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Consumer Expenditure Surveys
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CE Research Products
This page provides an introduction to special tabulation tables and other research products being developed by the Division of Consumer Expenditure Surveys. New research products will be added and updated periodically.
Information on this page includes the state weight files, the detailed means, variances, and percent reporting tables, division and region variance tables, and generational tables that sort expenditures by generation/cohorts, and the 2014 Higher Income table which expanded the top income range to $200,000 and over.
Note that the 2014 through mid-2016 Generational tables were research work, and had not been produced using BLS production methods and standards. Starting with 2016 data, the Generational tables are now included in the annual expenditure tables.
State Weight Files
Guidance to the user: Care should be taken when analyzing Public-Use Microdata using the State Weights, as the small number of households for some expenditures can cause the mean dollar estimate to be imprecise. The more aggregated summary variables will produce more precise estimates. Additionally, it should be noted that these weights are only for their respective states and cannot be used to make inferences about any other geographic areas. Similarly, the national weight is unable to provide state level estimates. The provided data must be used in conjunction with the Public-Use Microdata to obtain state level estimates.
The State Weights initiative by CE is an effort to produce research microdata products that can allow users to explore consumer expenditure data at the state level, a feature previously unavailable in the data. We intend to explore the viability of the CE sample to support weight creation for as many states as possible. The first available states are California, Florida, New Jersey, New York, and Texas. If others become available, they will be added to this page for download and use.
Documentation
- An Overview of the State-Level Weighting Procedure provides information to the user on how the weights are created and how they differ from the national weight included in the PUMD.
- Using the State Weights on the PUMD provides a detailed description of the variables included in the files along with tables of descriptive information about the data such as computation targets and population totals.
California
Years available: 2016-2020
Florida
Years available: 2016-2020
New Jersey
Years available: 2016-2020
New York
Years available: 2017-2020
Texas
Years available: 2017-2020
Detailed Means, Variances, and Percent reporting Tables (available upon request)
These detailed tables show additional detailed expenditure estimates using many of the same demographic characteristics as in the CE tables. These tables are available in three formats going back to 1998:
- Integrated tables which contain selected data from both the Interview and Diary surveys. These integrated tables present the weekly and quarterly reported expenditures in an annual mean format that matches regular tables, but in a detailed disaggregated form. The tables also include standard errors, and coefficients of variation. These contain the most detailed set of expenditures calculated by the CE.
- Interview Survey tables containing only Interview data on quarterly expenditures. The table includes annual expenditure means, quarterly percent reporting and variances. For example, one can use this table to find out what percentage of consumer units reported paying Mortgage interest in a quarter and how much they spent on average.
- Diary Survey tables contain weekly expenditure mean and percent reporting. As an example, one can use this table to find out what percentage of consumer units bought Bacon or Eggs in a week and how much they spent on average.
Guidance to the user: Caution should be taken when analyzing expenditure subcategories in the detailed tables. Users need to consider that some estimates on these tables are subject to high variance. For more information on variability, see How does the variability of Consumer Expenditures data impact your analysis.
Division and Region Variance Tables
The new tables below are for the current period (2017 - 2018) and include means, standard errors, and coefficient of variations. These tables cover two years to increase the reliability of the data.
2017-2018
Archived Research Products
Generational Tables, 2014 through mid-2016
The midyear generational table for July 2015 through June 2016 with an All consumer units column and five additional columns using the birth year of the reference person grouped into generations has been added to this section. The source for the years used in the generational groupings comes from the following report. Starting with the 2016 annual data, this table is now included in the regular tables.
The five generational columns are:
- Birth year of 1981 or later - sometimes referred to as the Millennial Generation
- Birth year from 1965 to 1980 - also known as Generation X
- Birth year from 1946 to 1964 - Baby Boomers
- Birth year from 1929 to 1945 - Silent Generation
- Birth year of 1928 or earlier - Greatest Generation (G.I. Generation)
The birth year of the reference person was approximated based on the collected age of the reference person variable in the CE data.
- 2016 Midyear Generational Table (XLSX)
- 2015 Generational Table (XLSX)
- 2015 Midyear Generational Table (XLSX)
- 2014 Generational Table (XLSX)
Higher Income Table, 2014
CE evaluated the income ranges on the regular income table, and found that over time the number of consumer units in the lowest income columns had decreased. This research table divided the existing $150,000 and over income column into two new columns: $150,000 to $199,999, and $200,000 and over. In 2015, these columns were integrated into the annual �Income before taxes� table.
- 2014 Higher Income table (XLSX)
Last Modified Date: May 6, 2022