Housing by Housing tenure: All Consumer Units

The Consumer Expenditure Survey collects information from the Nation's households and families on their buying habits (expenditures), income, and characteristics. The strength of the survey is that it allows data users to relate the expenditures and income of consumers to the characteristics of those consumers.

The survey consists of two components, a quarterly Interview Survey and a weekly Diary Survey, each with its own questionnaire and sample. For the Diary survey, respondents complete a diary of expenses for two consecutive 1-week periods. The Diary survey is designed to obtain data on frequently purchased items, such as food or housekeeping supplies, that respondents are less likely to recall over time. For the Interview survey, respondents report data to an interviewer. Each sample household is interviewed once per quarter, for five consecutive quarters. This survey is designed to collect data on major items of expense, such as property purchases or vehicle purchases, and those that occur on a regular basis, such as rent or utility payments, that respondents recall for 3 months or longer.

The following types of demographic data are available: average number of consumer units, percent male and female, education level, age, and race of reference person. Average annual expenditures consist of fourteen main categories: food, alcoholic beverages, housing, apparel and services, transportation, health care, entertainment, personal care products and services, reading, education, tobacco products and smoking supplies, miscellaneous, cash contributions, and personal insurance and pensions.

Average annual expenditures, income, and characteristics per consumer unit are classified by 13 characteristics: quintiles of income before taxes; income before taxes; age of reference person; size of consumer unit; composition of consumer unit; number of earners; housing tenure and type of area; race of reference person; Hispanic or Latino origin of reference person; region of residence; occupation of reference person; and education of reference person.

All data are annual averages. Average annual expenditures are reported in dollars and are stored with no decimal places. Income is reported in dollars and stored with no decimal places. Number of Consumer Units is reported in thousands and stored with no decimal places. Percent distributions are stored with no decimal places. Consumer unit characteristics are reported as averages and stored with one decimal place. Updates are done annually, usually in September.

References: BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 16, "Consumer Expenditures and Income". Link: http://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/homch16.htm