DOI: 10.3886/icpsr36170.v8
title: Consumer Expenditure Survey Summary Tables
title: Version 8

description: The Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) program consists of two surveys: the quarterly Interview survey and the annual Diary survey. Combined, these two surveys provide information on the buying habits of American consumers, including data on their expenditures, income, and consumer unit (families and single consumers) characteristics. The survey data are collected for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) by the U.S. Census Bureau. The CE collects all on all spending components including food, housing, apparel and services, transportation, entertainment, and out-of-pocket health care costs. The CE features several arts-related spending categories, including the following items: <strong>Spending on Admissions</strong> Plays, theater, opera, and concerts Movies, parks, and museums <strong>Spending on Reading</strong> Newspapers and magazines Books Digital book readers <strong>Spending on Other Arts-Related Items</strong> Musical instruments Photographic equipment Audio-visual equipment Toys, games, arts and crafts The CE is important because it is the only Federal survey to provide information on the complete range of consumers' expenditures and incomes, as well as the characteristics of those consumers. It is used by economic policymakers examining the impact of policy changes on economic groups, by the Census Bureau as the source of thresholds for the Supplemental Poverty Measure, by businesses and academic researchers studying consumers' spending habits and trends, by other Federal agencies, and, perhaps most importantly, to regularly revise the Consumer Price Index market basket of goods and services and their relative importance. The most recent data tables are for 2019, and were made available on September 9, 2020. The unpublished integrated CE data tables produced by the BLS are available to download through NADAC (click on "Excel" in the Dataset(s) section). Also, see Featured CE Tables and Economic News Releases sections on the CE home page for current data tables and news release. The 1980 through 2019 CE public-use microdata, including Interview Survey data, Diary Survey data, and paradata (information about the data collection process), are available on the CE website.
description: Datasets: DS1: Consumer Expenditure Survey Summary Tables
description: The full data collection is not available from NADAC. Users should consult the Consumer Expenditure Survey website for details on obtaining the data and other resources. <strong>Unpublished Consumer Expenditure Data Tables from the Bureau of Labor Statistics</strong> In addition to providing links to CE microdata, NADAC includes unpublished integrated CE data tables produced by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (click on "Excel" in the Dataset(s) section). Currently, these tables provide data for the year 2019. The tables show average and percentile expenditures for detailed items, as well as the standard error and coefficient of variation (CV) for each spending estimate. The unpublished tables show, for example, that United States consumers spent an average of $880 on fees and admissions for entertainment in 2019. However, that spending ranged from a low of $156 in the lowest spending percentile (the lowest 20 percent) to a high of $2,770 in the highest spending percentile (the highest 20 percent). The BLS unpublished integrated CE data tables are provided by NADAC as an easy-to-use tool for obtaining arts-related spending estimates. However, users are cautioned to read the BLS explanatory letter accompanying the tables. The letter explains that estimates of average expenditures on detailed spending items (such as the arts-related spending items listed above) may be unreliable due to so few reports of expenditures for those items. <strong>BLS CE Contact Information</strong> For more information about the BLS unpublished CE tables, please contact BLS CE staff at CEXInfo@bls.gov. Users will be provided all Excel tables from 2010-2019 when downloading the data.