In 2023, the average consumer unit in the United States spent about 9,985 U.S. dollars on food. Americans spent the most on housing, at 25,436 U.S. dollars, reflecting around one third of annual expenditure. The total average U.S. consumer spending amounted to 77,280 U.S. dollars.

The Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) consists of two parts: the Quarterly Interview Survey and the Diary Survey. Both surveys provide information on the purchasing habits of American consumers, including data on their expenditures, income, and consumer unit characteristics (e.g., age, education, occupation). The Quarterly Interview Survey (CEQ) includes information on monthly out-of-pocket expenses like housing, apparel, transportation, healthcare, insurance, and entertainment. The Diary Survey (CED) includes information on frequently purchased items like food, beverages, tobacco, personal care products, and nonprescription drugs. Approximately 20,000 independent interview surveys and 11,000 independent diary surveys are completed annually. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes 12-month estimates of consumer expenditures annually, summarized by various income levels and demographic characteristics. Geographic data is available at the national level; for regions, divisions, selected states, and selected metropolitan statistical areas; and by population size of area.

Media and entertainment spending patterns in the United States reveal intriguing age-related disparities. A late-2024 study found that Americans spent an average of ***** U.S. dollars annually on digital media and entertainment, a slight decrease from two years prior. Notably, consumers aged 35 to 54 outspent other age groups, allocating ***** U.S. dollars per year to digital media consumption. Generational differences in media spending The rise of digital platforms has transformed how different age groups consume media. While ** percent of the general population spent less than 1,000 U.S. dollars on media and entertainment annually, this figure rose to ** percent for those aged 55 and older. Interestingly, it is not the youngest age group that was ready to spend more on media subscriptions, services and products, but millennials - their annual expenses were more likely to reach up to ***** U.S. dollars. This disparity suggests that younger and older generations may be more frugal with their entertainment choices. Consumption follows similar age patterns The spending behavior is a direct result of how different generations consume media. Data on time spent with media types in the United States clearly suggest that millennials favor the more expensive ones - they devote more of their weekly hours to TV connected devices and video on a computer, as well as apps on tablets and internet on a computer. These media are the ones hosting the majority of subscription services - hence the increased spending outcomes. Younger and older generations in this case seem to spend more of their time with free entertainment sources.

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: Spending on Admissions Plays, theater, opera, and concerts Movies, parks, and museums Spending on Reading Newspapers and magazines Books Digital book readers Spending on Other Arts-Related Items 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 2018, and were made available on September 10, 2019. 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 2018 public-use microdata is the most recent and was released on September 10, 2019.

Graph and download economic data for Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: Purchasing Power of the Consumer Dollar in U.S. City Average (CUUR0000SA0R) from Jan 1913 to Sep 2025 about urban, consumer, CPI, inflation, price index, indexes, price, and USA.

View monthly updates and historical trends for US Index of Consumer Sentiment. from United States. Source: University of Michigan. Track economic data wit…

In 2022, taking inflation into account, ** percent of consumers in the United States reported that they have maintained their normal amount of online grocery purchases. Only ** percent of consumers reported increasing their purchasing in this category. Another ** percent of consumers have maintained their online purchases of household products, while ** percent have increased such purchases.

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: Spending on Admissions Plays, theater, opera, and concerts Movies, parks, and museums Spending on Reading Newspapers and magazines Books Digital book readers Spending on Other Arts-Related Items 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.

View monthly updates and historical trends for US Consumer Price Index: Purchasing Power Of the Consumer Dollar. from United States. Source: Bureau of Lab…

This statistic shows the change in holiday spending behavior among U.S. consumers in 2023. That year, about ** percent of shoppers in the United States claimed they would spend more on holiday purchases than they did one year before. Many of these survey respondents have said that inflation is the reason why they would be spending more than usual.

Abstract

The Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) program provides a continuous and comprehensive flow of data on the buying habits of American consumers. These data are used widely in economic research and analysis, and in support of revisions of the Consumer Price Index. To meet the needs of users, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) produces population estimates for consumer units (CUs) of average expenditures in news releases, reports, issues, and articles in the Monthly Labor Review. Tabulated CE data are also available on the Internet and by facsimile transmission (See Section XVI. APPENDIX 5). The microdata are available on CD-ROMs. These microdata files present detailed expenditure and income data from the Interview component of the CE for 2008 and the first quarter of 2009. The Interview survey collects data on up to 95 percent of total household expenditures. In addition to the FMLY, MEMB, MTAB, and ITAB_IMPUTE files, the microdata include files created directly from the expenditure sections of the Interview survey (EXPN files). The EXPN files contain expenditure data and ancillary descriptive information, often not available on the FMLY or MTAB files, in a format similar to the Interview questionnaire. In addition to the extra information available on the EXPN files, users can identify distinct spending categories easily and reduce processing time due to the organization of the files by type of expenditure. Estimates of average expenditures in 2008 from the Interview Survey, integrated with data from the Diary Survey, will be published in the report Consumer Expenditures in 2008 (due out in 2010). A list of recent publications containing data from the CE appears at the end of this documentation. The microdata files are in the public domain and, with appropriate credit, may be reproduced without permission. A suggested citation is: "U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Survey, Interview Survey, 2008."

Analysis unit

Consumer Units

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

Samples for the CE are national probability samples of households designed to be representative of the total U.S. civilian population. Eligible population includes all civilian non-institutional persons. The first step in sampling is the selection of primary sampling units (PSUs), which consist of counties (or parts thereof) or groups of counties. The set of sample PSUs used for the 2008 and 2009 samples is composed of 91 areas. The design classifies the PSUs into four categories: 21 "A" certainty PSUs are Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA's) with a population greater than 1.5 million. 38 "X" PSUs, are medium-sized MSA's. 16 "Y" PSUs are nonmetropolitan areas that are included in the CPI. 16 "Z" PSUs are nonmetropolitan areas where only the urban population data will be included in the CPI. The sampling frame (that is, the list from which housing units were chosen) for the 2008 survey is generated from the 2000 Census of Population 100-percent-detail file. The sampling frame is augmented by new construction permits and by techniques used to eliminate recognized deficiencies in census coverage. All Enumeration Districts (EDs) from the Census that fail to meet the criterion for good addresses for new construction, and all EDs in nonpermit-issuing areas are grouped into the area segment frame. Interviewers are then assigned to list these areas before a sample is drawn. To the extent possible, an unclustered sample of units is selected within each PSU. This lack of clustering is desirable because the sample size of the Diary Survey is small relative to other surveys, while the intraclass correlations for expenditure characteristics are relatively large. This suggests that any clustering of the sample units could result in an unacceptable increase in the within-PSU variance and, as a result, the total variance. The Interview Survey is a panel rotation survey. Each panel is interviewed for five consecutive quarters and then dropped from the survey. As one panel leaves the survey, a new panel is introduced. Approximately 20 percent of the addresses are new to the survey each month.

Mode of data collection

Computer Assisted Personal Interview [capi]

In 2025, ** percent of shoppers agreed that they showed more loyalty toward discounts than brands. Meanwhile, less than ** percent of consumers agreed that they were bored with current brands.

Abstract (en): This data collection, which offers detailed information on the spending habits of American consumers, has two components: the Interview Survey and the Diary Survey. The Interview Survey portion tabulates data on a quarterly basis. For this survey consumer units (roughly equivalent to households) were interviewed in each of five consecutive quarters to obtain data on spending habits and patterns. The Detailed Interview files, Parts 9 and 10, contain data on characteristics of the consumer unit, including information on geography and location of residence, characteristics of the household, head, and spouse, housing characteristics, selected expenditure, income and personal tax summary values, and individual family member characteristics. Value data are also presented in these files and cover items such as current consumption expenditures, personal insurance and pensions, gifts and contributions, sources of income, personal taxes paid, other money receipts, net change in assets and market value of selected financial assets, net change in liabilities, and value of items received without direct expense. No quantity or price data are shown. Discrete expenditures are categorized with a high degree of detail in these files. Part 11 supplies summary information about characteristics of the consumer unit and also includes annual expenditures and other disbursements. Parts 12 and 13, which can be used with the detailed data, itemize purchases of durable consumer goods such as major and minor household equipment, selected house furnishings, motorized vehicles and selected trailers and boats. Details are supplied on how and when the items were acquired, cost or value of items, and model of item purchased. Parts 1 and 2 detail individual purchases of clothing and household textiles by each consumer unit. Information in these files specifies the family members for whom each clothing item was purchased, whether the purchase was a gift for someone outside the consumer unit, the quantity of each item purchased, the month and year of each purchase, and the total cost of each expenditure, including applicable sales tax. The Diary Survey contains data on all purchases and other expenses of members of the consumer unit during two consecutive one-week periods (excluding expenses made while away from home overnight on trips or vacations). Diaries, or daily expense records, were placed with consumer units in order to obtain data not collected by the Interview Survey on small, frequently purchased items which are normally difficult to recall over longer periods of time. These include purchases of food, alcoholic beverages, tobacco and smoking supplies, personal care products and services, non-prescription drugs and medical supplies, housekeeping supplies, gas, electricity and other fuel, gasoline, motor oil, coolants and similar products, and miscellaneous items. Diary Survey data in Parts 3 and 4 are organized by survey year and consumer unit and supply information on consumer unit characteristics, family member characteristics, and discrete expenditures. Parts 5 and 6 contain data on daily purchases of food for human consumption, alcoholic beverages, ice, and pet food. Information on quantity purchased, packaging, and amount paid is provided in these files. Parts 7 and 8 record characteristics of the consumer unit with data on items such as age, sex, race, marital status, relationships of each family member, work experience, earnings, family size, number of vehicles owned, and place of residence. Total civilian noninstitutionalized population of the United States. National probability sample. 2006-01-12 All files were removed from dataset 14 and flagged as study-level files, so that they will accompany all downloads.2006-01-12 All files were removed from dataset 14 and flagged as study-level files, so that they will accompany all downloads. Machine-readable codebooks are available for Parts 1, 2, 5, 6, 10, and 11. For Parts 1 and 2 there are at least 18 records of data for each consumer unit with 17 records of consumer unit and family member characteristics data and one or more records of purchase data. Data for the first survey year include 167,871 characteristics records and 527,575 purchase records. Data for the second survey year include 171,906 characteristics records and 534,115 purchase records. For Parts 3 and 4 there are 9 records of characteristics information and a variable number of expenditure records per consume...

In 2025, approximately ** percent of respondents stated in a survey, conducted in February that year, that they intend to spend between ** and 100 U.S. dollars at a restaurant on Easter or Passover. About ** percent of respondents stated that they intend to spend about one to fifty U.S. dollars that day.

View monthly updates and historical trends for US Retail Sales. from United States. Source: Census Bureau. Track economic data with YCharts analytics.

Graph and download economic data for Real Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCEC96) from Jan 2007 to Aug 2025 about headline figure, PCE, consumption expenditures, consumption, personal, real, and USA.

This dataset, identified by the series ID RSXFS, is sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau and is available through the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) system of the St. Louis Fed. It provides a monthly measure of retail sales across the United States. The data represents the total value of sales at retail and food services stores, measured in millions of dollars and adjusted for seasonal variations. It is important to note that the most recent month's value is an advance estimate, which is subject to revision in subsequent months as more comprehensive data becomes available. As a key economic indicator, this series is widely used by economists and analysts to gauge consumer spending and assess the overall health of the U.S. economy.

Suggested Use Cases: - This dataset is highly valuable for economic analysis and can be used to: - Conduct time series analysis and modeling. - Track consumer spending patterns. - Forecast future retail sales. - Analyze the impact of economic events on the retail sector.

License The RSXFS dataset is sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau and is considered Public Domain: Citation Requested. This means the data is freely available for use, but you must cite the source and acknowledge that the data was obtained from FRED. If you plan on using any copyrighted series from other data providers on FRED for commercial purposes, you would need to contact the original data owner for permission.

Data Fields: The dataset primarily contains two columns: - observation_date: The date of the monthly data point, recorded as the first day of each month from January 1992 to July 2025. - RSXFS: The value of advance retail sales in millions of dollars.

Citation and Provenance:
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Release: Advance Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services
FRED Link: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/RSXFS
Citation: U.S. Census Bureau, Advance Retail Sales: Retail Trade [RSXFS], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/RSXFS, September 8, 2025.

This Economic Commentary studies trends in spending by US colleges and universities in broad expenditure categories between 1987 and 2013. The results reveal that spending per student has risen in most major spending categories. This is true for both public institutions and private institutions. However, spending has risen more dramatically in some categories than others. For example, research is one category that has witnessed among the highest spending growth, and in percentage terms, there has also been a large increase in student services spending.

Graph and download economic data for Consumer Price Index for All Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers: Purchasing Power of the Consumer Dollar in U.S. City Average (CWUR0000SA0R) from Jan 1913 to Sep 2025 about clerical workers, urban, wages, consumer, CPI, inflation, price index, indexes, price, and USA.

American Time Use Survey: Daily Activities

Americans' Daily Activities: Education, Employment, Gender, and Leisure Time

By Throwback Thursday [source]

About this dataset

The American Time Use Survey dataset provides comprehensive information on how individuals in America allocate their time throughout the day. It includes various aspects of daily activities such as education level, age, employment status, gender, number of children, weekly earnings and hours worked. The dataset also includes data on specific activities individuals engage in like sleeping, grooming, housework, food and drink preparation, caring for children, playing with children, job searching, shopping and eating and drinking. Additionally it captures time spent on leisure activities like socializing and relaxing as well as engaging in specific hobbies such as watching television or golfing. The dataset also records the amount of time spent volunteering or running for exercise purposes.

Each entry is organized based on categorical variables such as education level (ranging from lower levels to higher degrees), age (capturing different age brackets), employment status (including employed full-time or part-time), gender (male or female) and the number of children an individual has. Furthermore it provides information regarding an individual's weekly earnings and hours worked.

This extensive dataset aims to provide insights into how Americans prioritize their time across various aspects of their lives. Whether it be focusing on work-related tasks or indulging in recreational activities,it offers a comprehensive look at the allocation of time among different demographic groups within American society.

This dataset can be used for understanding trends in daily activity patterns across demographics groups over multiple years without directly referencing specific dates

How to use the dataset

How to use this dataset: American Time Use Survey - Daily Activities

Welcome to the American Time Use Survey dataset! This dataset provides valuable information on how Americans spend their time on a daily basis. Here's a guide on how to effectively utilize this dataset for your analysis:

• Familiarize yourself with the columns:

  • Education Level: The level of education attained by the individual.
  • Age: The age of the individual.
  • Age Range: The age range the individual falls into.
  • Employment Status: The employment status of the individual.
  • Gender: The gender of the individual.
  • Children: The number of children that an individual has.
  • Weekly Earnings: The amount of money earned by an individual on a weekly basis.
  • Year: The year in which the data was collected.
  • Weekly Hours Worked: The number of hours worked by an individual on a weekly basis.

• Identify variables related to daily activities: This dataset provides information about various daily activities undertaken by individuals. Some important variables related to daily activities include:

  • Sleeping
  • Grooming
  • Housework
  • Food & Drink Prep
  • Caring for Children
  • Playing with Children
  • Job Searching …and many more!

• Analyze time spent on different activities: This dataset includes numerical values representing time spent in minutes for specific activities such as sleeping, grooming, housework, food and drink preparation, etc. You can use this data to analyze and compare how different groups of individuals allocate their time throughout the day.

• Explore demographic factors: In addition to daily activities, this dataset also includes columns such as education level, age range, employment status, gender, and number of children. You can cross-reference these demographic factors with activity data to gain insights into how different population subgroups spend their time differently.

• Identify trends and patterns: You can use this dataset to identify trends and patterns in how Americans allocate their time over the years. By analyzing data from different years, you may discover changes in certain activities and how they relate to demographic factors or societal shifts.

• Visualize the data: Creating visualizations such as bar graphs, line plots, or pie charts can provide a clear representation of how time is allocated for different activities among various groups of individuals. Visualizations help in understanding the distribution of time spent on different activities and identifying any significant differences or similarities across demographics.

Remember that each column represents a specific variable, whi...