In 2023, the average annual expenditures of households in the United States amounted to about 77,280 U.S. dollars per year. This was an increase from the previous year, reflecting an increase of around six percent between 2022 and 2023.

Key information about United States Household Expenditure per Capita

• United States Annual Household Expenditure per Capita reached 30,912.000 USD in Dec 2023, compared with the last update number of 30,402.917 USD in Dec 2022.
• US Annual Household Expenditure per Capita data is updated yearly, available from Dec 1984 to Dec 2023, with an averaged value of 16,842.400 USD.
• The data reached an all-time high of 30,912.000 USD in Dec 2023 and a record low of 8,451.923 USD in Dec 1984.
• In the latest reports, Retail Sales of US grew 0.967 % YoY in May 2023.

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.

From 2020 to 2023, the average annual household food expenditure in the United States increased by almost ** percent. The average household expenditure in 2020 was about ***** U.S. dollars and has since grown to nearly ******.

Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey data showing average American household spending patterns

In 2023, a four-person household could be expected to spend about 105,683 U.S. dollars. Interestingly, when there are five or more people in a household, spending declines compared to four-person households. Average annual spending across all consumer units amounted to around 77,280 U.S. dollars.

Consumer Spending in the United States increased to 16445.70 USD Billion in the second quarter of 2025 from 16345.80 USD Billion in the first quarter of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United States Consumer Spending - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

Graph and download economic data for Expenditures: Total Average Annual Expenditures by Age: from Age 25 to 34 (CXUTOTALEXPLB0403M) from 1984 to 2023 about age, 25 years +, average, expenditures, and USA.

West Virginia and Kansas had the lowest cost of living across all U.S. states, with composite costs being half of those found in Hawaii. This was according to a composite index that compares prices for various goods and services on a state-by-state basis. In West Virginia, the cost of living index amounted to **** — well below the national benchmark of 100. Virginia— which had an index value of ***** — was only slightly above that benchmark. Expensive places to live included Hawaii, Massachusetts, and California. Housing costs in the U.S. Housing is usually the highest expense in a household’s budget. In 2023, the average house sold for approximately ******* U.S. dollars, but house prices in the Northeast and West regions were significantly higher. Conversely, the South had some of the least expensive housing. In West Virginia, Mississippi, and Louisiana, the median price of the typical single-family home was less than ******* U.S. dollars. That makes living expenses in these states significantly lower than in states such as Hawaii and California, where housing is much pricier. What other expenses affect the cost of living? Utility costs such as electricity, natural gas, water, and internet also influence the cost of living. In Alaska, Hawaii, and Connecticut, the average monthly utility cost exceeded *** U.S. dollars. That was because of the significantly higher prices for electricity and natural gas in these states.

Graph and download economic data for Expenditures: Total Average Annual Expenditures by Quintiles of Income Before Taxes: Lowest 20 Percent (1st to 20th Percentile) (CXUTOTALEXPLB0102M) from 1984 to 2023 about percentile, average, tax, expenditures, income, and USA.

Survey of Household Spending (SHS), average household spending by age of reference person.

Detailed breakdown of average weekly household expenditure on goods and services in the UK. Data are shown by place of purchase, income group (deciles) and age of household reference person.

United States US: Proportion of Population Spending More Than 25% of Household Consumption or Income on Out-of-Pocket Health Care Expenditure: % data was reported at 0.781 % in 2013. This records a decrease from the previous number of 0.856 % for 2012. United States US: Proportion of Population Spending More Than 25% of Household Consumption or Income on Out-of-Pocket Health Care Expenditure: % data is updated yearly, averaging 0.880 % from Dec 1995 (Median) to 2013, with 18 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.078 % in 2000 and a record low of 0.724 % in 2008. United States US: Proportion of Population Spending More Than 25% of Household Consumption or Income on Out-of-Pocket Health Care Expenditure: % data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.World Bank: Poverty. Proportion of population spending more than 25% of household consumption or income on out-of-pocket health care expenditure, expressed as a percentage of a total population of a country; ; Wagstaff et al. Progress on catastrophic health spending: results for 133 countries. A retrospective observational study, Lancet Global Health 2017.; Weighted Average;

There is more to housing affordability than the rent or mortgage you pay. Transportation costs are the second-biggest budget item for most families, but it can be difficult for people to fully factor transportation costs into decisions about where to live and work. The Location Affordability Index (LAI) is a user-friendly source of standardized data at the neighborhood (census tract) level on combined housing and transportation costs to help consumers, policymakers, and developers make more informed decisions about where to live, work, and invest. Compare eight household profiles (see table below) —which vary by household income, size, and number of commuters—and see the impact of the built environment on affordability in a given location while holding household demographics constant.*$11,880 for a single person household in 2016 according to US Dept. of Health and Human Services: https://aspe.hhs.gov/computations-2016-poverty-guidelinesThis layer is symbolized by the percentage of housing and transportation costs as a percentage of income for the Median-Income Family profile, but the costs as a percentage of income for all household profiles are listed in the pop-up:Also available is a gallery of 8 web maps (one for each household profile) all symbolized the same way for easy comparison: Median-Income Family, Very Low-Income Individual, Working Individual, Single Professional, Retired Couple, Single-Parent Family, Moderate-Income Family, and Dual-Professional Family.An accompanying story map provides side-by-side comparisons and additional context.--Variables used in HUD's calculations include 24 measures such as people per household, average number of rooms per housing unit, monthly housing costs (mortgage/rent as well as utility and maintenance expenses), average number of cars per household, median commute distance, vehicle miles traveled per year, percent of trips taken on transit, street connectivity and walkability (measured by block density), and many more.To learn more about the Location Affordability Index (v.3) visit: https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/location-affordability-index/. There you will find some background and an FAQ page, which includes the question:"Manhattan, San Francisco, and downtown Boston are some of the most expensive places to live in the country, yet the LAI shows them as affordable for the typical regional household. Why?" These areas have some of the lowest transportation costs in the country, which helps offset the high cost of housing. The area median income (AMI) in these regions is also high, so when costs are shown as a percent of income for the typical regional household these neighborhoods appear affordable; however, they are generally unaffordable to households earning less than the AMI.Date of Coverage: 2012-2016 Date Released: March 2019Date Downloaded from HUD Open Data: 4/18/19Further Documentation:LAI Version 3 Data and MethodologyLAI Version 3 Technical Documentation_**The documentation below is in reference to this items placement in the NM Supply Chain Data Hub. The documentation is of use to understanding the source of this item, and how to reproduce it for updates**

Title: Location Affordability Index - NMCDC Copy

Summary: This layer contains the Location Affordability Index from U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) - standardized household, housing, and transportation cost estimates by census tract for 8 household profiles.

Notes: This map is copied from source map: https://nmcdc.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=de341c1338c5447da400c4e8c51ae1f6, created by dianaclavery_uo, and identified in Living Atlas.

Prepared by: dianaclavery_uo, copied by EMcRae_NMCDC

Source: This map is copied from source map: https://nmcdc.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=de341c1338c5447da400c4e8c51ae1f6, created by dianaclavery_uo, and identified in Living Atlas. Check the source documentation or other details above for more information about data sources.

Feature Service: https://nmcdc.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=447a461f048845979f30a2478b9e65bb

UID: 73

Data Requested: Family income spent on basic need

Method of Acquisition: Search for Location Affordability Index in the Living Atlas. Make a copy of most recent map available. To update this map, copy the most recent map available. In a new tab, open the AGOL Assistant Portal tool and use the functions in the portal to copy the new maps JSON, and paste it over the old map (this map with item id

Date Acquired: Map copied on May 10, 2022

Priority rank as Identified in 2022 (scale of 1 being the highest priority, to 11 being the lowest priority): 6

Tags: PENDING

Graph and download economic data for Personal consumption expenditures: Household consumption expenditures (DPHCRC1A027NBEA) from 1959 to 2024 about PCE, consumption expenditures, consumption, households, personal, GDP, and USA.

The Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) program provides a continuous and comprehensive flow of data on the buying habits of American consumers, including data on their expenditures, income, and consumer unit (families and single consumers) characteristics. These data are used widely in economic research and analysis, and in support of revisions of the Consumer Price Index.

The CE program is comprised of two separate components (each with its own survey questionnaire and independent sample), the Diary Survey and the quarterly Interview Survey (ICPSR 36237). This data collection contains the Diary Survey component, which was designed to obtain data on frequently purchased smaller items, including food, housing, apparel and services, transportation, entertainment, and out-of-pocket health care costs. Each consumer unit (CU) recorded its expenditures in a diary for two consecutive 1-week periods. Although the diary was designed to collect information on expenditures that could not be easily recalled over time, respondents were asked to report all expenses (except overnight travel) that the CU incurred during the survey week.

The 2013 Diary Survey release contains five sets of data files (FMLD, MEMD, EXPD, DTBD, DTID), and one processing file (DSTUB). The FMLD, MEMD, EXPD, DTBD, and DTID files are organized by the quarter of the calendar year in which the data were collected. There are four quarterly datasets for each of these files.

The FMLD files contain CU characteristics, income, and summary level expenditures; the MEMD files contain member characteristics and income data; the EXPD files contain detailed weekly expenditures at the Universal Classification Code (UCC) level; the DTBD files contain the CU's reported annual income values or the mean of the five imputed income values in the multiple imputation method; and the DTID files contain the five imputed income values. Please note that the summary level expenditure and income information on the FMLD files permit the data user to link consumer spending, by general expenditure category, and household characteristics and demographics on one set of files.

The DSTUB file provides the aggregation scheme used in the published consumer expenditure tables. The DSTUB file is further explained in Section III.F.6. 'Processing Files' of the Diary Survey Users' Guide. A second documentation guide, the 'Users' Guide to Income Imputation,' includes information on how to appropriately use the imputed income data.

Demographic and family characteristics data include age, sex, race, marital status, and CU relationships for each CU member. Income information was also collected, such as wage, salary, unemployment compensation, child support, and alimony, as well as information on the employment of each CU member age 14 and over.

The unpublished integrated CE data tables produced by the BLS are available to download through NADAC (click on 'Other' in the Dataset(s) section). 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 BLS unpublished integrated CE data tables are provided as an easy-to-use tool for obtaining 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 leisure and art-related categories) may be unreliable due to so few reports of expenditures for those items.

In 2023, married couple without children households spent 88,684 U.S. dollars on average. Married couples with an eldest child between the ages of 6 and 17 had the highest average expenditure, at 117,808 U.S. dollars.

The Consumer Expenditure Estimates dataset was created by SimplyAnalytics using small area estimation techniques. The Consumer Expenditure (CE) Public Use Microdata (PUMD) samples thousands of respondents (referred to as consumer units, or "CUs") across Texas. Each CU is assigned a weight that reflects the relative proportion of all American CUs that they represent. To estimate expenditures at the Census block group and ZCTA5 levels, we use data from the American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates as a proxy for how CUs are distributed over small areas, and use this information to derive expenditure estimates for all CE spending categories. Due to limitations on the PUMD sample size, and to account for national-level weighting of all CUs, the estimates are further adjusted to account for regional fluctuations in cost of living.

Table of INEBase Average expenditure by household, average expenditure by person and expenditure distribution (vertical and horizontal percentages) by expenditure group and expenditure quintile. Annual. National. Household Budget Survey (HBS)

Abstract

The Consumer Expenditure (CE) program provides a continuous and comprehensive flow of the data on the buying habits of American consumers. These data are used widely in economic research and analysis, and in support of the revision of the Consumer Price Index. To meet the needs of users, The Bureau of Labor Statistics produces population estimates (for consumer units or Cu's) of average expenditure in new releases, reports and articles in the Monthly Labour review. Tabulated CE data are also available on the internet and by facsimile transmission. These microdata files present detailed expenditure and income data for the Diary component of the CE for 2004. They include weekly expenditure (EXPD), annual income (DTBD) files, and imputed income files (DTBD_IMPUTED1). The data in EXPD, DTBD, and DTBD_IMPUTED files are categorized by a Universal Classification Code (UCC). The advantage of the EXPD and DTBD files is that with the data classified in a standardized format, the user may perform comparative expenditure (income) analysis with relative ease. The FMLD and MEMD files present data on the characteristics and demographics of CUs and CU Members. The summary level expenditure and income information on the FMLD files permits the data user to link consumer spending, by general expenditure category, and household characteristics and demographics on one set of files. Estimates of average expenditures in 2004 from the Diary survey, integrated with data from the Interview survey, are published in Consumer Expenditures in 2004 (Due in 2006).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, Diary Survey, 2004”.

State Identifier Since the CE is not designed to produce state-level estimates, summing the consumer unit weights by state will not yield state population totals. A CU's basic weight reflects its probability of selection among a group of primary sampling units of similar characteristics. For example, sample units in an urban nonmetropolitan area in California may represent similar areas in Wyoming and Nevada. Among other adjustments, CUs are post-stratified nationally by sex-age-race. For example, the weights of consumer units containing a black male, age 16-24 in Alabama, Colorado, or New York, are all adjusted equivalently. Therefore, weighted population state totals will not match population totals calculated from other surveys that are designed to represent state data. To summarize, the CE sample was not designed to produce precise estimates for individual states. Although state-level estimates that are unbiased in a repeated sampling sense can be calculated for various statistical measures, such as means and aggregates, their estimates will generally be subject to large variances. Additionally, a particular state-population estimate from the CE sample may be far from the true state-population estimate.

Interpreting the data Several factors should be considered when interpreting the expenditure data. The average expenditure for an item may be considerably lower than the expenditure by those CUs that purchased the item. The less frequently an item is purchased, the greater the difference between the average for all consumer units and the average of those purchasing. (See Section V.B. for ESTIMATION OF TOTAL AND MEAN EXPENDITURES). Also, an individual CU may spend more or less than the average, depending on its particular characteristics. Factors such as income, age of family Members, geographic location, taste and personal preference also influence expenditures. Furthermore, even within groups with similar characteristics, the distribution of expenditures varies substantially.
Expenditures reported are the direct out-of-pocket expenditures. Indirect expenditures, which may be significant, may be reflected elsewhere. For example, rental contracts often include utilities. Renters with such contracts would record no direct expense for utilities, and therefore, appear to have no utility expenses. Employers or insurance companies frequently pay other costs.CUs with Members whose employers pay for all or part of their health insurance or life insurance would have lower direct expenses for these items than those who pay the entire amount themselves. These points should be considered when relating reported averages to individual circumstances.

The Diary survey PUMD are organized into five major data files for each quarter: 1. FMLD - a file with characteristics, income, and summary level expenditures for the household 2. MEMD - a file with characteristics and income for each member in the household
3. EXPD - a detailed weekly expenditure file categorized by UCC 4. DTBD - a detailed annual income file categorized by UCC
5. DTID - a household imputed income file categorized by UCC

Analysis unit

Consumer unit

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Mode of data collection

Computer Assisted Personal Interview [capi]