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

State Weights for the Consumer 

Expenditure Survey

Taylor J. Wilson

Branch of Information and Analysis

2018 Microdata Users Workshop

18-20 July 2018
2 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

State Estimates

Impossible with current population weights.

First test estimates produced in 2013 for three states.

First official weights 

published for 2016.

Weights will be 

produced again for 

2017 data. 
3 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

How do they work?

 Suppose the population of 

New Jersey was 20. 

 Each consumer unit in New 

Jersey is re-weighted to 

represent the population of 

New Jersey instead of the 

national population.

National Weight: 100

NJ Weight: 10

National Weight: 120

NJ Weight: 8

National Weight: 80

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

How well do they do?

 Use of other sources which already have state weights for 

comparison. (e.g. American Community Survey (ACS))

 Does the state weight produce a difference from other sources 

that is equal to or better than the national weight? 

CE ACS

?
5 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Electricity and Natural 

Gas Ratio = 0.86
6 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Electricity and Natural 

Gas Ratio = 0.86
7 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

How well do they do?

 Compare population targets to US Census. 

1. Add up the weights for Florida from PUMD.

~8.5 Million Consumer Units (CU)

2. Compute average number of persons per CU 

with the weight. 

2.4 persons per CU

3. Multiply and compare to census value. 

8.5 * 2.4 = 20.4 million persons

Approximately equal to the 20.66 reported 

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

Who uses them?

 Academics

Researchers have been asking for greater 

geographic detail for a long time. This is an 

effort to provide it where we can. 

 Government

The New Jersey weights were utilized by 

the New Jersey State Government.

 You!

Curious individuals can now answer 

questions about state level expenditures. 
9 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Do you have an example?

 Use case to do a static examination of the housing market in 

New Jersey. 

 New Jersey has the highest population density of any state. 
10 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

$0

$5,000

$10,000

$15,000

$20,000

$25,000

National New Jersey Washington, D.C.

HOUSING EXPENDITURES AND COMPONENTS BY SELECTED GEOGRAPHIES

Rented Dwellings Owned Dwellings Utilities Household Equipment Household Operations
11 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

National New Jersey Washington, D.C.

Rented Dwellings Owned Dwellings Utilities Household Equipment Household Operations
12 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Shares of Total Expenditure, by Major CPI Item Categories

New Jersey Shares National Shares Absolute Difference

Food and Beverages 0.12 0.13 0.01

Housing 0.39 0.33 0.06

Apparel 0.03 0.03 0.00

Transportation 0.12 0.16 0.04

Medical Care 0.09 0.08 0.01

Recreation 0.04 0.05 0.01

Education 0.04 0.02 0.02

Other Goods and 

Services

0.19 0.20 0.01
13 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Where’s the data?

https://www.bls.gov/cex/csxresearchtables.htm#stateweights

https://www.bls.gov/cex/research_papers/pdf/consumerspending-by-state-bls-puts-new-jersey-to-the-test.pdf
14 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

What’s next?

 Every state is being 

evaluated for its potential 

to generate a weight. 

 The following concerns 

are evaluated,

Sample size

Confidentiality

Long term retention in the 

survey
Contact Information

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

Taylor J. Wilson

(202) 691-6550

Wilson.Taylor@bls.gov