownership 

and that Blacks almost doubled their ownership rate from 

2000 to 2007. Chart 6 shows the percentage of computer 

ownership by race for 2000 and 2007. Consumer units with 

reference persons who were Asian had the highest computer 

ownership rate in 2007, with 84.5 percent owning at least 

one computer, followed by CUs in the White and All Other 

Races group, which had a computer ownership rate of 75.4 

percent. Consumer units with reference persons who were 

Black reported computer ownership of 59.8 percent in 2007, 

the lowest among the three racial groups. However, Blacks 

had the highest-percentage-point increase in computer 

ownership rates among the three racial groups from 2000 

to 2007, rising from 31.6 percent in 2000 to 59.8 percent in 

2007. This was followed by CUs with reference persons who 

are White and All Other Races, whose computer ownership 

rate increased from 50.1 percent in 2000 to 75.4 percent in 

2007.

Text table 8 provides the average number of computers 

owned by race for 2000 and 2007. Including non-owners, CUs 

whose reference person was Asian owned the most computers 

in 2007, with 1.46 computers per CU, followed by the Whiteand-All-Other-Races group, which owned 1.12 computers per 

CU, and the Black group, which owned 0.78 computers per 

CU. 

Looking at CUs that owned at least one computer, CUs 

whose reference persons were Asian had the most number of 

computers owned in 2007, with 1.75 computers per CU. This 

was followed by CUs with reference persons of White and All 

Other Races, with 1.50 computers and Black CUs, with 1.32 

computers. 
27

14 For each time period represented in the tables, complete income reporters are ranked in ascending order, according to the level of total before-tax 

income reported by the consumer unit. The ranking is then divided into five 

equal groups. Incomplete income reporters are not ranked and are shown 

separately. 

Income quintile

Examining the data classified by income quintile14 shows that 

the likelihood of owning a computer increased with income 

level and that, in 2007, almost all upper quintile CUs reported 

owning a computer. Chart 7 shows the percentage of computer 

ownership by income quintile for 2004 and 2007. Note that 

2004 is used as the base year for these income comparisons. 

That was the first year that incomes were imputed in the CE, 

therefore, income comparisons to prior years are not strictly 

comparable. Consumer units with incomes in the highest income quintile had the highest computer ownership, in 2007, 

with 98.8 percent owning at least one computer, followed 

by CUs in the next highest quintile that had a computer 

ownership rate of 87.3 percent. Consumer units in the 

lowest income quintile had a computer ownership rate 

of 49.0 percent in 2007, the lowest percentage among 

all income quintiles. Consumer units in the second lowest income quintile had the highest percentage point increase in the computer ownership rate among all income 

quintiles from 2004 to 2007, rising from 51.6 percent in 

2004 to 60.9 percent in 2007. This was followed closely 

by CUs in the lowest income quintile, where the computer ownership rate increased from 39.9 percent in 2004 to 

49.0 percent in 2007. 

Chart 7. Percent of computer ownership, by income quintile, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2004 and 2007

Percent

Lowest 20 

percent

Percent

Second 20 

percent Third 20 percent Fourth 20 

percent

Highest 20 

percent

2004 2007

50

0

10

20

30

40

60

80

70

100

90

50

0

10

20

30

40

60

80

70

100

90

Text table 9. Average number of computers owned by all 

consumer units and by computer owners, classified by 

income quintile, Consumer Expenditure Interview Survey, 

2004 and 2007

Income

All consumer

units Computer owners

2004 2007 2004 2007

Lowest 20 percent ...... 0.46 0.62 1.17 1.27

Second 20 percent ..... 0.60 0.76 1.18 1.26

Third 20 percent .......... 0.84 1.01 1.24 1.35

Fourth 20 percent ........ 1.13 1.27 1.36 1.47

Highest 20 percent ...... 1.51 1.80 1.65 1.89

Text table 9 provides the average number of computers 

owned by income quintile for 2004 and 2007. For all CUs 

(including non-owners), those in the highest income quintile 

owned the most computers in 2007, with 1.80 computers per 

CU, followed by CUs in the fourth quintile with 1.27 computers per CU. Consumer units in the lowest income quintile had 

the fewest number of computers owned in 2007, with 0.62 

computers per CU.

Looking at CUs that owned at least one computer, those in 

the highest income quintile had the most number of computers owned in 2007, with 1.89 computers per CU, followed 

by CUs in the fourth quintile with 1.47 computers per CU. 

Consumer units in the second income quintile had the fewest

number of computers owned, with 1.26 computers per CU in 

2007.
28

The number of unmarried partners in the United States 

has substantially increased. In 1970, unmarried partners made up less than 2 percent of all couple households in the United States; by 2007, they made up more than 

8.5 percent. From 1990 to 2000, the number of unmarried 

partners increased from 3.2 million to 5.5 million. In the 

1990s, researchers began to focus on this group, comparing 

these couples with married couples. BLS has collected data on 

various subsets of these two types of couples. One such subset 

is those couples without children. As of 2007, approximately 

60 percent of unmarried partners did not have children living 

with them, making such couples a significant demographic 

group.15

What are some characteristics of this unmarried group, and 

how do they compare with married couples without children? 

Does the former group spend their money in fundamentally 

different ways than their married counterparts? Using data 

from the 2004–07 Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) these 

are questions that this article will explore. 

One difference between the two groups that has 

implications for long-term spending decisions is that, in 

general, the duration of unmarried partnerships is shorter 

than the duration of marriages.16 Of the other demographic 

differences that have been noted, two are relevant to this 

study because of their impact on spending. Compared with 

married couples, unmarried partners are younger (Bumpass 

and Lu, 200017; DeLiere and Kalil, 200518), and earn less 

(Light, 200419). The 2005 study by DeLiere and Kalil in 

which demographic differences were explored also looks 

at differences in spending patterns between the two groups. 

The DeLiere and Kalil study, which used CE data from 1982 

to 1998, focused on couples with children and relied on a 

model to infer unmarried partner relationships, as the survey 

at that time did not include the latter relationship category. 

The main findings were that unmarried partners spent a larger 

share of their expenditures on alcohol and tobacco than did 

married couples and spent a smaller share on health care and 

education. 

The sample

In the current study using 2004–07 CE data, the married 

couples and unmarried partners included were restricted to 

those that met certain criteria. Only couples who were part of 

a two-member household were included. This ensured that the 

couples had no children or any other person as part of their 

consumer unit. This was done to allow for a direct comparison 

on spending by the couples alone. Another restriction was that 

only opposite-sex couples were included. 

Methodology

Preliminary analysis of the data revealed that unmarried partners were younger then married couples and had different incomes. (See charts 8 and 9.) 

A Comparison of Expenditures by

Opposite-sex Unmarried Partners with

Opposite-sex Married Couples,

without Children

17Bumpass, L.L., and Lu, H. H. 2000. “Trends in cohabitation and implications for children’s family contexts in the United States.” Population Studies, 

54, 29-41.

18Deliere, Thomas and Kalil, Ariel. 2005. “How do cohabitating couples

with children spend their money?” Journal of Marriage and Family, 67(2), 

286-295.

19Light, Audrey. 2004. “Gender differences in the marriage and cohabitation 

income premium.” Demography, 41(2), 263-284.

15For more information, see Tavia Simmons and Martin O’Connell, “Married Couple and Unmarried-Partner Households: 2000,” Washington, D.C., 

U.S. Census Bureau, February, 2003, http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/

censr-5.pdf, and Current Population Survey, “2008 Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC),” Washington, D.C., U.S. Census Bureau, 2008, 

http://www.census.gov/cps/. 16Bramlett, M.D. and Mosher, W.D. “Cohabitation, Marriage, Divorce, 

and Remarriage in the United States,” Vital and Health Statistics, Hyattsville, Md., U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics, 2002, http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_23/

sr23_022.pdf 
29

Chart 9. Income before taxes and income before taxes per earner by age group and couple type,

 Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2004–07

Dollars

All 

consumer 

units

100,000

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

80,000

90,000

Dollars

100,000

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

80,000

90,000

Under 35 

years

35–54 

years

55 years 

and older

All 

consumer 

units

Under 35 

years

35–54 

years

55 years 

and older

Couples’ income, by age 

group

Per-earner income, by age 

group

Chart 8. Distribution of age of reference person, by marital status, Consumer Expenditure Survey 2000–07

Percent Percent

50

0

10

20

30

40

60

70

50

0

10

20

30

40

60

70

Under 35 years 35–54 years 55 years and older

Unmarried Married

Unmarried Married
30

Because of the association between both age and expenditures and income and expenditures, the sample was broken 

into nine age-by-income brackets for analysis. Couples were 

assigned to the age groups of “Under 35,” “35–54,” and “55 

and over,” based on the age of the reference person.20 Additionally, they were assigned to three income groups (low, 

middle, and high), based on their income relative to the other 

couples in the sample. To create the three income groups, all 

couples in the sample were arranged in order of their incomes 

and then split into thirds. In doing this, the low income group 

included those who made under $37,807, the middle income 

group, those who made between $37,808 and $73,300, and 

the high income group, those who made $73,301 and above. 

Splitting the groups into age-by-income brackets did not perfectly control for either age or income. As seen in text table 

10, within every age-by-income group, married couples were 

older than unmarried partners, and there were three groups 

where the differences in incomes were statistically significant. However, the ages and incomes of the couples within the 

brackets were similar, and were close enough for the purposes 

of this study. The average age differences were usually under 

2 years, and in the low- and middle-income groups, incomes 

almost always differed by less than $1,000. While the income 

differences were greater in the high-income groups, incomes 

were comparable. The greatest difference in incomes that was 

statistically significant was for high-income couples aged 

35–54. In this group, unmarried partners earned $120,496, 

compared with $136,353 for married couples.

Text Table 10. Demographic summary statistics by age, income and couple type, Consumer Expenditure Survey,

2004–07

Charateristic

All ages Under 35

All incomes Low income Middle income High income

Unmarried

partners Spouses Unmarriedpartners Spouses Unmarriedpartners Spouses Unmarriedpartners Spouses

Number in sample ...................... 2,841 24,789 499 608 578 1,013 350 990

Average age of reference

person.......................................

 

***38.6 57.8 ***24.4 26.3 ***26.0 27.2 ***28.5 29.5

Average annual income

before taxes.............................. ***63,355 71,091 ***23,586 23,649 ***53,861 56,200 *109,087 118,105

Number of earners...................... ***1.68 1.20 **1.73 1.62 ***1.94 1.89 **1.98 1.95

Market value of financial

assets ....................................... ***22,801 139,034 2,485 2,419 5,150 5,245 26,631 45,981

Percentage of reference persons

with a bachelors degree or

higher........................................ ***28.8 33.0 ***11.8 24.0 36.7 41.1 **60.0 69.5

Homeownership rate .................. ***47.5 86.2 ***10.8 26.6 ***26.5 54.5 ***62.0 77.0

Number of members with health

insurance .................................. ***1.18 1.72 ***0.72 0.92 ***1.15 1.51 ***1.50 1.71

Percentage of couples where

neither member has health

insurance ..................................

 

***25.5 10.5 48.3 44.2

 

**22.8 16.5

 

*13.7 9.9

Percentage of couples where

one member has health

insurance ..................................

 

***31.3 7.2

 

***31.3 19.6

 

***39.3 16.0

 

***22.9 9.3

Percentage of couples where

both members have health

insurance ..................................

 

***43.2 82.4

 

*** 20.4 36.2

 

***37.9 67.5

 

 

*** 63.4 80.8

20The 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.”
31

Text Table 10. Continued—Demographic summary statistics by age, income and couple type, Consumer Expenditure Survey,

2004–07 

Characteristic

Age 35-54

Low income Middle income High income

Unmarried

partners Spouses Unmarriedpartners Spouses Unmarriedpartners Spouses

Number in sample ............................ 279 1,133 307 2,121 340 3,147

Average age of reference

person............................................. ***45.2 47.1 ***45.1 47.2 ***43.2 47.3

Average annual income

before taxes.................................... 22,696 23,181 55,430 56,016 ***120,496 136,353

Number of earners............................ 1.29 1.33 ** 1.83 1.75 * 1.91 1.87

Market value of financial

assets ............................................. 1,196 11,880 ***4,984 22,969 ***38,927 112,967

Percentage of reference persons

with a bachelors degree or

higher.............................................. 9.0 10.5 15.0 19.5 47.4 48.3

Homeownership rate ........................ ***33.3 63.0 ***59.6 80.6 ***77.9 92.7

Number of members with health

insuance ......................................... ***0.79 1.09 ***1.09 1.58 ***1.39 1.79

Percentage of couples where 

neither member has health

insurance ........................................ *45.2 37.2 **24.4 17.4 ***15.6 7.9

Percentage of couples where one

member has health

insurance ........................................ ***29.7 16.1 ***40.7 7.4 ***29.7 5.6

Percentage of couples where 

both members have health

insurance ........................................ ***25.1 46.7 ***34.9 75.3 ***54.7 86.6
32

Text Table 10. Continued—Demographic summary statistics by age, income and couple type, Consumer Expenditure Survey,

2004–07 

Characteristic

Age 55+

Low income Middle income High income

Unmarried

partners Spouses Unmarriedpartners Spouses Unmarriedpartners Spouses

Number in sample .............................. 215 6,476 145 5,046 128 4,255

Average age of reference

person............................................... ***66.7 70.3 ***62.2 66.4 62.2 63.0

Average annual income

before taxes...................................... 23,641 22,848 52,837 53,241 170,679 137,074

Number of earners.............................. ***0.58 0.39 ***1.38 1.00 *1.61 1.48

Market value of financial

assets ............................................... ***7,709 63,111 ***28,200 166,118 264,488 443,645

Percentage of reference persons

with a bachelors degree or

higher................................................ 11.6 16.5 ***12.4 28.5 48.4 55.6

Homeownership rate .......................... ***64.2 87.3 ***76.6 93.2 94.5 96.9

Number of members with health

insuance ........................................... ***1.58 1.80 ***1.53 1.83 ***1.55 1.82

Percentage of couples where

neither member has health

insurance .......................................... **11.2 6.6 *10.3 6.0 8.6 7.1

Percentage of couples where

one member has health

insurance .......................................... ***20.5 7.3 ***26.2 5.0 ***27.3 3.8

Percentage of couples where 

both members have health

insurance .......................................... ***68.4 86.2 ***63.4 89.0 ***64.1 89.0

* Indicates statistical significance at the .05 level.

** Indicates statistical significance at the .01 level.

*** Indicates statistical significance at the .001 level.
33

Expenditure levels

Looking first at quarterly total expenditures, text table 11 

shows that unmarried partners generally spent less than married couples. In 8 of the 9 age-by-income brackets, unmarried partners spent a lower amount than married couples; and 

for 5 of those 8 brackets the difference was significant. Total

expenditure levels for unmarried partners were similar to married couples among those under 35. In this age group, in the 

high income bracket, married couples spent significantly more 

than unmarried partners ($17,924 compared with $16,051). 

However, in the low- and middle-income brackets, total expenditures were virtually the same. The largest differences 

were among those in the 55-and-over age bracket. In this age 

group, married couples in the low-income group spent 26.8 

percent more than unmarried partners ($7,675 compared with 

$6,051), and those in the middle income spent 15.3 percent 

more ($11,277 compared with $9,778). Interestingly, the high 

income bracket of this age group is the only bracket in which 

unmarried partners spent more than their married counterparts ($25,009 compared with $21,047). However, while this 

18.8-percent difference was substantial, it was not statistically 

significant. Findings at the total expenditure level raise the 

question of why unmarried partners of similar age and income 

to married couples tended to spend significantly less. The difference in the level of financial assets (savings accounts, 

checking accounts, U.S. savings bonds, and securities) 

between the couples is a likely explanation. As shown in 

text table 1, in the under-35 age group the difference in 

the level of financial assets for unmarried partners and 

spouses mirrors the differences in total expenditures. In 

the low- and middle-income groups, the level of financial 

assets was virtually the same for unmarried partners and 

married couples; and in the high-income group, while the 

difference was not statistically significant, the financial 

assets of married couples were substantially higher than 

unmarried partners ($45,981 compared with $26,631). In 

the 35–54 and 55-and-over age groups, married couples’ 

financial assets were substantially higher than unmarried 

partners’ across all incomes, even though the differences were not always statistically significant. Given this, 

it seems likely that the higher level of financial assets 

among married couples is a major reason why their expenditures tended to be higher—especially among those 

aged 55 and over. The fact that the average married couple is together longer than the average unmarried partner 

couple, and, thus, has had a longer time over which to 

pool resources, likely accounts for why married couples’ 

financial assets were typically higher. 

Not surprisingly, given the significant differences in total 

expenditures between the two groups, the data also show that 

unmarried partners generally spent considerably less than 

married couples on categories such as housing, transportation, 

and food, as also shown in text table 11. Therefore, to get a 

better sense of how unmarried partners allocated their expenditures as compared with married couples, expenditure shares 

were examined.
34

Text Table 11. Expenditure levels by age, income and couple type, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2004–07

Expenditure

All ages Under 35

All incomes Low income Middle income High income

Unmarried

partners Spouses Unmarried

partners Spouses Unmarried

partners Spouses Unmarried

partners Spouses

Total expenditures ............... ***11,137 13,093 6,733 6,895 10,036 10,277 ***16,051 17,924

Food total............................. ***1,433 1,644 1,131 1,146 1,351 1,380 1,821 1,904

 Food at home .................... ***938 1,091 785 812 **842 906 ***969 1,074

 Food away from home....... **495 553 347 334 508 474 852 830

Clothing ............................... **383 323 232 198 *359 296 **767 533

Housing ............................... ***3,903 4,492 2,409 2,515 *3,362 3,545 ***5,784 6,838

 Shelter ............................... ***2,687 2,993 1,658 1,718 2,296 2,430 ***4,134 5,107

 Utilities............................... ***702 878 509 521 ***630 688 800 824

 House furnishings/

 operations ......................

***514 622 243 276 436 427 850 907

Transportation ..................... ***2,025 2,233 1,278 1,294 2,072 2,112 *2,777 3,181

 Vehicle purchases ............. *825 926 468 423 821 886 1,175 1,470

 Gasoline/motor oil.............. 537 539 429 423 567 582 648 671

 Other vehicle expenses..... **540 585 334 363 *587 518 *678 788

 Public transportation.......... ***124 182 *47 86 97 126 276 252

Health care .......................... ***454 999 **178 261 **333 403 487 524

 Health insurance................ ***250 560 ***90 149 *206 239 270 296

 Medical services................ ***131 241 52 81 90 119 152 164

 Medical supplies................ ***14 33 8 8 11 10 13 17

 Prescription drugs.............. ***59 164 29 24 *26 35 53 47

Personal care ...................... ***72 90 *48 33 68 60 116 121

Education............................. 169 188 269 281 245 304 247 232

Reading ............................... ***28 45 17 14 24 25 46 44

Entertainment ...................... 628 664 367 342 547 522 899 981

Alcohol & tobacco................ ***349 176 ***228 122 ***350 169 ***347 223

 Alcohol............................... ***179 106 ***97 45 ***216 106 ***271 180

 Tobacco ............................. ***170 70 ***131 78 ***134 63 **76 43

Cash contributions............... ***257 669 ***97 197 *170 233 288 345

Personal insurance/

pensions ............................

*1,216 1,332 *378 415 **1,017 1,118 ***2,220 2,801

Miscellaneous...................... *169 205 67 50 82 65 153 125
35

Text Table 11.—Continued Expenditure levels by age, income and couple type, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2004–07

Expenditure

Age 35-54

Low income Middle income High income

Unmarried

partners Spouses Unmarried

partners Spouses Unmarried

partners Spouses

Total expenditures ................................ ***6,252 7,281 10,174 10,843 ***17,869 20,592

Food total.............................................. ***1,006 1,184 1,379 1,467 *1,981 2,146

 Food at home ***827 950 1,021 1,053 *1,181 1,274

 Food away from home........................ *179 235 358 413 800 873

Clothing ................................................ 131 142 298 231 523 578

Housing ................................................ 2,424 2,636 3,992 3,779 ***6,437 7,472

 Shelter................................................ 1,631 1,703 2,830 2,536 *4,845 5,414

 Utilities................................................ ***554 696 *785 842 ***879 1,074

 House furnishings/ operations............ 240 237 377 401 **713 984

Transportation ...................................... 1,129 1,361 **1,825 2,150 2,900 3,195

 Vehicle purchases .............................. **330 489 734 885 1,195 1,340

 Gasoline/motor oil............................... **375 464 **537 614 681 718

 Other vehicle expenses...................... 375 355 509 563 816 840

 Public transportation........................... 50 53 **45 88 *208 297

Health care ........................................... ***227 510 ***457 628 ***621 831

 Health insurance................................. ***120 237 ***264 344 *326 392

 Medical services................................. **57 166 **105 172 *219 304

 Medical supplies................................. 17 11 **9 20 ***14 31

 Prescription drugs............................... ***33 96 79 93 ***62 105

Personal care ....................................... **24 33 59 61 ***105 135

Education.............................................. 71 34 **53 133 ***134 586

Reading ................................................ 11 13 **21 30 *46 57

Entertainment ....................................... 307 325 *429 514 895 1,015

Alcohol & tobacco................................. ***353 219 ***395 228 ***458 279

 Alcohol................................................ 89 68 ***147 97 **261 196

 Tobacco .............................................. ***265 151 ***248 131 ***197 83

Cash contributions................................ 150 185 *214 289 *618 879

Personal insurance/pensions ............... ***332 486 ***913 1,156 **2,760 3,094

Miscellaneous....................................... 76 124 111 139 287 268
36

Text Table 11.—Continued Expenditure levels by age, income and couple type, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2004–07

Expenditure

Age 55+

Low income Middle income High income

Unmarried

partners Spouses Unmarried

partners Spouses Unmarried

partners Spouses

Total expenditures ................................ ***6,051 7,675 **9,778 11,277 25,009 21,047

Food total.............................................. ***1,063 1,241 **1,366 1,559 2,224 2,271

 Food at home ..................................... **870 954 1,026 1,079 1,297 1,324

 Food away from home........................ ***192 286 ***340 481 927 946

Clothing ................................................ ***94 144 223 260 *1072 552

Housing ................................................ ***1,994 2,588 **3,143 3,699 7,362 6,940

 Shelter ................................................ ***1,172 1,522 2,011 2,303 4,052 4,655

 Utilities................................................ ***637 745 **795 878 1,158 1,109

 House furnishings/ operations............ ***184 321 ***336 518 2,152 1,176

Transportation ...................................... 1,292 1,302 2,340 2,082 3,659 3,331

 Vehicle purchases .............................. 600 496 1,221 867 1,515 1,439

 Gasoline/motor oil............................... 353 371 562 513 *776 652

 Other vehicle expenses...................... **296 363 471 556 943 840

 Public transportation........................... 43 72 *85 146 426 400

Health care ........................................... ***595 1,130 ***853 1,228 1,336 1,322

 Health insurance................................. ***404 683 ***495 723 **528 697

 Medical services................................. ***68 199 *160 242 640 385

 Medical supplies................................. ***11 31 39 42 40 53

 Prescription drugs............................... ***113 217 *159 222 **128 188

Personal care ....................................... **44 58 *72 89 156 144

Education.............................................. 6 13 **16 48 266 341

Reading ................................................ ***17 30 ***33 49 ***51 81

Entertainment ....................................... *247 380 495 550 2,531 1,144

Alcohol & tobacco................................. ***345 95 ***246 141 ***539 228

 Alcohol................................................ ***97 42 82 79 ***390 178

 Tobacco .............................................. ***249 53 ***164 63 ***149 50

Cash contributions................................ ***110 336 ***158 611 **936 1,656

Personal insurance/pensions ............... *171 213 691 706 3,550 2,625

Miscellaneous....................................... ***68 131 **126 228 ***1258 373

* Indicates statistical significance at the .05 level.

** Indicates statistical significance at the .01 level.

*** Indicates statistical significance at the .001 level.
37

Expenditure Shares

Housing, transportation, food, and personal insurance and 

pensions were the four largest expenditure categories for both 

unmarried partners and spouses. Each accounted for at least 

10 percent of the couples’ total expenditures and combined, 

these categories accounted for about 75 percent of the couples’ total expenditures. On the whole, among these major expenditure items, there were relatively few differences between 

the spending patterns of unmarried partners and spouses. 

Spending on food accounted for about 12.5 percent of the 

couples’ total expenditures and was the third largest expenditure share for both unmarried partners and married couples. 

As would be expected, the share spent on food varied directly with the couples’ income level. It did not, however, vary 

based on marital status. As can be seen in text table 12, the 

food expenditure share was approximately 17 percent for lowincome couples, 14 percent for middle-income couples, and 

11 percent for high-income couples, regardless of whether the 

couples were married. 

Spending on transportation accounted for over 17 percent 

of the couples’ total expenditures on average. The shares 

ranged from about 15-20 percent, depending on the couples’ 

age, income, and number of earners.21 The most noticeable 

trend was that in each age group, couples with middle incomes generally spent the largest share on transportation. 

Again, there was little difference in spending on transportation between unmarried partners and spouses of similar ages 

and incomes. 

Shares for housing, the largest expenditure for both groups, 

also were similar. For both couple types across all income 

groups, those under 35 and 35–54 spent approximately 

35–40 percent of their total expenditures on housing; and 

those aged 55 and over spent approximately 30–35 percent. 

Furthermore, when looking at the sub-categories of housing—

shelter, utilities, and house furnishings/operations—few 

differences were found. Interestingly, similarities in housingexpenditure shares occurred, despite the fact that the groups 

had different homeownership rates. As shown in text table 

10, aside from couples aged 55 and over with high incomes,

homeownership rates were strikingly different between the 

two groups. Differences ranged from 14.8 percentage points 

for couples aged 35–54 with high income (77.9 percent 

compared with 92.7 percent) to 29.7 percentage points for 

couples aged 35–54 with low income (33.3 percent compared 

with 63.0 percent). 

Personal insurance and pensions was the only other category in which the expenditure share for couples was greater 

than 10 percent. In this category, there are some noteworthy 

differences between unmarried partners and married couples 

among those aged under 35 and 35–54. In both these age 

groups, married couples generally spent more on personal 

insurance and pensions than did unmarried partners. This 

was true in 5 of the 6 age-by-income brackets; and in 4 of 

those 5, the difference was statistically significant. The biggest difference was among couples who were under 35 with 

high incomes, where the married couples’ share was 15.6 percent—compared with 13.8 percent for unmarried partners. 

The differences were not particularly large, but they suggest 

that married couples in the two younger age groups placed a 

greater premium on financial security, relative to unmarried 

partners. 

While interesting similarities and differences in spending 

patterns were found between unmarried partners and married 

couples among those items that were a large portion of their 

total budget, the most striking differences and similarities

occurred with expenditures among items that were a relatively 

small share of total expenditures. 

Of the smaller items, one stood out for the similarities 

found between the couples: entertainment. Spending on entertainment accounted for 5.6 percent of unmarried partners’ 

expenditures, compared with 5.1 percent for married couples. 

What was noteworthy about entertainment expenditure shares 

is that they were virtually the same across all ages, incomes, 

and couple types. In every age-by-income bracket, for both 

spouses and unmarried partners, the share of expenditures that 

was spent on entertainment was between 4 and 6 percent and 

there were no differences that were statistically significant.22 

Clothing expenditures, which accounted for 3.4 percent 

of unmarried partners’ total expenditures—and 2.5 percent 

of married couples’ total expenditures—tended to be higher 

for unmarried partners. As shown in text table 12, in 7 of the 

9 age-by-income brackets, unmarried partner couples spent 

more on clothing; and in 5 of those 7, the difference was significant. Most of the significant differences occurred in the 

under-35 age group. In this group, across all income classes, 

unmarried partners spent a significantly higher share of their 

total expenditures on clothing (3.4 compared with 2.9 for lowincome couples, 3.6 compared with 2.9 for middle-income 

couples, and 4.8 compared with 3.0 for high-income couples). 

Spending on health care represented a larger share of 

total expenditures for married couples as compared with 

unmarried partners (7.6 percent compared with 4.1 percent). 

This could reflect the age difference between the two groups, 

but a similar pattern was seen among couples of similar ages 

and incomes. As shown in text table 12, in 8 of the 9 ageby-income brackets married couples spent a larger share 

21Looking at the transportation shares across the age-by-income groups one 

observes that the difference in the shares of unmarried partners and spouses 

for low- and middle-income couples in the 55-and-over age group are higher 

than in all other cases. This likely is due to the fact that it is only in these two 

groups that there is a substantial difference in the number of earners between 

spouses and partners. For both low and middle income couples aged 55 and 

older unmarried partners have a substantially higher number of earners on 

average (.58 compared with .39 for low income; 1.38 compared with 1.00 for 

middle income). As commuting costs probably account for a large portion of 

expenditures on transportation for most couples, this provides a likely explanation for the observed difference. 

22The exception was unmarried partners aged 55 and over with high incomes. The expenditure share on entertainment for this group was 10.1 percent, but this was the result of one outlier. The sample size for this group 

was relatively small (128), and there was one couple in the sample, who had 

total expenditures of about $170,000—almost 90 percent of which went to 

entertainment.
38

on health care; and in 7 of those 8 brackets, the difference 

was significant. Couples with high income were the only 

ones where married couples did not spend a significantly 

higher share on health care in every age group. The greatest 

differences were found among the low-income groups within 

each age bracket (2.7 percent compared with 3.8 percent, 3.6 

percent compared with 7.0 percent, and 9.8 percent compared 

with 14.7 percent for the under 35-, 35–54-, and 55-and-over 

age groups, respectively). These differences in total spending 

on health care were driven mainly by differences in spending 

on health insurance, which generally accounted for at least 

50 percent of total health care spending. Spending patterns 

for health insurance mirrored those of total healthcare 

spending: unmarried partners spent less, and the differences 

were the most pronounced among those with low incomes. 

Additional data from the CE provides insight as to why 

unmarried partners spent less on health insurance, relative 

to married couples. As can be seen in text table 10, within 

every age-by-income bracket, the number of members with 

health insurance among unmarried partners was significantly 

lower than among spouses. The largest difference was for 

those 35–54 in the middle-income group (1.09 compared 

with 1.58), and the smallest was for those with low income 

in the 55-and-over group (1.58 compared with 1.80). This 

difference could be a reflection of the different preferences 

of the two groups or could be a consequence of the fact that 

a husband and wife can be on a family plan together, giving 

them greater ability to afford joint coverage. Dividing the 

couples into three categories: those where both members 

had health insurance, those where only one did, and 

those where none did, suggests that family plans were the 

major factor but that preferences also played a role. As 

can also be seen in text table 10, in every age-by-income 

group, the proportion of unmarried partners in which both 

members were insured was much lower than the proportion 

for married couples (25.0 percentage points lower on

average), and the proportion in which only one member was 

insured was much higher (19.7 percentage points higher on 

average). Taken together, this suggests that the family plan 

difference may have played a major role. A greater proportion 

(5.3 percentage points on average) of unmarried partners 

also had no members with health insurance in every age-byincome group. This suggests a difference in preference for 

the two groups. 

Expenditure shares on cash contributions (cash contributed 

to persons or organizations outside the consumer unit, including alimony and child support payments; care of students 

away from home; and contributions to religious, educational, 

charitable, or political organizations) were similar between 

unmarried partners and spouses in some cases, but different 

in others. Expenditures on cash contributions made up 2.3 

percent of unmarried partners’ total expenditures, compared 

with 5.1 percent for married couples. The difference is, in 

part, a reflection of the difference in the age distribution of 

the two groups. In both groups, older couples tended to allocate a higher share of their expenditures to cash contributions, 

relative to younger couples and, on average, married couples 

in the sample were older. However, that does not explain the 

entire difference, as in every age-by-income bracket, the share 

spent on cash contributions was lower for unmarried partners. 

In 4 of the 9 brackets, the difference was significant and substantial. Significant differences were found among those with 

low income under the age of 35, where the share for unmarried partners was 1.4 percent, compared with 2.9 percent for 

married couples and for all income groups in the 55-and-over 

age group. For those aged 55 and over, the share for unmarried 

partners was less than one-half the share for married couples 

at every income level (1.8 percent compared with 4.4 percent, 

1.6 percent compared with 5.4 percent, and 3.7 percent compared with 7.9 percent). One possible explanation for the differences among those aged 55 and over is the couples’ level 

of financial assets. Unmarried partners aged 55 and over have 

substantially fewer assets than married couples and either face 

the prospect of retirement—or already are retired. These older 

couples may, therefore, be more reluctant to give their money 

to others. 

The largest differences in spending patterns between the 

two groups were for alcohol and tobacco. At the aggregate 

level, spending on alcohol and tobacco accounted for 3.1 percent of unmarried partners’ total expenditures, compared with 

1.3 percent for spouses. As seen in text table 3, in every ageby-income group, unmarried partners spent a greater share on 

alcohol and tobacco. Breaking out alcohol and tobacco separately, there again were differences between the two groups. 

Across all age and income groups, unmarried partners’ expenditure share on alcohol ranged from 1.5 percent to 2 percent, 

whereas the share for married couples ranged from 0.5 percent to 1 percent. In 8 of the 9 age-by-income groups, the 

difference in expenditure shares on alcohol was statistically 

significant. The exception was for those couples over 55 at the 

middle-income level, where unmarried partners’ expenditure 

share on alcohol was slightly higher than married couples (0.8 

percent compared with 0.7 percent). For tobacco, unmarried 

partners spent a higher share in every age-by-income group; 

and in some cases, the difference was sizeable. For example, 

among couples aged 55 and over with low incomes, unmarried partners spent 4.1 percent of their total expenditures on 

tobacco compared with 0.7 percent for married couples. This 

fits a pattern found in the data: The lower the income group 

and the higher the age group, the more different the expenditure share on tobacco for unmarried partners compared with 

married couples. (The smallest difference between the two 

groups is found in the under-35 age group among couples with 

high income, where unmarried partners’ tobacco expenditure 

share was 0.5 percent, compared with 0.2 percent for married 

couples.) 
39

Text table 12. Expenditure shares by age, income and couple type, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2004–07

Expenditure

All ages Under 35

All incomes Low income Middle income High income

Unmarried

partners Spouses Unmarried

partners Spouses Unmarried

partners Spouses Unmarried

partners Spouses

Food total.................................... 12.87 12.56 16.80 16.62 13.46 13.43 11.34 10.62

 Food at home ........................... 8.42 8.33 11.65 11.77 8.39 8.82 6.04 5.99

 Food away from home.............. 4.44 4.22 5.15 4.85 5.07 4.61 5.31 4.63

Clothing ...................................... ***3.44 2.47 *3.44 2.87 *3.58 2.88 ***4.78 2.98

Housing ...................................... 35.04 34.31 35.78 36.48 33.50 34.50 36.03 38.15

 Shelter ...................................... **24.13 22.86 24.62 24.92 22.88 23.65 **25.75 28.49

 Utilities...................................... ***6.3 6.70 7.56 7.56 *6.28 6.69 4.98 4.60

 House furnishings/ operations.. 4.61 4.75 3.60 4.00 4.35 4.16 5.30 5.06

Transportation ............................ **18.19 17.05 18.98 18.77 20.65 20.55 17.30 17.75

 Vehicle purchases .................... 7.41 7.08 6.95 6.13 8.18 8.62 7.32 8.20

 Gasoline/motor oil..................... ***4.82 4.12 6.37 6.13 5.65 5.66 4.04 3.74

 Other vehicle expenses............ ***4.85 4.47 ***4.96 5.27 ***5.85 5.04 ***4.22 4.40

 Public transportation................. ***1.11 1.39 *0.70 1.24 0.97 1.23 1.72 1.41

Health care ................................. ***4.08 7.63 **2.65 3.79 *3.32 3.92 3.03 2.92

 Health insurance....................... ***2.24 4.28 ***1.33 2.16 2.05 2.32 1.68 1.65

 Medical services....................... ***1.18 1.84 0.77 1.17 0.90 1.16 0.94 0.91

 Medical supplies....................... ***0.13 0.25 0.12 0.11 0.11 0.10 0.08 0.10

 Prescription drugs..................... ***0.53 1.25 0.43 0.34 0.26 0.34 0.33 0.26

Personal care ............................. *0.64 0.69 **0.71 0.47 *0.68 0.59 0.72 0.67

Education.................................... 1.52 1.43 3.99 4.08 2.45 2.96 1.54 1.30

Reading ...................................... ***0.25 0.34 0.26 0.21 0.24 0.25 0.28 0.24

Entertainment ............................. 5.64 5.07 5.45 4.96 5.45 5.08 5.60 5.47

Alcohol & tobacco....................... ***3.13 1.35 ***3.38 1.78 ***3.49 1.65 ***2.16 1.24

 Alcohol...................................... ***1.61 0.81 ***1.43 0.65 ***2.15 1.04 ***1.69 1.00

 Tobacco .................................... ***1.53 0.53 ***1.95 1.13 ***1.34 0.61 **0.47 0.24

Cash contributions...................... ***2.31 5.11 ***1.44 2.86 1.69 2.26 1.79 1.93

Personal insurance/pensions ..... 10.92 10.17 5.61 6.02 *10.13 10.88 **13.83 15.63

Miscellaneous............................. 1.52 1.57 0.99 0.73 0.82 0.63 0.95 0.70
40

Text table 12.Continued—Expenditure shares by age, income and couple type, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2004–07

Expenditure

Age 35-54

Low income Middle income High income

Unmarried

partners Spouses Unmarried

partners Spouses Unmarried

partners Spouses

Food total.............................................. 16.09 16.27 13.55 13.53 11.09 10.42

 Food at home ..................................... 13.23 13.05 10.04 9.71 6.61 6.19

 Food away from home........................ 2.86 3.22 3.51 3.81 4.47 4.24

Clothing ................................................ 2.10 1.95 *2.93 2.13 2.93 2.81

Housing ................................................ 38.78 36.21 *39.24 34.86 36.03 36.29

 Shelter ................................................ 26.09 23.38 *27.82 23.39 27.11 26.29

 Utilities................................................ 8.86 9.56 7.72 7.77 4.92 5.22

 House furnishings/ operations............ 3.84 3.26 3.70 3.70 3.99 4.78

Transportation ...................................... 18.06 18.70 17.94 19.82 16.23 15.52

 Vehicle purchases .............................. 5.28 6.72 7.22 8.16 6.69 6.51

 Gasoline/motor oil............................... 5.99 6.37 5.27 5.66 *3.81 3.49

 Other vehicle expenses...................... ***5.99 4.88 5.01 5.19 ***4.57 4.08

 Public transportation........................... 0.79 0.73 **0.45 0.81 1.17 1.44

Health care ........................................... ***3.63 7.00 ***4.50 5.79 *3.48 4.04

 Health insurance................................. ***1.92 3.25 **2.60 3.17 1.82 1.90

 Medical services................................. **0.90 2.28 **1.03 1.58 1.23 1.47

 Medical supplies................................. 0.27 0.15 *0.09 0.18 **0.08 0.15

 Prescription drugs............................... ***0.53 1.31 0.77 0.85 **0.35 0.51

Personal care ....................................... 0.38 0.45 0.58 0.56 0.59 0.66

Education.............................................. 1.14 0.46 **0.52 1.22 ***0.75 2.84

Reading ................................................ 0.18 0.18 *0.21 0.28 0.26 0.28

Entertainment ....................................... 4.92 4.47 4.21 4.74 5.01 4.93

Alcohol & tobacco................................. ***5.65 3.01 ***3.88 2.10 ***2.56 1.36

 Alcohol................................................ **1.42 0.93 ***1.45 0.89 ***1.46 0.95

 Tobacco .............................................. ***4.23 2.07 ***2.43 1.21 ***1.10 0.41

Cash contributions................................ 2.40 2.54 2.11 2.66 3.46 4.27

Personal insurance/pensions ............... **5.31 6.67 ***8.97 10.66 15.44 15.03

Miscellaneous....................................... 1.21 1.71 1.09 1.28 1.60 1.30
41

Text table 12.Continued—Expenditure shares by age, income and couple type, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2004–07

Expenditure

Age 55+

Low income Middle income High income

Unmarried

partners Spouses Unmarried

partners Spouses Unmarried

partners Spouses

Food total.............................................. 17.56 16.16 13.97 13.83 *8.89 10.79

 Food at home ..................................... **14.38 12.43 10.49 9.56 *5.19 6.29

 Food away from home........................ 3.18 3.73 *3.48 4.26 *3.70 4.50

Clothing ................................................ 1.55 1.87 2.28 2.30 *4.28 2.62

Housing ................................................ 32.95 33.72 32.14 32.80 29.44 32.97

 Shelter ................................................ 19.37 19.83 20.57 20.42 **16.20 22.11

 Utilities................................................ 10.53 9.71 8.13 7.78 4.63 5.27

 House furnishings/ operations............ **3.05 4.18 **3.44 4.59 8.60 5.59

Transportation ...................................... 21.35 16.96 *23.93 18.46 14.63 15.83

 Vehicle purchases .............................. 9.91 6.46 12.49 7.69 6.06 6.84

 Gasoline/motor oil............................... *5.84 4.84 **5.75 4.55 3.10 3.10

 Other vehicle expenses...................... ***4.89 4.73 4.82 4.93 3.77 3.99

 Public transportation........................... 0.71 0.94 0.87 1.30 1.70 1.90

Health care ........................................... ***9.84 14.73 **8.72 10.89 5.34 6.28

 Health insurance................................. ***6.67 8.90 **5.06 6.41 ***2.11 3.31

 Medical services................................. ***1.12 2.59 1.64 2.14 2.56 1.83

 Medical supplies................................. **0.19 0.41 0.40 0.37 0.16 0.25

 Prescription drugs............................... ***1.86 2.83 1.63 1.97 ***0.51 0.89

Personal care ....................................... 0.73 0.76 0.73 0.79 0.62 0.68

Education.............................................. 0.09 0.17 *0.16 0.43 1.06 1.62

Reading ................................................ **0.28 0.39 *0.33 0.43 ***0.20 0.38

Entertainment ....................................... 4.08 4.95 5.06 4.88 10.12 5.43

Alcohol & tobacco................................. ***5.70 1.23 ***2.52 1.25 ***2.16 1.08

 Alcohol................................................ ***1.60 0.55 0.84 0.70 ***1.56 0.85

 Tobacco .............................................. ***4.11 0.69 ***1.68 0.56 **0.60 0.24

Cash contributions................................ ***1.81 4.38 ***1.62 5.42 ***3.74 7.87

Personal insurance/pensions ............... 2.83 2.78 7.07 6.26 14.20 12.47

Miscellaneous....................................... *1.12 1.71 *1.29 2.02 **5.03 1.77

* Indicates statistical significance at the .05 level.

** Indicates statistical significance at the .01 level.

*** Indicates statistical significance at the .001 level.
42

Conclusion

The data reveal interesting similarities and differences in the 

spending patterns of opposite-sex unmarried partner and married couple consumer units without children.

In general, married couples of similar ages and incomes 

spent more than unmarried partners, particularly among those 

aged 55 and over. Married couples generally had a higher level 

of financial assets, which likely accounted for this difference. 

Unmarried partners and spouses of similar age and income 

spent about the same percentage of their total expenditures 

on housing, transportation, food, personal insurance and pensions, and entertainment. Together, these five items accounted 

for about 80 percent of the couples’ total expenditures, indicating that the two groups share much in common regarding 

their spending decisions. There were, however, several items 

for which unmarried partners’ and spouses’ expenditure shares 

differed: health care, cash contributions, and alcohol and tobacco. Unmarried partners across all ages and incomes tended 

to spend a lower share on health care and a higher share on 

alcohol and tobacco. The differences in health care spending 

were primarily driven by spending for health insurance, and 

the greatest differences in spending on alcohol and tobacco 

were driven by tobacco. Unmarried partners among those 

couples under 35 with low income and all income groups in 

the 55-and-over age group spent a lower share on cash contributions. 

Thus, the findings show that, while the spouses and unmarried partners in this study had similar spending patterns, there 

were several items for which their spending differed. Further 

research may be useful in determining more definitively what 

is driving the observed differences—perhaps demographic 

characteristics not accounted for in this study.
43

This glossary has four sections: Characteristics, expenditures, income and personal taxes, and other financial

information.

Characteristics

Age. The age of the reference person.

Composition of consumer unit. The classification of interview 

families according to: (1) relationship of other family members to the reference person; (2) age of the children of the 

reference person; and (3) combination of relationship to the 

reference person and age of the children. Stepchildren and

adopted children are included with the reference person’s own 

children.

Consumer unit. A consumer unit comprises 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. Financial independence is determined by the three major expense 

categories: Housing, food, and other living expenses. To be 

considered financially independent, at least two of the three 

major expense categories have to be provided entirely, or in 

part, by the respondent.

Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs). The general concept 

of a CBSA is one of a county or small group of counties 

containing at least one urban “core” of 10,000 or more people, 

which includes the adjacent counties that have a high degree 

of economic and social integration with the area’s core. 

There are two types of CBSAs: Metropolitan CBSAs have at 

least one urban area of 50,000 or more people; Micropolitan 

CBSAs are centered around an urban area with 10,000-50,000 

people.

Earner. A consumer unit member, 14 years of age or older, 

who reported having worked at least 1 week during the 12 

months prior to the interview date.

Education of reference person. The number of years of formal 

education of the reference person, on the basis of the highest grade completed. If enrolled at time of the interview, the 

Appendix A. Glossary

interviewer records the grade currently attended. Persons not 

reporting the extent of their education are classified under no 

school or not reported.

Housing tenure. The family’s principal place of residence during the survey. Owner includes families living in their own 

homes, cooperatives or condominium apartments, or townhouses. Renter includes families paying rent, as well as families living rent-free in lieu of wages.

Income before taxes. Total money earnings and selected money receipts during the 12 months prior to the interview date. 

(See section 3 of the glossary for a complete definition of the 

components.)

Income after taxes. Income before taxes less personal taxes, 

which include Federal, State, and local income taxes and other 

taxes. (See section 3 of the glossary for a complete definition 

of the components.)

Lower limit. Amount of income before taxes of the lowestranked consumer unit in each income quintile.

Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). The general concept 

of an MSA is one of a large population nucleus, together with 

adjacent communities that have a high degree of economic 

and social integration with that nucleus. The Office of Management and Budget defines the term as a standard for Federal 

agencies in the preparation and publication of statistics relating to metropolitan areas.

Number of vehicles owned or leased. Number of automobiles, 

trucks, vans, campers, motorcycles, trailers, and planes owned 

or leased by members of the consumer unit, including vehicles 

used partially for business, but excluding those used entirely 

for business.

Occupation. Refers to the occupation in which the reference 

person received the most earnings during the survey period. 

The occupational categories follow those of the Census of 

Population. Categories shown in the reference tables include 

the following:

Self-employed—encompasses all occupational categories; 

the reference person is self-employed in own business, professional practice, or farm.
44

Wage and salary earners:

Managers and professionals—executives, administrators, and managers; and professional specialties, including architects, engineers, natural and social scientists, 

lawyers, teachers, writers, health diagnosis and treatment workers, entertainers, and athletes.

Technical, sales, and clerical workers—technicians and 

related support workers; sales representatives, sales 

workers, cashiers, and sales-related occupations; and 

administrative support, including clerical.

Service workers—private household workers, protective services, food preparers, health services, cleaning 

and building services, and personal service occupations.

Precision production, craft, and repair workers—mechanics and repairers, construction trades, extractive 

occupations, and precision production occupations.

Operators, fabricators, and laborers—machine operators and assemblers, transportation workers, handlers 

and laborers, and farming, forestry, and fishery workers.

Retired—retired persons who did not work either full- or 

part-time during the survey period.

All others, including not reporting—a residual including 

unemployed persons; those working without pay; those 

not working due to illness, going to school, or caring for

others; and those not reporting their occupational status.

Population. Total civilian noninstitutional population of the 

United States, as well as that portion of the institutional population living in the following group quarters: Boarding houses; housing facilities for students and workers; staff units in 

hospitals and homes for the aged, infirm, or needy; permanent 

living quarters in hotels and motels; and mobile home parks. 

Excluded are military personnel living on military bases and 

nursing home residents.

Quintiles of income before taxes. For each time period represented in the tables, consumer units are ranked in ascending order, according to the level of total before-tax income 

reported by the consumer unit. The ranking is then divided 

into five equal groups. 

Race. Race of the reference person of the consumer unit. 

Families are included in three racial groups: Black or AfricanAmerican; Asian; and White and All Other Races. The “All 

Other Races” group comprises such races as Native Americans, Alaskan Natives, Pacific Islanders, and those reporting 

more than one race.

Reference person. 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.

Regions. Data are presented for four major regions: Northeast, Midwest, South, and West. Consumer units are classified 

by region, according to the address at which the family was 

residing during the time of their participation in the survey. 

The regions comprise the following States:

Northeast—Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New 

Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, 

Rhode Island, and Vermont.

Midwest—Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, 

Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, 

South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

South—Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South 

Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.

West—Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, 

Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, 

Washington, and Wyoming.

Rural population. All persons living outside a Metropolitan 

Statistical Area (MSA) and within an area with a population 

of less than 2,500 persons. See the definition for urban population below.

Size of the consumer unit. Number of persons whose usual 

place of residence at the time of the interview is in the sample 

unit.

Urban population. All persons living in Metropolitan 

Statistical Areas (MSAs) and in urbanized areas and urban 

places of 2,500 or more persons outside of MSAs. Urban, as 

defined in this survey, includes the rural populations within 

an MSA.

Expenditures

Expenditures consist of the transaction costs, including excise 

and sales taxes, of goods and services acquired during the 

interview or recordkeeping period. Expenditure estimates 

include expenditures for gifts, but exclude purchases 

or portions of purchases directly assignable to business 

purposes. Also excluded are periodic credit or installment 

payments on goods or services already acquired. The full cost 

of each purchase is recorded, even though full payment may 

not have been made at the date of purchase. The order of the 

expenditures listed here follows the order of presentation in 

the reference tables.
45

Food

Food at home refers to the total expenditures for food at grocery stores (or other food stores) and food prepared by the 

consumer unit on trips. It excludes the purchase of nonfood 

items.

Cereals and cereal products includes ready-to-eat and 

cooked cereals, pasta, flour, prepared flour mixes, and other 

cereal products, such as cornmeal, cornstarch, and rice.

Bakery products includes bread, crackers and cookies, biscuits and rolls, cakes, cupcakes, bread and cracker products, 

pies, tarts, sweet rolls, coffee cakes, doughnuts, and frozen 

and refrigerated bakery products, such as cookies, bread and 

cake dough, and batter.

Beef includes ground beef, roasts, steaks, and other cuts of 

beef (excluding canned beef), and veal. 

Pork includes bacon, pork chops, ham (including canned), 

roasts, sausage, and other cuts of pork.

Other meats includes frankfurters; lunch meats, such as 

bologna, liverwurst, and salami; lamb and organ meats; and 

mutton, goat, and game.

Poultry includes fresh and frozen chickens and other fresh 

and frozen poultry (Cornish hens, turkey, duck, etc.).

Fish and seafood includes canned fish and seafood and 

fresh or frozen finfish and shellfish.

Eggs includes fresh eggs, as well as powdered eggs and 

egg substitutes.

Fresh milk and cream includes fresh whole milk and other 

fresh milk, such as buttermilk and fresh cream (including 

table cream, whipping cream, fresh sour cream, and fresh sour 

cream dressing).

Other dairy products includes butter, cheese, ice cream 

products, yogurt, powdered milk, condensed and evaporated 

milk, liquid and powdered diet beverages, malted milk, milk 

shakes, chocolate milk, and other specified dairy products.

Fresh fruits includes all fresh fruits.

Fresh vegetables includes all fresh vegetables.

Processed fruits includes all frozen fruits and fruit juices, 

canned and dried fruits, and canned or bottled fruit juices.

Processed vegetables includes canned, dried, and frozen 

vegetables, and vegetable juices.

Sugar and other sweets includes sugar; candy and chewing 

gum; artificial sweeteners; and jams, jellies, preserves, fruit 

butters, syrup, fudge mixes, icings, and other sweets.

Fats and oils includes margarine, shortening, salad dressings, vegetable oils, nondairy cream substitutes and imitation 

milk, and peanut butter.

Miscellaneous foods includes frozen prepared meals and 

other foods; canned and packaged soups; potato chips, nuts 

and other snacks; seasonings and condiments, such as olives, 

pickles, relishes, sauces and gravies, baking needs and other 

specified condiments; and other canned and packaged prepared foods, such as salads, desserts, baby foods, and vitamin 

supplements.

Nonalcoholic beverages includes diet and nondiet carbonated drinks (cola, fruit, and other carbonated drinks); bottled 

water; coffee (roasted, instant, and freeze dried); tea (loose, 

instant, and ready-to-drink); ice; nonalcoholic beer; and other 

nonalcoholic beverages, including noncarbonated fruit drinks, 

breakfast substitutes, chocolate flavored powders; others. 

Food away from home includes all meals (breakfast and 

brunch, lunch, dinner, and snacks and nonalcoholic beverages) including tips at fast food, take-out, delivery, concession stands, buffet and cafeteria, at full-service restaurants, 

and at vending machines and mobile vendors. Also included 

are board (including at school), meals as pay, special catered 

affairs, such as weddings, bar mitzvahs, and confirmations, 

school lunches, and meals away from home on trips.

Alcoholic beverages includes beer and ale, wine, whiskey, 

gin, vodka, rum, and other alcoholic beverages.

Housing

Owned dwellings includes interest on mortgages, interest 

on home equity loans and lines of credit, property taxes and 

insurance, refinancing and prepayment charges, ground rent, 

expenses for property management/security, homeowners’ 

insurance, expenses for repairs and maintenance contracted 

out, and expenses of materials for owner-performed repairs 

and maintenance for dwellings used or maintained by the 

consumer unit. Mortgage principal repayments are payments 

of loans and are shown in Other financial information.

Rented dwellings includes rent paid for dwellings, rent 

received as pay, parking fees, maintenance, and other 

expenses.

Other lodging includes all expenses for vacation homes, 

school, college, hotels, motels, and other lodging while out 

of town.

Utilities, fuels, and public services includes natural gas; 

electricity; fuel oil and other fuels, such as wood, kerosene, 

coal, and bottled gas; water and other public services, such 

as garbage and trash collection, sewerage maintenance, septic 

tank cleaning; and telephone charges.

Personal services includes baby-sitting; day care, nursery 

school, and preschool tuition; care of the elderly, invalids, and 

handicapped; adult day care; and domestic and other duties.

Other household expenses includes housekeeping services, 

gardening and lawn care services, coin-operated laundry and 

dry-cleaning (non-clothing), termite and pest control products 

and services, home security systems service fees, moving, 

storage, and freight expenses, repair of household appliances 

and other household equipment, repair of computer systems 

for home use, computer information services, reupholstering 

and furniture repair, rental and repair of lawn and gardening 

tools, and rental of other household equipment.

Housekeeping supplies includes laundry and cleaning supplies, cleaning and toilet tissues, stationery supplies, postage, 

delivery services, miscellaneous household products, and 

lawn and garden supplies.

Household textiles includes bathroom, bedroom, kitchen 

and dining room, other linens, curtains and drapes, slipcovers 

and decorative pillows, and sewing materials.

Furniture includes living room; dining room; kitchen; bedroom; nursery; and porch, lawn, and other outdoor furniture.
46

Floor coverings includes new and replacement wall-towall carpets, and non-permanent floor coverings.

Major appliances includes refrigerators and freezers, 

dishwashers and garbage disposals, stoves and ovens, 

vacuum cleaners, microwaves, air-conditioners, sewing 

machines, washing machines and dryers, and floor clean

ing equipment.

Small appliances/miscellaneous housewares includes 

small electrical kitchen appliances, portable heating and cooling equipment, china and other dinnerware, flatware, glassware, silver and other serving pieces, nonelectric cookware, 

tableware, nonelectric kitchenware, and plastic dinnerware. 

(excludes personal care appliances)

Miscellaneous household equipment includes luggage, 

lamps and light fixtures, window coverings, clocks, floral 

arrangements and house plants, lawnmowers and gardening 

equipment, other hand and power tools, telephone answering 

devices, telephones and accessories, computers and computer 

hardware for home use, computer software and accessories 

for home use, calculators, typewriters, business equipment 

for home use, personal digital assistants, internet services 

away from home, rental of furniture, closet and storage items, 

other household decorative items, infants’ equipment, outdoor 

equipment, smoke alarms, other household appliances, and 

other small miscellaneous furnishings.

Apparel and services

Men’s and boys’ apparel includes coats and jackets, sweaters 

and vests, sport coats and tailored jackets, trousers and slacks, 

shorts and short sets, sportswear, shirts, underwear, nightwear, 

hosiery, uniforms, and accessories.

Women’s and girls’ apparel includes coats and jackets, furs, 

sport coats and tailored jackets, sweaters and vests, blouses 

and shirts, dresses, jeans, culottes, slacks, shorts, sportswear, 

underwear, nightwear, uniforms, hosiery, and accessories.

Apparel for children under age 2 includes coats, jackets, 

and snowsuits; underwear; diapers; dresses; crawlers and 

other sleeping garments; hosiery; footwear; and accessories.

Footwear includes articles such as shoes, slippers, boots, 

and other similar items. It excludes footwear for children under age 2 and special footwear used for sports such as bowling 

or golf shoes.

Other apparel products and services includes material for 

making clothes, shoe repair, alterations and repairs, sewing 

patterns and notions, clothing rental, clothing storage, dry 

cleaning and sent-out laundry, watches, jewelry, and repairs 

to watches and jewelry.

Transportation

Vehicle purchases (net outlay) includes the net outlay (purchase price minus trade-in value) on new and used domestic 

and imported cars and trucks and other vehicles, including 

attachable campers, trailers, motorcycles, and private planes.

Vehicle finance charges includes the dollar amount of interest paid for a loan contracted for the purchase of vehicles 

described above.

Gasoline and motor oil includes gasoline, diesel fuel, and 

motor oil.

Maintenance and repairs includes tires, batteries, tubes, 

lubrication, filters, coolant, additives, brake and transmission fluids, oil change, brake work including adjustment, front-end alignment, wheel balancing, steering repair, shock absorber replacement, clutch and transmissio

n repair, electrical system repair, exhaust system repair, body 

work and painting, motor repair, repair to cooling system, 

drive train repair, drive shaft and rear-end repair, tire repair, 

audio and video equipment, other maintenance and services, 

and auto repair policies.

Vehicle insurance includes the premium paid for insuring 

cars, trucks, and other vehicles.

Public transportation includes fares for mass transit, buses, 

trains, airlines, taxis, school buses for which a fee is charged, 

and boats.

Vehicle rental, leases, licenses, and other charges includes 

leased and rented cars, trucks, motorcycles, and aircraft; inspection fees; State and local registration; driver’s license 

fees; inspection fees; parking fees; towing charges; tolls and 

electronic toll passes; global positioning services; and automobile service clubs.

Health care

Health insurance includes traditional fee-for-service health 

plans, preferred-provider health plans, health maintenance organizations (HMOs), Medicare payments, Medicare prescription drug premium, commercial Medicare supplements, longterm care insurance, and other health insurance.

Medical services includes hospital room and services, physicians’ services, service by a professional other than a physician, eye and dental care, lab tests and x-rays, medical care 

in a retirement community, care in convalescent or nursing 

home, and other medical care service.

Drugs includes nonprescription drugs and vitamins and 

prescription drugs.

Medical supplies includes topicals and dressings, antiseptics, bandages, cotton, first aid kits, contraceptives, syringes, 

ice bags, thermometers, sun lamps, vaporizers, heating pads, 

medical appliances (such as braces, canes, crutches, walkers, 

eyeglasses, and hearing aids), and rental and repair of medical 

equipment.

Entertainment

Fees and admissions includes fees for participant sports; 

admissions to sporting events, movies, concerts, and plays; 

health, swimming, tennis and country club memberships; fees 

for other social, recreational, and fraternal organizations; recreational lessons or instruction; rental of movies, and recreation expenses on trips.

Audio and visual equipment and services includes radios; 

phonographs; televisions; tape recorders and players; cable and 

satellite television services; miscellaneous sound equipment; 

satellite radio service; sound equipment accessories; online 

gaming services; VCRs and video disc players; digital media 
47

players and recorders; video game hardware and software and 

rental of such; video cassettes, tapes, and discs; streaming, 

downloading video; rental, repair, and installation of TV, 

VCR, radio, and sound equipment; personal digital audio 

players; sound components and component systems; satellite 

dishes; CDs, records, audio tapes; streaming, downloading 

audio; musical instruments and accessories, and rental and 

repair of such; and rental of video cassettes, tapes, films, and 

discs.

Pets, toys, hobbies, and playground equipment includes 

pets, (pet food, pet services, veterinary expenses, etc.); toys, 

games, arts and crafts, tricycles; hobbies, and playground 

equipment.

Other entertainment supplies, equipment, and services includes indoor exercise equipment; athletic shoes; bicycles; 

trailers; purchase and rental of motorized campers and other 

recreational vehicles; camping equipment; hunting and fishing equipment; sports equipment (winter, water, and other); 

boats, boat motors, and boat trailers; rental of boats; landing 

and docking fees; rental and repair of sports equipment; global positioning system devices; photographic equipment, supplies, and services (film and film processing); photographer 

fees; repair and rental of photo equipment; fireworks; and pinball and electronic video games.

Other expenditures

Personal care products and services includes products for the 

hair, oral hygiene products, shaving needs, cosmetics and bath 

products, electric personal care appliances, other personal 

care products, and personal care services.

Reading includes subscriptions for newspapers and magazines; books through book clubs; and the purchase of singlecopy newspapers, magazines, newsletters, books, and encyclopedias and other reference books.

Education includes tuition; fees; and textbooks, supplies, 

and equipment for public and private nursery schools, elementary and high schools, colleges and universities, and other 

schools.

Tobacco products and smoking supplies includes cigarettes, cigars, snuff, loose smoking tobacco, chewing tobacco, 

and smoking accessories (such as cigarette or cigar holders, 

pipes, flints, lighters, and pipe cleaners).

Miscellaneous includes safety deposit box rentals, checking account fees and other bank service charges, lotteries and 

pari-mutuel losses, credit card memberships, shopping club 

membership fees, legal fees, accounting fees, funerals, cemetery lots, dating services, occupational expenses, expenses 

for other properties, and finance charges other than those for 

mortgages and vehicles.

Cash contributions includes cash contributed to persons or 

organizations outside the consumer unit, including alimony 

and child support payments, and care of students away from 

home; gifts of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds to persons outside the consumer unit; and contributions to religious, educational, charitable, or political organizations.

Life, endowment, annuities, and other personal insurance

includes premiums for whole life and term insurance; endowments; income and other life insurance; mortgage guarantee 

insurance; mortgage life insurance; premiums for personal liability, accident and disability, and other nonhealth insurance 

other than for homes and vehicles.

Retirement, pensions, and Social Security includes all 

Social Security contributions paid by employees; employee 

contributions to railroad retirement, government retirement, 

and private pension programs; and retirement programs for 

the self-employed.

Income and Personal Taxes

Income

Income is the combined income of all consumer unit members 

(14 years of age or older) during the 12 months preceding the 

interview. Components of income are described below. The 

order of the definitions of income and personal taxes follows 

the order of presentation in the reference tables.

For a definition of quintiles of income, see the section on 

characteristics at the beginning of this glossary.

Money income before taxes is the total money earnings 

and selected money receipts during the 12 months prior to 

the interview date. Money income includes the following 

components:

Wages and salaries includes total money earnings of 

all consumer unit members (14 years of age and older) 

from all jobs, including civilian wages and salaries; 

Armed Forces pay and allowances; piece-rate payments; 

commissions; tips; National Guard or Reserve pay 

(received for training periods); and cash bonuses before 

deductions for taxes, pensions, union dues, etc.

Self-employment income includes net business and farm 

income, which consists of net income (gross receipts 

minus operating expenses) from a profession or unincorporated business or from the operation of a farm 

by an owner, tenant, or sharecropper. If the business or 

farm is a partnership, only an appropriate share of net 

income is recorded. Losses are also recorded.

Social Security, private and government retirement 

includes the following: (1) payments by the Federal 

Government made under retirement, survivors,’ and 

disability insurance programs to retired persons, 

dependents of deceased insured workers, or disabled 

workers and (2) private pensions or retirement benefits 

received by retired persons (or their survivors), either 

directly or through an insurance company.

Interest, dividends, rental income, and other property 

income includes interest income on savings or bonds; 

payments made by a corporation to its stockholders; 

periodic receipts from estates or trust funds; net income 

or loss from the rental of property, real estate, or farms; 

and net income or loss from roomers or boarders.
48

Unemployment and workers’ compensation and veterans’ benefits includes income from unemployment 

compensation and workers’ compensation and veterans’ 

payments, including educational benefits but excluding 

military retirement.

Public assistance, supplemental security income, and 

food stamps includes public assistance or welfare, including money received from job training grants; supplemental security income paid by Federal, State, and 

local welfare agencies to low-income persons who are 

age 65 or over, blind, or disabled; and the value of food 

stamps obtained.

Regular contributions for support includes alimony and 

child support, as well as any regular contributions from 

persons outside the consumer unit.

Other income includes money income from care of foster children, cash scholarships, fellowships, or stipends 

not based on working and meals or rent as pay.

Personal taxes

Federal income taxes includes Federal income taxes withheld 

in the survey year to pay for income earned in that survey 

year, plus additional taxes paid in the survey year to cover any 

underpayment or underwithholding of taxes in the year prior 

to the survey.

State and local income taxes includes State and local income taxes withheld in the survey year to pay on income 

earned in the survey year, plus additional taxes paid in the 

survey year to cover any underpayment or underwithholding 

of taxes in the year prior to the survey.

Other taxes includes personal property and other personal 

taxes paid.

Other financial information

These items are not part of expenditures or income. They are 

provided for additional information.

Net change in assets includes changes in savings and 

checking accounts; purchases of securities (stocks, bonds, or 

mutual funds) in the year which they were held to the end of 

the year; sales of securities which were purchased in a prior 

year; changes in the balances of money owed to the consumer 

unit; sales and purchases and repairs and improvements to 

own dwelling occupied by the consumer unit, vacation home, 

recreational property, unimproved land and other property 

owned by the consumer unit; changes in investments in unincorporated family businesses and farms; amounts received or 

reimbursements from the sale of vehicles; principal amounts 

of trust held on own dwelling, vacation home, and other properties owned by the consumer unit; and surrender of insurance 

policies. (This value has a positive or negative sign to indicate increases or decreases in assets.)

Net change in liabilities includes changes in mortgage principal on own dwelling occupied by the consumer unit, vacation home, recreational property, unimproved land and other 

property owned by the consumer unit; payments of mortgage 

interest due before either survey year of the survey period; 

money owed on purchases of cars, trucks, and other vehicles; 

and money owed to other creditors, such as department stores, 

banks, credit unions, finance companies, insurance companies, doctors, dentists, and other medical practitioners. This 

value has a positive or negative sign to indicate increases or 

decreases in liabilities.

Other money receipts includes lump-sum payments from 

estates or trusts, insurance, money from sale of house furnishings, refunds from overpayment on Social Security, refunds 

from insurance policies, and refunds from property taxes.

Mortgage principal paid on owned property includes the 

reduction of mortgage principal on a mortgage or home equity 

loan for a home or any other property. (This is not included in 

homeowner costs but is repayment of a loan.)

Estimated market value of owned home is the approximate 

value of the property in the current market.

Estimated monthly rental value of owned home is the 

approximate monthly rental value of the property in the 

current market. 

Gifts of goods and services includes gift expenditures 

for persons outside the consumer unit. These items have

already been defined in the Expenditures section. Their values

are given, so they can be subtracted from the expenditure

totals, if the value of consumption within the household is

desired.
49

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS or the Bureau) has been gathering information on the spending patterns 

and living costs of American consumers for more than a century—since the first such survey in 1888–91. Survey methods have been improved and refined over the years. A major 

methodological improvement, first used in the 1972–73 survey, was the introduction of two separate surveys—a quarterly interview survey and a weekly diary or recordkeeping 

survey—rather than a single interview survey, relying primarily on annual recall by survey participants. The Bureau added 

a further enhancement in 1980, when it began data collection 

for the survey on a continuing basis, rather than at intervals of 

about 10 years.

The Bureau designed the surveys so that each has its own 

questionnaire and sample. For the quarterly Interview Survey, 

an interviewer visits every consumer unit in the sample 

every 3 months over a 12-month period. It was designed to 

obtain data on the types of expenditures respondents can be 

expected to recall for a period of 3 months or longer. For 

the Diary Survey, consumer units are asked to complete a 

record of expenses for two consecutive 1-week periods. It 

was designed to obtain detailed data on frequently purchased 

small items, such as food and beverages (both at home and in 

eating places).

Integrating data from the Interview and Diary Surveys 

provides a complete accounting of expenditures and income, 

which neither survey component alone is designed to do. 

Expenditure levels and expenditure shares (the percent of the 

total spent on each category) shown in this report result from 

integrating the Diary and Interview Survey data. 

Description of survey

BLS contracts with the U.S. Census Bureau to carry out data 

collection for both surveys. In the Interview Survey, a U.S. 

Census Bureau field representative meets with respondents 

and collects expenditure and income data via a computer-assisted personal interview questionnaire. In the Diary Survey, 

respondents are asked to report all expenditures made during 

their 2-week participation in the survey. Expenditures and related data are recorded in a self-reporting record of daily living expenses. All data collected in both surveys are subject 

to confidentiality requirements that prevent the disclosure of 

respondents’ identities or such geographic identifiers that may 

lead to their identification.

In addition to the Interview Survey questionnaire and the 

Diary Survey record of daily expenses, information pertaining 

Appendix B. Integration

and Survey Methods

to age, sex, race, marital status, and family composition is collected from each survey respondent in a Household Characteristics Questionnaire. The questionnaire also asks for information on work experience, occupation, industry, retirement 

status, and income. Income includes member earnings from 

wages and salaries, net income from a business or profession, 

net income from a farm, and income from all other sources. 

Data on household characteristics are collected to determine 

the eligibility of the family for inclusion in the population 

covered by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), to classify families by family type for purposes of analysis, and to adjust for 

nonresponse by families who do not cooperate in the survey. 

The data also provide the link between the Diary and Interview Surveys to permit the integration of the data by demographic characteristics.

Quarterly Interview Survey. The quarterly interview portion 

of the survey is designed to collect data on major items of 

expense, household characteristics, and income. The survey 

covers expenditures that one would expect respondents to

recall for 3 months or longer, such as those for property, automobiles, and major appliances, and those that occur on a regular basis, such as rent, insurance premiums, and utilities. The 

survey includes detailed data on an estimated 60 to 70 percent 

of total household expenditures. In addition, global estimates, 

that is, expense patterns for a 3-month period, are obtained for 

food and other selected items, accounting for an additional 20 

to 25 percent of total expenditures. Each sample household 

is interviewed once per quarter, for five consecutive quarters. 

Data collected in each quarter are estimated independently, 

so annual estimates do not depend upon the participation of a 

consumer unit for the full five quarters.

New panels are introduced into the interview sample on a 

monthly basis, as other panels complete their participation. 

For the Interview Survey as a whole, 20 percent of the sample 

is dropped, and a new group added each quarter. This rotating 

procedure allows panel estimates to reflect population changes; it also provides operational efficiency by distributing interviewer workload across time.

For the initial interview, information is collected on

demographic and family characteristics and on the inventory of major durable goods of each consumer unit. Expenditure information is also collected in this interview, with a 

1-month recall. Expenditure information is used, along with 

the inventory information for bounding purposes to minimize 

telescoping errors. These double counting errors, common in 
50

retrospective interviews, result from a tendency to report past 

events in the reference period of the survey.

The second through fifth interviews use uniform questionnaires to collect expenditure information in each quarter. In 

the second and fifth interviews, information also is obtained 

on income, such as wage and salary earnings, unemployment 

compensation, child support, and alimony, as well as information on the employment of each household member. For new 

consumer unit members and members who started work since 

the second interview, the interviewers ask for wage, salary, 

and other information on employment in the third and fourth 

interviews. If there is no new employment information, information is carried over from the second interview to the third 

and fourth. In the fifth interview, a supplement is used to collect changes in assets and liabilities. 

Households that move away from the sample address between interviews are dropped from the survey. New households that move into the sample address are screened for eligibility and, if found qualified, are included in the survey.

Diary Survey. The Diary portion of the survey collects expenditure data for small items purchased on a daily or weekly 

basis, such as food, beverages, food consumed away from 

home, housekeeping supplies, nonprescription drugs and 

medical supplies, and personal care products and services. 

However, participants are asked to record all purchases made 

each day for two consecutive 1-week periods. Respondents 

receive each weekly diary during a separate visit by a Census Bureau interviewer. Data collected in each week are used 

independently in the annual estimates, so participation of a 

consumer unit for both weeks is not required. However, most 

respondents participate for both weeks.

Beginning in 2004, the Consumer Expenditure Survey 

(CE) implemented multiple imputation of income to provide 

estimated values for missing income data. The process is 

applied to both Interview and Diary Survey data. Data from 

2004 onward are not strictly comparable to data from previous 

years. For an explanation of income imputation, see “Changes 

to the 2004 and 2005 Consumer Expenditure Survey published 

tables and selected highlights” of the 2004–2005 CE biennial 

report.

Source selection

The Diary and Interview Surveys overlap considerably in their 

coverage of household expenditures. As mentioned above, the 

Interview Survey is designed to obtain data on major expenditures such as automobiles and major appliances that respondents can be expected to recall for 3 months or longer, while 

the Diary Survey is designed to obtain data on small frequently purchased items such as food and beverages. When data for 

an item category are collected in both surveys, BLS uses the 

data from only one of the surveys in its published expenditure 

estimates. The survey with more statistically reliable data is 

chosen. The process of choosing the survey with more statistically reliable data is called “source selection.”

For source selection, the item categories are divided into 

three groups:

• Those that are collected solely in the Diary Survey, such

 as detailed food expenditures, personal care products, 

 postage, housekeeping supplies, and nonprescription 

 drugs.

• Those that are collected solely in the Interview Survey, 

 such as expenditures made on trips (overnight and 

 longer), and information on reimbursed expenditures, 

 such as for medical care and automobile repairs.

• Those that are collected in both the Diary and Interview 

Surveys, and where a sufficient amount of detail is

 collected in both of them. For this group of items, the 

 survey with more statistically reliable data must be 

 determined.

In the past, the source selection procedure was run periodically every few years; since 2007, it will be run every 2 years. 

The source selection procedure is run separately for each item 

category in the third group. The item categories are called 

“universal classification codes” (UCCs), which are members 

of a 6-digit coding scheme that classifies expenditures. These 

are the lowest level at which CE expenditures are tabulated. 

The Consumer Expenditure Survey has approximately 900 

expenditure UCCs, of which 275 are in the first group, 375 

are in the second group, and 250 are in the third group.

For the third group, it is first determined whether there is 

a statistically significant difference between the two surveys. 

If there is, then the survey with the larger mean annualized 

expenditure per consumer unit is selected as the source. If 

there is not, the survey currently used as the source continues 

to be used.

The procedure was most recently run in 2007, using data 

from 2004 to 2006. It started by counting the number of expenditures in the database for each survey to determine whether 

credible expenditure estimates could be produced from them. 

The threshold for credibility used in the procedure was 60 expenditures per year. If there were 60 or more expenditures 

per year in both surveys, and one of the surveys had a significantly higher mean annualized expenditure, then the survey 

with the higher mean was selected as the source of data for the 

published expenditure estimates. If only one of the surveys 

had 60 or more expenditures per year, then the survey with 60 

or more expenditures was selected as the source. Otherwise, 

the survey currently used as the source was selected again.

The level of statistical significance was determined from 

the z-score

,

 

where –

xI and –xD are the mean annualized expenditures per 

consumer unit in the Interview and Diary surveys, and where 

SEI and SED are their standard errors. The z-scores were computed separately for each of the 3 years, and a weighted average of them was computed, with more weight given to the 

more recent years. The Interview survey was chosen when the 

weighted z-score was greater than 1.645 or when the smallest 

2 2

I D

DI

SESE

xx

z

+

− =
51

of the three yearly z-scores was greater than 1.000. The Diary 

survey was chosen when the weighted z-score was less than 

-1.645 or when the largest of the three yearly z-scores was less 

than -1.000.

Sample design

The Consumer Expenditure Survey is a nationwide household 

survey designed to measure the expenditures of the U.S. 

civilian noninstitutional population, which comprises about 

98 percent of the total U.S. population. CE includes people 

living in houses, condominiums, apartments, and group 

quarters, such as college dormitories. It excludes military 

personnel living on base, nursing home residents, and people 

in prisons.

The selection of households for the survey begins with the 

definition and selection of geographic areas called “primary 

sampling units” (PSUs). PSUs are small groups of counties 

that have been grouped together into geographic entities 

called “core-based statistical areas” (CBSAs). The CBSAs 

are categorized into three groups based on the population of 

the largest urbanized area inside them: Metropolitan Statistical Areas, which are CBSAs whose largest urbanized area 

has more than 50,000 people; Micropolitan Statistical Areas, 

which are CBSAs whose largest urbanized area has between 

10,000 and 50,000 people; and non-CBSA areas, which are all 

remaining areas.

The sample of PSUs used in the 2006–2007 survey consists of 91 PSUs, of which 75 urban PSUs are also used by the 

Consumer Price Index program. The 91 PSUs are classified 

into four categories:

• 21 “A” PSUs, which are metropolitan CBSAs with a 

 population over 2.7 million people.

• 38 “X” PSUs, which are metropolitan CBSAs with a 

 population under 2.7 million people.

• 16 “Y” PSUs, which are micropolitan CBSAs.

• 16 “Z” PSUs, which are non-CBSA areas, and are often 

referred to as “rural” PSUs.

Within these 91 PSUs, the sampling frame (the list of 

addresses from which the sample is drawn) is generated from 

the 2000 Census 100-percent detail file. The sampling frame 

is augmented by new construction permits and extra housing 

units identified through coverage improvement techniques to 

compensate for recognized deficiencies in the file.

From this sampling frame, the U.S. Census Bureau selects 

a representative sample of approximately 12,000 addresses 

per year to participate in the Diary Survey. Usable diaries 

are obtained from approximately 7,000 households at those 

addresses. Diaries are not obtained from the other addresses 

due to refusals, vacancies, ineligibility, or the nonexistence of 

a housing unit at the selected address. The actual placement of 

diaries is spread equally over all 52 weeks of the year.

For the Interview Survey, approximately 14,000 addresses 

are contacted in each calendar quarter of the year. Onefifth of the addresses contacted each quarter are new to the 

survey and provide “bounding” interviews that provide 

baseline data, which are not used in the survey’s published 

expenditure estimates. Excluding these bounding interviews 

and interviews not completed due to refusals, vacancies, 

ineligibility, or the nonexistence of a housing unit at the 

selected address, usable interviews are obtained from 

approximately 7,000 households each quarter. After a housing 

unit has been in the sample for five consecutive quarters, it is 

dropped from the survey and a new housing unit is selected 

to replace it.

Response rates

Response data for the 2006–2007 Interview and Diary Surveys are shown in tables B-1 and B-2. For the Interview Survey, totals refer to housing units in the second through fifth 

quarters of the survey (the non-bounding interviews), with 

each unique housing unit providing up to four usable interviews. For the Diary Survey, the totals refer to housing units 

in weeks 1 and 2 of the survey, with each unique housing unit 

providing up to two usable interviews. Most Diary respondents participate for both weeks.

There are three general categories of nonresponse:

• Type A nonresponses are refusals, temporary absences, 

 and noncontacts.

• Type B nonresponses are vacant housing units, housing 

 units with temporary residents, and housing units under 

 construction.

• Type C nonresponses are nonexistent housing units, 

 destroyed or abandoned housing units, and housing 

 units converted to nonresidential use.

Type A nonresponses are considered to be in-scope and

eligible units, because they were able to participate in

the survey but either chose not to do so or could not be

contacted. Type B nonresponses are considered to be

in-scope but ineligible units, because the addresses are vacant. Type C nonresponses are considered to be out-of-scope

units.

Response rates are defined to be the percent of eligible 

housing units (i.e., the designated sample less Type B and 

Type C nonresponses) from which usable interviews are collected. In the 2007 Interview Survey, there were 37,016 eligible housing units, from which 27,335 usable interviews were 

collected, resulting in a response rate of 73.8 percent. In the 

2007 Diary Survey, there were 19,595 eligible housing units, 

from which 13,747 usable interviews were collected, resulting 

in a response rate of 70.2 percent.
52

Weighting

Each consumer unit (CU) in the Consumer Expenditure Survey 

represents a given number of similar CUs in the U.S. civilian 

noninstitutional population. The translation of sample CUs 

into the universe of CUs is known as “weighting.” Several 

factors are involved in computing the weight of each CU for 

which a usable interview is obtained. Each CU is initially 

assigned a base weight, which is equal to the inverse of its 

probability of being selected for the sample. Base weights in 

the Consumer Expenditure Survey are typically around 10,000, 

which means that a CU in the sample represents 10,000 CUs 

in the U.S. civilian noninstitutional population—itself plus 

9,999 other CUs that were not selected for the sample. The 

base weight is then adjusted by the following factors:

Weighting control factor. This adjusts for subsampling in the 

field. Subsampling occurs when a field representative visits a 

particular address and discovers multiple housing units, where 

only one housing unit was expected.

Noninterview adjustment factor. This adjusts for interviews 

that cannot be conducted in occupied housing units due to a 

CU’s refusal to participate in the survey or the fact that no one 

is home. This adjustment is based on the region of the country 

(Northeast, Midwest, South, West), household tenure (owner/

renter), CU size, and race of the CU’s reference person.

Calibration factor. This adjusts the weights to 24 “known” 

population counts to account for frame undercoverage. These 

known population counts are for age, race, household tenure, 

region of the country, and urban/rural. The population counts 

come from the Current Population Survey, and they are updated 

quarterly. Each CU is given its own unique calibration factor. 

There are infinitely many sets of calibration factors that make 

the weights add up to the 24 known population counts, and 

the set that is used minimizes the amount of change made to 

the “initial weights” (initial weight = base weight x weighting 

control factor x noninterview adjustment factor). The same 

population controls are used for both the Interview and Diary 

Surveys, hence both surveys have the same demographic 

estimates for the controlled variables.

Data collection and processing

Due to differences in format and design, the Interview Survey 

and the Diary Survey are collected and processed separately. 

The U.S. Census Bureau, under contract with BLS, carries out 

data collection for both. In addition to its collection duties, 

the Census Bureau does field editing and coding, checks 

consistency, ensures quality control, and transmits the data to 

BLS. In preparing the data for analysis and publication, BLS 

performs additional review and editing procedures.

Quarterly Interview Survey. Beginning April 2003, Census 

Field Representatives (FRs) began collecting the Interview 

data using a Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) 

instrument. This was a major improvement from the paper 

and pencil data collection that had been in place since 1980. 

The CAPI instrument enforces question skip patterns, allows 

for data confirmation of high expenditure values, and reduces 

processing time. The FR performs some coding of expenses—

by selecting from a predetermined list—for vehicle make and 

model, trip destination, and job types for alterations, maintenance, and repair. 

Data are electronically transferred from the FR’s laptop 

at completion of the interview to the Census Master Control 

System. The Census Bureau Demographics Surveys Division 

then reformats the data into datasets and does special processing for output to BLS (such as converting missing values to 

special characters and merging data records into the required 

BLS output structure.) Some data, like vehicle and mortgage 

records, are copied into an input file that is loaded on the laptops for subsequent interviews the next quarter. This way, a 

few fields are updated each quarter, rather than recollecting 

the entire data record. 

At BLS, a series of automated edits are applied to monthly 

data. These edits check for inconsistencies, identify missing 

expenditure amounts for later imputation, impute missing 

demographic variables, calculate weights, and adjust data to 

include sales tax and to exclude business expenses or reimbursed expenditures.

Monthly data files are then combined into quarterly databases, and a more extensive data review is carried out. This 

step includes a review of the following: counts and means by 

region, family relationship coding inconsistencies, and selected extreme values for expenditure and income categories. 

Other adjustments convert mortgage and vehicle payments 

into principal and interest (using associated data on the interest rate and term of the loan). In addition, BLS verifies the 

Table B-1. Analysis of response in the 2006--07 Interview 

Survey

Sample unit 2006 2007

Housing units designated for the

survey .................................................. 46,789 45,996

 Less: Type B and C nonresponses ... 9,080 8,980

Equals: Eligible units ............................ 37,709 37,016

 Less: Type A nonresponses.............. 8,842 9,681

Equals: Interview units.......................... 28,867 27,335

Percent of eligible units interviewed ...... 76.6 73.8

Table B-2. Analysis of response in the 2006--07 Diary

Survey

Sample unit 2006 2007

Housing units designated for the

survey ..................................................

24,320 24,642

 Less: Type B and C nonresponses... 4,844 5,047

Equals: Eligible units ............................ 19,476 19,595

 Less: Type A nonresponses.............. 5,021 5,848

Equals: Interview units.......................... 14,455 13,747

Percent of eligible units interviewed ...... 74.2 70.2
53

various data transformations it performs. Cases of questionable data values or relationships are investigated, and errors 

are corrected prior to release of the data for public use.

Three major types of data adjustment routines—imputation, 

allocation, and time adjustment—improve estimates derived 

from the Interview Survey. Data imputation routines account 

for missing or invalid entries and affect all fields in the database, 

except assets. Missing or invalid attributes or expenditures are 

imputed. Allocation routines are applied when respondents 

provide insufficient detail to meet tabulation requirements. 

For example, combined expenditures for the fuels and utilities 

group are allocated among the components of that group, such 

as gas and electricity. Time adjustment routines are used to classify expenditures by month, prior to aggregation of the data to 

calendar-year expenditures. Tabulations are made before and 

after the data adjustment routines to analyze the results.

The interview and diary surveys implemented multiple imputations of income data, beginning with the publication of 

the 2004 data. Prior to that, only income data collected from 

complete income reporters were published. However, even 

complete income reporters did not provide information on 

all sources of income for which they reported receipt. With 

the collection of bracketed income data starting in 2001, this 

problem was reduced but not eliminated. A limitation was that 

bracketed data only provide a range in which income falls, 

rather than a precise value for that income. In contrast, imputation allows income values to be estimated when they are not 

reported. In multiple imputations, several estimates are made 

for the same consumer unit, and the average of these estimates 

is used in the published data. 

Diary Survey. At the beginning of the 2-week collection period, the Census Bureau interviewer, using the Household 

Characteristics Questionnaire (a CAPI instrument), records 

demographic information on members of each sampled consumer unit. At this time, the interviewer also leaves the Diary 

questionnaire—or daily expenditure record—with the consumer unit, to record expenditures for the week.

Respondents record all expenses incurred during their participation in the survey in the diary questionnaire, a self-reporting, product-oriented diary. The diary is divided by day of 

purchase and by a broad classification of goods and services.

At the end of the first week, the interviewer collects the 

diary, reviews the entries, answers any questions, and leaves 

a second diary. The interviewer picks up the second diary at 

the end of the second week and reviews the entries. During 

this time, the interviewer again uses the Household Characteristics Questionnaire to collect previous-year information on 

work experience and income. Each week of a consumer unit’s 

participation in the survey is treated as a separate occurrence.

The Census Bureau performs preliminary processing activities, including a number of data edits and adjustments. Data 

in the diaries are reviewed during a field edit for completeness 

and consistency. All notes are reviewed, so expenditure data 

can be transcribed to the questionnaire for keying. In addition, 

item codes are assigned to reported expenditure items, household and consumer unit codes are assigned to each household 

member, and industry and occupation codes are entered for 

each working member. After an initial clerical screening, data 

are key-entered into electronic formats and a computer file of 

the database containing these data is produced and transmitted monthly to BLS, along with image files of questionnaires.

Data then are processed to calculate population weights 

based on BLS specifications, impute demographic characteristics for missing or inconsistent demographic data, impute 

values for weeks worked when nonresponse is encountered, 

and apply appropriate sales taxes to the expenditure items.

Using three monthly diary data files, BLS creates a quarterly database and screens it for invalid coding and inconsistent 

relationships, as well as for extreme values recorded or keyed 

erroneously. BLS then corrects any coding and extreme-value 

errors found.

Two types of data adjustment routines—allocation and imputation—improve the Diary Survey estimates. Allocation routines 

transform reports of nonspecific items into specific ones. For 

example, when respondents report expenditures for meat rather 

than beef or pork, allocations are made, using proportions derived 

from item-specific reports in other completed diaries. BLS imputes missing attributes, such as age or sex or package type, needed for mapping Diary expenditures. Income data from the Diary 

Survey are processed in the same way as in the Interview Survey.

Reliability of the data

Sample surveys are subject to two types of errors, sampling 

and nonsampling. Sampling error is the uncertainty in the 

Consumer Expenditure Survey estimates caused by the fact 

that data are collected from a sample of consumer units across 

the United States, instead of collecting data from every consumer unit. (The United States has approximately 120 million consumer units.) In 2007, usable data were collected 

in 27,335 quarterly interviews in the Interview Survey, and 

in 13,747 weekly diaries in the Diary Survey. Non-sampling

error is the rest of the error. Non-sampling error includes 

things like incorrect information given by respondents, data 

processing errors, and so on. Non-sampling error occurs, regardless of whether data are collected from a sample of consumer units, or from the complete universe of consumer units.

The most common measure of the variability in a survey’s 

estimates caused by sampling error is the standard error of the 

estimates—the square root of the variance. The standard error 

of the Consumer Expenditure Survey estimates can be used to 

construct confidence intervals to test various statistical hypotheses. Tables showing the standard errors of the Consumer Expenditure Survey estimates are available on the Internet at the 

Consumer Expenditure Survey webpage: www.bls.gov/cex.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is constantly working to 

reduce error in the Consumer Expenditure Survey. Sampling 

error is reduced by using a sample of consumer units that is 

as large as possible given resource constraints. Non-sampling 

error is reduced through a series of computerized and professional data reviews, through continuous survey process improvements, as well as through theoretical research.
54

I=Interview Survey, D=Diary Survey

I Number of consumer units (in thousands)

Consumer unit characteristics:

I Income before taxes

I Income after taxes

I Age of reference person

Average number in consumer unit:

I Persons

I Children under 18

I Persons 65 and over

I Earners

I Vehicles

 Owned

 Leased

Percent distribution:

 Sex of reference person

I Male 

I Female

 Housing tenure

 Homeowner

I With mortgage

I Without mortgage

I Renter

 Race of reference person

I Black or African American

I White, Asian, and all other races

I White

I Asian

I All other races

 Hispanic or Latino origin of reference person

I Hispanic or Latino

I Not Hispanic or Latino

 Education of reference person

I Elementary (1- 8)

I High school (9 - 12)

I College

I Never attended and other

 At least one vehicle owned or leased

I Owned

I Leased

 Average annual expenditures

 Food

 At home

 Cereal and bakery products, total

 Cereals and cereal products

D Flour

D Prepared flour mixes

D Ready-to-eat and cooked cereals

D Rice

D Pasta, cornmeal, and other cereal products

 Bakery products

 Bread

D White bread

D Bread, other than white

 Crackers and cookies

D Crackers

D Cookies

D Frozen and refrigerated bakery products

 Other bakery products

D Biscuits and rolls

D Cakes and cupcakes

D Bread and cracker products

D Sweet rolls, coffee cakes, doughnuts

D Pies, tarts, turnovers

Meat, poultry, fish, and eggs

 Beef

D Ground beef

 Roast

D Chuck 

D Round 

D Other 

 Steak

D Round 

D Sirloin 

D Other 

D Other beef

 Pork

D Bacon

D Pork chops

 Ham

D Not canned

D Canned

D Sausage

D Other pork

 Other meats

D Frankfurters

 Lunch meats (cold cuts)

D Bologna, liverwurst, salami

D Other lunch meats

 Lamb, organ meats, and others

D Lamb and organ meats

D Mutton, goat, and game

 Poultry

 Fresh and frozen chickens

D Whole chicken

D Chicken parts

D Other poultry

 Fish and seafood

D Canned

D Fresh fish and shellfish

D Frozen fish and shellfish

D Eggs

 Dairy products

 Fresh milk and cream

D Fresh milk, all types

D Cream

 Other dairy products

D Butter

D Cheese

D Ice cream and related products

D Miscellaneous dairy products

 Fruits and vegetables

 Fresh fruits

D Apples

D Bananas

D Oranges

D Citrus fruits, excluding oranges

D Other fresh fruits

 Fresh vegetables

Appendix C. Survey Source of Data 

for Integrated Tables, 2007
55

D Potatoes

D Lettuce

D Tomatoes

D Other fresh vegetables

 Processed fruits

 Frozen fruits and fruit juices

D Orange juice

D Fruits

D Fruit juices

D Canned fruits

D Dried fruit

D Fresh fruit juice

D Canned and bottled fruit juice

 Processed vegetables

D Frozen vegetables

 Canned and dried vegetables and juices

D Canned beans

D Canned corn

D Canned miscellaneous vegetables

D Dried peas

D Dried beans

D Dried miscellaneous vegetables

D Other processed vegetables

D Frozen vegetable juice

D Fresh and canned vegetable juice

 Other food at home

 Sugar and other sweets

D Candy and chewing gum

D Sugar

D Artificial sweeteners

D Jams, preserves; other sweets

 Fats and oils

D Margarine

D Fats and oils

D Salad dressings

D Nondairy cream and imitation milk

D Peanut butter

 Miscellaneous foods

 Frozen prepared foods

D Frozen meals

D Other frozen prepared foods

D Canned and packaged soups

 Potato chips, nuts, and other snacks

D Potato chips and other snacks

D Nuts

 Condiments and seasonings

D Salt, spices; other seasonings

D Olives, pickles; relishes

D Sauces and gravies

D Baking needs and misc. products

 Other canned/packaged prepared food

D Prepared salads

D Prepared desserts

D Baby food

D Miscellaneous prepared foods

D Vitamin supplements

 Nonalcoholic beverages (excl. juices)

D Cola

D Other carbonated drinks

D Tea

 Coffee

D Roasted 

D Instant and freeze-dried 

D Noncarbonated fruit flavored drinks, including

 non-frozen lemonade

D Other noncarbonated beverages and ice (new Q20061)

D Bottled water (new Q20061)

D Nonalcoholic beer

I Food prepared on out-of-town trips

 Food away from home

 Meals at restaurants, carry-outs, and other

 Lunch

D At fast food, take-out, delivery, concession stands,

 buffet and cafeteria (other than employer and

school cafeteria)

D At full-service restaurants

D At vending machines and mobile vendors

D At employer and school cafeterias

 Dinner

D At fast food, take-out, delivery, concession stands,

 buffet and cafeteria (other than employer and

school cafeteria)

D At full-service restaurants

D At vending machines and mobile vendors

D At employer and school cafeterias

 Snacks and nonalcoholic beverages

D At fast food, take-out, delivery, concession stands,

 buffet and cafeteria (other than employer and

school cafeteria)

D At full-service restaurants

D At vending machines and mobile vendors

D At employer and school cafeterias

 Breakfast and brunch

D At fast food, take-out, delivery, concession stands,

 buffet and cafeteria (other than employer and 

school cafeteria)

D At full-service restaurants

D At vending machines and mobile vendors

D At employer and school cafeterias

 

I Food or board at school

I Catered affairs

I Food on out-of-town trips

I School lunches

I Meals as pay

 Alcoholic beverages

 At home

D Beer and ale

D Whiskey

D Wine

D Other alcoholic beverages

 Away from home

 Beer and ale

D At fast food, take-out, delivery, concession stands,

 buffet and cafeteria

D At full-service restaurants

D At vending machines and mobile vendors

D At employer 

D At board

D At catered affairs

 Wine

D At fast food, take-out, delivery, concession stands,

 buffet and cafeteria

D At full service restaurants

D At vending machines and mobile vendors

D At employer

D At board

D At catered affairs

 Other alcoholic beverages

D At fast food, take-out, delivery, concession stands,

 buffet and cafeteria

D At full service restaurants

D At vending machines and mobile vendors

D At employer

D At board

D At catered affairs

I Alcoholic beverages purchased on trips

 Housing

 Shelter

 Owned dwellings

 Mortgage interest and charges

I Mortgage interest

I Interest paid, home equity loan

I Interest paid, home equity line of credit

I Prepayment penalty charges (thru Q20071)

I Property taxes

 Maintenance, repairs, insurance, other expenses

I Homeowners’ insurance

I Ground rent

 Maintenance and repair services

I Painting and papering

I Plumbing and water heating

I Heat, air conditioning; electrical work

I Roofing and gutters

I Other repair or maintenance services

I Repair and replacement of hard surface flooring

I Repair of built-in appliances
56

 Maintenance and repair commodities

I Paints, wallpaper, and supplies

I Tools and equipment for painting and

 wallpapering

I Plumbing supplies and equipment

I Electrical supplies, heating, and cooling 

 equipment

I Materials for hard surface floor repair and

 replacement

I Materials and equipment for roof and gutters

I Materials for plastering, paneling, siding,

 windows, doors, screens, awnings

I Materials for patio, walk, fence, driveway,

 masonry, brick, and stucco work

I Materials for landscaping maintenance

 Miscellaneous supplies and equipment

I Material for insulation, other maintenance and 

 repair 

I Materials to finish basement, remodel rooms,

 or build patios, walks, etc.

 Property management and security

I Property management

I Management and upkeep services for security

I Parking

 Rented dwellings

I Rent

I Rent as pay

 Maintenance, insurance, and other expenses

I Tenant’s insurance

 Maintenance and repair services

I Repair or maintenance services

I Repair and replacement of hard surface flooring

I Repair of built-in appliances

 Maintenance and repair commodities

I Paint, wallpaper, and supplies

I Tools and equipment for painting and 

 wallpapering

I Materials for plastering, paneling, roofing, 

 gutters, etc.

I Materials for patio, walk, fence, driveway, 

 masonry; brick and stucco work

I Plumbing supplies and equipment

I Electrical supplies; heating and cooling 

 equipment

 Miscellaneous supplies or equipment

I Materials for insulation, other maintenance and 

 repair

I Materials for additions, finished basements, 

 remodeling rooms

I Construction materials for jobs not started

I Material for hard surface flooring

I Materials for landscape maintenance

 Other lodging

 Owned vacation homes

 Mortgage interest and charges

I Mortgage interest

I Interest paid, home equity loan

I Interest paid, home equity line of credit

I Prepayment penalty charge (thru Q20071)

I Property taxes

 Maintenance, insurance, and other expenses

I Homeowners’ insurance

I Ground rent

 Maintenance and repair services, total

I Repair and remodeling services

I Repair and replacement of hard surface

 Maintenance and repair commodities

I Paints, wallpaper, supplies

I Tools and equipment for painting and 

 wallpapering

I Materials for plastering, paneling, roofing, 

 gutters, downspouts, siding, windows, 

doors, screens, and awnings

I Materials for patio, walk, fence, drive,

 masonry, brick, stucco

I Plumbing supplies and equipment

I Electrical supplies, heating and cooling 

 equipment

 Miscellaneous supplies and equipment

I Materials for insulation and other 

 maintenance and repair 

I Materials for finishing basements and 

 remodeling rooms

I Materials for hard surface flooring

I Materials for landscaping maintenance

 Property management and security

I Property management

I Management and upkeep services for security

I Parking

I Housing while attending school

I Lodging while out of town

 Utilities, fuels, and public services

 Natural gas

I Renter

I Owned home

I Owned vacation home

I Rented vacation home

 Electricity

I Renter

I Owned home

I Owned vacation home

I Rented vacation home

 Fuel oil and other fuels

 Fuel oil

I Renter

I Owned home

I Owned vacation home

I Rented vacation home

 Coal, wood, and other fuels 

I Renter

I Owned home

I Owned vacation home

I Rented vacation home

I Coal

I Wood and other fuels

 Bottled gas

I Renter

I Owned home

I Owned vacation home

I Rented vacation home

I Telephone services

I Residential telephone/pay phones

I Cellular phone service

I Pager service (thru Q20061)

I Phone cards

I Voice over IP service (new Q20072)

 Water and other public services

 Water/sewerage maintenance

I Renter

I Owned home

I Owned vacation home

I Rented vacation home

 Trash/garbage collection

I Renter

I Owned home

I Owned vacation home

I Rented vacation home

 Septic tank cleaning

I Renter

I Owned home

I Owned vacation home

I Rented vacation home

 Household operations

 Personal services

I Baby-sitting and child care in own home

I Baby-sitting and child care in someone else’s home

I Care for elderly, invalids, handicapped, etc.

I Adult day care centers

I Day care centers, nursery, and preschools

 Other household expenses

I Housekeeping services

I Gardening, lawn care service

I Water softening service

I Household laundry and dry cleaning, sent out (non-

 clothing), not coin-operated
57

I Coin-operated household laundry and dry cleaning 

 (non-clothing)

I Services for termite and pest control

I Home security system service fee

I Other home services

I Termite and pest control products

I Moving, storage; freight express

I Appliance repair, including service center

I Reupholstering and furniture repair

I Repair and rental of lawn and garden equipment, hand 

 or power tools, other household equipment

I Appliance rental

I Rental of office equipment for non-business use

D Repair of miscellaneous household equipment and 

 furnishings

I Repair of computer systems for non-business use

I Computer information services

I Installation of computer (new Q20072)

I Rental and installation of dishwashers, range hoods, 

 and garbage disposals

 Housekeeping supplies

 Laundry and cleaning supplies

D Soaps and detergents

D Other laundry cleaning products

 Other household products

D Cleansing and toilet tissue, paper towels, and napkins

D Miscellaneous household products

D Lawn and garden supplies

 Postage and stationery

D Stationery, stationery supplies; gift wrap

D Postage

D Delivery services

 Household furnishings and equipment

 Household textiles

D Bathroom linens

D Bedroom linens

D Kitchen and dining room linens

I Curtains and drapes

I Slipcovers; decorative pillows

I Sewing materials for slipcovers, curtains; other sewing 

 materials for the home

I Other linens

 Furniture

I Mattresses and springs

I Other bedroom furniture

I Sofas

I Living room chairs

I Living room tables

I Kitchen, dining room furniture

I Infants’ furniture

D Outdoor furniture

I Wall units, cabinets; other occasional furniture

 Floor coverings

 Wall-to-wall carpet (renter)

I New

I Replacement

I Wall-to-wall carpet (replacement) (owned home)

I Floor coverings, non-permanent

 Major appliances

I Dishwashers (built-in), garbage disposals, range hoods 

 (renter)

I Dishwashers (built-in), garbage disposals, range hoods 

 (owned home)

I Refrigerators, freezers (renter)

I Refrigerators, freezers (owned home)

I Washing machines (renter)

I Washing machines (owned home)

I Clothes dryers (renter)

I Clothes dryers (owned home)

I Cooking stoves, ovens (renter)

I Cooking stoves, ovens (owned home)

I Microwave ovens (renter)

I Microwave ovens (owned home)

I Portable dishwashers (renter)

I Portable dishwashers (owned home)

I Window air conditioners (renter)

I Window air conditioners (owned home)

I Electric floor cleaning equipment

I Sewing machines

D Miscellaneous household appliances

 Small appliances, miscellaneous housewares

 Housewares

I Plastic dinnerware

D China and other dinnerware

I Flatware

D Glassware

D Silver serving pieces

I Other serving pieces

D Nonelectric cookware

D Tableware, nonelectric kitchenware

 Small appliances

I Small electric kitchen appliances

D Portable heating/cooling equipment

 Miscellaneous household equipment

I Window coverings

D Infants’ equipment

D Laundry and cleaning equipment

D Outdoor equipment

D Clocks (thru 2006Q4)

D Lamps and lighting fixtures

D Other household decorative items (thru Q20064)

D Clocks and other household decorative items (new Q20071)

D Telephones and accessories

D Lawn and garden equipment

D Power tools

I Office furniture for home use

D Hand tools

D Indoor plants, fresh flowers

D Closet and storage items

I Rental of furniture

D Luggage

I Computers/computer hardware for non-business use

I Computer software/accessories for non-business use

I Personal digital assistants 

I Internet services away from home 

I Telephone answering devices

I Business equipment for home use

D Other hardware

I Smoke alarms (owned home)

I Smoke alarms (renter)

I Smoke alarms (owned vacation home)

I Other household appliances (owned home)

I Other household appliances (renter)

D Miscellaneous household equipment and parts

 Apparel and services

 Men and boys

 Men, 16 and over

I Suits

I Sport coats, tailored jackets

D Coats and jackets

D Underwear

D Hosiery

I Nightwear

D Accessories

D Sweaters and vests

D Active sportswear

D Shirts

D Pants (thru Q20064)

D Shorts, shorts sets (thru Q20064)

D Pants and shorts (new Q20071)

I Uniforms

I Costumes

 Boys, 2 to 15

I Coats and jackets

I Sweaters

D Shirts

D Underwear

I Nightwear

D Hosiery

D Accessories

I Suits, sport coats, vests

I Pants (thru Q20071)

I Shorts, shorts sets (thru Q20071)

I Pants and shorts (new Q20072)

I Uniforms

I Active sportswear

I Costumes
58

 Women and girls

 Women, 16 and over

D Coats and jackets

D Dresses

I Sport coats, tailored jackets

D Vests and sweaters

D Shirts, tops, blouses

D Skirts

D Pants (thru Q20064)

D Shorts, shorts sets (thru Q20064)

D Pants and shorts (new Q20071)

D Active sportswear

D Sleepwear

D Undergarments

D Hosiery

I Suits

D Accessories

I Uniforms

I Costumes

 Girls, 2 to 15

D Coats and jackets

D Dresses, suits

D Shirts, blouses, sweaters

I Skirts and pants (thru Q20071)

I Shorts, shorts sets (thru Q20071)

I Skirts, pants, and shorts (new Q20072)

D Active sportswear

D Underwear and sleepwear

D Hosiery

D Accessories

I Uniforms

I Costumes

 Children under 2

I Coat, jacket, snowsuit

I Dresses, outerwear

D Underwear

I Nightwear, loungewear

D Accessories

 Footwear

D Men’s

D Boys’

D Women’s

D Girls’

 Other apparel products and services

D Material for making clothes

D Sewing notions and patterns

D Watches

I Jewelry

I Shoe repair, other shoe service

I Coin-operated apparel laundry/dry cleaning

I Alteration, repair, tailoring of apparel, accessories

I Clothing rental

I Watch and jewelry repair

I Apparel laundry/dry cleaning not coin operated

I Clothing storage

 Transportation

 Vehicle purchases, (net outlay)

 Cars and trucks, new

I Cars

I Trucks

 Cars and trucks, used

I Cars

I Trucks

 Other vehicles

I New motorcycles

I New aircraft

I Used motorcycles

I Used aircraft

 Gasoline and motor oil

I Gasoline

I Diesel fuel

I Gasoline on out-of-town trips

D Gasohol

I Motor oil

I Motor oil on out-of-town trips

 Other vehicle expenses

Vehicle finance charges

I Automobiles

I Trucks

I Motorcycles and planes

I Other vehicle finance charges

 Maintenance and repairs

I Coolant, additives, brake, transmission fluids

I Tires - purchased, replaced, installed

I Parts/equipment/accessories

D Vehicle audio equipment

D Vehicle products and cleaning services

I Vehicle video equipment 

D Misc. auto repair/servicing

I Body work and painting

I Clutch, transmission repair

I Drive shaft and rear-end repair

I Brake work, including adjustments

I Repair to steering or front-end

I Cooling system repair

I Motor tune-up

I Lube, oil change, and oil filters

I Front end alignment, wheel balance

I Shock absorber replacement

D Gas tank repair, replacement

I Repair tires and other repair work

I Vehicle air conditioning repair

I Exhaust system repair

I Electrical system repair

I Motor repair/replacement

I Auto repair service policy

D Vehicle insurance

 Vehicle rental, licenses, other charges

 Leased and rented vehicles

 Rented vehicles

I Auto rental

I Auto rental, out-of-town trips

I Truck rental

I Truck rental, out-of-town trips

I Motorcycle rental

I Motorcycle rental, out-of-town trips

I Aircraft rental

I Aircraft rental, out-of-town trips

 Leased vehicles

I Car lease payments

I Cash down payment (car lease)

I Termination fee (car lease)

I Truck lease payments

I Cash down payment (truck lease)

I Termination fee (truck lease)

I Vehicle registration state 

I Vehicle registration local 

I Driver’s license

I Vehicle inspection

 Parking fees

I Parking fees in home city, excluding residence

I Parking fees, out-of-town trips

D Tolls or electronic toll passes

I Tolls on out-of-town trips

I Towing charges

I Global positioning services 

I Automobile service clubs

 Public transportation

I Airline fares

I Intercity bus fares

I Intracity mass transit fares

I Local transportation, out-of-town trips

I Taxi fares and limousine service on trips

D Taxi fares and limousine service

I Intercity train fares

I Ship fares

I School bus

 Healthcare

 Health insurance

 Commercial health insurance

I Traditional fee for service health plan
59

I Preferred provider health plan

 Blue Cross/Blue Shield

I Traditional fee for service health plan

I Preferred provider health plan

I Health maintenance organization

I Commercial Medicare supplement

I Other health insurance

I Health maintenance organizations (HMOs)

I Medicare payments

I Medicare prescription drug premium (new Q20062)

I Commercial Medicare supplements and other health 

 insurance

I Commercial Medicare supplements

I Other health insurance

I Long term care insurance 

 Medical services

I Physicians’ services

I Dental services

I Eye care services

I Service by professionals other than physician

I Lab tests, x rays

I Hospital room and services 

I Medical care in retirement community

I Care in convalescent or nursing home

D Repair of medical equipment

I Other medical care service

 Drugs

D Nonprescription

D Nonprescription vitamins

I Prescription

 Medical supplies

I Eyeglasses and contact lenses

I Hearing aids

D Topicals and dressings

I Medical equipment for general use

I Supportive and convalescent medical equipment

I Rental of medical equipment

I Rental of supportive, convalescent medical equipment

 Entertainment

 Fees and admissions

I Recreation expenses, out-of-town trips

I Social, recreation, health club membership

D Fees for participant sports

I Participant sports, out-of-town trips

I Movie, theater, amusement parks, and other

I Movie, other admissions, out-of-town trips

I Admission to sporting events

I Admission to sporting events, out-of-town trips

I Fees for recreational lessons

I Other entertainment services, out-of-town trips

 Audio and visual equipment and services

I Radios

D Phonographs

I Televisions 

D Tape recorders and players

I Cable and satellite television services

D Miscellaneous sound equipment 

I Satellite radio service (new Q20072)

D Sound equipment accessories

I Online gaming services 

I VCRs and video disc players

D Digital media players and recorders (new Q20071)

D Video game hardware, software

I Video cassettes, tapes, discs

I Streaming, downloading video 

I Repair of TV, radio, and sound equipment

I Rental of televisions

I Personal digital audio players 

I Sound components and component systems

I Satellite dishes

I CDs, records, audio tapes 

I Streaming, downloading audio 

I Rental of VCR, radio, and sound equipment

I Musical instruments and accessories

I Rental and repair of music instruments

I Rental of video cassettes, tapes, discs, and films

I Rental of computer and video game hardware and software (new 

 Q20072)

I Installation of televisions (new Q20072)

I Installation of satellite television equipment (new Q20072)

I Installation of sound systems (new Q20072)

I Installation of other video equipment and sound systems (new 

 Q20072)

 Pets, toys, hobbies, and playground equipment

 Pets

D Pet food

I Pet purchase, supplies, and medicine

I Pet services

D Vet services

D Toys, games, arts and crafts, and tricycles

I Stamp and coin collecting 

I Playground equipment

 Other entertainment supplies, equipment, and services

 Unmotored recreational vehicles

I Boat without motor and boat trailers

I Trailer and other attachable campers

 Motorized recreational vehicles

I Motorized camper

I Other vehicles

I Boat with motor

 Rental of recreational vehicles

I Non-camper trailer

I Boat and trailer, out-of-town trips

I Campers on out-of-town trips

I Other vehicles on out-of-town trips

I Boats

I Motorized campers

I Other recreational vehicles

I Outboard motors

I Docking and landing fees

 Sports, recreation and exercise equipment

D Athletic gear, game tables, and exercise equipment

I Bicycles

D Camping equipment

D Hunting, fishing equipment

I Winter sports equipment

I Water sports equipment

I Other sports equipment

D Global positioning system devices

I Rent and repair of miscellaneous sports equipment

 Photographic equipment, supplies and services

I Film

D Other photographic supplies

I Photo processing

I Rent and repair of photo equipment

I Photographic equipment

D Photographer fees

D Fireworks

D Souvenirs

D Visual goods

D Pinball, electronic video games

I Live entertainment for catered affairs (new Q20072)

I Rental of party supplies for catered affairs (new Q20072)

 Personal care products and services

 Personal care products

D Hair care products

D Non-electric articles for the hair

I Wigs and hairpieces

D Oral hygiene products, articles

D Shaving needs

D Cosmetics, perfume, bath preparations

D Deodorants, feminine hygiene, misc. personal care

D Electric personal care appliances

 Personal care services

I Personal care service

D Repair of personal care appliances

 Reading

I Newspaper or magazine subscriptions 

I Newspapers or magazine, non-subscriptions 

D Newsletters

I Books through book clubs

I Books not through book clubs

I Encyclopedia and other sets of reference books

 Education

I Tuition for colleges and universities

I Tuition for elementary, high school
60

I Tuition for vocational and technical schools (new Q20072)

I Tuition for other schools

I Other school expenses including rentals

I Schoolbooks, supplies, equipment for college

I Schoolbooks, supplies, equipment for elementary, high 

 School

I Schoolbooks, supplies, equipment for vocational and technical 

 Schools (new Q20072)

I Schoolbooks, supplies, equipment for day care, nursery, 

 Other (thru Q20061)

I Schoolbooks, supplies, equipment for day care, nursery (new Q20062)

I Schoolbooks, supplies, equipment for other schools (new Q20062)

D School supplies, etc. - unspecified

 Tobacco products and smoking supplies

I Cigarettes

I Other tobacco products

D Smoking accessories

D Marijuana

 Miscellaneous

D Miscellaneous fees

D Lotteries and pari-mutuel losses

I Legal fees

I Funeral expenses

I Safe deposit box rental

I Checking accounts, other bank service charges

I Cemetery lots, vaults, maintenance fees

I Accounting fees

D Miscellaneous personal services

I Dating services 

I Finance charges excluding mortgage and vehicle

I Occupational expenses

I Expenses for other properties

I Interest paid, home equity line of credit (other property)

I Credit card memberships

I Shopping club membership fees

I Vacation clubs (new Q20072)

 Cash contributions

I Support for college students

I Alimony expenditures

I Child support expenditures

I Gifts to non-CU members of stocks, bonds, and 

 mutual funds

I Cash contributions to charities and other organizations

I Cash contributions to church, religious organizations

I Cash contributions to education organizations

I Cash contributions to political organizations

I Other cash gifts

 Personal insurance and pensions

 Life and other personal insurance

I Life, endowment, annuity, other personal insurance

I Other non-health insurance

 Retirement, pensions, and Social Security

I Deductions for government retirement

I Deductions for railroad retirement

I Deductions for private pensions

I Non-payroll deposit to retirement plans

I Deductions for Social Security

Sources of income and personal taxes

 Money income before taxes

I Wages and salaries

 Self-employment income

I Net business income

I Net farm income

 Social Security, private and government retirement

I Social Security and R?ailroad R?etirement income

I Pensions and annuities

 Interest, dividends, rental income, other property income

I Interest

I Dividends, royalties, estates, and trusts

I Roomer and boarder income

I Other rental income

Unemployment and workers’ compensation, veterans’ benefits

I Unemployment compensation

I Workers’ compensation and veterans’ benefits

 Public assistance, Supplemental Security Income, Food 

 Stamps

I Supplemental Security Income

I Public assistance

I Food Stamps

 Regular contributions for support

I Child support payments

I Other regular contributions including alimony

 Other income

I Meals as pay

I Rent as pay

I Other income

 Personal taxes

 Federal income taxes

I Federal income tax (thru Q20061)

I Federal income tax deducted (new Q20062)

I Additional federal income tax paid (new Q20062)

I Federal income tax refunds

 State and local income taxes

I State and local income tax (thru Q20061)

I State and local income tax deducted (new Q20062)

I Additional state and local income tax paid (new Q20062)

I State and local income tax refunds

 Other taxes

I Personal property taxes

I Other taxes

I Other tax refunds

Addenda:

 Net change in total assets and liabilities

 Net change in total assets

 Change in accounts

I Change in savings account

I Change in checking account

I Change in U.S. Savings Bonds

 Change in securities

I Purchase price of stocks, bonds or mutual funds 

 including broker fees

I Sale price of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, net

I Change in money owed to consumer unit

 Change in investments to own farm or business

I Investments to farm or business

I Assets taken from farm or business

I Change in surrender of insurance policies

 Change in net property holdings (owned home)

I Purchase price of property 

I Closing costs, purchase of property 

I Special assessments 

I Sale price of property or trade-in value 

I Mortgage principal held after sale of real estate 

I Total expense in sale of property 

 Change in capital improvements (owned home)

I Capital improvement labor and materials 

I Wall-to-wall carpeting 

 Capital improvement material 

I Materials and supplies purchased for insulation,

dwellings under construction, additions, fini

 remodeling, landscaping, etc.

I Dishwasher, disposal, or range hood

I Labor and materials for dwellings under construction 

 and additions

 Change in net property holdings (owned vacation home)

I Purchase price of property 

I Closing costs on purchase of property 

I Special assessments 

I Sale price of property or trade-in value 

I Mortgage principal held after sale of real estate 

I Total expenses in sale of property

 Change in capital improvements (owned vacation home)

I Capital improvement labor and materials 

I Supplies purchased for additions, maintenance and 

 repairs, and new construction

 Change in net property holdings (other property)

I Purchase price of property 

I Closing costs purchase of property 

I Special assessments 

I Sale price of property or trade-in value 
61

I Mortgage held after sale of real estate 

I Total expenses in sale of property 

 Change in capital improvements (other property)

I Property management, security, parking 

 Capital improvement services, labor, materials and 

 equipment 

I Contractors’ labor and materials, supplies obtained by 

 the consumer unit, appliances provided by the 

 contractor 

I Management services and improvements 

I Dishwasher, disposal, range hood, capital 

 improvement 

 Change in sale of vehicles

I Automobiles

I Trucks, including vans

I Motor campers

I Other vehicles

I Trailer type and other attachable campers

I Motorcycles

I Boats, with motors

I Boats, without motors, and boat trailers

I Aircraft

 Net change in total liabilities

 Change in amount owed to creditors

I Total amount owed 2nd interview

I Total amount owed 5th interview

 Change in mortgage principal (owned home)

I Special lump-sum mortgage payments 

I Reduction of mortgage principal 

I Reduction of mortgage principal, home equity loan 

I Original loan amount (mortgage obtained during 

 interview quarter) 

I Original loan amount, home equity loan (loan obtained 

 during interview quarter) 

I Principal paid, home equity line of credit 

 Change in mortgage principal (owned vacation home)

I Special lump sum mortgage payment 

I Reduction of mortgage principal 

I Reduction of mortgage principal, home equity loan 

I Original loan amount (mortgage obtained during 

 interview quarter) 

I Original loan amount, home equity loan (loan obtained 

 during interview quarter) 

I Principal paid, home equity line of credit

 Change in mortgage principal (other property)

I Special lump sum mortgage payment 

I Reduction of mortgage principal 

I Reduction of mortgage principal, home equity loan 

I Original loan amount (mortgage obtained during 

 interview quarter) 

I Original loan amount, home equity loan (loan obtained 

 during interview quarter)

I Principal paid, home equity line of credit 

 Change in principal on vehicles

I Reduction of vehicle loan principal

I Vehicle principal balance (loan obtained during interview 

 quarter)

Other financial information:

 Other money receipts

I Lump sum receipts

I Money from sale of household furnishings, etc.

I Refunds from overpayment on Social Security

I Refunds from insurance policies

I Refunds from property taxes

I Lump sum child support payments

I Monthly transit subsidy

Market value of financial assets

I Savings accounts

I Checking accounts

I U.S. Savings Bonds

I Securities

 Mortgage principal paid on owned property

I Reduction of mortgage principal (owned home)

I Reduction of mortgage principal (owned vacation home)

I Reduction of mortgage principal (other property)

I Reduction of mortgage principal, home equity loan, (owned home)

I Reduction of mortgage principal, home equity loan, (owned vacation)

I Reduction of mortgage principal, home equity loan, (other property)

I Principal paid, home equity line of credit (owned home)

I Principal paid, home equity line of credit (owned vacation home)

I Principal paid, home equity line of credit (other property)

I Estimated market value of owned home

I Estimated monthly rental value of owned home

I Rental equivalence of vacation home (thru Q20071)

I Estimated monthly rental value of vacation home not available for rent 

 (new Q20072)

I Estimated monthly rental value of vacation home available for rent (new 

 Q20072)

I Estimated annual rental value of timeshare (new Q20072)

Gifts of goods and services:

The survey source for a gift of an item is the same as for an expenditure on that item. 

Not all items can have gifts.
62

The following is a list of articles that include analyses 

of Consumer Expenditure Survey data and that appeared 

inthe Monthly Labor Review (MLR). For copies, contact 

the Division of Consumer Expenditure Surveys, Bureau 

of Labor Statistics, Room 3985, Postal Square Building, 

2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE., Washington, DC 20212-

0001, phone (202) 691-6900. Copies of recent articles are

posted to the Consumer Expenditure Survey Web site: www.

bls.gov/cex.

Bahizi, Pierre - “Retirement expenditures for Whites, 

Blacks, and persons of Hispanic origin,” June 2003

Duly, Abby, Jeffrey Harris, Ara Khatchadourian, Rozi 

Ulics, and Melissa Wolter - “Price and expenditure measure 

of petroleum products: a comparison,” December 2006

Duly, Abby, George Janini, Eric J. Keil, Laura Paszkiewicz, Geoffrey Paulin, and Neil Tseng - “Consumer expenditures for selected items, 1999 and 2000,” May 2003

Garner, Thesia I., George Janini, William Passero, Laura 

Paszkiewicz, and Mark Vendemia - “The CE and the PCE: a 

comparison,” September 2006

Garner, Thesia I., Kathleen Short, Stephanie Shipp, Charles 

Nelson, and Geoffrey Paulin - “Experimental poverty measurement for the 1990s,” March 1998

Johnson, David S., Timothy Smeeding, and Barbara Boyle 

Torrey - “Economic inequality through the prisms of income 

and consumption,” April 2005

Johnson, David S., John M. Rogers, and Lucilla Tan, - “A 

century of family budgets in the United States,” May 2001

Johnson, David S. and Mark Lino - “Teenagers: employment and contributions to family spending,” September 2000

Passero, Bill – “The impact of income imputation in the 

Consumer Expenditure Survey,” August 2009

Paulin, Geoffrey - “Expenditure patterns of young single 

adults: two recent generations compared,” December 2008

Paulin, Geoffrey - “A changing market: expenditures by 

Hispanic consumers, revisited,” August 2003

Paulin, Geoffrey and Abby L. Duly - “Planning ahead: consumer expenditure patterns in retirement,” July 2002

Paulin, Geoffrey and Yoon G. Lee - “Expenditures of single parents: how does gender figure in?,” July 2002

Paulin, Geoffrey - “Expenditures of college-age students 

and nonstudents,” July 2001

Paulin, Geoffrey - “Expenditure patterns of older Americans, 1984-97,” May 2000

Paulin, Geoffrey - “Let’s do lunch: expenditures on meals 

away from home,” May 2000

Paulin, Geoffrey - “The changing food-at-home budget: 

1980 and 1992 compared,” December 1998

Paulin, Geoffrey - “A growing market: expenditures by 

Hispanic consumers,” March 1998

Paulin, Geoffrey and Brian Riordon - “Making it on their 

own: the baby boom meets Generation X,” February 1998

Short, Kathleen and Thesia I. Garner - “Experimental poverty measures: accounting for medical expenditures,” August 

2002

Tan, Lucilla - “Spending patterns of public-assisted families,” May 2000

Tsai, Shiao-Lin Shirley, and Lucilla Tan - “Food at home 

expenditures of Asian households,” June 2006

Appendix D. Consumer Expenditure

Survey Resources

Monthly Labor Review articles
63

Consumer Expenditures in 2007, Report 1016 Consumer unit income and expenditures, integrated data

(April 2009) from Interview and Diary Surveys, classified by consumer unit

characteristics. 13 tables. 20 pages.

Consumer Expenditure Survey Anthology, 2008, Includes articles on Consumer Expenditure Survey research

Report 1009 (December 2008) and methodology, and analytical article on topics of interest 

using survey data. 93 pages.

Consumer Expenditures in 2006, Report 1010 Consumer unit income and expenditures, integrated data from

(October 2008) Interview and Diary Surveys, classified by consumer unit

characteristics. 13 tables. 18 pages.

Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2004–2005, Consumer unit income and expenditures, integrated data

Report 1008 (October 2008) from Interview and Diary Surveys, classified by consumer

unit characteristics. 76 tables. 45 pages.

Consumer Expenditures in 2005, Report 998 Consumer unit income and expenditures, integrated data

(February 2007) from Interview and Diary Surveys, classified by consumer 

unit characteristics. 13 tables. 19 pages.

Consumer Expenditures in 2004, Report 992 Consumer unit income and expenditures, integrated data

(April 2006) Interview and Diary Surveys, classified by consumer unit

characteristics. 13 tables. 20 pages.

Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2002–2003, Consumer unit income and expenditures, integrated data

Report 990 (March 2006) from Interview and Diary Surveys, classified by consumer

unit characteristics. 73 tables. 310 pages.

Consumer Expenditures in 2003, Report 986 Consumer unit income and expenditures, integrated data

(June 2005) from Interview and Diary Surveys, classified by consumer

unit characteristics. 10 tables. 20 pages.

Consumer Expenditure Survey Anthology, 2005, Includes articles on Consumer Expenditure Survey research

(April 2005) Report 981 and methodology, and analytical article on topics of interest 

using survey data. 71 pages.

Consumer Expenditures in 2002, Report 974 Consumer unit income and expenditures, integrated data

(February 2004) from Interview and Diary Surveys, classified by consumer unit 

characteristics. 10 tables. 16 pages.

Reports

A list of recent publications containing Consumer Expenditure Survey data appears below. Copies of reports are available from the Division of Consumer Expenditure Surveys, 

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Room 3985, Postal Square Building, 2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE., Washington, DC 20212-

0001, phone (202) 691-6900. Information may also be obtained from the “Do you have a CEX data question?” link at 

the bottom of the CE webpage: www.bls.gov/cex. 

Title, number and date of publication Coverage

Microdata files on CD-ROM

Microdata files that include information from the Diary and 

Interview Surveys at the consumer unit level for the years 

1990 through 2008 and selected earlier years are available on 

CD-ROM. Order forms for microdata are available at www.

bls.gov/cex via the Internet. Inquiries should be directed to 

the Division of Consumer Expenditure Surveys. Phone: (202) 

691-6900; or to the “Contact us” e-mail link at the bottom of 

the CE webpage: www.bls.gov/cex. 

Online tables via the Internet

Integrated Diary and Interview Survey data for the years 

1984 through 2008 can be accessed at www.bls.gov/cex via 

the Internet. Other survey information, including answers to 

frequently asked questions, standard error tables, a glossary 

of terms, copies of the survey questionnaires and the survey 

instrument, and order forms for survey products, is also available on the Internet.