78 Consumer Expenditure Survey Anthology, 2008

Housing Expenditure by

Race and Hispanic or

Latino Origin

Mark Vendemia

Mark Vendemia is an economist with the Branch 

of Information and Analysis, Division of Consumer Expenditure Surveys, U.S. Bureau of 

Labor Statistics.

Introduction 

The Nation’s minority population is 

rapidly growing, with approximately 

1 in 3 U.S. residents a member of a 

minority group1 in 2007. Hispanics 

account for almost half the recent 

population growth and are now the 

largest minority group, slightly larger 

than Black or African-Americans. 

Asians comprise the third largest minority group. 

Owning one’s own home has always 

been a dream for most Americans, 

regardless of race or Hispanic origin. 

This dream, however, does not come 

easily or cheaply for many Americans, 

as spending on housing is the largest 

expense for most households. Data 

from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Consumer Expenditure 

Survey (CE), show that in 2005, housing expenditures accounted for about a 

third of total spending for all consumer 

units.2

 This article will examine housing expenditures for homeowners and 

renters classified by race and Hispanic 

or Latino origin. 

Methodology

This article contains the following 

major sections:

• The first section looks at demographic characteristic differences, 

which may contribute to differences 

in spending on housing. 

• The second section examines

housing expenditures by all consumer 

units and also units classified by race 

and Hispanic origin. This section 

establishes the importance of housing 

expenditures relative to overall expenditures and how shares of housing 

vary by race and Hispanic origin. To 

accomplish this, CE data are organized 

according to the standard definition of 

housing used in published data tables. 

This approach to owned housing in 

the CE includes mortgage interest and 

charges; property taxes; and maintenance, repairs, insurance, and other 

expenses, but not mortgage principal 

paid on owned property. Mortgage 

principal payments are considered to 

be reductions in liabilities and not expenditures. CE-published data include 

average characteristics and expenditure 

means for all consumer units and by 

race and Hispanic origin among other 

various demographic groups. Average expenditures on an item represent 

averages across all consumer units, 

both those that purchased the item, as 

well as those that had no expenditures. 

The average for those consumer units 

that actually purchased the item will be 

larger than the mean for all consumer 

units. For example, in the housing 

component, spending on owned dwell1 U.S. Census Bureau, “Minority Population 

Tops 100 Million” news release, May 17, 2007, 

available on the Internet at http://www.census.

gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/

population/010048.html 2 See the glossary in the appendix for the 

definition of a consumer unit. 
Consumer Expenditure Survey Anthology, 2008 79

ing by homeowners will be higher 

than that shown in standard CE tables, 

because the mean in the published table 

is averaged over all consumer units, 

which includes both homeowners and 

renters.

• The third section looks at housing costs associated with only homeowner consumer units using a modified 

approach to owned housing. In this section, housing costs are conditional on 

being a homeowner and include mortgage principal paid on own property, 

in addition to the costs included in the 

standard approach. This corresponds 

more to what homeowners typically 

think of as their housing cost—principal, interest, property taxes, and insurance—and gives an idea of the regular 

outlays of homeowners. 

• The final section includes housing expenditures for renter consumer 

units classified by race and Hispanic 

origin. These expenditures are conditional on renter tenure, using the standard CE approach to renters’ costs as 

shown in published CE housing tenure 

data tables, which include shelter costs 

consisting primarily of contract rent. 

Comparisons in this article are 

based on the standard race categories 

used in the CE race of reference person 

data table; White and all other races,3

Asian, and Black or African-American. 

In addition, the article includes Hispanic households derived from the CE 

Hispanic or Latino origin of reference 

person table. The race and Hispanic or 

Latino origin of the consumer unit is 

determined by the reference person.4

In the CE, if the reference person identifies origin as “Spanish,” “Hispanic,” 

or “Latino,” the consumer unit is classified as Hispanic or Latino. Those 

who identify their origin as “Spanish,” 

“Hispanic,” or “Latino” may be of any 

race and must also choose between one 

of the CE race categories. In the CE, 

race and Hispanic or Latino origin are 

two separate and distinct classifications.5

 Also, in this article, the terms 

“Black” and “African-American” are 

used interchangeably, as are “Hispanic 

or Latino origin” and “Hispanic,” and 

“White and All Other Races” and 

“White.” 

Demographic characteristics of 

consumer units

Demographic characteristics, such as 

income, age, family size, and number 

of earners, are contributing factors 

in explaining differences in housing 

expenditures among households in 

the study groups. The average annual income across all consumer units 

was $58,712 in 2005. (See table 1.) 

Asian households reported the highest 

income of all household groups, with 

an income of $73,995—22 percent 

higher than White households, who 

reported the second highest income 

of $60,791. Hispanic households 

reported an average annual income of 

$47,509, and Black consumer units 

reported the lowest income of $39,385 

per year. The average age of the reference person in White households 

was 49.2, the highest of all groups, 

while Hispanic households reported 

the lowest average age of 41.7 years. 

The average age of Black households’ 

reference person averaged 46.3 years, 

while Asian households reported the 

average age of reference person as 43.4 

years. Asian and Hispanic households 

had the highest number of earners with 

1.6 earners per household. White and 

Black households reported fewer numbers of earners per household, with 1.3 

and 1.2 earners per household, respectively. Hispanic and Asian households 

also had the highest number of persons 

per household with Hispanic households reporting 3.4 persons and Asian 

households 2.9 persons per household, 

whereas Black and White households 

reported 2.6 and 2.5 persons per 

household, respectively. The average 

number of adults per household (18 

years of age and older), however, were 

similar with 2.2 persons for Hispanic 

households, 2.1 persons for Asian consumer units, and 1.8 persons for both 

Black and White households. 

Section I: Housing expenditures for all consumer units by 

race and Hispanic origin

Published CE data show that housing 

expenditures in 2005 averaged $15, 

167 out of a total of $46,409, accounting for approximately one third of annual expenditures. Table 1 shows that 

the share of total expenditures spent 

on housing was similar among minority households, and higher than White 

households, despite large differences 

in all groups’ household incomes. 

Asian households, who earned 26 

percent more than the average household, allocated 36.5 percent of total 

expenditures to housing, Hispanic 

households, who earned 19 percent less 

than the average household, reported 

a housing share of 35.7 percent, and 

Black consumer units, who earned 33 

percent less than the average consumer 

unit, allocated 35.5 percent of average 

annual expenditures towards housing. 

White households, with a share of 32.2 

percent, allocated a significantly lower 

share of average annual expenditures 

towards housing expenditures than did 

minority groups. 

In the CE, the housing component 

is divided into five major categories: 

Shelter; utilities, fuels, and public 

services; household operations; housekeeping supplies; and household furnishings and equipment. In 2005, the 

average consumer unit allocated 58.1 

percent ($8,805) of average annual 

housing expenditures for shelter, 21.0 

percent ($3,183) for utilities, fuels, 

and public services, 5.3 percent ($801) 

for household operations, 4.0 percent 

($611) for housekeeping supplies, and 

11.7 percent ($1,767) for household 

furnishings and equipment. Asian 

households spent significantly more 

on shelter than did White households, 

$12,659 per year compared to $8,961 

by White households. Asian households also allocated a significantly 

larger share, 66.6 percent, of average 

annual housing expenditures to shelter than did all other groups. White 

5 To see the wording of the race and origin 

questions in the CE Interview Survey, go to the 

2005 CE CAPI at: http://www.bls.gov/cex/

capi/2005/csxcontrol.htm.

3 All other races includes Native Hawaiian or 

other Pacific Islander, American Indian or Alaska 

Native, and approximately 1.3 percent reporting 

more than one race. 4 See the glossary in the appendix for the 

definition of reference person. 
80 Consumer Expenditure Survey Anthology, 2008

households allocated 57.8 percent to 

shelter. 

Black households spent $3,253 

annually on utilities, highest of all 

groups, and allocated the largest share 

of average annual housing expenditures—27.9 percent—to utilities, fuels, 

and public services. White households, 

on the other hand, allocated 20.5 

percent on utilities, fuels, and public 

services. Expenditures and shares for 

household operations and housekeeping supplies were relatively low and 

consistent among household groups. 

White households, and to a lesser 

degree Asian households, allocated 

more towards household furnishings 

and equipment than did Black and 

Hispanic consumer units. This could 

be attributed to the higher income and 

higher homeownership rates for both 

White (70 percent) and Asian households (62 percent), compared with 

approximately 50 percent for Black 

and Hispanic households. 

Section II: Housing expenditures for homeowner consumer 

units 

This section looks at housing expenditures for homeowners only. In 2005, 

67 percent of all consumer units were 

homeowners. As mentioned earlier, 

Black households had the lowest homeownership rate at 49 percent, followed 

closely by Hispanic households at 50 

percent. Asian consumer units had a 

homeownership rate of 62 percent, and 

White households had a significantly 

higher homeownership rate of 70 percent. Table 2 shows that on average, 

approximately 63 percent of all homeowners reported paying a mortgage. 

The percent of homeowners with a 

mortgage varied among racial groups, 

as 73 percent of Asian households and 

72 percent of Hispanic households 

reported paying a mortgage, while 65 

percent of Black households, and 63 

percent of White households, paid a 

mortgage. This affected the amount 

and allocation of housing expenditures, since mortgage interest and 

charges and mortgage principal paid on 

owned property are two of the largest 

housing expenditures for homeowners. Although a similar proportion of 

Hispanic and Black households were 

homeowners, Hispanic homeowners 

were less likely to own their homes 

outright than were Black homeowners (28 percent versus 35 percent). 

Approximately 27 percent of Asian 

households who reported owning their 

own home did not pay a mortgage. 

This was the lowest of all groups and 

significantly less than the 37 percent 

of White households. Age is a factor 

in determining if a household owns 

their home outright, as older consumers are more likely to have paid off 

their mortgage. Both White and Black 

homeowner households had a higher 

average age of reference person—52.6 

and 51.5 years, respectively, than the 

others. 

The estimated market value of 

owned home, which is based on the 

respondent’s answer to the question 

“About how much do you think this 

property would sell for in today’s 

market,” averaged $243,517 for all 

homeowner consumer units in 2005. 

White households estimated the average market value of their homes was 

$244,970, Blacks reported the lowest average estimated market value 

at $156,345, Hispanics estimated an 

average value of $233,217, and Asian 

consumer units reported the highest 

average value at $428,087. There 

are many factors that may contribute 

to this difference in market value of 

owned home among the groups such as 

income, location of homes, type of area 

(urban/rural), number of earners within 

the household, family size, and age. 

Also, the value is an estimate given by 

the homeowners themselves.

In 2005, homeowners spent on 

average $20,359 on housing expenditures, accounting for 35.6 percent of 

annual expenditures. Within the housing category, the largest sub-category 

expenditures were for shelter and for 

utilities, fuels, and public services, 

with average expenditures of $12,632 

and $3,751, respectively. The shelter 

category is defined somewhat differently here than in table 1, as shelter 

category includes mortgage principal 

paid on owned property, as well as 

mortgage interest and charges, property taxes, and maintenance, repairs, 

insurance, and other expenses. Shelter 

expenditures represented 62 percent on 

average of total housing expenditures 

for homeowner consumer units. The 

other three housing sub-categories: 

Household operations, housekeeping 

supplies, and household furnishings 

and equipment accounted for average 

annual expenditures of $996, $746, and 

$2,234, respectively. 

Asian households allocated a greater 

share of housing expenditures towards 

shelter than did the other homeowner 

groups, with 71 percent of all housing 

expenditures going towards shelter, 

followed by Hispanic households who 

allocated 64.2 percent, 61.9 percent for 

White households, and 57.3 percent for 

Black households.

The average amount for mortgage 

principal paid on own property for 

homeowner consumer units was $3,062, 

or 15 percent of housing. It also 

showed wide variation among the 

studied groups. Not surprisingly, Asian 

households, who reported a significantly higher market value of owned 

home than the average household and 

also had the highest percentage of 

homeowners with a mortgage, also 

spent considerably more on mortgage 

principal, which accounted for a higher 

share of total housing than for the other 

groups. Asians spent $5,857 annually repaying mortgage principal, or 

20.4 percent of housing expenditures. 

White households spent $3,054 a year, 

14.9 percent of housing expenditures, 

on mortgage principal, followed by 

Hispanic households at $2,549 (12.8 

percent), and Black households at 

$2,052 (13.1 percent). 

Mortgage interest and charges, with 

average annual expenditures of $4,935, 

or 24.2 percent of housing outlays, is 

the largest item under shelter. Asian 

households spent on average $8,475 

on mortgage interest and charges (29.6 

percent of housing expenditures), more 

than double Black households’ average annual expenditures of $4,124. 

Although Black households spent 

much less on mortgage interest than 

did Asian households, Black house-
Consumer Expenditure Survey Anthology, 2008 81

hold outlays represented 26.4 percent 

of their housing budget. Hispanic 

households allocated proportionately 

more towards mortgage interest and 

charges than the other groups, spending 

32.2 percent of their total housing expenditures ($6,402). White households 

allocated the smallest share to mortgage interest, spending 23.8 percent 

($4,879) of their housing expenditures 

on this component. 

On average, White households 

outlays on mortgage interest and 

charges were approximately 1.6 times 

the amount they paid for mortgage 

principal, similar to Asian households’ 

ratio of 1.5 times. However, Black 

and Hispanic households had a higher 

ratio of interest to principal, as Black 

households had a ratio of approximately 2.0 and Hispanic households 

a ratio of 2.5. 

Overall, households usually pay 

mortgage principal and mortgage interest together as one payment. When 

combining mortgage principal and 

interest, White households had the 

lowest share to housing expenditures 

at 38.7 percent ($7,933), followed 

closely by Black households, which 

spent 39.5 percent ($6,176) of their 

housing outlays on mortgage principal 

and interest. Hispanic consumer units 

spent 45 percent ($8,951) of their housing budget towards these combined 

items, and Asian households, spending 

$14,332 per year, allocated 50 percent 

of all housing expenditures towards 

mortgage expenditures. 

The average homeowner spent a 

little more than 11 percent of their average annual housing expenditures, or 

$2,275, on property taxes. The share of 

property taxes to housing expenditures 

ranged from a high of 12.1 percent 

for Asian households to a low of 9.6 

percent for Black households. 

Utilities, fuels, and public services 

was the second largest housing category for homeowners with average 

annual expenditures of $3,751, accounting for 18.4 percent of total housing expenditures. (See table A below.) 

Black homeowners spent $4,111 annually on utilities, the highest of all 

groups, and allocated a significantly 

higher share of average annual housing expenditures to that component 

with a 26.3 percent share. Hispanic 

consumer units reported spending 

$3,825 a year, the second highest share 

at 19.2 percent, and White households 

spent $3,713 annually, with a share of 

18.2 percent. Asian consumer units 

spent $3,818 and had a significantly 

lower share at 13.3 percent of housing 

expenditures. 

As table A shows, electricity and 

telephone services were the largest utility expenditures for homeowners, and 

Black households spent proportionately 

more for both than did all other groups, 

allocating 9.7 percent of their housing 

budget towards electricity and 8.3 percent towards telephone services. Asian 

households spent proportionately less 

than the other groups, allocating 4.2 

percent of housing budget to electricity 

and 4.6 percent to telephone services. 

The higher electricity expenditure 

share for Black households may be 

attributed to the higher concentration 

of Black households residing in the 

South region and the associated costs 

with air conditioning a home. On the 

other hand, Asian households tend to 

be concentrated in temperate areas 

in the West region which may help 

explain their lower electricity costs. 

Looking at telephone expenditures, 

Black households had the highest 

share of housing expenditures for both 

residential telephone/pay phones and 

cellular phone expenditures with their 

residential telephone expenditures 

significantly higher than all the other 

groups. Asian households had the 

lowest share of both residential telephone/pay phones and cellular phone 

expenditures to total housing outlays.

The average homeowner consumer 

unit allocated 4.9 percent of average annual housing expenditures to 

household operations ($996), showing 

less variation among the groups than 

Table A. Average annual utilities expenditures and expenditure shares of homeowners by race and by Hispanic or Latino origin, 

Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2005

 

Housing expenditures......................................................................... $20,359 $20,803 $20,502 $28,662 $15,646 $19,890

Utilities, fuels, and public services........................................ 3,751 3,717 3,713 3,818 4,111 3,825

Natural gas........................................................................................ 586 571 569 624 743 497

Electricity............................................................................................ 1,353 1,338 1,344 1,197 1,514 1,364

Fuel oil and other fuels............................................................... 192 203 207 91 72 78

Telephone services....................................................................... 1,145 1,130 1,123 1,324 1,296 1,274

. . Residential telephone/pay phones........................ 642 626 625 658 807 676

. . Cellular phone services....................................................... 486 487 482 619 471 559

Water and other public services................................. 475 475 470 583 485 612

Share of housing expenditures (percent distribution)

Utilities, fuels, and public services............................................... 18.4 17.9 18.1 13.3 26.3 19.2

Natural gas........................................................................................ 2.9 2.7 2.8 2.2 4.7 2.5

Electricity............................................................................................ 6.6 6.4 6.6 4.2 9.7 6.9

Fuel oil and other fuels............................................................... 0.9 1.0 1.0 0.3 0.5 0.4

Telephone services...................................................................... 5.6 5.4 5.5 4.6 8.3 6.4

 Residential telephone/pay phones ............................... 3.2 3.0 3.0 2.3 5.2 3.4

 Cellular phone services...................................................... 2.4 2.3 2.4 2.2 3.0 2.8

Water and other public services............................................ 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.0 3.1 3.1

White and All Other Races, and Asian

Items

All

consumer 

units

Black or 

AfricanTotal American

White and 

all other 

races 

Asian

Hispanic or 

Latino 
82 Consumer Expenditure Survey Anthology, 2008

any other housing category, especially 

among minority households. White 

households had the highest expenditure 

share at 5.0 percent, Asian and Black 

households both had expenditure 

shares of 4.4 percent, and Hispanic 

consumer units had the lowest share 

at 4.2 percent. 

The average annual expenditures 

for housekeeping supplies, which include laundry and cleaning supplies, 

was $746, the lowest of all housing 

categories. The share of housekeeping 

supplies to housing expenditures was 

3.7 percent for all homeowner consumer units, with minority households 

spending the smallest share, compared 

to White households who had the 

highest share at 3.8 percent. Hispanic 

households had a share of 3.2 percent, 

followed by Black households at 3 

percent, and the Asian households with 

the lowest share at 1.9 percent. 

Homeowner households’ spending 

on household furnishings and equipment, which include some big ticket 

items, such as furniture and appliances, averaged $2,234 in 2005, and 

showed relatively similar spending 

shares among households; however, 

minority households once again had 

smaller shares compared with White 

households. White households allocated 11.2 percent of average housing 

expenditures towards household furnishings and equipment, followed by 

Asian households with a 9.4 percent 

share, Hispanic households at 9.2 

percent, and Black homeowners at 9 

percent. 

Section III: Housing expenditures for renter consumer units 

This section looks at housing expenditures based on renter consumer units 

only. Average annual expenditures for 

renter consumer units as seen in table 

3, was $30,462. Housing expenditures, 

at $10,838, accounted for 35.6 percent 

of average annual expenditures for all 

renters, the same as the homeowners’ 

housing share (using the modified 

housing definition described in the 

homeowners section of the paper). 

Thirty-three percent of all consumer units reported being a renter, 

with Black households having the 

highest renter rate of 51 percent, followed closely by Hispanic households 

at 50 percent, 38 percent for Asian 

consumers, and 30 percent for White 

households. 

The average renter consumer unit 

spent $7,296, or 67.3 percent, of total housing expenditures on shelter.6

Within the shelter category, about 

96 percent of expenditures were for 

rent, which includes rent as pay, with 

an annual average of $6,981. Asian 

households spent $9,161 annually 

on rent, considerably more than the 

other groups. Hispanic consumer 

units spent $7,547, White households 

spent $7,090, and Black households 

spent significantly less than the other 

groups at $6,051 annually. Despite 

their lower income, Hispanic households spent more than the average 

renter household on rent, probably 

due to the larger number of persons 

per household in Hispanic consumer 

units, which averaged 3.1 persons per 

household, compared to the 2.2 average persons for all renter households. 

Asian households’ share of rent to total 

housing expenditures was higher than 

all other households at 69.9 percent, 

followed by Hispanic households at 

66.1 percent, White households at 64.7 

percent, and lastly, Black households, 

which allocated 61.6 percent of their 

housing expenditures towards rent, the 

lowest share of all groups. 

Renter consumer units spent $2,011 

on average for utilities, fuels, and 

public services, which accounted for 

18.6 percent of all housing costs. The 

average renter household spends proportionately about the same for utilities 

as the average homeowner consumer 

unit. Black renter households, spending 24.8 percent ($2,441) of their 

housing budget on utilities, allocated a 

significantly larger proportion of their 

housing expenditures towards utilities, 

fuels, and public services than any 

other group. As noted in the previous 

section, Black homeowner households 

also spent proportionately more for 

utilities than did any other group. 

Hispanic renter households spent 19 

percent ($2,163) of their housing on 

utilities, compared with a share of 

17.6 percent ($1,924) spent by White 

households, and 12.9 percent ($1,688) 

by Asian households. 

Renters often have utility costs 

included in their rental payments. If 

a smaller percentage of Blacks had 

their utility costs included in their 

rent, that may help explain why their 

utility expenditures were higher in the 

CE. To ascertain how often utilities 

were included in rental payments, the 

2005 interview component of the CE 

was examined. (See table B.) The CE 

consists of two survey components, 

the Interview Survey and the Diary 

Survey, each designed to collect different types of expenditures. (See the 

appendix at the end of this anthology 

Table B. Average annual electricity expenditures and percent of electricity included in rent of renters by race and by Hispanic or 

Latino origin, Consumer Expenditure Interview Survey, 2005

Electricity expenditures................................................................. $962 $925 $728 $1,128 $986

Percent of electricity expenditures included in 

 rent (percent distribution)........................................... 14.7 14.8 19.5 13.3 13.2

All consumer 

units

White and all 

other races Asian Black or AfricanAmerican

Hispanic or 

Latino

Items

6 Shelter category includes the sub-categories 

owned dwellings, rented dwellings, and other 

lodging. 
Consumer Expenditure Survey Anthology, 2008 83

for more information on the Interview 

Survey.) Results show that the percentage of households that reported renting 

their unit and also reported electricity 

cost included in the rental payment of 

the unit7 were 19.5 percent of Asian 

households, 14.8 percent of White 

consumer units, 13.3 percent of Black 

consumer units and 13.2 percent of 

Hispanic households. When looking at 

all renter households that reported paying for electricity (electricity was not 

included in the rental payments), the 

average annual electricity expenditure 

for all renter consumer units was $962. 

The Black renter households spent significantly more than the average renter 

household, spending $1,128 annually 

on electricity, or 17 percent more than 

the average renter household. The 

Asian renter households spent only 

$728 per year on electricity, while the 

Hispanic and White households spent 

close to the average annual expenditure, at $986 and $925, respectively. 

These results show that Black and 

Hispanic households are less likely 

to have electricity included in their 

rental payments, and also that Black 

households, and to a lesser degree, 

Hispanic households, that pay for 

utilities, pay proportionately more than 

Asian and White renter households. As 

described in the homeowner section, 

another reason for higher spending on 

utilities by Blacks may be attributed 

to their higher concentration in the 

South region (20 percent of households 

versus 12 percent nationally) and the 

electricity costs associated with air 

conditioning a home. 

Black renters also spent more proportionately for telephone services, 

which includes both residential and 

cellular phone service, than the other 

groups, allocating 9.8 percent of their 

housing expenditures to this item, compared with 7.8 percent for the average 

renter. This is due to larger expenditures by Black households on residential phone service, as Black renter 

households spent 33 percent more 

for residential phone service than the 

average renter consumer unit and 56 

percent more than Asian renters—the 

group with the lowest residential phone 

expenditures. The share of cellular 

phone service expenditures, however, 

was approximately the same among the 

groups, averaging 3.6 percent of total 

housing expenditures. 

The average renter consumer unit 

spent $397 annually, or 3.7 percent of 

average annual expenditures on household operations. Household operations 

showed less variation among groups 

than any other housing component, with 

an expenditure share of 3.9 percent for 

Black households, 3.6 percent for White 

households, and 3.3 percent for both 

Hispanic and Asian households.

The average annual expenditure for 

housekeeping supplies for renters was 

$331—the lowest of all the housing categories. The share of housing expenditures allocated to housekeeping supplies 

averaged 3.1 percent overall, varied 

from a high of 3.4 percent for Hispanic 

households, to a low of 2.4 percent for 

Black renter consumer units. 

Consumer spending on household 

furnishings and equipment was $803 

for all renter consumer units, with 

Asian households ($970) and White 

households ($844) spending substantially more than Black households at 

$592. White households had an expenditure share of 7.7 percent, Asian 

households 7.4 percent, Hispanic 

households had a share of 6.8 percent, 

and Black households apportioned 

significantly less at 6 percent. It appears that the more a consumer group 

allocated to housing expenditures 

overall, the greater the proportion that 

the group spent on furnishings and 

equipment. 

Summary

In conclusion, consumer units allocated about a third of annual expenditures for housing, significantly more 

than any other component. The amount 

households spent on housing varied 

depending on race or Hispanic origin. 

However, minorities spent a larger 

share of total expenditures on housing 

than did White households. 

When looking at consumer units 

that are homeowners only, the estimated market value of owned home 

varied significantly, with factors such 

as income, location of homes, family 

size, and age of reference person as 

possible major contributors to these 

differences. Expenditures for mortgage principal paid on owned property and mortgage interest and charges 

varied significantly among the groups, 

especially between Asian and Black 

groups. Data show that Black households spent more, on average, for utilities, fuels, and public services than did 

the other groups. This may be due to a 

higher percentage of Black households 

residing in the South, a region marked 

by higher-than-average utility expenditures. Data also show that, on average, 

Asian homeowners’ expenditures and 

expenditure shares of housing are significantly higher (except for utilities) 

than those of Black homeowners—and 

to a lesser degree—than those of Hispanic and White homeowners. There 

are significant differences in income, 

region, family size, and number of 

earners per household between Black 

and Asian groups. 

Renter households apportion the 

same share of total expenditures to 

housing that homeowners do. Renters 

spent, on average, about two thirds 

of their total housing expenditures on 

rent. Proportionately more Black and 

Hispanic households are renters, compared with Asian and White consumer 

units. Data for renter consumer units 

show that Black households, and to a 

lesser degree, Hispanic households, 

spend a larger share on utilities, fuels, 

and public services, than do White and 

Asian households. Overall, data show 

that Black and Asian renters seem to 

have different spending patterns for 

housing, whereas shares spent by Hispanic and White consumer units among 

housing subcomponents are similar. 

 

.

7 Electricity cost was selected as the 

proxy utility variable to examine, because it 

represents 64 percent of utilities, fuels, and 

public services expenditures (not including 

telephone services). 
84 Consumer Expenditure Survey Anthology, 2008

Table 1. Average annual expenditures and characteristics and shares of average annual expenditures by race and by Hispanic or 

Latino origin, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2005 

White and all other races, and Asian All

consumer 

units Total

White and

all other

 races1

Black or 

AfricanAsian American

Hispanic or 

Latino2 Items

Number of consumer units (in thousands)........................ 117,356 103,314 99,031 4,283 14,042 12,462

Income before taxes ........................................................ $58,712 $61,339 $60,791 $73,995 $39,385 $47,509

Age of reference person................................................... 48.6 48.9 49.2 43.4 46.3 41.7

Number of persons........................................................... 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.9 2.6 3.4

Earners............................................................................. 1.3 1.4 1.3 1.6 1.2 1.6

Housing tenure:

 Homeowner .................................................................... 67 70 70 62 49 50

 With mortgage .............................................................. 43 44 44 46 32 35

 Without mortgage ......................................................... 25 26 26 17 17 14

 Renter............................................................................. 33 30 30 38 51 50

Average annual expenditures........................................... $46,409 $48,241 $48,077 $52,054 $32,849 $40,123

Housing ............................................................................ 15,167 15,643 15,496 19,017 11,650 14,338

 Shelter............................................................................ 8,805 9,115 8,961 12,659 6,524 8,937

 Owned dwellings .......................................................... 5,958 6,335 6,236 8,623 3,188 4,886

 Mortgage interest and charges................................... 3,317 3,496 3,416 5,354 1,998 3,166

 Property taxes ............................................................ 1,541 1,650 1,626 2,203 734 1,058

 Maintenance, repairs, insurance, other expenses...... 1,101 1,188 1,194 1,066 456 662

 Rented dwellings .......................................................... 2,345 2,236 2,182 3,479 3,148 3,876

 Other lodging................................................................ 502 544 544 556 189 175

 Utilities, fuels, and public services.................................. 3,183 3,174 3,181 3,018 3,253 2,986

 Household operations..................................................... 801 837 833 948 530 605

 Housekeeping supplies .................................................. 611 645 653 439 352 508

 Household furnishings and equipment ........................... 1,767 1,871 1,868 1,954 991 1,303

Estimated market value of owned home .......................... $164,800 $176,814 $172,808 $269,443 $76,405 $116,024

Share of average annual expenditures 

 (percent distribution)

Housing ............................................................................ 32.7 32.4 32.2 36.5 35.5 35.7

Share of housing expenditures

 Shelter............................................................................ 58.1 58.3 57.8 66.6 56.0 62.3

 Owned dwellings .......................................................... 39.3 40.5 40.2 45.3 27.4 34.1

 Mortgage interest and charges................................... 21.9 22.3 22.0 28.2 17.2 22.1

 Property taxes ............................................................ 10.2 10.5 10.5 11.6 6.3 7.4

 Maintenance, repairs, insurance, other expenses...... 7.3 7.6 7.7 5.6 3.9 4.6

 Rented dwellings .......................................................... 15.5 14.3 14.1 18.3 27.0 27.0

 Other lodging................................................................ 3.3 3.5 3.5 2.9 1.6 1.2

 Utilities, fuels, and public services.................................. 21.0 20.3 20.5 15.9 27.9 20.8

 Household operations..................................................... 5.3 5.4 5.4 5.0 4.5 4.2

 Housekeeping supplies .................................................. 4.0 4.1 4.2 2.3 3.0 3.5

 Household furnishings and equipment ........................... 11.7 12.0 12.1 10.3 8.5 9.1

1

 All other races includes Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, 

American Indian or Alaska Native, and approximately 1.3 percent 

reporting more than one race. 2

 Race and Hispanic or Latino origin are two separate and distinct 

categories. Hispanic consumer units may be of any race and are 

categorized into one of the following racial groups: White and all 

other races, Asian, and Black or African-American. 
Consumer Expenditure Survey Anthology, 2008 85

Table 2. Average annual expenditures and characteristics and shares of average annual expenditures of homeowners by race 

and by Hispanic or Latino origin, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2005 

 

Number of consumer units (in thousands)........................ 79,072 72,243 69,573 2,675 6,823 6,172

Income before taxes......................................................... $70,791 $72,596 $71,801 $93,280 $39,385 $62,588

Age of reference person................................................... 52.3 52.4 52.6 46.5 51.5 45.6

Number of persons........................................................... 2.6 2.6 2.6 3.3 2.7 3.7

Earners............................................................................. 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.8 1.3 1.8

Housing tenure:

 Homeowner .................................................................... 100 100 100 100 100 100

 With mortgage .............................................................. 63 63 63 73 65 72

 Without mortgage ......................................................... 37 37 37 27 35 28

 Renter............................................................................. 0 0 0 0 0 0

Average annual expenditures........................................... $57,223 $58,644 $58,242 $69,490 $42,131 $51,913

Housing ............................................................................ 20,359 20,803 20,502 28,662 15,646 19,890

 Shelter............................................................................ 12,632 12,978 12,694 20,357 8,971 12,760

 Owned dwellings .......................................................... 11,896 12,206 11,926 19,495 8,616 12,409

 Mortgage principal paid on owned property ............... 3,062 3,158 3,054 5,857 2,052 2,549

 Mortgage interest and charges................................... 4,935 5,012 4,879 8,475 4,124 6,402

 Property taxes ............................................................ 2,275 2,348 2,305 3,465 1,504 2,124

 Maintenance, repairs, insurance, other expenses...... 1,624 1,689 1,688 1,699 936 1,334

 Rented dwellings .......................................................... 60 63 63 56 27 66

 Other lodging................................................................ 677 709 706 805 328 285

 Utilities, fuels, and public services.................................. 3,751 3,717 3,713 3,818 4,111 3,825

 Household operations..................................................... 996 1,025 1,017 1,255 686 841

 Housekeeping supplies .................................................. 746 772 778 533 470 627

 Household furnishings and equipment ........................... 2,234 2,311 2,300 2,699 1,409 1,838

Estimated market value of owned home .......................... $243,517 $251,750 $244,970 $428,087 $156,345 $233,217

Share of average annual expenditures

 (percent distribution)

Housing ............................................................................ 35.6 35.5 35.2 41.2 37.1 38.3

Share of housing expenditures 

 Shelter............................................................................ 62.0 62.4 61.9 71.0 57.3 64.2

 Owned dwellings .......................................................... 58.4 58.7 58.2 68.0 55.1 62.4

 Mortgage principal paid on owned property ............... 15.0 15.2 14.9 20.4 13.1 12.8

 Mortgage interest and charges................................... 24.2 24.1 23.8 29.6 26.4 32.2

 Property taxes ............................................................ 11.2 11.3 11.2 12.1 9.6 10.7

 Maintenance, repairs, insurance, other expenses...... 8.0 8.1 8.2 5.9 6.0 6.7

 Rented dwellings .......................................................... 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.3

 Other lodging................................................................ 3.3 3.4 3.4 2.8 2.1 1.4

 Utilities, fuels, and public services.................................. 18.4 17.9 18.1 13.3 26.3 19.2

 Household operations..................................................... 4.9 4.9 5.0 4.4 4.4 4.2

 Housekeeping supplies .................................................. 3.7 3.7 3.8 1.9 3.0 3.2

 Household furnishings and equipment ........................... 11.0 11.1 11.2 9.4 9.0 9.2

White and all other races, and Asian All

consumer 

units Total

White and 

all other 

 races1

Black or 

AfricanAsian American

Hispanic or 

Latino2 Items

1

 All other races includes Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, 

American Indian or Alaska Native, and approximately 1.3 percent 

reporting more than one race. 2

 Race and Hispanic or Latino origin are two separate and distinct 

categories. Hispanic consumer units may be of any race and are 

categorized into one of the following racial groups: White and all 

other races, Asian, and Black or African-American. 
86 Consumer Expenditure Survey Anthology, 2008

Table 3. Average annual expenditures and characteristics and shares of average annual expenditures of renters by race and by 

Hispanic or Latino origin, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2005

 

Number of consumer units (in thousands)........................ 38,284 31,066 29,458 1,608 7,218 6,290

Income before taxes ........................................................ $33,765 $35,157 $34,789 $41,911 $27,770 $32,714

Age of reference person................................................... 40.9 40.8 40.9 38.4 41.3 38.0

Number of persons........................................................... 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.3 2.5 3.1

Earners............................................................................. 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.1 1.5

Housing tenure:

 Homeowner .................................................................... 0 0 0 0 0 0

 With mortgage .............................................................. 0 0 0 0 0 0

 Without mortgage ......................................................... 0 0 0 0 0 0

 Renter............................................................................. 100 100 100 100 100 100

Average annual expenditures........................................... $30,462 $31,486 $31,329 $34,321 $26,009 $31,045

Housing ............................................................................ 10,838 11,071 10,960 13,099 9,825 11,412

 Shelter............................................................................ 7,296 7,557 7,442 9,664 6,170 7,718

 Owned dwellings .......................................................... 89 106 93 348 16 35

 Rented dwellings .......................................................... 7,065 7,290 7,187 9,173 6,097 7,615

 Rent (incl. rent as pay) ................................................ 6,981 7,197 7,090 9,161 6,051 7,547

 Other expenses ........................................................... 84 93 97 12 46 68

 Other lodging................................................................ 142 161 162 142 57 68

 Utilities, fuels, and public services.................................. 2,011 1,912 1,924 1,688 2,441 2,163

 Household operations..................................................... 397 400 398 438 382 373

 Housekeeping supplies .................................................. 331 352 352 339 240 385

 Household furnishings and equipment ........................... 803 850 844 970 592 773

Share of average annual expenditures 

 (percent distribution)

Housing ............................................................................ 35.6 35.2 35.0 38.2 37.8 36.8

Share of housing expenditures 

 Shelter............................................................................ 67.3 68.3 67.9 73.8 62.8 67.6

 Owned dwellings .......................................................... 0.8 1.0 0.8 2.7 0.2 0.3

 Rented dwellings .......................................................... 65.2 65.8 65.6 70.0 62.1 66.7

 Rent (incl. rent as pay) ................................................ 64.4 65.0 64.7 69.9 61.6 66.1

 Other expenses ........................................................... 0.8 0.8 0.9 0.1 0.5 0.6

 Other lodging................................................................ 1.3 1.5 1.5 1.1 0.6 0.6

 Utilities, fuels, and public services.................................. 18.6 17.3 17.6 12.9 24.8 19.0

 Household operations..................................................... 3.7 3.6 3.6 3.3 3.9 3.3

 Housekeeping supplies .................................................. 3.1 3.2 3.2 2.6 2.4 3.4

 Household furnishings and equipment ........................... 7.4 7.7 7.7 7.4 6.0 6.8

White and all other races, and Asian All

consumer 

units Total

White and

all other

 races1

Black or 

AfricanAsian American

Hispanic or 

Latino2 Items

1

 All other races includes Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, 

American Indian or Alaska Native, and approximately 1.3 percent 

reporting more than one race. 2

 Race and Hispanic or Latino origin are two separate and distinct 

categories. Hispanic consumer units may be of any race and are 

categorized into one of the following racial groups: White and all 

other races, Asian, and Black or African-American.