Table 59. Composition of consumer unit: Shares of annual aggregate expenditures and sources of income, Consumer

Expenditure Survey, 1998

(Aggregates in millions of dollars, unless otherwise indicated)

Item Aggregate

Husband and wife consumer units

One

parent,

at least

one child

under 18

Single

person

and other

consumer

units

Total

husband

and wife

consumer

units

Husband

and wife

only

Husband and wife with children Other

husband

and wife

consumer

units

Oldest

child

under 6

Oldest

child

6 to 17

Oldest

child 18

or over

Number of consumer units (in thousands) ............. 107,182 56,655 23,302 5,471 15,994 7,728 4,160 6,546 43,981 

Percent distribution of consumer units ................... 100.0 52.9 21.7 5.1 14.9 7.2 3.9 6.1 41.0 

Consumer unit characteristics (mean values): 

Income before taxes 1 .......................................... $41,622 $55,345 $49,395 $55,800 $58,775 $64,243 $58,458 $24,530 $27,009 

Income after taxes 1 ............................................. 38,358 50,986 45,327 50,879 54,386 59,043 54,918 23,149 24,836 

 Age of reference person ...................................... 47.6 48.1 56.4 32.0 39.6 51.7 48.4 36.0 48.8 

Average number in consumer unit:

Persons .............................................................. 2.5 3.2 2.0 3.4 4.2 3.9 4.8 2.9 1.6 

 Children under 18 .............................................. .7 .9 n.a. 1.4 2.2 .6 1.4 1.8 .2 

 Persons 65 and over .......................................... .3 .3 .6 2 ( ) 2 ( ) .2 .5 2 ( ) .3 

 Earners .............................................................. 1.3 1.7 1.2 1.7 1.9 2.6 2.3 1.1 .9 

 Vehicles ............................................................. 2.0 2.6 2.4 2.2 2.6 3.4 2.8 1.1 1.3 

Percent distribution:

Sex of reference person:

Male ................................................................. 58 75 77 73 74 75 73 12 42 

 Female ............................................................. 42 25 23 27 26 25 27 88 58 

Housing tenure:

Homeowner ...................................................... 64 81 83 67 79 88 77 36 47 

 With mortgage ................................................ 39 53 40 58 67 60 53 29 22 

 Without mortgage ........................................... 26 28 43 9 12 28 25 7 26 

 Renter .............................................................. 36 19 17 33 21 12 23 64 53 

Race of reference person:

Black ................................................................ 12 8 5 8 9 10 12 34 14 

 White and other ................................................ 88 92 95 92 91 90 88 66 86 

Education of reference person:

Elementary (1-8) .............................................. 7 6 6 4 4 8 9 4 8 

 High school (9-12) ............................................ 39 37 38 29 37 35 48 50 39 

 College ............................................................. 54 57 55 67 59 56 42 47 52 

 Never attended and other ................................ 3 ( ) 3 ( ) 3 ( ) 4 ( ) 3 ( ) 3 ( ) 1 4 ( ) 3 ( )

At least one vehicle owned or leased ................ 87 97 96 95 97 97 96 73 76 

Annual aggregate expenditures ............................. $3,806,893 67.0 24.5 6.3 20.4 10.6 5.2 4.6 28.5 

Food ..................................................................... 514,578 67.4 22.9 6.2 21.1 10.9 6.1 5.2 27.4 

 Food at home ..................................................... 297,339 67.8 22.5 6.4 21.2 10.6 7.0 5.7 26.6 

 Cereals and bakery products ........................... 45,435 67.7 21.6 6.2 22.7 10.6 6.5 5.8 26.4 

 Cereals and cereal products .......................... 15,655 67.5 19.6 6.0 24.8 10.4 6.7 6.4 26.2 

 Bakery products ............................................. 29,780 67.8 22.7 6.3 21.7 10.7 6.5 5.6 26.6 

 Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs .......................... 77,381 68.8 22.7 5.7 20.4 11.4 8.6 5.8 25.4 

 Beef ................................................................ 23,366 71.5 23.8 5.3 20.3 12.9 9.1 5.2 23.3 

 Pork ................................................................ 15,600 67.5 23.0 5.4 19.2 10.7 9.2 6.3 26.2 

 Other meats ................................................... 9,849 69.0 22.6 5.7 21.3 11.0 8.3 5.4 25.6 

 Poultry ............................................................ 14,635 68.4 20.9 6.1 22.2 11.6 7.6 6.3 25.4 

 Fish and seafood ........................................... 10,465 67.0 22.8 6.9 19.4 9.9 8.0 5.9 27.1 

 Eggs ............................................................... 3,466 64.4 21.5 5.3 19.0 10.2 8.4 5.4 30.2 

Dairy products .................................................. 32,242 68.0 21.7 6.7 23.1 10.2 6.3 5.7 26.3 

 Fresh milk and cream .................................... 12,858 68.5 19.9 6.9 24.3 10.1 7.4 5.8 25.7 

 Other dairy products ...................................... 19,384 67.7 22.8 6.6 22.4 10.3 5.6 5.7 26.7 

 Fruits and vegetables ....................................... 50,484 67.4 24.2 6.7 19.7 10.3 6.5 5.4 27.2 

 Fresh fruits ..................................................... 15,944 66.7 24.7 6.4 20.2 9.7 5.8 5.3 28.0 

 Fresh vegetables ........................................... 15,509 68.0 25.1 6.6 18.4 10.6 7.3 4.9 27.2 

 Processed fruits ............................................. 10,852 66.0 22.2 7.8 18.9 10.6 6.4 6.1 27.9 

 Processed vegetables .................................... 8,180 69.5 24.1 6.3 22.2 10.5 6.4 5.9 24.6 

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 59. Composition of consumer unit: Shares of annual aggregate expenditures and sources of income, Consumer

Expenditure Survey, 1998 — Continued

(Aggregates in millions of dollars, unless otherwise indicated)

Item Aggregate

Husband and wife consumer units

One

parent,

at least

one child

under 18

Single

person

and other

consumer

units

Total

husband

and wife

consumer

units

Husband

and wife

only

Husband and wife with children Other

husband

and wife

consumer

units

Oldest

child

under 6

Oldest

child

6 to 17

Oldest

child 18

or over

 Other food at home .......................................... $91,797 67.0 22.0 6.8 21.3 10.3 6.5 5.7 27.4 

 Sugar and other sweets ................................. 11,677 66.5 23.2 5.4 22.5 9.5 5.9 5.6 27.8 

 Fats and oils ................................................... 8,229 67.4 23.2 6.0 19.8 10.0 8.3 5.6 27.1 

 Miscellaneous foods ...................................... 41,491 67.0 20.6 8.3 21.9 9.9 6.2 5.9 27.2 

 Nonalcoholic beverages ................................. 24,684 66.4 21.9 5.8 20.8 11.0 7.0 6.0 27.5 

Food prepared by consumer unit on

out-of-town trips ........................................... 5,716 69.6 27.6 5.0 19.5 12.7 4.8 2.9 27.6 

 Food away from home ....................................... 217,239 66.8 23.6 5.9 21.0 11.4 4.9 4.6 28.6 

Alcoholic beverages ............................................. 33,058 56.4 27.2 5.7 12.6 7.0 3.9 3.8 39.8 

Housing ................................................................ 1,255,217 64.7 24.0 7.0 19.8 8.9 4.9 5.1 30.2 

 Shelter ................................................................ 716,015 63.3 22.8 6.9 20.1 8.7 4.7 5.1 31.6 

 Owned dwellings .............................................. 454,991 74.6 25.9 8.0 24.7 10.8 5.1 3.5 21.9 

 Mortgage interest and charges ...................... 263,117 76.8 22.3 9.9 28.2 10.9 5.5 4.0 19.2 

 Property taxes ................................................ 108,832 72.4 29.0 5.5 20.9 11.7 5.1 3.2 24.4 

Maintenance, repairs, insurance, other

expenses ...................................................... 83,042 70.4 33.0 5.1 18.7 9.5 4.1 2.5 27.1 

 Rented dwellings .............................................. 211,972 36.7 13.6 5.6 10.5 3.3 3.5 9.2 54.1 

 Other lodging ................................................... 49,052 73.6 34.5 3.1 18.8 12.2 5.0 1.9 24.5 

Utilities, fuels, and public services ..................... 257,743 63.7 23.8 5.5 19.0 10.1 5.4 5.7 30.6 

 Natural gas ....................................................... 30,426 62.6 23.1 5.3 19.1 9.8 5.3 6.0 31.4 

 Electricity .......................................................... 98,725 64.7 24.4 5.2 19.3 10.1 5.7 5.7 29.7 

 Fuel oil and other fuels ..................................... 9,133 66.6 28.1 5.0 17.4 11.9 4.1 3.9 29.5 

 Telephone services .......................................... 88,914 60.8 22.3 5.8 18.1 9.4 5.3 6.1 33.1 

 Water and other public services ....................... 30,546 69.5 25.4 5.6 21.2 11.5 5.8 4.5 25.9 

 Household operations ........................................ 58,495 68.2 16.9 17.1 23.7 4.8 5.8 8.0 23.8 

 Personal services ............................................. 27,827 71.1 3.1 29.9 30.0 2.0 6.1 12.5 16.4 

 Other household expenses .............................. 30,668 65.6 29.4 5.5 17.9 7.3 5.6 3.9 30.5 

Housekeeping supplies ...................................... 51,546 71.2 30.9 5.7 19.3 9.7 5.6 3.4 25.4 

 Laundry and cleaning supplies ........................ 12,586 70.5 25.8 5.3 20.0 11.5 7.9 4.4 25.1 

 Other household products ................................ 24,850 74.1 35.6 5.6 19.6 9.1 4.1 3.0 22.9 

 Postage and stationery .................................... 14,110 66.9 27.4 6.0 18.1 9.3 6.2 3.1 30.0 

 Household furnishings and equipment ............... 171,418 68.5 29.7 6.2 18.5 9.3 4.8 4.1 27.3 

 Household textiles ............................................ 11,260 67.5 27.8 5.4 19.5 8.6 6.2 3.7 28.8 

 Furniture ........................................................... 40,444 70.6 28.9 9.4 18.9 8.4 4.9 5.0 24.4 

 Floor coverings ................................................ 15,459 69.3 44.6 2.4 15.3 6.8 5.2 1.7 29.0 

 Major appliances .............................................. 17,583 63.2 25.2 5.8 16.7 10.6 5.0 6.4 30.4 

Small appliances, miscellaneous

housewares .................................................... 8,572 69.4 28.7 4.6 18.9 11.9 5.3 3.5 27.1 

 Miscellaneous household equipment ............... 78,101 68.6 28.5 5.8 19.2 9.7 5.4 3.8 27.6 

Apparel and services ........................................... 179,110 65.2 20.6 6.5 22.1 10.6 5.5 6.5 28.3 

 Men and boys .................................................... 42,659 71.6 21.6 5.6 25.4 12.5 6.5 3.8 24.7 

 Men, 16 and over ............................................. 33,572 70.3 25.9 5.2 19.5 14.0 5.8 1.8 27.8 

 Boys, 2 to 15 .................................................... 9,087 76.1 5.5 7.0 47.3 7.3 9.0 10.9 13.0 

 Women and girls ................................................ 69,691 62.6 21.1 5.3 21.4 10.3 4.4 8.1 29.3 

 Women, 16 and over ........................................ 58,618 60.5 24.0 5.3 16.2 11.0 4.1 7.1 32.4 

 Girls, 2 to 15 ..................................................... 11,072 73.6 6.1 5.6 49.2 7.0 5.8 13.7 12.7 

 Children under 2 ................................................ 7,799 76.3 11.2 32.9 18.9 3.8 9.5 6.4 17.2 

 Footwear ............................................................ 30,038 62.8 18.2 4.4 23.7 10.5 6.0 8.7 28.5 

 Other apparel products and services ................. 28,923 61.7 22.8 5.7 18.0 10.1 5.0 4.5 33.9 

Transportation ...................................................... 709,105 70.3 23.9 6.2 21.5 13.2 5.5 3.8 25.9 

 Vehicle purchases (net outlay) ........................... 317,722 72.5 22.6 6.4 23.5 14.8 5.3 3.6 24.0 

 Cars and trucks, new ....................................... 148,237 77.4 25.4 6.6 23.4 17.0 5.0 51.9 20.7 

 Cars and trucks, used ...................................... 164,243 69.0 20.5 5.9 23.9 13.1 5.5 5.0 26.0 

 Other vehicles .................................................. 5,241 42.9 59.4 514.3 510.0 54.1 55.1 54.6 52.5 

 Gasoline and motor oil ....................................... 108,989 68.9 24.1 6.0 20.8 12.2 5.9 4.2 26.8 

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 59. Composition of consumer unit: Shares of annual aggregate expenditures and sources of income, Consumer

Expenditure Survey, 1998 — Continued

(Aggregates in millions of dollars, unless otherwise indicated)

Item Aggregate

Husband and wife consumer units

One

parent,

at least

one child

under 18

Single

person

and other

consumer

units

Total

husband

and wife

consumer

units

Husband

and wife

only

Husband and wife with children Other

husband

and wife

consumer

units

Oldest

child

under 6

Oldest

child

6 to 17

Oldest

child 18

or over

 Other vehicle expenses ..................................... $236,385 68.9 24.0 6.5 20.4 12.3 5.7 4.2 26.9 

 Vehicle finance charges ................................... 34,212 73.1 22.2 8.2 22.9 13.2 6.5 3.6 23.3 

 Maintenance and repairs ................................. 68,665 64.7 24.0 5.1 19.7 10.4 5.5 5.3 30.0 

 Vehicle insurance ............................................. 79,166 68.1 24.3 5.7 18.4 14.2 5.6 3.9 28.0 

Vehicle rental, leases, licenses, other

charges .......................................................... 54,341 72.7 24.8 8.5 22.5 11.1 5.8 3.6 23.7 

 Public transportation .......................................... 46,010 65.9 32.1 4.4 15.6 9.5 4.2 3.2 30.9 

Health care ........................................................... 203,911 68.6 33.0 4.5 16.5 9.7 4.9 3.3 28.1 

 Health insurance ................................................ 97,878 69.0 32.8 5.1 16.1 9.8 5.3 3.3 27.7 

 Medical services ................................................ 58,109 69.9 30.8 4.9 19.6 10.5 4.1 3.4 26.6 

 Drugs ................................................................. 37,029 65.1 37.1 2.8 11.9 8.1 5.2 3.1 31.8 

 Medical supplies ................................................ 10,895 70.1 32.5 3.7 19.3 10.6 4.0 3.2 26.7 

Entertainment ....................................................... 186,973 67.9 24.9 5.8 22.2 9.7 5.3 4.2 27.9 

 Fees and admissions ......................................... 48,082 70.2 27.2 5.1 24.2 9.9 3.9 3.4 26.4 

 Television, radios, sound equipment ................. 57,273 64.2 23.7 5.0 20.0 9.3 6.2 5.7 30.1 

 Pets, toys, and playground equipment ............... 35,275 70.4 26.2 7.1 24.2 8.0 4.9 4.6 25.0 

Other entertainment supplies, equipment,

and services ..................................................... 46,343 68.3 23.0 6.7 21.5 11.3 5.9 2.8 28.9 

Personal care products and services ................... 42,876 64.0 25.7 5.6 17.8 10.1 4.7 6.1 29.9 

Reading ................................................................ 17,250 65.5 29.7 5.2 17.8 8.9 3.9 3.3 31.2 

Education ............................................................. 62,137 67.3 16.8 3.3 23.9 19.6 3.7 3.9 28.9 

Tobacco products and smoking supplies ............. 29,260 56.6 19.6 3.7 17.2 9.7 6.3 5.0 38.4 

Miscellaneous ...................................................... 92,160 60.3 23.8 4.8 16.6 9.1 6.0 5.4 34.3 

Cash contributions ............................................... 118,899 63.7 31.9 4.4 14.3 8.6 4.5 2.9 33.4 

Personal insurance and pensions ........................ 362,358 72.4 25.7 7.3 23.3 11.5 4.6 3.3 24.3 

 Life and other personal insurance ...................... 42,709 78.9 34.5 5.7 22.6 10.4 5.6 2.8 18.3 

 Pensions and Social Security ............................ 319,648 71.6 24.5 7.6 23.4 11.7 4.5 3.4 25.1 

Sources of income and personal taxes: 1

Money income before taxes ................................... 3,501,058 69.3 25.5 6.8 20.9 10.9 5.2 3.6 27.1 

 Wages and salaries ........................................... 2,766,479 71.2 22.2 8.0 23.9 11.7 5.4 3.7 25.0 

 Self-employment income ................................... 188,347 73.8 28.7 7.0 24.8 10.7 2.6 2.1 24.1 

 Social Security, private and government

retirement ......................................................... 388,481 60.3 46.7 5.1 1.9 6.6 5.1 1.0 38.6 

 Interest, dividends, rental income, other

property income ............................................... 73,280 63.6 42.8 2.0 7.6 9.6 1.6 .9 35.5 

 Unemployment and workers’ compensation,

veterans’ benefits ............................................. 16,228 61.9 22.6 2.3 19.5 11.0 6.4 4.4 33.7 

 Public assistance, supplemental security

income, food stamps ........................................ 27,799 31.8 7.0 3.0 7.9 6.1 7.8 24.1 44.1 

 Regular contributions for support ....................... 21,840 24.5 4.4 5.9 13.7 1.9 3.7 30.1 45.4 

 Other income ..................................................... 18,602 56.0 15.1 6.1 18.7 11.4 4.7 6.3 37.8 

Personal taxes ..................................................... 274,527 69.6 26.7 7.6 19.9 11.3 4.0 2.6 27.8 

 Federal income taxes ......................................... 207,922 69.9 26.7 7.8 20.0 11.5 3.9 2.5 27.6 

 State and local income taxes ............................. 52,981 67.9 25.6 7.8 20.4 10.4 3.7 2.8 29.3 

 Other taxes ........................................................ 13,624 71.7 31.1 5.2 17.1 11.7 6.6 2.9 25.4 

Income after taxes ............................................... 3,226,532 69.3 25.4 6.7 21.0 10.9 5.3 3.7 27.0 

1 Components of income and taxes are derived from "complete income

reporters" only; see glossary. 2 Value less than 0.05. 3 Value less than 0.5.

4 No data reported. 5 Data are likely to have large sampling errors.

n.a. Not applicable.